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Chan Robles Virtual Law Library
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 947
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 947 -
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE GRANTING THE DOMESTIC SATELLITE PHILIPPINES,
INCORPORATED A FRANCHISE TO INSTALL, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE, IN ANY PLACE
IN THE PHILIPPINES STATIONS FOR PROVIDING TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES
THROUGH THE USE OF SATELLITES, TELECOMMUNICATIONS (RADIO, TELEGRAPH,
TELEPHONE AND TELEVISION SYSTEMS), LINES, CIRCUITS, WIRE AND/OR
WIRELESS TO SERVE ALL THOSE NEEDING SUCH SERVICE ON LAND, AT SEA AND IN
THER
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chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS,
there is a need to develop a nationwide telecommunications network
which can provide various telecommunications services to domestic
carriers, television and radio network and specialized service networks;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, it is necessary to introduce the latest technology into
existing networks in order to make available the most modern services
in various areas of the Archipelago;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, the use of these telecommunications services for educational,
informational, agricultural, industrial, law enforcement, government
and military purposes will catalyze the social, economic and political
advancement of the Philippines; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, the Domestic Satellite Philippines, Inc. has been specifically
organized to provide throughout the Republic of the Philippines
telecommunication services through the use of communication satellites
and other modern media;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
order and decree:cralaw:red
Section 1. There is hereby granted to Domestic
Satellite Philippines, Inc., herein referred to as the Grantee, a
franchise to establish, install, operate and maintain in the
Philippines, and at such places as the Grantee may select, as carrier's
carrier, any and all types of telecommunications services available
through the use of space relay and repeater stations for domestic
public communications with authority to receive and transmit messages,
impressions, pictures, music, entertainment, advertising, and signal
throughout the Philippines and between the Philippines and ships at
sea,rplanes and other conveyances, contract with and furnish channels
of communication, both satellite and terrestrial to authorized users;
and to charge and receive compensation therefor for tolls and charges.
Section 2. This franchise includes the right and
authority of the Grantee to construct, maintain and operate such ground
and other facilities, as needed, to deliver telecommunications services
to and from the communications satellite system and the telephone,
telegraph, telex and other network switching centers owned by domestic
common carriers, television and radio broadcasting stations and
networks, and terminals of specialized telecommunications network of
government and/or private persons and/or corporations such as
computer/data communications systems and point-to-point or switched
voice networks. The Grantee may also assist, as required, in the
development of nationwide television and radio purposes by the
construction, operation and maintenance of necessary equipment and
facilities. Further, the Grantee may, using its facilities, provide
satellite telecommunications services as required to develop
intra-regional communications of associations of which the Republic of
the Philippines is a member country, utilizing existing or planned
satellite systems as space relay devices provided that such provision
of services does not conflict with the country's commitment as
signatory to agreements of International Organizations. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 3. Subject to the limitations and procedures
prescribed by law, the Grantee is authorized to exercise the rights of
eminent domain insofar as may be reasonably necessary to further the
establishment and efficient maintenance and operation of the
telecommunication services, its system, lines, circuits and/or
stations. The Grantee is authorized to construct and maintain its works
of public utility and services over and across public property of the
Philippines, including stations, highways, squares and reservations,
and other similar property of the Philippines and its branches.
Section 4. This franchise shall continue for a
period of fifty (50) years from the date the said telecommunication
services shall be put in actual commercial operations and is made upon
the express condition that the same shall be void, unless work of the
telecommunication system be begun within two years from the date of the
effectivity of this Decree and that system be in operation within four
years from said date. Said period may, however, be extended on
justifiable grounds by the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation
and Communications.
Section 5. A special right is hereby reserved to the
President of the Republic of the Philippines in time of war, rebellion,
public peril, or other national emergencies and when public safety
requires, to cause the closing of the Grantee's circuits and/or
stations or to authorize the use or possession thereof by any
Department of the government without compensation to the Grantee for
the use of the said station during the continuance of the national
emergency.
