Presidential Decree No. 947 (PD 947) — Presidential Decree Granting the Domestic Satellite Philippines, Incorporated a Franchise to Install, Maintain and Operate, in Any Place in the Philippines Stations for Providing Telecommunication Services Through the Use of Satellites, Telecommunications (Radio, Telegraph, Telephone and Television Systems, Lines, Circuits, Wire/And/ or Wireless) to Serve All Those Needing Such Service on Land, at Sea and in the Air.
WHEREAS, there is a need to develop a nationwide
telecommunications network which can provide various telecommunications
services to domestic carriers, television and radio network and
specialized service networks;
WHEREAS, it is necessary to introduce the latest technology
into existing networks in order to make available the most modern
services in various areas of the Archipelago;
WHEREAS, the use of these telecommunications services for
educational, informational, agricultural, industrial, law enforcement,
government and military purposes will catalyze the social, economic and
political advancement of the Philippines;
WHEREAS, the Domestic Satellite Philippines, Inc. has been
specifically organized to provide throughout the Republic of the
Philippines telecommunication services through the use of communication
satellites and other modern media;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution,
do hereby order and decree:
SECTION 1. There is hereby granted to Domestic Satellite
Philippines, Inc., herein referred to as the Grantee, a franchise to
establish, install, operate and maintain in the Philippines, and at such
places as the Grantee may select, as a carrier's carrier, any and all
types of telecommunications services available through the use of space
relay and repeater stations for domestic public communications with
authority to receive and transmit messages, impressions, pictures,
music, entertainment, advertising, and signal throughout the Philippines
and between the Philippines and ships at sea, airplanes and other
conveyances, contract with and furnish channels of communication, both
satellite and terrestrial to authorized users; and to charge and receive
compensation therefor by tools and charges.
SEC. 2. This franchise includes the right and authority of
the Grantee to construct, maintain and operate such ground and other
facilities, as needed, to deliver telecommunications services to and
from the communications satellite system and the telephone, telegraph,
telex and other network switching centers owned by domestic common
carriers, television and radio broadcasting stations and networks, and
terminals of specialized telecommunications network of government and/or
private persons and/or corporations such as computer/data
communications systems and point-to-point or switched voice networks.
The Grantee may also assist, as required, in the development of
nationwide television and radio coverage for education, information and
entertainment purposes by the construction, operation and maintenance
of necessary equipment and facilities. Further, the Grantee may, using
its facilities, provide satellite telecommunications services as
required to develop intra-regional communications of associations of
which the Republic of the Philippines is a member country, utilizing
existing or planned satellite systems as space relay devices provided
that such provision of services does not conflict with the country's
commitment as signatory to agreements of International Organizations.
SEC. 3. Subject to the limitations and procedures
prescribed by law, the Grantee is authorized to exercise the rights of
eminent domain insofar as may be reasonably necessary to further the
establishment and efficient maintenance and operation of the
telecommunication services, its system, lines, circuits and/or stations.
The Grantee is authorized to construct and maintain its works of public
utility and services over and across public property of the
Philippines, including stations, highways, squares and reservations, and
other similar property of the Philippines and its branches.
SEC. 4. This franchise shall continue for a period of
(50) years from the date the said telecommunication services shall be
put in actual commercial operations and is made upon the express
condition that the same shall be void, unless work of the
telecommunication system be begun within two years from the date of the
effectivity of this Decree and that system be in operation within four
years from said date. Said period may, however, be extended on
justifiable grounds by the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and
Communications.
SEC. 5. A special right is hereby reserved to the
President of the Republic of the Philippines in time of war, rebellion,
public peril, or other national emergencies and when public safety
required, to cause the closing of the Grantee's circuits and/or stations
or to authorize the use or possession thereof by any Department of the
government without compensation to the Grantee for the use of the said
station during the continuance of the national emergency.
