HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY

By FEDERICO A. OQUINDO

And

Rafael R. Oquindo

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

At the time of his retirement from the government service in 1988, FEDERICO A.

OQUINDO was a senior executive assistant and head of the Public Information

Office of the National Telecommunications Commission

Prior to joining the NTC in 1980, he served with the Bureau of

Telecommunications (which he joined in 1947 as messenger) as that agencys

public relations officer and editor of the bureaus official publication.

In writing this short history of Philippine Telecommunications, he consulted records and

interviewed old timers and even retirees of the government telegraph service some of whom claimed

that their earliest years in the service date back to the defunct telegraph division of the Constabulary

during the early years of the American occupation.

A free lance writer, the author has written numerous articles, short stories and other works some

of which appeared in such national publications like the pre-Martial Law Philippines Free Press, Graphic

Magazine, Manila Daily Bulletin, Liwayway Magazine, Nation Magazine, Sunday Times Magazine,

Saturday Mirror Magazine, Taliba, Orient Magazine and certain trade journals. He also edited trade and

technical magazines and publications of professional organizations and a national labor federation -

He has attended numerous seminars and workshops in public relations and communications as

well as in trade unionism both here and abroad.

RAFAEL R. OQUINDO, was also a former employee of NTC, once a technical staff

of the Rajah Broadcasting Network better known as DZRJ, has attended

numerous trainings and seminars both locally and abroad. Presently, he is a full

time faculty member of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines under the

College of Engineering.

AUTHORS NOTE

This is a first attempt to chronicle the growth development of the Philippines

telecommunications Industry.

Being an Initial effort some quarters may find this volume wanting in certain respects. However,

the author- believes that a start has to he made if the Philippine telecommunications story will ever be

written.

As will be noted a good portion of this work focuses on the role of the government in the industrys

development. It was only during the post-World War II years that private capital ventured into this field

particularly In the domestic record carrier sector. The international services sector has, of course,

always been dominated by multinationals since way back.

The idea of writing the history of the countrys Telecommunications sector was first conceived in

1965. The plan then was to prepare a volume to commemorate the first centennial of Philippine

telecommunications, which was to have been marked in 1967. However, various factors came in the

way so that nothing concrete came out of that plan.

Nevertheless the author continued working on his manuscript over the years adding more details

and information to what were already contained in his original draft. Valuable information

were provided by various parties which included telecom companies, radio amateurs, old timers

and even retirees from the government telegraph service some of whom, he learned were among those

whose services date back to the defunct telegraph division of the Constabulary during the early

1900a. Most of them, sad to say, have since crossed the Great Divide.

Also consulted were records both government and private.

The year 1867 was a period of major global changes.

During that year, the barren stretch of land near the top of the world called Alaska changed

ownership after Russia. Its former owner, sold it to the U.S. for $7,200,000. Also, the same period, Great

Britain established the Dominion of Canada out of another vast tract of virgin territory below the

Alaskan border.

It was also the year when workmen, laboring round-the-clock under all kinds of weather conditions.

Forged the final link of the second trans-Atlantic submarine communication cable system

Interconnecting America with Continental Europe.

That same year Japan abolished the Shogunate paving the way for the restoration of the Mikado. And In

Madrid three members of the Telegraph Corps of Spain received the Royal Order instructing them to

proceed to the Philippine Islands, the Spanish colony in the Pacific, establish a telegraph training school

there and Install nationwide telegraph systems that will interlink the colonys towns and cities.

A COUNTRY OF MANY ISLANDS

For the Philippines, a country of many Islands, a means to keep her people in constant contact

with one another has been a problem of centuries. No one knows exactly how many islands compose

the Archipelago. The best estimate Is 7,100 although it is said that, volcanic peaks rise overnight from

the sea and old islands yesterday washed by the salty surf may no longer be there the following day

having been swallowed by the depths during some unseen upheavals.

Some 85 percent of the islands are inhabited although about 30 percent remain nameless to this

day. The bigger ones such as Luzon, Mindanao, Leyte, Cebu, Negros, Panay, Samar account for more

than two-thirds of the total population of the land.

With such geographic make-up one will readily appreciate the value of telecommunications to the

country particularly where forging her people into a unified progressive and productive society is

concerned.

THE FIRST TELEGRAPH LINE

The first telegraph line to be established in the country was between Manila and island of Corregidor. Its

establishment followed by some twenty four years the inauguration of the Washington- Baltimore

circuit, the first telegraph line in the United States, and 30 years after the electric telegraph was

invented.

By that time, there was already in operation here for almost a century a limited former of postal

service that served government officials and certain ranking individuals only.

