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HOUSE OF REPR:
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HOUSE BILL NO. A’ 59

Introduced by Representative Jerry P. Trefas

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Since 2008, the RiverView Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church has been providing religious
songs to their members through Hope Radio. It started as a small training station for the students,
of RiverView Adventist Academy, Inc. to learn more about media and radio broadcasting,

HOPE Radio was established through the generosity and perseverance of the RiverView SDA
Church as a vehicle to bring out positive changes to the community through religious hymns,
uplifting heavenly music noted to uplift the spirit of the distressed, and bring hope, peace of mind
and healing to the depressed, the stressed-out and the sick. The programs also include study of the
Holy Scriptures, inspirational readings, lectures on home and family life, child guidance,
salubrious living and wellness as these serve as the principal themes of the radio programs

This Radio station shall be registered under the Volunteer LifeCare Ministries Inc,, to be
exclusively used for the Community Media Outreach and Health Ministries of the RiverView SDA.
Church which are non-commercial in nature.

‘The main objective of Hope Radio is to broadcast uplifting religious music in addition to sharing
of the Holy Scriptures, inspirational readings, lectures on home and family life, child guidance,
healthful living and wellness, The operation and all the aforementioned programs of Hope Radio
are simply community outreach services rendered for free by volunteer missionaries, church
members, pastors and financially supported by donations from friends and love gift offerings of
the church members.

ht, it is highly recommended that approval be given for its franchise fr a
Five (25) years for more effective service to the Nation.

JERRY P/HRENAS


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRE
‘Third Regular Session

: 9)
House BILL No, 4759

Introduced by Representative Jerry P. Trefias

AN ACT
GRANTING THE VOLUNTEER LIFECARE MINISTRIES INC.
A FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL, ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE
NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO BROADCASTING STATIONS
IN THE PHILIPPINES,

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, there is hereby granted to
Volunteer LifeCare Ministries Inc,, hereunder referred to as the grantee, its successors or

ignees, a franchise to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain for commercial purposes
and in the public interest, radio and/or television broadcasting stations throughout the Philippines.
where frequencies and/or channels are still available for radio and/or television broadcasting,
including digital television system, through microwave, satellite or whatever means, including the
use of new technologies in television and radio systems, 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 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 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 thereo!.

SEC. 3. Prior Approval of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). ~The
grantee shall secure from the NTC the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction and
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 any such authority



SEC. 4. Responsibility t0 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, of 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.

5. Right of Government. - A special right is hereby reserved to the President of the
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 anytime after due
proces

SEC. 6. Term of Franchise. ~ This franchise shall be in effect for a period of owenty-five
(25) years, unless sooner revoked or cancelled. This franchise shall be deemed ipso faacto 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) Commence operations within three (3) years from the et

(c) Operate continuously for two (2) years.

vity of this Act; and

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. Bond. - The grantee shall file a bond with the NTC, in the amount that the NTC
shall determine, to guarantee compliance with and fulfillment of the conditions under which this
franchise is ranted If after three (3) years from the date of the approval of its permit by the
Commission, the grantee shall have fulfilled the same, the bond shall be cancelled by the
Commission. Otherwise, the bond shal be forfeited in favor ofthe government and the franchise
ipso facto revoked.

SEC. 9. 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.

C. 10. 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, accounts, demands, or actions arising out of accidents or injuries, whether to property or
(o persons, caused by the construction or operation of the stations of the grantee.

SEC, 11. 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 ot other commercial
of 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 ot
contemporaneously, to any stich 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. 12. 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 cent (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, 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. 13. 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. 14. 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 every year
during the term of its franchise, The reportorial compliance certificate issued by Congress shail be
required before any application for permit or certificate is accepted by the NTC.

SEC. 15. Penalty Clause. ~ Failure of the grantee to submit the requisite annual report to
Congress will be penalized by a fine in the amount of Five hundred pesos (500.00) per working



day of noncompliance, The fine will be collected by the NTC from the delinquent franchise grantee
separate from the reportorial penalties imposed by the NTC.

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 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 franchises concerning
territory covered by the franchise, the life span of the franchise, or the type of service authorized
hy the franchise.

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

SEC. 18. Repeatability 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 the privileges herein provided for

SEC. 19. Effectivity.— This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
the Official Gazeute or in a newspaper of general circulation,

Approved.