RA. 3846

What is the Republic Act No. 3846?

According to Section 1, who needs to obtain a franchise to operate a radio station in the Philippine Islands?

• Any individual

• Any foreign company

• Any corporation

• Any government entity

What is the penalty for violating any provision of the Act according to Section 12?

No person, firm, company, association or corporation shall construct, install, establish, or operate a radio station within the Philippine Islands without having first obtained a franchise therefor from the Philippine Legislature; Provided however, That no franchise from the Legislature shall be necessary for the construction, installation, establishment or operation of a broadcasting station, an amateur station, an experimental station, a training station, a station on board a mobile vessel, train, or aircraft, or a private station in a place without any means of communication.

The construction or installation of any station shall not be begun, unless a permit therefor has been granted by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications. No station shall be operated except under and in accordance with the provisions of a license issued therefor by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications. The license shall state the dates between which the station may be operated. If a renewal is desired, the licensee shall submit an application to the Secretary of Commerce and Communication at least two (2) months before the expiration date of the license to be renewed. The Secretary of Commerce and Communication shall determine the period for which each license is issued; Provided, that no license shall be issued for a longer period than three (3) years.

The Secretary of Commerce and Communication is hereby empowered to regulate the establishment, use, and operation of all radio stations and of all forms of radio communications and transmissions within the Philippine Islands and to issue such rules and regulations as may be necessary.

. No radio station license shall be transferred to any person, firm, company, association or corporation without express authority of the Secretary of Commerce and Communications, and no license shall be granted or transferred to any person who is not a citizen of the United States of America or of the Philippine Islands; or to any firm or company which is not incorporated under the laws of the Philippine Islands or any state or territory of the United States of America; or to any company or corporation twenty percent (20%) of whose capital stock may be voted by aliens or their representatives, or by a foreign government or its representatives, or by any company, corporation, or association organized under the laws of a foreign country

The privileges granted in any station license shall not be exclusive.

The President of the United States of America, or the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands, in time of war, public peril, calamity, or disaster, may cause the closing of any radio station in the Philippine Islands; or may authorize the temporary use or possession thereof by any department of the Government upon just compensation to the owners.

A person to whom or through whom a message has been submitted for transmission shall not willfully publish or divulge the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning thereof to any unauthorized person; and no person not being authorized by the sender or the addressee shall intercept any message or communication and willfully divulge or publish the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such intercepted message or communication to any person; and no person not being entitled thereto shall receive, or assist in receiving, any message or communications and use the same or any information therein contained for his benefit or for the benefit of another not entitled thereto; and no person having received such intercepted message or communication, or having become acquainted with the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of the same or any part thereof, knowing that such information was so obtained, shall divulge or publish the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of the same or any part thereof, or use the same or any information therein contained for his own benefit or for the benefit of another not entitled thereto: Provided, that this section shall not apply to the transmitting, receiving, divulging, publishing or utilizing the contents of any message or communication broadcasted or transmitted by amateurs or others for the use of the general public or relating to ships in distress.