In 1890, during the administration of Governor-General Valeriano Meyler y Nicolao, the first telephone

system was put into operation.

For a time, after the installation of the first telegraph line, expansion of the Islands

telecommunications network was a bit slow. On April 4, 1871, Rafael lzquierdo Y Gutierrez whom history

also credits with having introduced the steamboat into the local scene became Governor-

General. . During his administration, wore telegraph lines were Installed so that by 1873, two years

after he took over as head of the island government, telegraph services became available in more

places. (Izquierdo was also the Spanish Governor-General who, in 1872, signed the death verdict of the

three martyr priests, Father Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora).

From then on, more telegraph lines were installed so that by 1897, there were already 65

government telegraph offices in operation In the country of which 49 were In Luzon, 9 in Panay, 4 in

Negros and 3 In Cebu. The stations were interconnected by 2,818 kilometers of telegraph lines.

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL TELEGRAM LINK

In 1878, the Spanish Government in Madrid, recognizing the need for a communications system

that will interconnect the Philippines with the rest of the world invited tenders (bids) for the

establishment of a telecommunications link between this country and Hong Kong. The British firm,

Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company (now Cable and Wireless) won the bid

obtaining, in the process, a 40-year concession to lay down and operate a submarine telegraph cable

between Luzon and the British Grown Colony.

Laying of the undersea cable for the proposed system was undertaken by the companys cable

ship CALABRIA which completed the work on May 2,1880 with the Philippine end of the 535-nautical

mile cable landing at Bolinao, then a part of Zambales and now part of Pangasinan. From that point an

overland cable was laid all the way to Manila, 160 miles away. Six days later cable communications

between Manila and Hong Kong was officially opened to the public.

In 1898, however, during the height of the Filipino revolt against Spanish colonial rule, the

company converted the Bolinao. Manila aerial cable to submarine to avoid the frequent cuttings that It

suffered from the Revolutionary Forces- During the naval engagement between the Spanish and

American Forces in Manila Bay on May 1,1898, however, the undersea cable was again cut disrupting

once wore the Manila-Hong Kong telegraph line. Finally restored after sometime the line continued to

be in operation for many more years until it was again interrupted when the Japanese invaded the

Philippines during World War ll.

During the period of the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945) Eastern Extension suspended its operation in

the resuming it only after the end of the war. In 1952.Philippine Congress granted the company a

franchise to continue its operation as a local corporation.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE DURING THE FIRST REPUBLIC

Not much is known about the accomplishments of the First Republic, (inaugurated on January 23,

1899) particularly in the area of public services. However, we are aware of two services that the

government paid particular attention to .

Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the Revolutionary Government, on recommendation of Gen

Antonio Luna, his Secretary of War, and with the concurrence of the Directorate General of

Communications, issued a decree officially opening the telegraph service on November 2, 1898 and on

the 10th of the same month, the postal service.. Services, however, were limited to areas in Luzon which

were under the jurisdiction ion of the Revolutionary Government.

The decree specified the rates for ordinary telegrams, press dispatches, rush telegrams, telegrams

with acknowledgement and other charges.

Accepted for transmission were telegrams in plain language only, in 41atln characters in the

seven European languages of the International Telegraph Convention and all the dialects of the country.

The sender of the telegram paid fifty cents (the Mexican dollar was then still recognized as legal

tender in the country) for the first 15 words. Press telegrams were charged half of the rate of ordinary

telegrams while those marked urgent paid double the ordinary rate.

For a telegram with acknowledgement receipt the sender paid the surtax of a plain telegram. He

got a receipt for his telegram by paying an additional six cents.

THE AMERICAN REGIME

After the Americans took over control of the country, they put up their own telegraph and

telephone networks. Initially used exclusively for military purposes, the lines provided the nucleus for

the government telecommunications service which was established on September 15, 1902 by the

Philippine Commission.

At the start, the telegraph service was handled by a telegraph division under the Constabulary. In 1906 it

was transferred to the Bureau of Posts in accordance with a law that reorganized the Insular

Government. Gradual transfer of the military telegraph and telephone lines and offices to the Bureau of

Posts continued up to 1910.

Following the transfer, the Bureau of Posts converted most of the telephone lines into telegraph

circuits.. Those which were not converted into telegraph were turned over to certain provincial

governments which continued their operation as provincial telephone systems.. On June 30, 1911 the

telegraph division of the Bureau of Posts no longer operated any telephone circuit -

THE POST-TELEGRAPH SCHOOL

To meet the need for trained Personnel to operate the government telegraphs service, the

Bureau of Post established the Post-Telegraph School in 1910. The school a teaching staff was

composed of Filipinos and Americans. Among Its first Filipino instructors were Faustino Navarro, Jesus

Alvarez and Petronilo Taracatac. Student - trainees in the school were given a monthly allowance of

P20.00 (later increase to P30.00) each.

