Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Nineteenth Congress
Third Regular Session

House Bill No. 11252

Introduced by REP. JOEY SARTE SALCEDA

AN ACT
GRANTING THE ABS-CBN CORPORATION (FORMERLY ABS-CBN
BROADCASTING CORPORATION) A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL,
OPERATE AND MAINTAIN TELEVISION AND RADIO BROADCASTING
STATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue
(BIR), during House deliberations on the ABS-CBN franchise in the previous Congress,
certified that the franchise grantee did not violate ownership restrictions and did not have
pending tax liabilities.

The non-renewal of the franchise, however, cost some 11,000 direct jobs. This
representation also argued that the information asymmetries that resulted from the loss of an
information source caused thousands of new COVID-19 infections during the critical 2020
period.

Prior to the rejection of the franchise renewal, some 36% of Filipinos derived their news
and entertainment from the channel. ABS-CBN’s extensive regional network reach was also
the source for news and updates on impending disasters, making the channel crucial then to
disaster risk reduction strategies at the local level.

Given the merits of renewing the franchise, as well as the clarifications made by
government agencies over certain allegations against the grantee, this representation urges
Congress to reconsider the non-renewal of the franchise by the previous Congress.

In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is urgently sought.

;ALCEDA


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Nineteenth Congress
Third Regular Session

House Bill No._11252

Introduced by REP. JOEY SARTE SALCEDA

AN ACT
GRANTING THE ABS-CBN CORPORATION (FORMERLY ABS-CBN
BROADCASTING CORPORATION) A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL,
OPERATE AND MAINTAIN TELEVISION AND RADIO BROADCASTING
STATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Nature and Scope of Franchise. - Subject to the provisions of the 1987
Philippine Constitution and applicable laws, rules and regulations, the ABS-CBN Corporation
(formerly ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation), hereunder referred to as the grantee, its
successors or assignees, is hereby granted a franchise to construct, install, establish, operate
and maintain for commercial purposes and in the public interest, radio and/or television
broadcasting stations in the Philippines, where frequencies and/or channels are still available

for radio and/or television distribution services and relay stations.

SEC. 2. Manner of Operation of Stations or Facilities. - The stations or facilities of
the grantee shall be constructed and operated in a manner as will, at most, result only in the
minimum interference on the wavelengths or frequencies of existing stations or other stations
which may be established by law, without in any way diminishing its own right to use its
selected wavelengths or frequencies and the quality of transmission or reception thereon as

should maximize rendition of the grantee's services and/or the availability thereof.

SEC. 3. Prior Approval of the National Telecommunications Commission. - The
grantee shall secure from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the
appropriate permits and licenses for the operation of its stations and facilities and shall not use
any frequency in the radio/television spectrum without authorization from the NTC. The NTC,
however, shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of such authority.


SEC. 4. Responsibility to the Public. - The grantee shall provide adequate public
service time to enable the government, through the said broadcasting stations or facilities, to
reach the population on important public issues; provide at all times sound and balanced
programming; assist in the functions of public information and education; conform to the ethics
of honest enterprise; and not use its stations and facilities for the broadcasting of obscene and
indecent language. speech, act or scene; or for the dissemination of deliberately false
information or willful misrepresentation, to the detriment of the public interest, or to incite,

encourage or assist in subversive or treasonable acts.

SEC. 5. Right of Government. - A special right is hereby reserved to the President of
the Philippines, in times of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster or
disturbance of peace and order; to temporarily take over and operate the stations or facilities of
the grantee; to temporarily suspend the operation of any station or facility in the interest of
public safety, security and public welfare; or to authorize the temporary use and operation
thereof by any agency of the government, upon due compensation to the grantee, for the use of
said stations or facilities during the period when they shall be so operated.

The radio spectrum is a finite resource that is part of the national patrimony and the use
thereof is a privilege conferred upon the grantee by the State and may be withdrawn any time

after due process.

SEC. 6. Term of Franchise. - This franchise shall be in effect for a period of twenty-
five (25) years, unless sooner revoked or cancelled. This franchise shall be deemed ipso facto

revoked in the event the grantee fails to operate continuously for two (2) years.

