G.R. No. L-60548 November 10, 1986
PHILIPPINE GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS, INC., petitioner, vs. HON. BENJAMIN RELOVA, in his capacity as Presiding Judge, Court of First Instance of Manila, Branch XI, PHILIPPINE TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION, CAPITOL WIRELESS, INC. and RADIO COMMUNICATIONS OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC., respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Philippine Global Communications, Inc. (Globecom) filed an application with the Board of Communications (BOC, now NTC) to establish a branch station in Cebu City for international telecommunications services. Private respondents opposed. The BOC granted Globecom provisional, then final, authority to establish a branch/station in Cebu and, subject to approval, elsewhere. Respondents filed a motion for reconsideration and, pending its resolution, initiated a petition for declaratory judgment before the Court of First Instance to construe Globecom’s franchise, R.A. No. 4617 . The lower court assumed jurisdiction, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in a prior ruling. The parties later agreed to submit the case for decision based on pleadings and memoranda.
The lower court rendered judgment declaring Globecom without authority to establish any branch or station apart from its single principal station in Makati. Globecom elevated the case via certiorari, arguing the decision contravened its franchise and relevant administrative issuances.

ISSUE

The primary issues are: (1) Whether Globecom’s legislative franchise ( R.A. No. 4617 ) authorizes it to establish stations outside Metropolitan Manila; and (2) Whether establishing such stations constitutes prohibited “domestic service.”

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision. The fundamental rule is to apply the law as written; construction is necessary only when application is impossible or inadequate. Examining R.A. No. 4617 as a whole, Section 1 grants Globecom the right to operate a communications system “between any point in the Philippines to points exterior thereto.” The statute does not restrict the grantee to a single point or station within the country. The phrase “any point in the Philippines” logically encompasses multiple points, not just Metropolitan Manila. This interpretation aligns with the contemporaneous construction by the government agency charged with enforcement, the BOC/NTC, which granted the authority, and with opinions from the Secretary of Justice regarding similar franchises.
The Court noted that statutes in pari materia, like R.A. Nos. 4617 and 4630, should be construed together. Administrative guidelines, specifically NTC Memorandum Circular No. 08-8-83, while designating Metro Manila as the international gateway, explicitly recognized that International Record Carriers (IRCs) like Globecom could maintain existing public offices outside the gateway until domestic carriers could provide necessary facilities. This circular confirmed that such offices were duly authorized by their legislative franchises. Therefore, the establishment of branch stations for receiving international communications for onward transmission does not constitute a “domestic service” prohibited by the franchise, but is an integral part of its authorized international service.