At first only telegraphy was taught in the school. In 1920, wireless telegraphy (radio), a new course, was

added to the curriculum. Among the first Instructors in wireless telegraphy was Guillermo Rodil of

Cavite.

Worthy of special mention are 10 personnel of the government telegraph service who composed the

first and only group of Filipino pensionados who, in 1919, underwent advanced training in wireless

telegraphy (radio), at the US Naval Radio School in Cavite which had better facilities than the

government Post Telegraph School. The training of the ten Filipinos was made possible through a

special arrangement between the naval authorities In the Philippines and the Insular Government. To

select the trainees, a special examination was conducted among the 398 students of the Post-Telegraph

School.

Those who made the grade were Ludovico Ba'nas of Banate, lloilo; Alejandro Cardenas (Bauan, La

Union); Jose Ditan (Sorsogon); Fidel Austriaco (Lallo, Cagayan); Juan Alayu (Solano, Nueva Vizcaya);

Felix Gestosani (Binalbagan, Negros Occidental); Eleuterio Funes (lrosin, Sorsogon); Diosdado Dizon

(Pampanga); Gaudenclo Pangan and Rafael Anonas (The last two with no available records of their

respective home provinces).

After their training, all of the 10 went back to their respective places of the assignment In the

government telegraph services come of them serving up to their age of retirement.

Banas was the regional superintendent of the Bureau of Telecommunications (BUTEL) in llollo at the

time of his retirement during the late 1950s. Cardenas rose from the ranks to become the chief operator

of the same bureaus Baguio City office in the 1950s. He retired sometime in the 1960s.

Ditan was chief technician of the BUTEL receiving station in Tagulg, Rizal province at the time of his

retirement sometime in the 1960s while Alayu retired to his native Solano, Nueva Vizcaya after serving

the Bureau of Posts and later the Bureau of Telecommunications for many years after his naval radio

school stint.

Pangan was chief operator of the Bureau of Posts telegraph office In Davao City at the time of his

demise on April 16, 1945 while Anonas became postmaster in a certain Palawan town.

As to other four, they served the Bureau of Posts telegraph division only briefly after their training

at the Naval Radio School. After resigning from the service they went into other fields where they made

good use of their newly acquired skills.

KEEPING UP WITH THE TECHNOLOGIES

The Philippine telecommunications industry has always kept abreast with new developments in

this vital field.

With the Introduction of wireless telegraphy the Bureau of Posts put up Its own wireless

stations. The first of such stations were established in 1919 at San Jose, Mindoro; Puerto

Prinecesa,Palawan; Jolo; Zamboanga; Davao and Malabang, Lanao, Coastal stations using the new spark

transmitters were also Installed in 1924 In llollo, Palawan, Cebu, Catbalogan, Lucena, lnfanta and

Zamboanga to serve the countys lnterisland shipping. A. radio station was also established at Dapitan,

Zamboanga placing the old submarine cable coming from Zamboanguita (in Negros) to Baliangao

(April 13, 1924).

In 1919, the first automatic telephone system to become operational in the country was installed

in Manila by the Philippine Islands Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (PITTC).

In 1926, Crispulo Zamora marketed the tuned gird, tuned plate medium wave transmitter, an

improvement on the then popularly used long wave transmitter. Zamora later on signed a contract with

Bureau of Posts to effect the change of the bureaus wireless installations with medium power short

wave equipment. The first stations to be equipped with the new type transmitters where Infanta in

Tayabas province (now Quezon) and Cebu with Dapitan following suit on April 13, 1927.

In 1930, the Bureau of Posts established the first teleprinter circuit between Manila and

Batangas. The following year radio contact between Zamboanga and Sandakan in North Borneo was

established as per agreement with the Britsh North Borneo Company. Most of the operators in

Sandakan were Chinese.

In 1933, RCA Communications established the first radiotelephone circuit between the Philippines

and the U.S. in Joint operation with the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT). PLDT is

also credited with introducing the first in-country microwave communications system in 1955 the same

year that RCA Communications introduced telex service between the Philippines and the U.S.

In 1948, the Bureau of Telecommunications (BUTEL) inaugurated the first domestic radiotelephone

service.

Actually, BUTEL is credited with having introduced a number of the firsts in the local

telecommunications sector. These include the crossbar type automatic telephone exchange reportedly

the first of its kind in Asia at the time of its installation at Malacaang Palace in 1957, the first domestic

telex service (1969) and the first commercially operated trophospheric scatter system the following

year. The Bureau also introduced the social telegram service here in 1955.

