LAWMAKERS on Tuesday approved on third and final reading a bill that will grant another 25-year franchise to Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. or IBC-13.
All 272 lawmakers voted “Yes” to House Bill No. 6505 or the proposed law renewing for another 25 years the franchise granted to the company. None of them voted “No” nor abstained.
If signed into law, the proposed franchise renewal will allow IBC-13 to “construct, install, establish, operate, and maintain radio and television broadcasting stations in the Philippines,” the bill stated.
Public service time must be “equivalent to a maximum aggregate of 10% of paid commercials or advertisements, but this may be increased in case of extreme emergency or calamity.”
IBC-13 must also allot a minimum of 15% of the daily total air time of its regular programming to child-friendly shows.
The bill states that any speech, play, act, or scene that may promote or incite treason, rebellion, sedition, or language that is obscene, indecent or immoral, as well as false information or willful misrepresentation, must be cut off before airing.
IBC-13’s franchise was first granted an extension in September 2000 under Republic Act No. 8954.
The company was provided a budget of P187.9 million under the 2023 General Appropriations Act after a former press secretary warned of the network’s possible shutdown if Congress fails to allot funds. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz