REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5177 - AN ACT
GRANTING TO THE MANILA ELECTRIC COMPANY A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT,
MAINTAIN, AND OPERATE AN ELECTRIC LIGHT, HEAT, AND POWER SYSTEM FOR THE
PURPOSE OF GENERATING AND DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC LIGHT, HEAT, AND POWER,
FOR SALE WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE MUNICIPALITIES OF BACOOR AND IMUS,
PROVINCE OF CAVITE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 1. Subject to the conditions established in this Act,
there is hereby granted to the Manila Electric Company hereinafter
known as the grantee, a corporation duly organized under the laws of
the Philippines and domiciled in the City of Manila, Philippines, for a
period of twenty-five years from the approval of this Act, the right,
privilege and authority to construct, maintain, and operate an electric
light, heat, and power system for the purpose of generating and
distributing electric light, heat, and power, for sale within the
limits of the municipalities of Bacoor, and Imus, Province of Cavite,
Philippines. The grantee shall further have the right and privilege to
install, lay, and maintain in, along, under, and over public property
of the municipalities, including the public streets and highways,
provincial roads, bridges, and public squares within said
municipalities all necessary apparatus and appurtenances for the
transmission and distribution of electric current, and to supply, sell,
and furnish such current to any individual, co-partnership, private,
public or quasi-public association, corporation or joint-stock company,
within the limits of said municipalities for national, provincial,
municipal, domestic, or manufacturing uses or for any other use to
which electricity may be put, and to charge and collect a schedule of
prices and rates for the use of electric current so furnished, which
schedule of prices and rates shall at all times be subject to
regulation by the Public Service Commission or its legal successor.
Sec. 2. Said grantee shall supply electric power,
and/or heat, and/or light to any applicant for the same within fifteen
days after the date of his application, in the order of the date of the
application up to the limit of the capacity of the plant of said
grantee, said limit to be determined by the Public Service Commission
or its legal successor in such certificate or certificates of public
necessity and convenience as may be issued by it as prescribed by
Section eight of this Act; and should the demand for electric power,
and/or heat, and/or light at any time increase beyond the capacity of
the plant of said grantee to supply the same, the capacity of said
plant shall be increased by said grantee to such reasonable extent and
within such reasonable time as may be fixed by the Public Service
Commission or its legal successor. If, however, the point at which the
electric power, and/or heat, and/or light is to be supplied is more
than thirty meters from the lines operated by said grantee, the latter
should not be obligated to furnish said service, except upon the
receipt of such additional prices and rates as the Commission, or its
legal successor, may determine to be just and reasonable.
Sec. 3. The grantee hereby agrees to compensate
the municipalities for any damage to their properties by reason of the
construction under this franchise or of any neglect or omission to keep
the said poles, wires and other property in a safe condition, and to be
responsible for any damage to individuals, co-partnerships, private, or
quasi-public associations, or joint-stock companies, arising out of
such fault, neglect, or negligence.
Sec. 4. All apparatus and appurtenances used by
the grantee shall be modern, safe, and first class in every respect
(all wires shall be carefully connected, fastened, and insulated) and
the grantee shall, whenever the Public Service Commission or its legal
successor shall determine that the public interest reasonably requires
it, place said wires in the underground pipes or conduits at its own
expense, and without any cost or prejudice to the municipalities. The
poles erected by the grantee shall be of such height as to maintain the
wires stretched on the same at distance of at least twenty feet above
the level of the ground, and shall be of such appearance as not to
disfigure the streets, and shall be placed with due regard for the
public safety, in accordance with a plan previously approved by the
Public Service Commission after hearing the municipal authorities
concerned.
Sec. 5. Whenever it shall, in the opinion of the
Public Service Commission or its legal successor, become necessary in
the public interest or convenience, to change the location of the
grantee's poles, underground pipes or conduits, such change shall be
made without delay by the grantee, its successors or assigns, at the
grantee's expense, and the same shall be placed where directed by the
Public Service Commission after hearing the proper municipal
authorities.
Sec. 6. Whenever it shall be necessary in the
erection of said poles, or in the placing of said wires in underground
pipes or conduits, to take up any portion of the sidewalks or dig up
the ground near the sidewalks or corners of the public streets or
thoroughfares, the grantee shall, after said poles or underground pipes
or conduits are constructed, replace without delay said sidewalks and
other property in a proper manner, removing from the same all rubbish,
dirt, refuse, or other material which may have been placed there, taken
up or dug up in the erection of said poles, underground pipes or
conduits, leaving all property in as good condition as before the work
was done.
