EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
Second Regular Session 
)
SENATE 
S.B. No. 2059
OATE
Introduced by Sen. Juan Miguel F. Zubiri
AN ACT
GRANTING THE HIGHLAND BROADCASTING NETWORK CORP. A 
FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL, ESTABLISH, OPERATE AND 
MAINTAIN RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING STATIONS IN 
MINDANAO
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Broadcast radio and television remain the main avenues of news, information, 
and entertainment for millions of Filipino people, especially for households with 
limited spending capacity for cable and Internet access, and for areas that are 
yet to enjoy affordable, accessible, and stable internet connectivity. According 
to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, radio reaches around 85 
percent of the Filipino population.
Mindanao is an especially potent ground for radio and television broadcasting, 
with many municipalities having extremely limited internet connectivity.
Overall, Mindanao-based radio and broadcasting stations serve a population of 
over 25 million Mindanawons, from first-class highly urbanized centers to sixth- 
class municipalities, providing a variety of programs that cover news, public 
affairs, arts and culture, and faith and worship.
Highland Broadcasting Network Corp. will serve the whole of Mindanao, 
delivering programming that corresponds to the concerns and interests of 
Mindanawons—through a much closer lens than larger broadcasting stations 
are capable of doing, but also having a wider scope than specialized community 
radios are able to cover.
In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is urgently sought.
IGUEL F. ZUBIRI


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
Second Regular Session 
)
SENATE 
S.B. No. 2059
0
nCCEIVEO
FLED
NDeX
Introduced by Sen. Juan Miguel F. Zubiri
AN ACT
GRANTING THE HIGHLAND BROADCASTING NETWORK CORP. A 
FRANCHISE TO CONSTRUCT, INSTALL, ESTABLISH, OPERATE AND 
MAINTAIN RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING STATIONS IN 
MINDANAO
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
1 
SECTION 1. Nature and Scope of Franchise. - Subject to the provisions of
2 
the Constitution and applicable laws, rules and regulations, there is hereby granted to
3 
Highland Broadcasting Network Corp., hereunder referred to as the grantee, its
4 
successor or assignees, a franchise to construct, establish, operate and maintain for
5 
commercial purposes and in the public interest, radio and/or television broadcasting
6 
stations in Mindanao, where frequencies and/or channels are still available for radio
7 
and/or television broadcasting, including digital television system, through microwave,
8 
satellite or whatever means as well as the use of any new technology in television and
9 
radio systems, with the corresponding technological auxiliaries and facilities, special
10 
broadcast and other program and distribution services and relay stations.
11 
SEC. 2. Manner of Operation of Stations or Faciiities. - The stations or
12 
facilities of the grantee shall be constructed and operated in a manner as will, at most,
13 
result only in the minimum interference on the wavelengths or frequencies of existing
14 
stations or other stations which may be established by law, without in any way
15 
diminishing its own privilege to use its assigned wavelengths or frequencies and the
16 
quality of transmission or reception thereon as should maximize rendition of the
17 
grantee's services and/or availability thereof.
18 
SEC. 3. Prior Approvai of the Nationai Teiecommunications
19 
Commission. - The grantee shall secure from the National Telecommunications
20 
Commission (NTC) the appropriate permits and licenses for the construction and
21 
operation of its stations or facilities and shall not use any frequency in the
22 
radio/television spectrum without authorization by the NTC. The NTC, however, shall
23 
not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of any such authority.