SEC. 7. Acceptance and Compliance. - Acceptance of this franchise shall be given in
writing to the Congress of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative Franchises
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of the Senate within
sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act. Upon giving such acceptance, the grantee shall
exercise the privileges granted under this Act. Non-acceptance shall render the franchise void

SEC. 8. Self-regulation by and Undertaking of Grantee. - The grantee shall not require
any previous censorship of any speech, play, act or scene, or other matter to be broadcast from
its stations: Provided, That the grantee, during any broadcast, shall cut off from the air the
speech, play, act or scene, or other matter being broadcast 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: Provided, further, That willful failure to do so shall constitute a valid
cause for the cancellation of this franchise.

SEC. 9. Warranty in Favor of National and Local Governments. - The grantee shall
hold the national provincial, city and municipal governments of the Philippines free 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. 10. Sale, Lease, Transfer, Grant of Usufruct, or Assignment of Franchise. -
The grantee shall not sell, lease, transfer, grant t h e usufruct of, nor 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 corporation or entity, nor shall transfer
the controlling interest of the grantee, whether as a whole or in part and whether simultaneously
or contemporaneously, to any such person, firm, company, corporation or entity without the
prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines: Provided, That Congress shall be informed
of any sale, lease, transfer, grant of usufruct, or assignment of franchise or the rights or
privileges acquired thereunder, or the merger or transfer of the controlling interest of the
grantee, within sixty (60) days after the completion of said transaction: Provided, further, That
failure to report to Congress such change of ownership shall render the franchise ipso facto
revoked: Provided, finally, That any person or entity to which this franchise is sold, transferred
or assigned, shall be subject to the same conditions, terms, restrictions and limitations of this

Act.

SEC. 11. Dispersal of Ownership. - In accordance with the constitutional provision to
encourage public participation in public utilities, the grantee shall offer to Filipino citizens at
least thirty per centum (30%) or a higher percentage that may hereafter be provided by law of,
its outstanding stock in any securities exchange in the Philippines within five (5) years from
the commencement of its operations: Provided, That in cases where public offer of shares is
not applicable, establishment of cooperatives and other methods of encouraging public
participation by citizens and corporations operating public utilities must be implemented.
Noncompliance therewith shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked.

SEC. 12. General Broadcast Policy Law. - The grantee shall comply with and be
subject to the provisions of a general broadcast policy law, which Congress may hereafter

enact.


SEC. 13. Reportorial Requirement. - The grantee shall submit an annual report to the
Congress of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of the Senate, on its compliance with
the terms and conditions of the franchise and on its operations on or before April 30 of the
succeeding year. The reportorial compliance certificate issued by Congress shall be required
before any application for permit or certificate is accepted by NTC.

SEC. 14. Provisional Authority to Continue Operations, - In the event that the
franchise granted under this Act expires, the grantee is automatically given a Provisional
Authority to continue its operations: Provided, that a bill is already filed in Congress renewing
its franchise before the expiration: Provided further, that said Provisional Authority to continue
its operations shall only be valid until its franchise is renewed, rejected or until the term of
Congress when the bill for renewal was filed ends.

SEC. 15. Penalty Clause. - Failure of the grantee to submit the requisite annual report
to Congress shall be penalized by a fine of five hundred pesos (P500.00) per working day of
noncompliance. The fine shall be collected by the NTC from the delinquent franchise grantee
separate from the reportorial penalties imposed by the NTC. The collected funds shall accrue
to the monitoring fund of the NTC in line with its supervisory and regulatory functions

SEC. 16. Equality Clause. - Any advantage, favor, privilege, exemption, or immunity
granted under existing franchises, or which may hereafter be granted for radio and/or television
broadcasting, upon prior review and approval Of Congress, shall become part of this franchise
end shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the herein grantee: Provided, That
the foregoing shall neither apply to nor affect the provisions of broadcasting franchises
concerning territory covered by the franchise, the life span of the franchise or the type of service
authorized by the franchise: Provided, further, That the foregoing shall not apply to sale, lease,
transfer or grant of usuftuct of legislative franchise with prior congressional approval.

SEC. 17. Separability Clause. - If any of the sections or provisions of this Act is held
invalid, all other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid.

SEC. 18. Repealing and Non-exclusivity Clause. - This franchise shall be subject to
amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so
requires and shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.


SEC. 19. Publication. - This Act shall be published, through the initiative of the
Grantee, fifteen (15) days after this Act is signed by the President of the Philippines or has
lapsed into law.

SEC. 20. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,