Section 6. In consideration of the franchise and
rights hereby granted, the Grantee shall pay to the Republic of the
Philippines during the life of this franchise a tax of one-half per
cent of gross earnings derived by the Grantee from its operation under
this franchise and which originate from the Philippines. Such tax shall
be due and payable annually within ten days after the audit and
approval of the accounts by the Commission on Audit as prescribed in
Section 11 hereof and shall be in lieu of all taxes, assessments,
charges, fees, or levies of any kind, nature, or description, levied,
established or collected by any municipal, provincial, or national
authority including but not limited to customs duties, taxes, wharfage
and all other charges, imports, or fees on any and all equipments,
machineries, vehicles, and spare parts needed in the installation
and/or operation of the business of the Grantee, except that the
Grantee shall pay the tax on its real property in conformity with
existing law.
Section 7. The Grantee shall be subject to the
pertinent laws, rules and regulations of the Philippines and pertinent
international agreements to which the Philippines is or will be a
signatory, now existing or hereafter enacted.
Section 8. The franchise hereby granted shall be
subject to amendment, alteration or repeal by competent authority, and
the rights to occupy public property and places hereby granted shall
revert to the government upon the termination of this franchise, or by
such repeal or forfeiture thereof or by its expiration in due course.
Section 9. The operation and activities of the
telecommunications systems, lines, circuits and/or stations of the
Grantee shall contribute to the public welfare; shall conform to the
ethics of honest enterprise; shall assist in the functions of public
information and education; and shall not be used for the dissemination
of deliberately false information, or willful misrepresentation, or to
the detriment of the public health, or to incite, encourage or assist
in subversive or treasonable acts.
Section 10. The right is hereby reserved to the
government of the Philippines, through the Board of Communications, or
such other office as may be hereunto duly authorized, to fix the
minimum and maximum rates to be charged by the Grantee.
Section 11. The Grantee shall keep a separate
account of the gross receipts of business transacted by it in the
Philippines and shall furnish the Commission on Audit with a copy of
such account not later than the last day of February of each year for
the preceding year. For the purpose of auditing the accounts
surrendered to the Commission of Audit, all the books and accounts of
the Grantee, or duplicates thereof, so far as they relate to the
business transacted in the Philippines, shall be subject to the
official inspection of the Commission on Audit or his authorized
representatives, and the audit or approval of such accounts shall be
final and conclusive evidence as to the amount of said gross receipts,
except that the Grantee shall have the right to appeal to the Courts of
the Philippines under the terms and conditions provided in the laws of
this country.
Section 12. As a condition of the granting of this
franchise, the Grantee shall execute a bond in favor of the Government
of the Philippines, in the sum of fifty thousand pesos in form and with
sureties satisfactory to the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation
and Communications, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the
Grantee's obligations hereunder during the first four years of the life
of this franchise or the extension that may be granted under Section 4
hereof. If, within the four years from the date of the effectivity of
this Decree or during the aforesaid extension, if any, the Grantee
shall have fulfilled said obligations or so soon thereafter as the
Grantee shall have fulfilled the same, the bond aforesaid shall be
cancelled by the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and
Communications.
Section 13. Acceptance of the franchise shall be
given in writing within one year after the effectivity of this Decree.
When so accepted and upon the approval of the bond aforesaid by the
Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, the
Grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted
hereby. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 14. The Grantee shall not lease, transfer,
grant the usufruct of, sell or assign this franchise, nor the rights or
privileges acquired thereunder, to any person, firm, company,
corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any
other company or corporation organized for the same purpose, without
the prior approval of the President of the Philippines. Any person,
firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity to which
this franchise is sold, transferred or assigned shall be subject to all
the conditions, terms, restrictions and limitations of this franchise
as fully and completely and to the same extent as if the franchise had
been granted to the same person, firm, company, corporation or other
commercial or legal entity.
Section 15. This franchise shall not be interpreted
to mean an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.
However, in the event any competing individual, partnership or
corporation shall receive a similar permit or franchise with terms
and/or provisions more favorable than those herein granted or which
tend to place the Grantee herein at any disadvantage, then such terms
and/or provisions shall, ipso facto, become part hereof and shall
operate equally in favor of the Grantee herein. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 16. This Decree shall take effect
immediately.
Done in the City of Manila,
this 17th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-six.
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