1 
The grantee shall not dispose or lease its facilities except to entities with a radio
2 
or television broadcasting franchise: Provided, That the grantee shall inform and
3 
secure written authorization from the NTC to proceed with such disposal or lease, and
4 
report the transaction to the NTC within sixty (60) days after its completion: Provided,
5 
further. That the NTC shall determine the corresponding sanction for any violation of
6 
this provision,
7 
The NTC shall have the authority to revoke or suspend, after due process, the
8 
permits or licenses of the grantee for any violation of the provisions of the franchise,
9 
and may recommend to Congress the revocation of the franchise for any violation of
10 
the provisions thereof.
11 
SEC. 4. Responsibility to the Public. - The grantee shall provide, free of
12 
charge, adequate public service time which is reasonable and sufficient to enable the
13 
government, through the grantee's broadcasting stations or facilities, to reach the
14 
pertinent populations or portions thereof, on important public issues, and relay
15 
important public announcements and warnings concerning public emergencies and
16 
calamities, as necessity, urgency or the law may require; provide at all times sound
17 
and balanced programming; promote public participation; assist in the functions of
18 
public information and education; conform to the ethics of honest enterprise; promote
19 
audience sensibility and empowerment including closed captioning; and not use its
20 
stations or facilities for the broadcasting of obscene or indecent language, speech, act
21 
or scene, or for the dissemination of deliberately false information or willful
22 
misrepresentation, to the detriment of public interest; or to incite, encourage or assist
23 
in subversive or treasonable acts.
24 
Public service time referred herein shall be equivalent to a maximum aggregate
25 
of ten percent (10%) of paid commercials or advertisements which shall be allocated
26 
based on need to the Executive and Legislative branches, the Judiciary, Constitutional
27 
Commissions, and international humanitarian organizations duly recognized by
28 
statutes: Provided, That the NTC shall increase the public service time in case of
29 
extreme emergency or calamity. The NTC shall issue rules and regulations for this
30 
purpose, the effectivity of which shall commence upon applicability with other similarly
31 
situated broadcast network franchise holders.
32 
Pursuant to Republic Act No. 8370, otherwise known as the "Children's
33 
Television Act of 1997", the grantee shall allot a minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of
34 
the daily total air time of each broadcasting network to child-friendly shows within its
35 
regular programming.
36 
SEC. 5. Right of the Government - The radio spectrum is a finite resource
37 
that is part of the national patrimony, and the use thereof is a privilege conferred
38 
upon the grantee by the State that may be withdrawn any time after due process.
39 
A special right is hereby reserved to the President of the Philippines, in times
40 
of war, rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster, or disturbance of peace
41 
and order, to temporarily take over and operate the stations or facilities of the grantee,
42 
or to temporarily suspend the operation of any station or facility in the interest of


1 
public safety, security and public welfare, or to authorize the temporary use and
2 
operation thereof by any agency of the government, upon due compensation to the
3 
grantee, for the use of said stations or facilities during the period when these shall be
4 
so operated.
5 
SEC. 6. Term of Franchise. - This franchise shall be in effect for a period of
6 
twenty-five (25) years from the effectivity of this Act, unless sooner revoked or
7 
cancelled. This franchise shall be deemed ipso facto revoked in the event the grantee
8 
fails to operate continuously for two (2) years.
9 
SEC. 7. Self-regulation by and Undertaking of Grantee. - The grantee
10 
shall not require any previous censorship of any speech, play, act or scene, or other
11 
matter to be broadcast from its stations, but if any such speech, play, act or scene, or
12 
other matter should constitute a violation of the law or infringement of a private right,
13 
the grantee shall be free from any liability, civil or criminal, for such speech, play, act
14 
or scene, or other matter: Provided, That the grantee, during any broadcast, shall cut
15 
off the airing of speech, play, act or scene, or other matter being broadcast if the
16 
tendency thereof is to propose or incite treason, rebellion or sedition; or the language
17 
used therein or the theme thereof is indecent or immoral: Provided, further. That
18 
willful failure to do so shall constitute a valid cause for the cancellation of this
19 
franchise.
20 
SEC. 8. Warranty in Favor of the National and Local Governments. -
21 
The grantee shall hold the national, provincial, city, and municipal governments of the
22 
Philippines free from all claims, liabilities, demands, or actions arising out of accidents
23 
causing injury to persons or damage to properties, during the construction or
24 
operation of the stations of the grantee.
25 
SEC. 9. Commitment to Provide and Promote the Creation of
26 
Employment Opportunities. - The grantee shall create employment opportunities
27 
as well as accept on-the-job trainees in their franchise operations: Provided, That
28 
priority shall be accorded to the residents of the place where the principal office of
29 
the grantee is located: Provided, further. That the grantee shall comply with the
30 
applicable labor standards allowance entitlement under existing labor laws, rules and
31 
regulations and similar issuances: Provided, finaiiy. That the employment
32 
opportunities or jobs created shall be reflected In the General Information Sheet (GIS)
33 
to be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) annually.
34 
SEC. 10. Nontransferability of Franchise. - The grantee shall not lease,
35 
transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell nor assign this franchise or the rights and privileges
36 
acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial
37 
or legal entity, nor merge with any other corporation or entity, nor shall the controlling
38 
interest of the grantee be transferred, whether as a whole or in parts, simultaneously
39 
or contemporaneously, to any such person, firm, company, corporation, or entity
40 
without the prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines.
41 
Congress shall be informed of any sale, lease, transfer, grant of usufruct, or
42 
assignment of franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder, or the


1 
merger or transfer of the controlling interest of the grantee within sixty (60) days after
2 
the completion of the said transaction. Failure to report to Congress such change of
3 
ownership shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked.
4 
Any person or entity to which this franchise is sold, transferred, or assigned,
5 
shall be subject to the same conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of this Act.
6 
SEC. 11. Dispersal of Ownership. - In accordance with the constitutional
7 
provision to encourage public participation in public utilities, the grantee shall offer to
8 
Filipino citizens at least thirty percent (30%) of its outstanding capital stock or a higher
9 
percentage that may hereafter be provided by law in any securities exchange in the
10 
Philippines within five (5) years from the effectivity of this Act: Provided, That in cases
11 
where the public offer or shares is not applicable, other methods of encouraging public
12 
participation by citizens and corporations operating public utilities must be
13 
implemented. Noncompliance therewith shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked.
14 
SEC. 12. Reportoriai Requirement. - The grantee shall submit an annual
15 
report to the Congress of the Philippines, through the Committee on Legislative
16 
Franchises of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Public Services of
17 
the Senate, on its compliance with the terms and conditions of the franchise and on
18 
or before April 30 of every year during the term of its franchise.
19 
The annual report shall Include an update on the roll-out, development,
20 
operation or expansion of business; audited financial statements; latest GIS officially
21 
submitted to the SEC, if applicable; certification of the NTC on the status of Its permits
22 
and operations; and an update on the dispersal of ownership undertaking, if
23 
applicable.
24 
The reportoriai compliance certificate issued by Congress shall be required
25 
before any application for permit or certificate is accepted by the NTC.
26 
SEC. 13. Fine. - Failure of the grantee to submit the requisite annual report
27 
to Congress shall be penalized by a fine of Five hundred pesos (P500.00) per working
28 
day of noncompliance. The fine shall be collected by NTC from the delinquent
29 
franchise grantee separate from the reportoriai penalties imposed by the NTC and the
30 
same shall be remitted to the Bureau of Treasury.
31 
SEC. 14. Equality Clause. - Any advantage, favor, privilege, exemption, or
32 
immunity granted under existing franchises, or which may hereafter be granted for
33 
radio and television broadcasting, upon prior review and approval of Congress, shall
34 
become part of this franchise and shall be accorded Immediately and unconditionally
35 
to the herein grantee: Provided, That the foregoing shall neither apply to nor affect
36 
the provisions of broadcasting franchises concerning territorial coverage, the term, or
37 
type of service authorized by the franchise.
3 8 
SEC. 15. Repealability and Nonexclusivity Clause. - This franchise shall
39 be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines


1 
when the public interest so requires and shall not be interpreted as an exciusive grant
2 
of the privileges herein provider for.
3 
SEC. 16. Separability Clause. - If any of the sections or provisions of this
4 
Act is held invalid, all other provisions not affected thereby shall remain valid.
5 
SEC. 17. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, resolutions,
6 
instructions, rules and regulations, and other issuances or parts thereof which are
7 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified
8 
accordingly.
9 
SEC. 18. Effectivity. - This Act shali take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
10 publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
11
Approved,