Bill extending TV5 franchise to be transmitted to Palace

THE BILL extending the franchise granted to ABC Development Corp., currently known as TV5 Network, Inc., for another 25 years will soon be transmitted to the Office of the President.

The House of Representatives concurred with the Senate amendments, eliminating the need to convene a bicameral conference committee.

The bill is being prepared for the signature of the Congress leaders before it is transmitted to President Rodrigo R. Duterte for enactment.

“No need to convene a bicam. Last I heard was that the bill was in the process of enrollment after which it’d be transmitted to the President for his signature,” Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus D. Romualdo, who wrote the bill, said in a phone message on Monday.

The network primarily broadcasts sports and news programs, through ESPN and News5. Its franchise was first granted in December 1994, under Republic Act No. 7831, and is set to expire this year.

If enacted, TV5 will be allowed to continue to “construct, install, operate, and maintain radio and television broadcasting stations in the Philippines.”

The Senate version, in particular, had included a provision requiring the grantee to inform Congress of “Any sale, lease, transfer, grant of usufruct, or assignment, of franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder, or of the merger or transfer of the controlling interest,” which the House adopted.

The bill requires the network to provide the government with adequate public service time or a maximum aggregate of 10% of the paid commercials or advertisements. —