Sec. 7. Whenever any individual, co-partnership,
private, public or quasi-public association, corporation or joint-stock
company has lawfully obtained permission to use any of the public
property of said municipalities, including the public streets and
highways, provincial roads, bridges, and public squares, for any cause
whatsoever, making it necessary to raise or remove any of said poles
and/or electric wires and/or pipes, which may hinder or obstruct the
prosecution of said work, the said grantee, upon written notice by the
municipal council of said municipality, served upon the grantee in
person or upon its duly authorized agent at least forty-eight hours in
advance, shall raise or remove any of its poles and/or electric wires
and/or conduits and/or pipes which might hinder or obstruct the
prosecution of said work so as to allow the free and unobstructed
prosecution of said work. The notice shall be in the form of a duly
adopted resolution of the municipal court concerned, served upon the
grantee or its duly authorized agent by a person competent to testify
in a civil action. The individual, co-partnership, private, public or
quasi-public association, corporation, or joint-stock company at whose
request the raising or removing of said poles and/or electric wires
and/or conduits and/or pipes has been done shall pay one-half of the
actual cost thereof to the grantee, and also one-half of the actual
cost of the replacement. In the case of their refusal or failure of the
grantee to comply with such notice, the Public Service Commission after
hearing the municipal authorities concerned, shall order such poles
and/or electric wires and/or conduits and/or pipes raised or removed at
the sole expense of the grantee.
Sec. 8. The grantee shall not exercise any rights
or privileges under this franchise, nor commence any construction
thereunder, unless and until the grantee shall first file with the
Public Service Commission within one hundred twenty days from the date
of the approval of this Act:
(1) Its written acceptance of the terms and
provisions of this Act;
(2) Its written acceptance of the terms and
conditions of the first certificate or certificates of necessity and
convenience required by law for the granting of this franchise and
issued by the Public Service Commission, of the form and character
provided for in Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and eight, as amended:
(3) A document or documents evidencing receipt by the
Treasurer of the Philippines, of the deposit or deposits required by
law, of not less than one thousand pesos, Philippine currency, or
negotiable bonds approved by the Public Service Commission for each
certificate of public necessity and convenience as an earnest of good
faith, and a guarantee that the grantee will complete the work within
the period fixed by the Commission.
If the grantee shall not commence the furnishing of electric current in
any municipalities referred to in any certificate or certificates of
public convenience and necessity, obtained and filed as herein provided
within such period as the Public Service Commission or its legal
successor shall have fixed, unless prevented by an act of God or force
majeure, usurped or military power, martial law, riot, civil commotion
or other cause beyond its control, said Commission or its legal
successor may in its discretion, declare such certificate or
certificates to be null and void, and the deposit or deposits made by
the grantee forfeited to such municipality as liquidated damages and
not as a penalty.
Sec. 9. After compliance with the requirements of
the next preceding section, the Public Service Commission or its legal
successor, by proper order or writ, shall authorize the construction of
necessary work for the purposes of this franchise, within a reasonable
time to be determined by the said Commission.
Upon determination by the Public Service Commission or its legal
successor after a hearing upon reasonable written notice to the grantee
that the grantee has violated any of the provisions of this Section as
to the commencement and/or completion of the work authorized by a
certificate or certificates of the Public Service Commission or its
legal successor, the said Commission or its legal successor shall
declare the bond or bonds forfeited as liquidated damages and not as a
penalty to the municipality in which the failure to perform occurred.
If the failure occurred in more than one municipality, the Public
Service Commission or its legal successor shall determine the portion
which each municipality shall receive. The Public Service Commission or
its legal successor shall order the return of the deposit required by
Section eight hereof, as amended, together with any interests or
dividends thereon received by the Treasurer of the Philippines, to the
grantee upon the satisfactory completion of any work authorized by its
certificate or certificates of public necessity, in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the certificate or certificates obtained, and
the Treasurer of the Philippines, shall return said deposit to the
grantee together with said interests and/or dividends immediately upon
presentation to him of a certified copy of such order of the Public
Service Commission or its legal successor.
SECTION 10. The grantee shall pay the same taxes as
are now or may hereafter be required by law from other individuals,
co-partnerships, private, public or quasi-public associations,
corporations, or joint-stock companies, on its real estate, buildings,
plants, machinery, and other personal property, except property
declared exempt in this section. In consideration of the franchise and
rights hereby granted, the grantee shall pay into the municipal
treasury of each municipality in which it is supplying electric current
to the public under its franchise, a tax equal to two per centum of the
gross earnings from electric current sold or supplied under this
franchise in each said municipality. Said tax shall be due and payable
quarterly and shall be in lieu of any and all taxes of any kind,
nature, or description levied, established, or collected by any
authority whatsoever, municipal, provincial, or national, now or in the
future, on its poles, wires, insulators, switches, transformers and
structures, installations, conductors, and accessories, placed in and
over and under all public property, including public streets and
highways, provincial roads, bridges and public squares, and on its
franchise, rights, privileges, receipts, revenues and profits, from
which taxes the grantee is hereby expressly exempted.
SECTION 11. The municipalities shall have the
privilege, without compensation, for and during the time the wires of
the grantee are maintained on poles of using the said poles of the
grantee for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating a
police telephone and fire alarm system, but the wires of such police
telephone or fire alarm system shall be placed and stretched in such
manner as to cause no interference with or damage to the wires of the
electric service of the grantee. Any of the municipalities above
specified which make use of the aforesaid privilege shall be liable to
the grantee for any damage or liability arising from the installation,
maintenance or operation of said police telephone or fire alarm system.
SECTION 12. This franchise is granted subject to the
provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and eight, as amended,
and with the understanding and upon the condition that it shall be
subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the
Philippines, and that it shall be subject in all respects to the
limitations upon corporations and the granting of franchises contained
in the Constitution of the Philippines, and also subject to the
provisions of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine of the
Philippine Legislature, as amended.
SECTION 13. All lands or right of use or occupation
of lands hereby granted by the national, provincial, or municipal
governments shall upon the termination, revocation or repeal of this
franchise, revert to the respective national, provincial or municipal
governments which were the owners thereof or from which said lands or
rights were derived.
SECTION 14. The books, records and accounts of the
grantee shall always be open to the inspection of the provincial
treasurer or his authorized representative, and it shall be the duty of
the grantee to submit to the provincial treasurer quarterly reports in
duplicate showing the gross receipts for the quarter past, one of which
shall be forwarded by the provincial treasurer to the Auditor General
who shall keep the same on file.
SECTION 15. The grantee, with the approval of the
Congress of the Philippines first had, may sell, lease, grant, convey,
assign, give in usufruct or transfer this franchise and all property
and rights acquired thereunder to any individual, co-partnership,
private, public or quasi-public association, corporation, or
joint-stock company competent to operate the business hereby
authorized, but transfer of title to the franchise or any right of
ownership or interest acquired under such sale lease, grant,
conveyance, assignment, gift in usufruct, or transfer shall not be
effective even after such approval shall have been obtained until there
shall have been filed in the office of the Public Service Commission or
its legal successor an agreement in writing by which the individual,
co-partnership, private, public or quasi-public association,
corporation, or joint-stock company in whose favor such sale, lease,
grant, conveyance, assignment, gift in usufruct, or transfer in made,
shall be firmly bound to comply with all the terms and conditions
imposed upon the grantee by this franchise and by any and all
certificates of public necessity and convenience theretofore issued by
the Public Service Commission or its legal successor, and to accept the
same subject to all existing terms and conditions.
SECTION 16. The Public Service Commission or its
legal successor shall have the power, after a reasonable written notice
to the grantee and a hearing of the interested parties, to declare the
forfeiture of this franchise and all rights inherent in the same for
failure on the part of the grantee to comply with any of the terms and
conditions thereof, unless such failure shall have been directly and
primarily caused by the act of God, force majeure, usurped right,
uprising or other cause beyond the grantee's control. Against such
declaration of forfeiture by the Public Service Commission or its legal
successor, the grantee may apply for the remedies provided in sections
twenty-eight and thirty-five of Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and
eight, as amended. The remedy provided herein shall not be a bar to any
other remedy provided by existing laws for the forfeiture of this
franchise.
SECTION 17. In the event of any competing individual,
association of persons, or corporation receiving either a franchise or
permission from the Government of the Philippines or from any province,
city or municipality thereof, to conduct a similar business in all or
any substantial portion of the territory covered by this franchise to
that of the grantee, in which franchise or permission there shall be
any term or terms more favorable than those herein granted or tending
to place the herein grantee at any disadvantage, then such term or
terms shall ipso facto become a part of the terms hereof and shall
operate equally in favor of the grantee as in the case of said
competing individual, association of persons, or corporations.
SECTION 18. Upon the approval of this Act the grantee
may acquire by purchase all serviceable equipment of the electric
operators in the municipalities of Bacoor and Imus. In the acquisition
by the grantee of equipment belonging to the Communications and
Electricity Development Authority, the chief of the
Mechanical-Electrical Division of the Bureau of Public Works, the Chief
of the Investigation and Planning Division of the National Power
Corporation, or their authorized representatives, and an electrical
engineer to be designated by the Public Service Commission, shall
constitute the appraisal committee. The acquisition cost to be fixed by
the appraisal committee shall be subject to the approval of the Public
Service Commission sitting en banc.
SECTION 19. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
Approved: September 7,
1967.
|