Public Service Laws(2)

7/27/2019 Public Service Laws(2)

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Public Service ActComm Act. 146, as amended

Definition of Public Service It includes every person who may own,

operate, manage or control in the Philippines for hire or compensation, with general or limited clientele, whether permanent, occasional or accidental and done for general business purposes,

any common carrier, railroad, street railway,subway motor vehicle, steamboat, or steamship line, ferries and water craftshipyard, ice-plant, electric light, heat power or any other public utility


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Public Service Law

Public ServicePublic UtilitiesMass MediaOil Industry DeregulationPower Industry


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Certificate of PublicConvenience and Necessity


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Requisites for issuance of CPC

Owned by Filipino

Financial Ability and Profit Motive

Public Necessity


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EXEMPTION FROM THEPROVISIONS OF THE

PRECEDING SECTIONWarehouses;Vehicles drawn by animals and bancasmoved by oar or sail, and tugboats andlighters;

Airships within the Philippines (except asregards to rates on freight and passengers;)Radio companies (except with respect torates);National Government Operated or by anygovernment-owned or controlled corporation,(except with respect to the fixing of rates.)Public Markets


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Public Service Commission(PSC)

authorize and control the operation of a public utilitysuspend or revoke the certificate of public convenience issued, for causeand with proper hearingcollect fees-both tax as well as

regulatory [PLDT v PSC, 34 SCRA609 (1970)]


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Notice and Hearing Required Issuance of certificate of public

convenience and certificate of publicconvenience and necessity.

Fixing rates, tolls and charges Setting-up of just reasonable standard

and classification. Suspension, revocation, modification of

certificate of public convenience andcertificate of public convenience andnecessity.


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Replacement of PSC

Land TransportationOffice and LandTransportation,Franchising andRegulatory Board

Land transportation

Air transportationoffice

governing airtransportation

NationalTelecommunication

Commission

telecommunication


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MERALCO V COURT OF APPEALS271 SCRA 417 (1997)

Regular courts, and not Board of Energy, have a proper jurisdiction over a case filed by a consumer seeking

from MERALCO the showing how itarrived at the purchased power adjustment, to which information

consumer of electricity are entitledunder Revised Order 1 issued by thethen PSC.


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PUBLIC UTILITY

Is a business or serviceengage in regularly supplying thepublicwith some commodity or service of public consequencesuch as electricity, gas, water,transportation, telephone or telegraphservice.


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Determinative characteristic of apublic utility

of service, or the readiness to serve, Public has a legal right to demand and

receive its services or commodities

(JG Summit Holdings, Inc v Court of Appeals)


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Public Utility

Citizens of the PhilippinesCorporations or associationsorganized under Philippine laws where60% of the capital is owned by Filipino


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Extent of Foreign EquityParticipation

Shall be limited to their proportionateshare in the capital,all the executive and managing

officers of such corporations or associations must be citizens of thePhilippines


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Non-Exclusivity of Franchises

Shall not be exclusive in character or for a period longer than 50 yearsshall be subject to amendment,alteration or repeal by the Congresswhen the common good so requires.


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Non-Exclusivity of Franchises

Pilipino Telephone Corporation v NTC410 SCRA 82 (2003)

Every franchise, certificate or authorityto operate a public utility is byconstitutional mandate, non exclusive.


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Primary and SecondaryFranchises

General or Primary franchiseSpecial or Secondary franchise


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Constitutional Prohibition Against Monopolies


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Shipyard not a public utility

JG Summit Holdings v Court of Appeals412 SCRA 10 (2003)

Shipyard is a place of enclosurewhere ships are built or repairedIt is not a public utilitybecause while it offers its facilities towhoever may wish to avail itsservices, a shipyard is not legallyobligated to render its service

indiscriminately to the public


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Refinement of Petroleum from AbroadBagatsing v Committee on Privatization

246 SCRA 334 (1995)

The activities considered as publicutility under Section 7 Reo Act 387refer only to petroleum which isindigenous to the PhilippinesHence, the refining of petroleumproducts sourced from abroad as isdone by Petron, is not within thecontemplation of the law


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Regulation of Rate Chargesby Public Utilities

fair return on the public utility upon thevalue of the property performing theservice

one that is reasonable to the public for services rendered.


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Coverage of Term Rates

Rate is defined as A charge, payment or price fixed

according to a ratio, scale or standard an amount paid or charged for a good or

service

Th j f id d


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Three major factors consideredby the regulating agency

(Republic v Meralco)Rate of return This court has consistently adopted a

12% rate of rate of return for publicutilities

Rate base

The computed revenue to be earnedby the public utility


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Income Taxes Cannot be included incomputation of Operating expensesfor Public Utility

Republic v Meralco391 SCRA 700 (2002)

Issue: Is Meralco correct in including income taxpayments a part of the expense for determiningthe base of the returns?

Held: No, Income tax should not be included in thecomputation of operating expenses of a publicutility, Since income tax paid by the public utilityis not consistent with the nature of operatingexpenses


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Government take over of Public Utilities


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Mass Media

Is a medium of communication that isdesigned to reach the mass of thepeople and that tends to set the

standards, ideals and aims of themasses


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National TelecommunicationsCommission (NTC)

determine what specific operating andtechnical requirement of publicconvenience and necessity authority to issue CPCNdetermine the areas of operation of applicants for telecommunicationservices


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National TelecommunicationsCommission (NTC)

GMA Network, Inc v ABS-CBNBroadcasting Corp

470 SCRA 727 2005

Wrongful acts complained of and uponwhich the damages prayed for arebased have to do with the operationsand ownership of the cable companiesThese factual matters undoubtedlypertain to the NTC and not the regular courts


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Coverage of Telecommunications

Telecommunication is any process Which enables a telecommunications entity to

relay and receive

Voice, data, electronic messages, Written or printed manner Fixed or moving pictures, words, music or

visible or audible signal or any control signal

of any design and for any purpose By wire, radio or other electromagnetic,spectral, optical or technological means (Sec3 [a] R.A. 7925)


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It covers the following areas Telephone service Inter-exchange carrier International carrier Value-added service provider Mobile radio services

Radio paging services Radio-telephony system

Coverage of Telecommunications


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Prohibition on Cross-Ownership

No single franchise shall authorize anentity to engage in bothtelecommunications and broadcasting

entities


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Public Offerings Requirement

shall make bona fide public offeringthrough the stock exchanges of atleast 30% of aggregate common stock

with the period of 5 years from itsaffectivity or the entity s first start of commercial operation, whichever date

is later


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Electronic Commerce Act2000


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Internet

Is a giant network which interconnectsinnumerable smaller groups of linkedcomputer networks, which offers three

broad types of service Electronic mail (email) Bulletin Board System (bbs)

World wide web (www)


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DOJ Opinion 40 series of 1998

Internet business does not fall withinthe coverage of the constitutionalmandate limiting ownership and

management of mass media tocitizens of the Philippines or wholly-owned and managed Philippine

Corporations


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Value-Added Services (VAS)

Value-added service provider An entity which relying on the

transmission switching and local

distribution facilities of the local exchangeand inter-exchanged operators, andoverseas carrier, offers enhancedservices beyond those ordinarily provided

for by such carriersVAS providers need not secure a franchise,provided that they do not put up their ownnetwork


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Service Provider under the E-Commerce Act is defined as a provider of

On-line services or network access

Transmission, routing, or providing of connections for online communications,digital or otherwise, between or among pointsspecified by user, of electronic documents of

the user s choosing The necessary technical means by which

electronic documents of an originator may bestored and made accessible to a designated

third party



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BUT such service providers cannot Modify or alter content of electronic data

message or electronic document received

Make any entry therein or on behalf of theoriginator addressee or any third partyunless specifically authorized to do so andwho shall retain the electronic document

in accordance with the specific request or as necessary for the purpose of performing the services it was engaged toperform


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Cable TV

owned and managed by FilipinoCitizens or corporations, cooperativesand associations, wholly-owned and

managed by Filipino Citizens pursuantto the mandate of the ConstitutionsRegulated by NTC separately from

Telecommunications and BroadcastingCarry Advertisements


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Executive Order No. 436(1997)

Determination of rates Issuance of certificate of authority Establishment of areas and operations Examination and assessment of the legal

, technical and financial qualification


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THE END

Documents

Public Service Laws(2)