[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 515, June 14, 1950 ]

AN ACT GRANTING THE SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY A TEMPORARY PERMIT TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE RADIO BROADCASTING STATIONS FOR NON-SECTARIAN AND NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. The Silliman University, hereinafter referred to as "grantee," is hereby granted a temporary permit to construct, maintain and operate, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Industry, radio broadcasting stations in the City of Dumaguete and in the Municipality of Sibulan, Province of Negros Oriental, and the corresponding; electrical communication laboratories in said province, for educational and cultural purposes only, and which shall be non-profit and non-sectarian.

SEC. 2. This temporary permit shall continue for a period of twenty-five years from the date the said stations shall be put in operation, and is made upon the express condition that the same shall be void unless the construction of said stations be begun within six months from the date of approval of this Act and be completed within two years from said date.

SEC. 3. This temporary permit is likewise made upon the express condition that the grantee shall contribute to the public welfare, shall assist in the functions of public formation and education, shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise, and shall not use its stations 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. 4.
  1. The grantee's radio stations shall not be put in actual operation until the Secretary of Commerce and Industry shall have allotted to the grantee the frequencies and wave lengths to be used under this temporary permit and issued to the grantee a license for such use
  2. The Secretary of Commerce and Industry, on reasonable notice to the grantee, may at any time change or cancel, or modify, in whole or in part, any or all of the allotments of frequencies or wave lengths to be used. He may take such action: (1) whenever in his judgment such frequencies and wave lengths have been used, or there is danger that they will be used by the grantee to impair electrical communication, or stifle competition, or to obtain a monopoly, in electrical communication, or otherwise to violate the laws or public policy of the Philippine Republic; (2) whenever in his judgment the public interest of the Philippines requires that such frequencies or wave lengths should be used for other purposes than those of the grantee, either by the Government of the Philippines or by other individuals or corporations licensed by it; and (3) whenever in his judgment for any reason the public interest of the Philippines so requires.
  3. The Secretary of Commerce and Industry is authorized to appoint, employ or make use of such boards, commissions, or agents as in his discretion he may select, to investigate, and determine the facts upon which he may act as aforesaid, and such boards, commissions and agents shall have the right by compulsory process of subpoena, to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and take evidence.
SEC. 5. The radio stations of the grantee shall be so constructed and operated that a minimum of interference will result and the wave lengths selected with a view to avoiding interference with existing radio stations and permit of the expansion of the grantee's services.

SEC. 6. A special right is reserved to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, in time of war, insurrection, domestic trouble, to take over and operate the said stations upon the order and direction of any authorized department of the Government of the Philippines without compensating the grantee of the use of said stations during the period when they shall be so operated by the said Government.

SEC. 7. The grantee shall be liable to pay the same taxes, unless exempted therefrom, on its real estate, buildings, and personal property, exclusive of the temporary permit, other persons or corporations are now or hereafter may be required by law to pay.

SEC. 8. The grantee shall hold the National, provincial, and municipal governments of the Philippines harmless from all claims, accounts, demands, or actions arising out of accidents or injuries, whether to property or to persons, caused by the construction or operation of the grantee's radio stations.

SEC. 9. The grantee shall be subject to the corporation laws of the Philippines now existing or hereafter enacted.

SEC. 10. The temporary permit hereby granted shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires.

SEC. 11. Acceptance of this temporary permit shall be given in writing by the grantee within six months after the approval of this Act. When so accepted, the grantee shall be empowered to exercise the privileges granted thereby.

SEC. 12. The grantee shall not lease, transfer, grant the usufruct of, sell or assign this temporary permit nor the rights and 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 approval the Congress of the Philippines first had. Any corporation to which this temporary permit may be sold, transferred, or assigned, shall be subject to the corporation laws of the Philippines now existing or hereafter enacted, any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity to which this temporary permit is sold, transferred, or assigned shall be subject to all the conditions, terms, restrictions and limitations of this temporary permit as fully and completely and to the same extent as if the temporary permit had been originally granted to the said person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity.

SEC. 13. This temporary permit shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for.

SEC. 14. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 14, 1950.