Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _______ 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE DIVINA GRACE C. YU and 
REPRESENTATIVE JEYZEL VICTORIA C. YU 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill seeks the renewal of the franchise granted to Digital Broadcasting 
Corporation under Republic Act No. 8689, entitled “An Act Granting  Digital 
Broadcasting Corporation a Franchise to Construct, Install,  Establish, Operate and 
Maintain Radio and Television Stations in the Philippines". 
The Digital Broadcasting Corporation was incorporated in the year 1997. 
However, it was on the year 2009, that the Seventh-day Adventist Church,  through 
the South Philippine Union Conference (“SPUC”) started to take active participation in 
its operations that the Digital Broadcasting Corporation applied for and was granted 
Provisional Authorities by the National Telecommunications Commission (“NTC”) to 
operate FM, AM and Television Broadcasting Stations.  
At present, the Digital Broadcasting Corporation is operating FM stations in the 
cities of Iligan, Matanao, Tangub, Tagum, Toledo and Butuan. It is also operating an 
AM radio station in Butuan City. At present, plans are already underway for the 
operation of its Marbel, Malaybalay, Baler, Puerto Princesa and Daet TV stations.  
All the programs being broadcasted by the Digital Broadcasting Corporation are 
all geared towards spreading the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of 
sharing God’s good news for a better life. Its focus on faith, health, family, relationships 
and community based teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church enabled the 
Digital Broadcasting Corporation to provide quality public service with no distinction 
as to religious or political affiliations.  
It is therefore imperative that the continuation of this kind of public service be 
given the State’s imprimatur and support. 
In view of the foregoing, the approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
REP. DIVINA GRACE C. YU 
1st District, Zamboanga del Sur 
REP. JEYZEL VICTORIA C. YU 
2nd District, Zamboanga del Sur 
May 29, 2023
4:24 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ________ 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE DIVINA GRACE C. YU and 
REPRESENTATIVE JEYZEL VICTORIA C. YU 
AN ACT 
RENEWING FOR ANOTHER TWENTY-FIVE (25) YEARS THE FRANCHISE 
GRANTED TO DIGITAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION UNDER REPUBLIC 
ACT NO. 8689, ENTITLED "AN ACT GRANTING  DIGITAL BROADCASTING 
CORPORATION A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL,  ESTABLISH, 
OPERATE AND MAINTAIN RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS IN THE 
PHILIPPINES" 
SECTION 1. Nature and Scope of Franchise. – Subject to the provisions of the 
Constitution and applicable laws, rules and regulations, the franchise granted under 
Republic Act No. 8689 to the Digital Broadcasting Corporation, hereunder referred to 
as the grantee, its successors and assignees, to construct, install, 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 broadcasting, and other technology that may 
hereafter or in the future be developed in the field of broadcasting, and such other 
systems, facilities or structures for the origination, reception, processing, transmission, 
broadcast, rebroadcast or distribution of audio, video information, and other electronic 
signals, for the provision of services such as direct to home/user broadcast via 
satellite, pay and cable television, multimedia, and value-added services and other 
similar services, through electromagnetic waves, fiber optics, satellite and whatever 
means now available or which in the future may be developed for telecasting and 
broadcasting of news, documentaries, entertainment, informational and educational, 
interactive and various television programs with the corresponding technological 
auxiliaries or facilities, special broadcast, other program and distribution services and 
relay stations, and to install radio communication facilities, transmit and receive 
satellite systems, content production and distribution facilities and other systems as 
are essential or convenient to carry out the purposes of this Act, is hereby renewed 
for another twenty-five (25) years from the effectivity of this Act. 
SECTION 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 privilege to use its assigned 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. 
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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 its stations 
or 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 any such authority. 
SECTION 4. Responsibility to the Public. – The grantee shall provide, free of 
charge, adequate public service time which is reasonable and sufficient to enable the 
government, through the broadcasting stations or facilities of the grantee, to 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 including 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 the public interest; or to incite, encourage, or 
assist in subversive or treasonable acts. 
Public service time referred herein shall be equivalent to a maximum aggregate 
of ten percent (10%) of paid commercials or advertisements which shall be allocated 
based on need to the executive, legislative, judiciary, constitutional commissions, and 
international humanitarian organizations duly recognized by statutes: Provided, That 
the NTC shall increase the public service time in case of extreme emergency or 
calamity. The NTC shall issue rules and regulations for this purpose, the effectivity of 
which shall commence upon applicability with other similarly situated broadcast 
network franchise holders. 
SECTION 5. Right of the Government. – The radio spectrum is a finite resource 
that is part of the national patrimony. The use thereof is a privilege conferred upon the 
grantee by the State and may be withdrawn any time after 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 these shall be so 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 the grantee 
fails to operate continuously for two (2) years. 
SECTION 7. Self-regulation by and Undertaking of the 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. 
SECTION 8. 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 9. Commitment to Provide and Promote the Creation of Employment 
Opportunities. – The grantee shall create employment opportunities and shall allow 
on-the-job trainings in their franchise operation: Provided, That priority shall be 
accorded to the residents in areas where any of its offices is located: Provided, 
further, 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 employment opportunities or jobs created shall 
be reflected in the General Information Sheet to be submitted to the Securities and 
Exchange Commission annually. 
SECTION 10. 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 merge with any other 
corporation or entity, nor shall transfer the controlling interest of the grantee, 
simultaneously or contemporaneously, to any person, firm, company, corporation, or 
entity without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines. Congress shall be 
informed of any sale, lease, transfer, grant of usufruct, or assignment of franchise or 
the rights and privileges acquired thereunder, or of the merger or transfer of the 
controlling interest of the grantee, within sixty (60) days after the completion of the 
said transaction. Failure to report to Congress such change of ownership shall render 
the franchise ipso facto revoked. 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. 
SECTION 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 percent (30%) or a higher percentage that may hereafter 
be provided by law of its outstanding capital 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, the 
grantee shall apply other methods of encouraging public participation by citizens and 
corporations operating public utilities as allowed by law. Noncompliance therewith 
shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked. 
SECTION 12. 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 Philippine Senate, on its compliance with the terms and conditions of the franchise 
and on its operations on or before April 30 of every year during the term of its franchise. 
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 (₱500.00) 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 and the same shall be remitted to the National Treasury. 
SECTION 14. Equality Clause. – Except for taxes and customs duties, 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 and shall be 
accorded immediately and unconditionally to the herein grantee: Provided, That the 
foregoing shall neither apply to nor affect provisions of broadcasting franchises 
concerning territorial coverage, the term, or the type of service authorized by the 
franchise. 
SECTION 15. 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 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. 
SECTION 17. 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 repealed, amended, or modified 
accordingly. 
SECTION 18. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.