With the advent of the space age in communications, the Philippines had the distinction of being

the first in Southeast Asia to put up and operate an earth station when the Philippine Communications

Satellite Corporation (Philcomsat) inaugurated its interim earth station in Pinugay, Tanay Rizal in 1967.

The firms permanent station became operational the following year.

In 1992, PLDT introduced the fiber optic technology in the country and six years later inaugurated the

countrys first cellular mobile telephone network.

THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION

When the Pacific War broke out in 1941, the Bureau of Posts was already operating en extensive

nationwide telegraph network. It had in operation 106 radio stations and 459 telegraph offices

interconnected by 14,607 kilometers of overland telegraph lines and 326 nautical miles of submarine

cables, Most of these facilities were deliberately destroyed by the Bureau to prevent their falling into

the hands of the enemy when it became apparent the country would soon be overrun by the Japanese.

However, the Japanese upon occupying the country, reconditioned some of the destroyed

communication equipment and with them operated a limited telegraph service under their own version

of a postal agency, which they called Densei Kyuku or Kawanihan ng Pahatiran. The agency also

operated a telegraph training school.

Government Telegraphers at the War Front

There is an untold story about a group of radio operators and other technical personnel of the

government postal telegraph service who saw action as signal personnel in Bataan and Corregidor.

Theses men were recruited by the Armed Forces to man two specially organized mobile signal units,

Actually the telegraphers were drafted into the service months before the bombing of Pearl

Harbor. However, they were called to active service only a few days before Christmas in 1941.

The group was composed of Bartolome Tuazon, Anastacio P. Manto, Cesario Obispo, Geminito

Torres, Felipe U. Cunanan, Ricardo Jimenez, Maximo Cuneta, Domi nador Rayos del Sol, Jaime del Puerto,

Florencio Oliva, Alfredo Laquindanum, Malayo de Guzman, Tomes Guttierez, Eliseo Mendoza, Raymundo

Ganuelas, Juanito Umali, Tomas Lumauig, Alfredo Pascual and two others surnamed Pagadian and Sulit.

In Bataan, they came under the command of another former postal telegraphist, Lt. (later

Captain) Petronilo Taracatac. The Japanese captured many of them when Bataan fell on April 9, 1942

and were among those who were in the infamous Death March from the Peninsula to the POW Camp at

Camp 0 Donnel in Capes Tarlac. Some of them managed to evade capture and were able to reach

Correqidor where they joined the remaining USAFFE forces there With the fall of that island fortress on

May 7, 1942 they were also captured and eventually imprisoned in the hell hole that was the ODonnel

concentration camp. March from the Peninsula to the POW Camp at Camp O Donnel in Capas Tarlac.

Some of them managed to evade capture and were able to reach Corregidor where they joined the

remaining USAFFE forces there. With the fall of that island fortress on May 7, 1942 they were also

captured and eventually imprisoned in the hellhole that was the O Donnel concentration camp.

REHABILITATION

When the war ended in 1945, nothing had been left of the prewar telecommunications network of the

Bureau of Posts

With the assistance of the US Armed Forces which provided vitally needed equipment and

materials, the government undertook the rehabilitation of the destroyed communication lines

The first line to be rehabilitated and put into operation was the telegraph circuit between Manila

and Dagupan City with intermediate offices at Malolos, San Fernando (Pampanga), Tarlac and Paniqui At

the same time a radio station was also installed for direct communications between Manila and

Tacloban. These where followed by more stations established in major cities and towns.

Upon the withdrawal of the US Liberation Forces from the Philippines after the country regained

her freedom on July 4, 1946, it turned over to the government a sizable stock of surplus equipment,

which the newly created Bureau of Telecommunication used to rehabilitate the telegraph network,

which it took over from the Bureau of Posts.

The turned over surplus equipment consisted of power plants, radio transmitters and

instruments, accessories and materials which after the necessary reconditioning on certain partly used

and worn out parts were made amply served the needs of the new agency.

The new bureau, with Felipe Cuaderno, its first director at the helm, started operations on

October 4, 1947 with 39 radio stations and 169 telegraph stations, interconnected by 3,377 kilometers

of telegraphic landlines, which it inherited from the Bureau of Posts. A year later it established and put

into operation its first radio-teletype service between Manila and Cebu City. More such types of service

were later on established between Manila and Zamboanga, Cotabato, Iloilo, Bacolod, Lagazpi, and other

places in the country.

Besides operating a telegraph service, BUTEL also put up the Government Telephone System

(GTS), a manual system initially with 40 connections using a common battery switchboard serving only

the government offices housed in the Bureau of Posts building in Manila.

