SkyCable asks NTC not to enforce rule

Central CATV Inc. (SkyCable) has asked the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) not to enforce Memorandum Circular 4-8-88, the same rule that GMA 7 is invoking in an administrative complaint filed with the NTC to compel SkyCable, HomeCable and Pilipino Cable to return its broadcast signal to Channel 12.

Under this 1988 "must-carry" rule, cable operators are required to carry off-air broadcast signals on their respective channels of assignment unless technically not feasible. GMA 7 is presently carried on Channel 14 on the SkyCable and HomeCable systems.

In a supplemental motion for reconsideration filed recently, SkyCable maintained that the regulation is unenforceable since there was no publication of said rule. Under existing law, rules and regulations such as the must-carry rule shall only be effective after publication.

"We have reason to believe that the regulation which GMA 7 is using against us is actually unenforceable considering that it has never been published in the Official Gazette nor were certified copies filed with the UP Law Center as mandated by law," according to lawyer Gerardo Ramiro, SkyCable general counsel and spokesperson.

Executive Order No. 200, signed by then President Corazon C. Aquino which amended Article 2 of the Civil Code provides that "laws shall take effect after 15 days following the completion of their publication either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, unless it is otherwise provided."

In an earlier motion for reconsideration filed with the NTC, SkyCable already maintained that the "must-carry" rule is inconsistent with Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines.

Should these arguments be upheld by the NTC, GMA 7 would have no legal basis to demand that its broadcast signal be carried on Channel 12, much more ask for preferential channel placement on the cable television systems, SkyCable said.

Apart from GMA 7, no other VHF off-air broadcast station complained of the new channel assignments.