SEC. 6. In consideration of the franchise and rights
hereby granted, the Grantee shall pay to the Republic of the Philippines
during the life of this franchise a tax of one-half per cent of gross
earnings derived by the Grantee from its operation under this franchise
and which originate from the Philippines. Such tax shall be due and
payable annually within ten days after the audit and approval of the
accounts by the Commission on Audit as prescribed in Section 11 hereof
and shall be in lieu of all taxes, assessments, charges, fees, or levies
of any kind, nature, or description, levied, established or collected
by any municipal, provincial, or national authority including but not
limited to customs duties, taxes, wharfage and all other charges,
imports, or fees on any and all equipments, machineries, vehicles, and
spare parts needed in the installation and/or operation of the business
of the Grantee, except that the Grantee shall pay the tax on its real
property in conformity with existing law.
SEC. 7. The Grantee shall be subject to the pertinent
laws, rules and regulations of the Philippines and pertinent
international agreements to which the Philippines is or will be a
signatory, now existing or hereafter enacted.
SEC. 8. The franchise hereby granted shall be subject to
amendment, alteration or repeal by competent authority, and the rights
to occupy public property and places hereby granted shall revert to the
government upon the termination of this franchise, or by such repeal or
forfeiture thereof or by its expiration in due course.
SEC. 9. The operation and activities of the
telecommunications systems, lines, circuits and/or stations of the
Grantee shall contribute to the public welfare; shall conform to the
ethics of honest enterprise; shall assist in the functions of public
information and education; and shall not be used for the dissemination
of deliberately false information, or willful misrepresentation, or to
the detriment of the public health, or to incite, encourage or assist in
subversive or treasonable acts.
SEC. 10. The right is hereby reserved to the government
of the Philippines, through the Board of Communications, or such other
office as may be hereunto duly authorized, to fix the minimum and
maximum rates to be charged by the Grantee.
SEC. 11. The Grantee shall keep a separate account of
the gross receipts of business transacted by it in the Philippines and
shall furnish the Commission on Audit with a copy of such account not
later than the last day of February of each year for the preceding year.
For the purpose of auditing the accounts surrendered to the Commission
on Audit, all the books and accounts of the Grantee, or duplicates
thereof, so far as they relate to the business transacted in the
Philippines, shall be subject to the official inspection of the
Commission on Audit or his authorized representatives, and the audit or
approval of such accounts shall be final and conclusive evidence as to
the amount of said gross receipts, except that the Grantee shall have
the right to appeal to the Courts of the Philippines, under the terms
and conditions provided in the laws of this country.
SEC. 12. As a condition of the granting of this
franchise, the Grantee shall execute a bond in favor of the Government
of the Philippines, in the sum of fifty thousand pesos in form and with
sureties satisfactory to the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation
and Communications, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the
Grantee's obligations hereunder during the first four years of the life
of this franchise or the extension that may be granted under Section 4
hereof. If, within the four years from the date of the effectivity of
this Decree or during the aforesaid extension, if any, the Grantee shall
have fulfilled said obligations or so soon thereafter as the Grantee
shall have fulfilled the same, the bond aforesaid shall be cancelled by
the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications.
SEC. 13. Acceptance of the franchise shall be given in
writing within one year after the effectivity of this Decree. When so
accepted the Grantee and upon the approval of the bond aforesaid by the
Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, the
Grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted hereby.
SEC. 14. The Grantee shall not lease, transfer, grant
the usufruct of, sell or assign this franchise, nor the rights or
privileges acquired thereunder, to any person, firm, company,
corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any
other company or corporation organized for the same purpose, without the
prior approval of the President of the Philippines. Any person, firm,
company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity to which this
franchise is sold, transferred or assigned shall be subject to all the
conditions, terms, restrictions and limitations of this franchise as
fully and completely and to the same extent as if the franchise had been
granted to the same person, firm, company, corporation or other
commercial or legal entity.
SEC. 15. This franchise shall not be interpreted to mean
an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for. However, in
the event any competing individual, partnership or corporation shall
receive a similar permit or franchise with terms and/or provisions more
favorable than those herein granted or which tend to place the Grantee
herein at any disadvantage, then such terms and/or provisions shall,
ipso facto, become part hereof and shall operate equally in favor of the
Grantee herein.
SEC. 16. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 17th day of June, in the year
of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-six.
(Sgd.)
FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President
Republic of the Philippines
By the President:
(Sgd.)
JACOBO C. CLAVE
Presidential Executive Assistant
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).
