ACT NO.

3997

ACT NO. 3997 - AN ACT CREATING A "NATIONAL RADIO

BROADCASTING FUND" OUT OF ANNUAL
REGISTRATION FEES ON RADIO RECEIVING SETS, AND
PROVIDING FOR THE PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT
OF RADIO BROADCASTING IN THE PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS AND FOR THE EXTENSION OF THE BENEFITS
THEREOF TO THE PEOPLE IN ALL MUNICIPALITIES
AND BARRIOS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Section 1. Main object and general enabling provisions. — This Act to be known as the "Radio Broadcasting
Law", which shall have for its main object the extension of the benefits of radio broadcasting so as to make
them, as far as it is practicable to do so, equally available to the people throughout the Philippine, Islands,
shall be administered by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications, who, in order to carry out in the
most effective manner its provisions and purposes, is hereby empowered to promulgate in the form of
administrative orders such rules and regulations as may be advisable, and to create such committee or
committees as may be necessary, and, with the permission of the respective Department Heads; concerned, to
use the services of such officers or employees of the Insular, provincial and municipal governments as may be
convenient especially in the collection of fees.

Sec. 2. Exemption of the Governments of the United States and the Philippine Islands. — The Government of
the United States shall be exempt from all requirements of this Act. The Government of the Philippine Islands
shall be exempt likewise for all radio receiving sets owned or operated by it for communication purposes:
Provided, however, That dealers or persons selling receivers to the said governments shall comply with the
provisions of section three of this Act and the regulations which may be issued thereunder by the Secretary of
Commerce and Communications as regards submission of reports on sale of receiving sets.

Sec. 3. Registration of radio receiving sets; notice of sale or change in ownership or location of each set. — The
Secretary of Commerce and Communications shall prescribe rules and regulations for the registration of
radio receiving sets and for the submission of reports on sale of receivers or on change of ownership thereof.
He may require that all receiving sets be registered annually if he deems it advisable in addition to the owners'
obligation to pay the annual fees as provided in section four. Subject to such rules and regulations, every
person, firm, company, association, corporation or any other entity having in his or in its possession or control
a radio receiving set, shall register the same with the Radio Regulation Office created or designated under
section eight of Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred and forty-six within thirty days after coming into
possession or control of such set, and it shall be the duty of the owner thereof to advise the Radio Regulation
Office of any change in his or its address within thirty days after such change takes place. And whenever any
radio receiving set is sold, or any change in ownership takes place, the dealer or former owner thereof shall
comply with the regulations issued by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications under the provisions
of this section.

Sec. 4. Annual fees to be paid. — Except as otherwise provided in section six hereof, there shall be paid and
collected a registration fee of two pesos per annum for every crystal receiving set and ten pesos per annum for
every receiving set that uses a vacuum tube or tubes for amplification or for detection: Provided however,
That if the Secretary of Commerce and Communications shall deem it advisable he may establish zones and
fix a graduated scale of zone fees, the maximum of which shall not exceed the fees herein-above above
specified: Provided, further, That the Secretary of Commerce and Communications may establish rules and
regulations for the reduction of fees payable by the same owner for the same set after one year's fee has been
paid.

The "annual fees" above specified shall be understood to be for a period of twelve months counting from the
date of acquisition of a radio receiver, and, wherever quarterly, semi-annual or annual fees are specified in
this Act, the same shall be understood to be for a period of three months, six months and twelve months,
respectively, counting from the date of acquisition of the radio set.

Sec. 5. When to pay fees; surcharge to be paid for late payment. — Upon the initial registration of a radio
receiving set, as provided in section three hereof, the fee for at least three months shall be paid in advance.
Thereafter, fees shall be payable in not less than quarterly installments, each of which shall be paid in advance
during the first thirty days of the quarter in which such fees are due. Any fee not paid within the time fixed
shall be increased by a surcharge of twenty per centum thereof: Provided, however, That the Secretary of
Commerce and Communications may prescribe rules and regulations changing the time of payment of fees
from quarterly to semi-annually or annually: Provided, further, That he may also prescribe such rules and
regulations as may be advisable to assure the prompt or immediate registration and advance payment or
collection of fees on receiving sets sold by dealers and on sets entering the country through the mails or the
custom-house and those brought by persons coming from abroad, notwithstanding the provisions of section
three of this Act regarding thirty days tune allowed for registration.

Sec. 6. Receiving sets for specified uses to be registered but exempt from payment of fees. — Subject to such
rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications, owners of
receiving sets covered by this section shall comply with the requirements of section three of this Act as regards
registration but shall be exempt from payment of the fees as required by section four:

(a) Sets in storage or out of service;

(b) Sets kept for sale or used for demonstration by those engaged in the manufacture or sale of radio
apparatus;

(c) Sets owned or operated by the Philippine Government and used for purposes other than communications;

(d) Sets installed on airplanes and ships licensed under Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred and forty-six;

(e) Sets operated by owners of broadcasting stations if such sets are used for the purpose of monitoring or
checking the quality or efficiency of the broadcasting stations;
(f) Sets owned and operated by lighthouse-keepers at their official stations;

(g) In cases where an amateur radio operator, who is licensed under Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred and
forty-six, or the owner of a licensed amateur radio station has more than one receiver in his immediate
household, all such receivers shall be registered but the fee need be paid on one receiver only.

