SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
'13 
OEC 11 
P2 :50 
SENATE 
Senate Bm No. __ 2_0_.41 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Section 24, Articlell of the 1987 Constitution provides that "the State recognizes 
the vital role of communication and information in nation-building." 
To date, the fastest and mostfar-reaching medium of communication is still radio 
and teleVision, and it is a fact well known to us that there are still numerous area 
in the country that do not receive accurate, sufficient and reliable information on 
a regular basis. 
The radio and television playa very important role in a nation's life as they affect 
the ideas and behavior of all sorts of people. 
Through radio and television 
stations, the Radyo de Oro Corporation has primordial objective of providing the 
Filipinos with programs of information that are both educational and entertaining. 
Therefore, this bill seeks to grant the Radyo de Oro Corporation a franchise to 
construct, 
install, establish, 
operate and 
maintain radio and television 
broadcasting stations in all forms permitted by law in the City of Cagayan de Oro 
and the Province of Misamis Oriental. 
In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly requested. 
Senator 


SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 2 0 41 
'13 
DEC 11 
P2 :50 
RECEIVED BY:_~ ~r~ 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. JU~GGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 
AN ACT 
GRANTING THE RADYO DE ORO CORPORATION FRANCHISE TO 
CONSTRUCT, INSTALL, ESTABLISH, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN RADIO 
AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING STATIONS IN THE CITY OF CAGAYAN 
DE ORO AND THE PROVINCE OF MISAMIS ORIENTAL, PHILIPPINES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Nature and Scope of Franchise. - Subject to the provisions of the 
Constitution and applicable laws, rules and regulations, there is hereby granted 
to Radyo de Oro Corporation, hereunder referred to as the grantee, its 
successors and assigns, 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 City of Cagayan de Oro and the Province 
of Misamis Oriental, Philippines, where frequencies and/or channels are still 
available for radio and/or television broadcasting, including digital radio and 
television system, internet protocol (!P) related services and IP value-added 
services, through microwave, satellite or whatever means, including the use of 
any new technology that may hereafter or in the future be developed in the radio 
and television broadcasting, with the corresponding technological auxiliaries and 
facilities, special broadcast and other program and distribution services and relay 
stations. 
SEC. 2. Manner of Operation of Stations or Facilities. - The stations or facilities 
of the grantee shall be construed 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 it 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. 
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 construction and operation of its 
stations and facilities shall not use any frequency in the radio/television spectrum 
without having been authorized by the Commission. The Commission, however, 
shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of any 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 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 the 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 anytime after due process. 
SEC. 6. Term of Franchise. - This franchise shall be for a term of twenty-five 
(25) years from the date of effectivity of this Act, unless sooner revoked or 
cancelled. This franchise shall be deemed ipso facto revoked in the event the 
grantee fails to comply with any of the following conditions: 
a. Commence operations within one (1) year from the approval of its 
operating permit by the NTC; 
b. Operate continuously for two (2) years; and, 
c. Commence operations within three (3) years from the effectivity of this 
Act. 
SEC. 7. Acceptance and Compliance. - Acceptance of this franchise shall be 
given in writing within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act. Upon giving 
such acceptance, the grantee shall exercise the privileges granted under this Act. 
Nonacceptance shall render the franchise void. 
SEC. 8. Bond. - The grantee shall file a bond issued in favor of the NTC, which 
shall determine the amount, to guarantee the compliance with and fulfillment of 
the conditions under which this franchise is granted. If, after three (3) years from 
the date of the approval of this permit by the Commission, the grantee shall have 
fulfilled the same, the bond shall be forfeited in fallor of the government and the 
franchise ipso facto revoked. 
SEC. 9. 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; and willful failure to do so shall constitute a valid cause 
for the cancellation of this franchise. 
SEC. 10. Warranty in Favor of National and Local Governments. - The grantee 
shall hold the national, provincial, city 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. 11. 
Nontransferrability of Franchise. -
The grantee shall not lease, 
transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell 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 the controlling interest of the grantee be transferred, whether as a whole or 
in parts and whether simultaneously or contemporaneously, to any such person, 
firm, company, corporation or entity without the prior approval of the Congress of 
the Philippines. 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. 12. 
Dispersal of Ownership. -
In· accordance with the constitutional 
provision to encourage public participation in public utilities, the grantee shall 
offer at least thirty per centum (30%) of its outstanding capital stock or a higher 
percentage that may hereafter be provided by law in any securities exchange in 
the Philippines within five (5) years from the time it has achieved that statues of a 
national broadcasting network. 
A "national broadcasting network" is hereby 
defined as one that operated three (3) or more radio and/or television stations. 
Noncompliance therewith shall renderthe franchise ipso facto revoked. 
SEC. 13. 
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, shall ipso facto become part of this 
franchise and shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the herein 
grantee; Provided, however, That the foregoing shall neither apply to nor affect 
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. 
SEC. 14. General Broadcast Policy Law. - The grantee shall comply with and be 
subject to the provision of a general broadcast policy law, which Congress may 
hereafter enact. 
SEC. 15. Reportorial Requirement. - The grantee shall submit an annual report 
to the Congress of the Philippines on its compliance with the terms and 
conditions of the franchise and on its operations within sixty (60) days from the 
end of every year. 


SEC. 16. 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. 17. Repealability and Nonexclusivity 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 privileges herein provided for. 
SEC. 18. Effectivity Clause. ~ This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from the 
date of its publication, upon initiative of the grantee, in at least two (2) 
newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines. 
Approved,