[ Act No. 3396, December 05, 1927 ]

AN ACT TO MAKE THE INSTALLATION OF RADIO APPARATUS OBLIGATORY FOR SHIPS OF PHILIPPINE REGISTER, PROVIDE FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF, AND ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the same:

SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for any vessel of Philippine register of the tonnage hereinafter specified to sail or attempt to sail from any port of the Philippine Islands without being equipped with efficient apparatus for sending and receiving messages by radio.

SEC. 2. Vessels of Philippine register of three hundred and fifty tons gross or over carrying passengers in the ons' coastwise trade, except vessels plying exclusively on rivers, lakes, and bays, shall be equipped with radio apparatus capable of sending and receiving communications over a distance of not less than two hundred nautical miles: Provided, That vessels of two hundred tons net making regular trips from one port to another for more than fifteen hours shall be included in this section.

SEC. 3. Whenever the Director of Posts may consider it to be necessary, on account of the conditions of the installation of the principal plant, vessels equipped with radio shall also be equipped with an auxiliary dynamo independent from the main electric plant of the vessel which shall make it possible for the sending apparatus to send messages during at least four hours over a minimum distance of two hundred miles, by day and by night.

SEC. 4. The radio apparatus shall be in charge of at least one operator licensed by the Bureau of Posts. The radio apparatus, the operator or operators in case the shipowner employs more than one, the regulation of their hours on duty, the sending and receiving of messages except in so far as regulated by the law or international agreement, shall be under the control of the master of the vessel; and any neglect on the part of such master to enforce the provisions of this section relating to the apparatus, operators and time on duty while at sea, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred pesos, without prejudice to the liability contracted by him under other laws for the consequences of his neglect.

SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the Director of Posts, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon the Bureau of Posts, to order a technical inspection of the radio apparatus and equipment made at least once in every six months or at any suitable time when the public interest may require it.

SEC. 6. Upon inspection of the radio apparatus installed on the ships above mentioned, an inspection certificate shall be issued if the radio apparatus inspected are found to fulfil the legal requirements. Any radio apparatus so inspected and certified may be operated during the period stated in the inspection certificate, subject to the conditions imposed by the Director of Posts. Every vessel equipped in with radio shall pay to the Director of Posts, as fee for the inspection of the same, twenty pesos per annum.

SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the Collector of Customs to see to the strict enforcement of the provisions of this Act. The violation of any of the provisions hereof shall be punished in accordance with the seriousness of the offence, after administrative proceedings before the Collector of Customs begun by him or at the instance of the Director of Posts, with a fine of five hundred pesos imposed upon the shipowner or the suspension of the license of the master of the vessel concerned.

SEC. 8. The Director of Posts, with the approval of the Department Head, shall promulgate such regulations as may be necessary for the efficacious application of this Act and shall fix a schedule of charges to be collected for private messages sent from the ship. Any violation of such regulations shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred pesos.

SEC. 9. This Act shall take effect six months after its approval: Provided, That the Public Service Commission may extend this period for another six months in case there are in its discretion good reasons therefor.

Approved, December 5, 1927.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library