Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS 
Third Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.______ 
________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by Representative Shirlyn L. Bañas-Nograles 
________________________________________________________________ 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill seeks to create a General Santos City radio station 
that will enable the Local Government Units of South Cotabato 
and the National Government to hastily spread important 
information, even to far flung areas, on matters of immediate 
public concerns, especially for the people of South Cotabato. With 
unreliable access to the internet in distant areas, the people need 
to receive radio broadcasts in order to have easy access to much 
needed information for the protection and promotion of public 
health, safety and order. During times of crisis resulting from 
acts of God and acts of man, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, 
which will truly affect on lives, communication and information is 
undoubtedly vital for survival.  
Accordingly, Article II, Section 24 of the 1987 Philippine 
Constitution on the Declaration of Principles and State Policies 
mandates 
that 
“the 
State 
recognizes 
the 
vital 
role 
of 
communication and information in nation-building.” In the same 
manner, Article III, Section 7 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution 
specifically states ‘the right of the people to information on matters 
of public concern shall be recognized’. 
November 10, 2021
6:10 pm
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It is evident that the best way for the government to connect 
with all people, even those in remote areas, is by this medium of 
communication through radio. This bill would encourage public 
participation and enable the people to raise their concerns 
efficiently with the government. In addition, It is a means for the 
government to effectively disseminate information to the people of 
South Cotabato, no matter where they are located, on matters of 
public concern and interest, pursuant to the mandate of public 
service. Furthermore, equitable delivery of public service should 
not be limited to those in highly populated and developed areas 
with good connectivity since our brothers and sisters in far flung 
areas have the right to public service as well. 
It is for this reason that the immediate approval of this bill is 
hereby 
earnestly 
sought. 
SHIRLYN L. BAÑAS-NOGRALES 
Representative 
1st District, South Cotabato 
& General Santos City 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS 
Second Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.______ 
________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by Representative Shirlyn L. Bañas-Nograles 
________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT 
GRANTING THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF GENERAL SANTOS A 
FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL, OPERATE, AND 
MAINTAIN RADIO BROADCASTING STATIONS IN GENERAL 
SANTOS CITY, SERVING THE SOUTH COTABATO AREA OF 
MINDANAO 
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 
provision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution and other 
applicable laws, rules and regulations, there is hereby granted to 
the City Government of General Santos, hereunder referred to as 
the grantee, its successors or assignees, a franchise to construct, 
install, 
establish, 
operate, 
and 
maintain, 
for 
commercial 
purposes and in the public interest, radio broadcasting station in 
General Santos City where frequencies or channels are still 
available for radio broadcasting, through microwave, satellite, 
terrestrial or whatever means, including the use of any new 
technology in radio systems, with the corresponding technological 
auxiliaries and facilities, special broadcast and other programs 
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and distribution services and relay stations in the City 
Government of General Santos, and the entire South Cotabato 
area. 
 
SECTION 2. Manner of Operation of Station or Facilities.- The 
station 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 privilege to use its 
assigned or selected wavelengths or frequencies and the quality 
of transmission or reception thereon as should maximize 
rendition of the grantee’s services and/or availability thereof. 
 
 
SECTION 
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 construction and 
operation of stations or facilities and shall not use any frequency 
in the radio spectrum without having been authorized by the 
NTC. The latter, however, shall not unreasonably withhold or 
delay the grant of any such authority.  
 
 
In case of any violation of the provisions of this franchise, 
the NTC shall have the authority to revoke or suspend, after due 
process, the permits or licenses it issued pursuant to the 
franchise. The NTC may recommend to Congress the revocation 
of the franchise for any violation of the provisions of this 
franchise. 
 
 
SECTION 4. Responsibility to the Public. – The grantee shall 
reach the pertinent populations or portions thereof on important 
public issues and relay important public announcements and 
warnings concerning public emergencies and calamities, as 
necessity, urgency or law may require; provide at all times sound 
and balanced programming; promote public participation; assist 
in the functions of public information and education; conform to 
the ethics of honest enterprise; promote audience sensibility and 
empowerment through, but not limited to closed captioning; and 
not use its stations or facilities for the broadcasting of obscene or 
indecent language, speech, act or scene, or for the dissemination 
of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, to 


the detriment of public interest, or to incite, encourage, or assist 
in subversive or treasonable acts.   
 
 
SECTION 5. Right of the Government. – 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 observation of the principle 
of due process. 
 
 
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 also be operated. 
 
 
SECTION 6. Term of Franchise. – This franchise shall be for 
a term of twenty-five (25) years from the date of the effectivity of 
this Act, unless sooner revoked or cancelled. This franchise shall 
be deemed ipso facto revoked in the event that the grantee fails to 
comply with any of the following conditions: 
 
 
 
(a) Commence operations within three (3) years from 
 
the approval of its operating permit by the NTC; 
 
 
 
(b) Commence operations within five (5) years from the 
 
effectivity of this Act; and 
 
 
 
(c) Operate continuously for two (2) years. 
 
 
 
SECTION 7. 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, 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, shall cut off the 
airing of 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. 
 
 
 
The grantee shall guarantee that news and event are 
reported accurately and truthfully, and that all parties involved 
in such news or events allowed equal time and opportunity for 
information sharing. 
 
The grantee shall ensure that all its programs, talents, and 
the language used by its talents are geared towards the 
promotion of positive Filipino values. 
 
The grantee shall allow all candidates, particularly those 
seeking national elective positions, equal opportunity to present 
programs of government to the electorate, subject to the 
implementing guidelines, rules and regulations issued by the 
Commission on Elections. 
 
 Willful failure to comply with the self-regulation by and 
undertaking of the grantee as provided for in this section shall 
constitute a valid cause for the cancellation of this franchise. 
 
 
SECTION 8. Sale, Lease, Transfer, Grant of Usufruct, or 
Assignment of Franchise.- The grantee shall not sell, lease, 
transfer, grant the 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 
shall transfer the controlling interest of the grantee, whether as a 
whole 
or 
in 
part, 
and 
whether 
 
simultaneously 
or 
contemporaneously, to any person, firm, company, corporation, 
or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the 
Philippines and compliance with legal requirements stipulated in 
other statutes. 
 
 
SECTION 9. Renewal, Extension, or Revocation of Franchise.  
– The grantee shall apply for the renewal or extension of its 
franchise five (5) years before its expiration date which shall be 


reckoned from fifteen (15) days after the publication of the 
franchise in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general 
circulation. 
 
 
The franchise, however, may be revoked by the Congress of 
the Philippines when the public interest so requires or when the 
grantee fails to reasonably comply with regulatory standards as 
mandated by law. 
 
 
SECTION 10. Commitment to Provide and Promote the 
Creation of Employment Opportunities. – The grantee shall create 
employment opportunities and shall allow on-the-job trainees in 
their franchise operations; Provided, that priority shall be 
accorded to the residents of the place where the principal office of 
the grantee is located; Provided, further, that the grantee shall 
ensure that at least sixty percent (60%) of its employees are 
regular employees and, in no case, shall the percentage of 
contractual employees, job order and casual employees, and 
independent contractors combined, exceed forty percent (40%) of 
its total workforce; Provided, furthermore, that the grantee shall 
follow the applicable labor standards and allowance entitlement  
under existing labor laws, rules and regulations and similar 
issuances; Provided, finally, that the grantee shall follow 
applicable civil service rules and regulations and other similar 
issuances. 
 
 
SECTION 11. Warranty in Favor of the National and Local 
Governments. – The grantee shall hold the national, provincial, 
city, and municipal governments of the Philippines free from all 
claims, liabilities, demands, or actions arising out of accidents 
causing injury to persons or damage to properties, during the 
construction or operation of the stations of the grantee. 
 
 
SECTION 12. Reportorial Requirement. – The grantee shall 
submit an annual report of its compliance with the terms and 
conditions of the franchise and on its operations to the Congress 
of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative 
Franchises of the House of Representatives and Committee on 
Public Services of the Senate, on or before April 30 or every year 
during the term of its franchise. 


 
The annual report shall include an update on the roll-out, 
development, 
operation 
or 
expansion; 
audited 
financial 
statements; and certification of the NTC on the status of its 
permits and operations. 
 
The reportorial compliance certificate issued by Congress 
shall be required before any application for permit or certificate is 
accepted by the NTC.  
 
 
SECTION 13. Fine. – Failure of the grantee to submit the 
requisite annual report to Congress shall be penalized by a fine of 
Five Hundred Pesos (PhP500.00) per working day of non-
compliance. The fine shall be collected by the NTC from the 
delinquent franchise grantee separate from the reportorial 
penalties imposed by the NTC and the same shall be remitted to 
the Bureau of Treasury. 
 
 
SECTION 14. Equality Clause. – Any advantage, favor, 
privilege, exemption, or immunity granted under existing 
franchises, or which may hereafter be granted for radio 
broadcasting, upon prior review and approval of Congress, shall 
become part of this franchise and shall be accorded immediately 
and unconditionally to the herein grantee; Provided, that the 
foregoing shall neither  apply to nor  affect the provisions of 
broadcasting franchise concerning territorial coverage, the term, 
or the type of service authorized by the franchise. 
 
 
SECTION 15. Applicability of Existing Laws. – The grantee 
shall comply with and be subject to the provisions of 
Commonwealth Act No. 146 or the “Public Service Act”, as 
amended. 
 
 
 
SECTION 16. Repealability 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. 
 


 
SECTION 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. 
 
 
SECTION 18. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, orders, 
resolutions, instructions, rules and regulations, and other 
issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act are hereby deemed repealed, amended, or 
modified accordingly. 
 
 
SECTION 19. Effectivity. – This act shall take effect fifteen 
(15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a 
newspaper of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved,