REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5172  - AN ACT GRANTING THE CATHOLIC WELFARE ORGANIZATION A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE RADIO BROADCASTING AND TELEVISION STATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Section 1.    Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Catholic Welfare Organization is hereby granted a franchise, which shall continue in force during the time that the Government has not established similar service at the places selected by the grantee, but not exceeding twenty-five years, to construct, maintain and operate, for religious, educational, cultural and commercial purposes and in the public interest, radio broadcasting and television stations in the Philippines: Provided, That this franchise shall be void unless the construction of at least one radio broadcasting station or one television station be begun within two years from the date of approval of this Act, and be completed within four years form said date: Provided, further, That the grantee shall provide adequate public service time to enable the Government, through the said radio broadcasting and television stations, to reach the population on important public issues; shall assist in the functions of public information and education; shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise; and shall not use its stations for the broadcasting and/or telecasting of obscene or indecent language, speech, act or scene, or 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.

Sec. 2.    Such provision of Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred forty-six, entitled "An Act providing for the regulation of radio stations and radio communications in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes;" Act Numbered thirty-nine hundred and ninety-seven, known as the Radio Broadcasting Law; Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred forty-six, known as the Public Service Act, and their amendments, as are applicable to radio broadcasting stations shall be applied, as far as practicable, to the television stations referred to in Section one.  

Sec. 3.    As a condition to 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 and Communications, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the grantee's obligations during the first three years of the life of this franchise. If, after four years from the date of approval of this franchise, the grantee shall have fulfilled said obligations, or as soon thereafter as the grantee shall have fulfilled the same, the bond aforesaid shall be cancelled by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications.

Sec. 4.    The grantee's radio broadcasting and television stations shall not be put in actual operation until the Secretary of Public Works and Communications shall have allotted to the grantee the frequency and wave lengths to be used under this franchise and issued to the grantee a license for such use.

Sec. 5.    In the event of any competing individual, partnership or corporation receiving from the Congress a similar franchise in which 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 individual, partnership or corporation.  

Sec. 6.    (a) Unless exempted therefrom, the grantee shall be liable for taxes on its real estate, buildings and personal property, used in the operation of its radio broadcasting and television stations, exclusive of the franchise, as other persons or corporations are now or hereafter may be required by law to pay. (b) The grantee shall pay all other taxes that may be imposed by the National Internal Revenue Code by reason of this franchise.

Sec. 7.    The grantee shall hold the national, provincial and municipal governments of the Philippines harmless from all claims, accounts, demands or actions arising out of accidents or injuries whether to property or to persons, caused by the construction or operation of the stations of the  grantee.  

Sec. 8.    The franchise hereby granted shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires. 

Sec. 9.    In the event the Government should desire to maintain and operate for itself any or all of the stations herein authorized, the grantee shall turn over such station or stations to the Government with all the serviceable equipment therein, at cost, less reasonable depreciation.

SECTION 10.    A special right is reserved to the President of the Philippines in time of war, rebellion, public peril, or other national emergency, when public safety requires, to cause the closing of said stations or to authorize the use and operation thereof by any department of the Government without compensation to the grantee for the use of said stations during continuance of the national emergency.  

SECTION 11.    The grantee shall not require any previous censorship of any speech, play, act or scene or other matter to be broadcast and/or telecast from its stations; but if any such speech, play, act or scene or other matter should constitute a violation of the law or infringement of a private right, the grantee shall be free from any liability, civil or criminal, for such speech, play, act or scene or other matter: Provided, That the grantee, during any broadcast and/or telecast, shall cut off from the air the speech, play, act or scene or other matter being broadcast and/or telecast, if the tendency thereof is to propose and/or incite treason, rebellion or sedition, or the language used therein or the theme thereof is indecent or immoral. Willful failure to do so shall constitute a valid cause for the cancellation of this franchise.

SECTION 12.    The grantee shall not lease, transfer, sell or assign this franchise or the rights and 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 previous approval of the Congress of the Philippines. Any corporation 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 originally granted to the said person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity.  

SECTION 13.    Whenever in this franchise the term "grantee" is used, it shall be held and understood to mean the "Catholic Welfare Organization", its representatives, successors or assigns, unless the context indicate otherwise.

SECTION 14.    This franchise shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.

SECTION 15.    This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: August 4, 1967