Intended originally as a temporary measure to relieve the acute shortage of telephone facilities in

government offices at the time, necessity and demand performed its expansion beyond the confines of

the building to cater to the demand for service even among private homes and business establishment

as well

In 1960, the system switched to automatic operation as exchanges were also established in

certain key cities and towns of the country.

In 1976, however, in accordance with the inundated government policy on telecommunications,

BUTEL started relocating its GTS exchanges from areas already served by the private sector to other

places still without such service..

The agency (renamed Telecommunications Office following the reorganization of the Department

of Transportation and communication in 1987) continues to operate its telegraph service. It maintains

and operates stations and offices in 90% of the countrys towns and cities as well as a telegraphic

transfer service which it tooks over from the Bureau of Posts in October 1974.

TELEPHONE SERVICE

The countrys first telephone system was established during the administration of Spanish

Governor-General Valeriano Weyler y Nicolao (1888-1891). It was also during his term that the first

street car service in the country was inaugurated. The street cars were drawn by native ponies and plyed

the Manila-Malabon route.

On June 7, 1889, Gov. Gen. Weyler was instructed by the Madrid Government to authorize the

construction of a telephone system in Manila. The system inaugurated and became operational the

following year. From then on the telephone service in the city was operated by the government until

1906 when the Bureau of Post converted its telephone circuits to telegraph.

The year earlier, however, a private company, the Philippine Island Telephone and Telegraph

Corporation (PITTC), obtained a franchise from the Philippine Commission to construct, operate and

maintain a telephone system within the island of Luzon. The company was organized by Louis Glass and

John Sabin, both Americans, and registered under the laws of the state of Nevada.. USA.. It started

operations with 400 subscribers in the city of Manila. In 1919 the company installed the countrys first

automatic telephone system in Manila..

In 1914, another telephone system using magneto-type switchboards was established in Iloilo

City. Ten years later the Negros Telephone Company was put up.

In 1922, PLTTC was dissolved and its assets and business taken over by another company, the

Philippine Telephone and Telegraph Corporation -

About this time, J.E.H. Stevenot, a former major in the United States Army who was Vice

President of PITTC, saw the need to merge the various telephone systems then in existence under one

management and operation. To this end, he worked for the acquisition of the Cebu Telephone and

Telegraph Company, the Panay Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Negros Telephone and

Telegraph Company, all in the Visayas.. Having accomplished this he applied for and was granted a

franchise by the Philippine Legislature on November 28, 1928 for the establishment of the of the

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDTI. The new company acquired the assets and

business of PITTC and the three southern companies as well as the government telephone system in

Davao City.. Other exchanges were also established in different provinces in Luzon.

In 1933, the company, in joint operation with RCA Communications, established the first radio-

telephone circuit between the Philippine and the United States. In 1955, it introduced microwave

communicaton initially on short haul basis between two of its exchanges in Luzon. The network was

extended throughout Luzon in 1966 then to the Visayas in 1967 and two years later was extended to the

island of Mindanao.

In 1964, the Trans-Pacific submarine cable system, where PLDT participated with a P 50-million

investment, reached the Philippines. That same year the company inaugurated its tropospheric scatter

system in Luzon to carry its overseas traffic via cable to and from its Manila terminal office..

On December 20, 1967, the company passed into Filipino hands.. General Telephone and

Electronics Corporation of New York which previously held the controlling stock of the company

voluntarily relinquished control in favor of a group of Filipino businessmen headed by Ramon Cojuangco

who became the first Filipino president of PUTT. In 1980 the company acquired the Republic Telephone

Company (RETELCO) from the Santiagos.

OTHER TELEPHONE COMPANIES

Aside from PLDT there are now 47 independent telephone companies operating in different parts

of the country. They are Balaqtas Telephone System, Bataan Telephone Exchange; Bicol Telephone and

Telegraph Inc.; Butuan City Telephone Company; Calaban Telephone System, Inc.; Calbayog Telephone

System; Cruz Telephone Company; Dancar Industries Telephone Company, Inc. De Clam Telephone Co.,

Inc.; Dumaquete Telephone System; Evangelista Telephone Company .

General Telephone Company, Independent Telephone Company, Ipil Telephone Company; Iriqa

Telephone Company; Kidapawan Telephone System; Labo Telephone System, Lucban Telephone

Company; Mabalacat Telephone Company; Marbel Telephone System; Macao Telephone Systems;

Maranao Telephone Company; Mati Telephone System; Mayon Telephone Corporation.

Naga Telephone Company; North Camarines Telephone Company; Northern Telephone Company;

Nationwide Telephone Corporation; Ormoc City Telephone Company; Pagadian City Telephone System;

Pampanga Telephone Company; Parulan Telephone System; Pilipino Telephone Corporation; Radio City

Telephone Company; Renato C. Yulo Telephone System..

Rural Telephone Company, San Caries Telephone Company , San CarIos City Telephone Company,

Shariqan Telephone Corporation, Tandag Electric and Telephone Company, Valencia Telephone

Company; Victorias Telephone System and Western Batangas Telephone System.

There are also a number of telephone systems operated by the government. Aside from the

systems operated by the Bureau of Telecommunications, the other government operated telephone

systems are the Bukidnon Provincial Government Telephone System, Cagayan Provincial Telephone

System, City of Basilan Telephone System, Communications and Electricity Development System and

Misamis Oriental Provincial Government System, Municipality of Nasipit Telephone System, Municipality

of San Jose Telephone System, North Cotabato Provincial Government System, Suriqao City Telephone

System and Tagbilaran Provincial Telephone System.

DOMESTIC TELEGRAPH SERVICE

From the earliest years of telecommunications iii the Philippines up to the outbreak of the Pacific

phase of Won War II, the domestic telegraph service was handled exclusively by the government.

However, for a brief period in 1930, the operation of nine telegraphs stations of the Bureau of Posts

(Aparri, Laoag, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanqa, Davao, Iloilo, Cebu and Tacloban) was turned over for

temporary operation to the Radio Corporation of the Philippines, a private communications company,

supposedly so that it can be operated more efficiently. The operation of the stations by the private

company lasted only for a few months. Subsequently, operation of the stations was returned to the

postal bureau.

It was only after World War II that private capital actively engaged in this highly technical field..

The first privately-owned domestic telegraph company to operate here was the Clavecilla Radio

System (CRS) which was issued a Congressional franchise in 1947.

In 1960, Republic Act 2963 was enacted granting the Radio Communications of the Philippines,

Incorporated (RCPI) a franchise to operate commercial radio telephony, radio

telegraphy, television, coastal and marine communications for domestic and international

operations. During the same year, Philippine Wireless, Inc. was granted a franchise, as per Republic Act

3006, to operate commercial telecommunication services within and outside the Philippines.

At present there are seven domestic telegraph companies in operation.. They are the Philippine

Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (PT&T), Radio Communications of the Philippines, Inc. (RCPI). BFC

Corporation, Federal Wireless, Universal Telecommunications Service (UTS), Clavecilla Radio System

(CR5) and the government Bureau of Telecommunications (now Telecommunications Office).

In 1988 Globe MacKay Cable and Radio Corporation, an international carrier, together with the

BPI Retirement Fund and the Ayala Employees Retirement Fund acquired the Clavecilla Radio System..

GPICR bought 387. of Clavecillas outstanding shares while BPI Retirement and AEWRF acquired 31%

each.

INTERNATIONAL TELECOM SERVICES

As earlier stated, the first international telecommunications company to operate here was

Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company (now cable and Wireless) which established

the Philippine-Honqkong cable system in 1880 as well as the countrys first internal telecom service

interconnecting Manila with the principal trade centers of Central Philippines seventeen years later.

With the coming of the Americans other international cable companies established companies here.

On July 4, 1903, the first Pacific Cable linking Manila with San Francisco, USA was completed by

the Commercial Pacific Cable Company. The inauguration of the system was highlighted by the exchange

of messages between US President Theodore Roosevelt and Philippine Governor General William

Howard Taft.

In 1927, the Radio Corporation of the Philippines opened the first radio-telegraph service

between Manila and San Francisco (USA). This was followed by similar circuits between the Philippines

and other countries.

In accordance with the provisions of Act 2495 enacted by the Philippine Legislature on December

8, 1928, the Robert Dollar Company was granted a franchise to provide international telegram service.

The company started operations the following year.

In 1930, MacKay Radio and Telegraph Company established its Manila office.

More developments followed.

In 1933, the first telephone service between the Philippines and the United States was

established by RCA Communications in joint operations with PLDT. RCA Communications is also credited

with introducing, in 1955; telex services between the Philippines end the 115 and later from the US to

Europe.

On November 28, 1934, the Philippine Legislature enacted Act 4150 authorizing the sale,

assignment and transfer of the franchise of Dollar Radio to Globe Wireless (Philippines) Ltd. which

started operation a year later offering a new and less expensive service to the US called Radiomail.

The same company in 1949 established the first groundto-air radio telephone communications

for airlines when Pan American Airways entered into an agreement with the company.

In 1956 Globe Wireless and Mackay Radio merged their transmitting and receiving facilities On

June 19, 1965, Congress enacted RA 4491 approving the merger of the two companies giving rise to the

Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation (GMCR).

There are four international record carriers operating in the country today. They

are the Philippine Global Communications (Philcom), a subsidiary of RCA Communications of the Eastern

Telecommunications Philippines Incorporated (ETPI), a subsidiary of Cable and Wireless; Globe Mackay

Cable and Radio Corporation (GMCR), an ITT company; and Capitol Wireless (Capwire). Capwire is a

100% Filipino company.

The country has ample -facilities tar overseas telecommunications services both voice and record. These

facilities include communication satellite and submarine cables.

Satellite communication facilities are provided by the Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation

(Philcomsat), the government-designated operating entity which was incorporated in1966 when the

country became a signatory to the operating agreement with the International Telecommunication

Satellite Organization (INTELSAT). Philcomsat is a Filipino Corporation with the Philippine Government

and the Philippine Overseas Telecommunication Corporation (POTC), a privately-owned corporation, as

stockholders. POTC manages Philcomsat and operates the facilities of the earth station.

Philcomsat is also a member of the London-based International Maritime Satellite Organization

(INPIARSAT) which it joined in March 1981.

The company started its operation in April 1967 making the Philippines the first Southeast Asia

country to operate such a station. Its permanent station was inaugurated on May 2, 1966.

When it started operation in 1967 services were via the Pacific Ocean Region satellite with initial

traffic to Hawaii. Later services were extended to include the 119 mainland, Japan, Thailand, Korea,

Canada, Australia, Guam, Republic of China, New Zealand and Brunei.

In December 1971, a second antenna was installed to provide direct links with countries in

Europe, the Middle East and other Asia countries via the Indian Ocean Region satellite.

As a carriers carrier Philcomsat leases satellite circuits to international carriers, PLDT, Eastern

Telecoms, GMCR, Philcomn and Capwire.

MARITIME COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

Being an archipelago, the Philippines relies heavily on sea transportation as a major means of bringing

people and goods to and from points both within the country and overseas. With a good, reliable and

efficient system of maritime communications, this section of the economy should be a most effective

factor in promoting socio-economic growth.

Maritime communications in the country today is handled by 21 public coast stations for

international public correspondence, more than 100 private coast stations for private correspondence

for shipping and fishing firms and a number of government roast stations -for official business

correspondence, port control services and emergency communications particularly for search and

rescue operations purposes in times of maritime disasters.

The set-up, however, owing to its fragmented management, suffers from major defects resulting

in unnecessary drain in capital resources and wastage of vital radio frequencies. That more than 100

private coast systems operate not withstanding the existence of 21 public coast stations is attributed to

the following:

1.) The unreliability of existing public maritime services;

2.) Public coast stations operate independently from each other with each station having its own

limited clientele so that wide area coverage cannot be offered to the ships;

3.) Each of the public coast stations now operating do not have the dedicated network for message

delivery and instead rely on the public networks for such services. At the present stage, however, the

public networks are not ready to ensure quick delivery of maritime messages.

There is, however, a proposal which is yet to be fully implemented, to establish a public maritime

telecommunications system. The proposed system is envisioned to provide all maritime

telecommunications services such as Maritime Telex, Digital Selective Calling System, and other value

added services. To he truly effective the system must meet fully international maritime

telecommunications regulations in terms of performance, reliability and maintenance of equipment.

On account of the amount of investment required for the project, negotiations for a government-

to-government loan proposal have been undertaken.

SUBMARINE CABLE SYSTEMS

The countrys first two submarine cable systems were laid by Eastern Extension, Australasia and

China Telegraph Company. The first was the Luzon-Honqkong cable installed in .1880 and the second

was the inter-island system laid in 1897 between Manila and the principal ports in Central Philippines.

In 1901 work on another international cable system which would interconnect the country with

San Francisco, USA commenced. The cable, 7,911 nautical miles long was inaugurated in 1903.

At present, the country has three submarine cable landing stations: the Currimao (Ilocos Norte)

cable station and the Baler (Quezon) and Infanta (Quezon) cable stations. The Currimao station which is

operated by Eastern Telecoms Philippines (ETPI) is the landing station of the OLUHO (0kinawa-Luzon-

Honnqkonq), ASEAN PS (Philippine-Singapore) and the TAILU (TaiwanLuzon) submarine cable systems.

The Baler and Infanta stations operated by PLDT are capable of carrying telephone, telex, data and

telegraph traffic.

The OLUHU cable became operational on August 26, 1977 while the PhilippineSingapore cable started

operations on October 3, 1978. The TAILU system became operational in 1980 while the Philippine

Guam cable started operations in 1964.

