GMA Network says it consistently complied with all franchise requirements

This statement was issued by the Kapuso network after SAGIP party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta floated the 50-year cap on franchises. (File photo by Patrick Roque /Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

GMA Network, which has been operating for 70 years, said that it consistently complied with all requirements.

Through a statement released on Thursday, June 18, the network gave details about the timeline of its franchise renewals.

“The Network, which started its corporate existence in 1950 as Loreto F. de Hemedes, Inc. (later changed to Republic Broadcast System or RBS), first obtained a franchise under Act No. 3846 and later under Presidential Decree 576-A,” it wrote, adding that it had amended its original Articles of Incorporation to “extend its corporate life pursuant to the Corporation Code of the Philippines.”

RBS was then granted a new 25-year franchise in 1992 pursuant to the 1987 Constitution. It was then renewed for another 25 years under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10925 in 2017. Both of these renewals did not exceed 50 years.

“It is important to clarify that in both instances, GMA was granted by law 25 years each to operate its radio and television business which do not exceed 50 years,” it added.

This statement was issued by the Kapuso network after SAGIP party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta floated the 50-year cap on franchises.

“I myself would concede that the 50-year limit is subject to the discretion of the state. Only the state, subject to its discretion, can extend its 50-year limit,” he said during the joint House committee hearing on ABS-CBN’s franchise on June 17.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered ABS-CBN to cease and desist its operations on May 5, after its franchise expired.