Sec. 7. National Radio Broadcasting Fund and purposes for which it may be used. — All collections made
under this Act, as well as those which may be collected under section nine hereof, shall constitute a special
fund to be known as the "National Radio Broadcasting Fund" to be expended, with the concurrence of the
Insular Auditor, exclusively for the following purposes by authority of the Secretary of Commerce and
Communications, who shall determine what portion of this fund shall be expended for each item subject to the
limitations hereinbelow stated:

(a) Receiving sets for municipalities, barrios, etc. — Purchase, installation and/or operation of radio receiving
sets for general public benefit in distant and isolated municipalities, municipal districts, barrios and selected
Government institutions, under such rules and conditions as the Secretary of Commerce and Communications
may prescribe.

(b) Payment to broadcasting stations for broadcasting matters of interest to people. — Payment to the owners
of any duly authorized radio broadcasting station or stations of sufficient power and with satisfactory facilities
and apparatus to render reasonably satisfactory service, under normal conditions, throughout the Philippine
Islands, for the radio broadcasting of a minimum of six hours daily of governmental news, information and
education, and/or any other information or programs of interest or entertainment to the people if the type and
general character of the programs broadcasted are deemed to be of general interest or entertainment to the
public by a committee created for the purpose by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications: Provided,
That the sum authorized for any station shall not exceed the actual value of the services rendered in
accordance with this subsection: Provided, further, That if, for any fortuitous cause or force majeure or other
unavoidable reason, a minimum of six hours broadcasting shall not be made in any one day, such failure shall
not be considered as a violation of this section.

(c) Administrative expenses. — Employment of such personnel and payment of such expenses as may be
necessary in carrying out the provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations prescribed thereunder. The
Secretary of Commerce and Communications may authorize the payment to each member of any committee
or committees created by him under section one of this Act a per diem of not to exceed ten pesos for each
meeting attended: Provided, That no committee member shall be entitled to receive more than twenty pesos in
any one month for meetings attended during the month.

(d) Promotion and development of or assistance to radio broadcasting. — Any unexpended balance of the
"National Radio Broadcasting Fund" in any year shall be available exclusively for the purposes stated in this
section for any succeeding year and for the promotion and development of radio broadcasting in the
Philippine Islands and, if necessary or advisable for general public interest, for aid to radio broadcasting
stations.

Sec. 8. Annual report to Legislature. — During the first thirty days of each regular session of the Philippine
Legislature, the Secretary of Commerce and Communications shall submit a full report thereto on the work
accomplished by his Department under this Act, such report to be accompanied with a detailed statement of
all receipts and disbursements and with such recommendations as he may desire to bring to the attention of
the Legislature.

Sec. 9. Repeal of Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and thirty-eight. — Act Numbered Thirty-three
hundred and thirty-eight, approved December seven, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, is hereby repealed:
Provided, That all registration made and all fees paid thereunder shall apply under this Act for the period
covered: Provided, further, That such repeal shall not affect any act done, or any right accrued, or any suit or
proceedings had or commenced in any criminal or civil cause, prior to said repeal: Provided, furthermore,
That all surcharges and all unpaid fees due and payable under Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and
thirty-eight, as well as all fines that may be assessed thereunder, shall, when collected, be credited as provided
for in section seven of this Act: Provided, still furthermore, That any unexpended balance of the Radio
Broadcasting Fund accumulated under section twelve (d) of Act Numbered Thirty-three hundred and thirty-
eight shall be and hereby is made available as part of the "National Radio Broadcasting Fund" under this
Act: Provided, finally, That no provision of this Act shall be construed as vesting any person, firm or
corporation with any right which cannot be made the subject of further legislation by the Philippine
Legislature.

Sec. 10. Penalty for violations of this Act. — Any person who shall willfully violate any mandatory or
prohibitory provision of this Act, or any mandatory or prohibitory provision of the regulations prescribed by
the Secretary of Commerce and Communications under this Act, upon conviction thereof by a court of
competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five pesos no more than two
hundred pesos for each and every offense. And any firm, company, corporation or association willfully failing
or refusing to observe or willfully violating any provision of this Act, or any provision of the regulations
prescribed by the Secretary of Commerce and Communications under this Act, shall be punished by a fine of
not less than one hundred pesos nor more than one thousand pesos for each and every offense.

Sec. 11. This Act shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and thirty-three.

Approved: December 5, 1932.