Section 1
SECTION 1. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred forty-six, as amended, there is hereby granted to Filipinas Telephone Company, Incorporated, hereinafter called the grantee, its successors or assigns, for a period of twenty-five years from the approval of this Act, the right, privilege, and authority to construct, operate and maintain telephone systems in Tagaytay City and Cavite City; Imus, Kawit, Bacoor, Noveleta and Rosario, all in the Province of Cavite; Guagua and Bacolor, both in the Province of Pampanga; and in and between the provinces, cities and municipalities in Luzon, it being understood that the grantee is authorized to construct, operate and maintain such exchanges and branch tributary lines within the provinces, cities and municipalities traversed to connect with the main systems, as public interest may warrant. The grantee is authorized to carry on the business of the electrical transmission of messages, impressions, pictures and signals in and between said provinces, cities and municipalities in Luzon, and/or to connect such systems within Luzon to the telephone systems of other countries, and for the purpose of operating said telephone system and transmitting messages and signals by means of electricity, to construct, operate and maintain and use all apparatus, conduits, appliances, receivers, transmitters, antennas, and equipment necessary for the electrical transmission of messages and signals, and to erect poles, structures, string wires, build conduits, lay cables, and to construct, maintain and use such other approved and generally accepted means of electrical conduction in, on, over, or under the public roads, government right-of-ways, lands, bridges, rivers, waters, streets, lanes, and sidewalks of said provinces, cities and municipalities, and overhead or submarine lines or on the surface of the ground as may be necessary and best adapted to said transmission: Provided, however, That all cables laid, all poles erected and all conduits constructed or used by the grantee, its successors or assigns, shall be located in places designated by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications and poles shall be erected in a workman like manner to the satisfaction of said official: And provided, further, That upon reasonable notice of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, the grantee, its successors or assigns, may be required to relocate poles or remove or raise wires or other conductors so as to permit the passage of buildings or other structures from one place to another, one-half of the actual cost of such relocation of poles or raising or removal of wires or other conductors to be paid by the person at whose instance the building or structure is moved; and wires and to remove or raise wires, or other conductors when the Secretary of Public Works and Communications so orders and when public interest so requires: Provided, finally, That from any order to relocate conduits, poles or wires, or to raise or remove wires or other conductors, the said grantee, its successors or assigns, shall have the right to appeal to the President of the Philippines, whose decision in the matter shall be final. Should the grantee, its successors or assigns, fail, refuse, or neglect within a period of ninety days after notice to relocate its poles, conduits, wires, or other conductors, or to raise its wires or other conductors when so directed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications then this official may relocate said poles, conduits, wires or other conductors or raise said wires or other conductors at the expense of the grantee, its successors or assigns: Provided, That the installation of all instruments, inside wiring, and all outside construction work shall be done in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications: Provided, further, That whenever twenty-five or more pairs of wires or other conductors are carried on in one line of poles in any city or municipal center, said wires or conductors shall be placed in one cable and that whenever more than one thousand two hundred pairs of wires or other conductors are carried on one line of poles, said cables shall be placed underground by the grantee, its successors or assigns, whenever ordered to do so by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications: Provided, further, That the poles erected, wires and cables strung, or conduits laid by virtue of this franchise shall be so placed as not to impair the efficient and effective transmission of messages or signals by any other company whose poles are erected, whose wires and cables are strung, or, whose conduits are actually laid at the time the poles are to be erected, wires and cables strung and conduits laid under and by virtue of this franchise: And provided, finally, That poles erected by the grantee shall be of such a height as to maintain the wires stretched on the same at a height of at least ten feet above the level of the ground providing a height of at least fifteen feet in crossing roads or streets, and shall be placed so as not to be a danger to public safety, in accordance with a plan approved by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications.