[ Act No. 3649, December 07, 1929 ]

AN ACT GRANTING TO THE TAYABAS LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A FRANCHISE TO INSTALL, OPERATE, AND MAINTAIN AN ELECTRIC LIGHT, HEAT, AND POWER SYSTEM IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF TAYABAS, PROVINCE OF TAYABAS, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

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. Subject to the conditions established in this Act and the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and eight and amendments applicable thereto, there is hereby granted to the Tayabas Light and Power Company, Incorporated, a corporation duly organized under the laws of the Philippine Islands, for a period of fifty years from the approval of this Act, the right, privilege, and authority to erect, construct, maintain, and operate in the municipality of Tayabas, Province of Tayabas, along and on all the streets, public thoroughfares, and public places thereof, poles, wires, and all other necessary apparatus and appurtenances for the transmission and distribution of electric current for electric power, heat, and light and any other purpose for which electricity may be used, and to furnish electric power, heat, and light within the limits of said municipality of Tayabas for domestic and industrial uses and for any other use to which electricity may be put, and to charge and collect rates, prices, and compensation for such electric power, heat, and light: Provided, That such rates, prices, and compensation shall be subject to regulation by the Public Service Commission or its successors.SEC. 2. The poles erected by the grantee shall be of such a height as to maintain the wires stretched on the same at a distance of at least twenty feet above the level of the ground, and shall be of such appearance as not to disfigure the streets, and shall be placed in accordance with a plan approved by the municipal authorities, and said grantee shall supply electric power, heat, and light to any applicant for the same, within fifteen days after the date of his application, in the order of the date of his application up to the limit of the capacity of the plant of said grantee, to be determined by the Public Service Commission or its successors on the application of said grantee, and should the demand for electric power, heat, and light at any time increase beyond the capacity of the plant of said grantee to supply the same, the capacity of said plant shall be increased by said grantee to meet such demand, in accordance with the decision of the Public Service Commission: Provided, That in case the point at which the electric light, heat, or power is to be supplied, is more than thirty meters from the lines or wires operated by said grantee, the latter shall not be obliged to furnish said service.SEC. 3. All apparatus and appurtenances used by the grantee shall be modern and first class in every respect, and the electric transmission wires shall be insulated and carefully connected and fastened so as not to come in direct contact with any object through which a "ground" could be formed, and shall be stretched so as not to interfere with the free use of said streets and public thoroughfares: Provided, That the grantee shall, whenever the Public Service Commission or its successors so direct, place said wires in underground pipes or conduits at its own expense and without any cost and prejudice to the municipality of Tayabas.SEC. 4. Whenever it shall be necessary in the erection of said poles to take up any portion of the sidewalks or dig up the ground of the sidewalks of the public streets or thoroughfares, then the said grantee shall, after said poles are erected, without delay replace said sidewalks in the proper manner or arrange said streets or public thoroughfares, removing from the same all rubbish, dirt, refuse, or other material which may have been placed there, taken up or dug up in the erection of said poles, leaving them in as good condition as they were before the work was done.SEC. 5. Whenever any person has obtained permission to use any of the streets or public thoroughfares of the municipality above mentioned for the purpose of removing any building or in the prosecution of any municipal work or for any other just cause whatsoever, making it necessary to raise or remove any of said electric wires which may obstruct the removal of said building or hinder the prosecution of said work, the said grantee, upon written notice by the municipal president of said municipality served upon said grantee at least forty-eight hours in advance, shall raise or remove any of said wires which may hinder the prosecution of such work or obstruct the removal of said building so as to allow the free and unobstructed passage of said building and the free and unobstructed prosecution of said work, and the person or entity at whose request the building has been moved or the construction undertaken, shall pay one-half of the actual cost of removing or raising and of replacing the poles, wires, and other overhead or underground conductors. The notice shall be served upon the grantee or its duly authorized representative or agent by a person competent to testify in a civil action, and in case of the refusal or failure of the grantee to comply with such notice, said municipal president, with the proper approval of the municipal council first had, shall order such poles or wires to be raised or removed at the expense of said grantee.SEC. 6. The grantee shall be liable to the municipality above named for any injury arising from any claims caused by accidents to person or property by reason of the construction under this franchise or of any neglect or omission to keep the said poles and wires in a safe condition.SEC. 7. This Act and the privilege and rights hereby granted shall not take effect unless and until the grantee shall have filed its written acceptance of the terms and provisions of this Act with the Secretary of Commerce and Communications within one hundred and twenty days from the date on which this Act takes effect.SEC. 8. The grantee shall pay on its real estate, buildings, plant, machinery, and other personal property the same taxes as are now or may hereafter be required by law from other persons, with the exception of the property expressly declared exempt in this section. In consideration of the franchise hereby granted, the grantee shall pay into the municipal treasury of Tayabas where it is furnishing electricity to the public under this franchise, a tax equivalent to two per centum of its gross earnings from its sales of electric current under this franchise. Said percentage shall be due and payable quarterly and shall be in lieu of taxes and assessments of any nature now or hereafter required, established, or collected by any authority on its poles, wires, insulators, switches, transformers, and other structures, installations, and equipment, and accessories on and across the streets, avenues, roads, thoroughfares, bridges, and other public places, and on its franchises, rights, privileges, receipts, income, and profits, from which taxes and assessments the grantee is hereby expressly declared exempt.SEC. 9. The municipality of Tayabas shall have the privilege, without compensation, of using the poles of the grantee for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating a police telephone and fire-alarm system; but the wires of such telephone or alarm system shall be placed and stretched in such manner as to cause no interference with or damage to the wires of the electric service of the grantee. In the exercise of said privilege, the municipality mentioned shall indemnify the grantee for any damage or ag liability resulting from the installation, maintenance, and operation of said telephone or alarm system.SEC. 10. This franchise is granted with the understanding and upon the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress of the United States as provided in section twenty-eight of the Act of Congress approved August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, entitled "An Act to declare the purpose of the people of the United States as to the future political status of the people of the Philippine Islands, and to provide a more autonomous government for those Islands," or by the Philippine Legislature, and that it shall be subject, in all respects, to the limitations upon corporations and the granting of franchises contained in said Act of Congress, and that all lands or rights of use or occupation of lands secured by virtue of this franchise shall revert upon its termination to the insular, provincial, or reversion, municipal governments which were the owners thereof upon the date on which this franchise was granted.SEC. 11. The grantee of this franchise shall be forbidden to issue stock or bonds under this franchise except in exchange for actual cash or for property at a fair valuation equal to the par value of the stock or bonds issued.SEC. 12. The books and accounts of the grantee shall always be open to the inspection of the provincial treasurer of Tayabas or his authorized representative, and it shall be the duty of the grantee to submit to the provincial treasurer quarterly reports in duplicate showing the gross receipts and the net receipts for the quarter past and the general condition of the business one of which shall be forwarded by the provincial treasurer to the Insular Auditor, who shall keep the same on file.SEC. 13. The grantee may, with the approval of the Philippine Legislature first had, lease, grant, sell, convey, or give in usufruct this franchise and the property and rights acquired thereunder to any person or corporation capable of managing the business herein authorized, but for the purpose of such lease, grant, sale, conveyance, or giving in usufruct, it shall be necessary to file in the office of the Secretary of Commerce and Communications an agreement in writing by which the person or corporation in whose favor such lease, grant, sale, conveyance, or giving in usufruct is made, shall bind himself to comply with all the terms and conditions imposed upon the grantee by this franchise, and to accept the same subject to all existing terms and conditions.SEC. 14. The Public Service Commission or its legal successor, after hearing the interested parties, upon notice and order in writing, shall have the power to declare the forfeiture of this franchise and all rights inherent in the same for failure on part of the grantee to comply with any of the terms and conditions thereof, unless such failure shall have been directly and primarily caused by the act of God, the public enemy, or force majeure. Against such declaration of forfeiture by the Public Service Commission or its successor, the grantee may apply for the remedies provided in sections thirty and thirty-one of Act Numbered Twenty-three hundred and seven, as amended.SEC. 15. Wherever in this franchise the term "grantee" is used, it shall be understood to mean the "Tayabas Light and Power Company, Incorporated," its representatives, successors, or assigns.SEC. 16. This Act cancels and annuls Resolution Numbered One hundred and sixty of the municipal council of Tayabas, passed by the said body on October twenty-first, nineteen hundred and sixteen, and confirmed by Resolution Numbered Five hundred and fifty, of the provincial board of Tayabas, granting to the Tayabas Light and Power Company, Incorporated, in accordance with Act Numbered Six hundred and sixty-seven of the Philippine Commission and Twenty-three hundred and seven of the Philippine Legislature, a franchise and privilege, for a term of fifteen years to construct and operate an electric light and power service in the poblacion of this municipality of Tayabas, upon the date of the approval hereof and after the grantee shall have filed its acceptance of the conditions and terms of this Act with the Secretary of Commerce and Communications.SEC. 17. In case House of Representatives Bill Numbered Twenty-seven hundred and thirteen, entitled "An Act prescribing the form for bills for the granting of electric light and power franchises, and for other purposes" becomes a law, the franchise herein granted shall be considered so amended as to conform in all respects with the form prescribed in said Bill.SEC. 18. This Act shall take effect on its approval.Approved, December 7, 1929.

Source: Supreme Court E-Library