A new technology submarine cable system, the Guam Philippine Taiwan (GPT) fiber optic

cable, which forms part of the new Trans Pacific Submarine Cable System became operational on

February 1, 1990. the new cable system, the countrys first, is partly owned by PLDT. It lands at the

Infantaa cable station.

TRAINING

The fist institution that provided training for telecommunications personnel in the country was the

Telegraph Practical School established in 1872 during the administration of Governor General Rafael

de Inquired y Gutierrez. Instructions then were in wire telegraph only.

In 1910, the Bureau of Posts inaugurated its own Post Telegraph School with Filipino and

American instructors. Admission to the school was through competitive examinations. Successful

candidates (called pensionados) were given a monthly allowance of P20 (later increased to P30) during

their period of training. Graduates of the school were later employed as postmaster operators of the

bureau in various parts of the country.

In 1920, the school started offering the wireless telegraphy (radio) course. It continued operation

until the 1930s when it had to be phased out following the entry of private enterprise into this field of

academic training.

The first private institution to offer courses in wire and wireless telegraphy and allied courses was

the National Radio School (now National Radio School Institute of Technology). For many years the

school practically had a monopoly of this type of technical training of our youth.

Today, however, a number of educational institutions have joined NRSIT in offering courses in

electronics and communications both in the collegiate and vocational levels.

Using English as the medium of instructions the areas of training cover radio, telegraph and telex

operations and repair and maintenance of communications equipment and appliances in the vocational

level and bachelors degrees in electronics and communications engineering and in industrial

engineering major in electronics in the collegiate level.

Up to the late 1960s, training in electronics and communications was continued in most instances to

the vocational level. In the college level, electronics and communications were merely among the

subjects that form an integral part of the electrical engineering course.

In 1969, however, with the enactment of Republic Act 5734 (Electronics and Communications

Engineering Law) electronics and communications engineering came its own as a separate and distinct

profession.

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRAINING INSTITUTE

Worthy of mention here is the Telecommunications Training Institute (ITI) of the Bureau of

Telecommunications (BUTEL) which was established in 1963 under the United Nations Special Fund

assistance grant with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the executing agency. The

grant assistance covered a period of five years during which BUTEL engineers and

technicians underwent trainings on the construction, operation and maintenance of the

telecommunications equipment of the bureau. ITU provided the services of experts in the different

telecommunications fields, fellowship training for their local counterparts and training equipment for

the Institute. BUTEL provided the site and buildings for the institute plus the local support staff to assist

the experts. After the termination of the project, management of the TTI passed on to the BUTEL which

continued its adopted training program.

In 1982 the facilities of the Institute were expanded under a five-year Japanese Technical

Cooperation grant from which the Japanese Government donated latest model equipment including the

services of experts in the field to train technical personnel of the local telecom sector including the TTI

training staff.

INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL COOPERATION

The government has attached much significance to the contributions received from developed

countries including international organizations in terms of technical assistance and cooperation for the

development of local telecommunications.

The Philippine view of this aspect has been expressed in various position papers which the

government submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

On technical cooperation, the papers pointed out the need for a careful review of the level of

support to beneficiary countriesaimed at properly identifying and setting priorities on a

country/region basis.

These papers also underscored the need to upgrade the level of training and expertise in developing

countries. However, while it was noted that those requirements are also being addressed on a regional

basis through APT and ASEAN forums belief was also expressed that perhaps, ITU can pool its

resources to provide systematic operations in developing countries insisting further that ITU is the

proper organization to support such a program.

An active member of international telecommunications bodies the Philippines has actively

participated in major projects and activities of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (ATI). The country

has sent delegations to conferences, meetings, seminars and workshops during which vital matters

affecting the local telecommunications sector have been taken up.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

As an ITU member, the Philippines has been the recipient of various forms of assistance by that body

in the form of expert assistance, seminars and workshops for our technical personnel and other forms of

aids for the development of telecommunications in the country.

The Union has helped the government identify technical cooperation requirements to meet sectoral

and inter-sectoral goals in the socio-economic settings even as it has also helped assisted in the

prosecution of various development-oriented projects.

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

The Philippines is a founding member of ASEAN the six member (now 10) aggregation of nations in

the Southeast Asian region.

ASEAN has initiated a number of cooperative projects which has benefited the country.

Delegations have been sent to ASEAN conferences, particularly to its Committee of Transportation

and Communications (COTAC) as well as those of its sub-committees on Posts and Telecommunications

(POSTEL). Manila has hosted some of the meetings of these bodies.

Among the various cooperative projects that the ASEAN has initiated are the submarine cable

projects, UNDP/ESCAP programs affecting the region, regional communications satellite system, radio

frequency coordination and other equally important undertakings.

Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT)

As a member of the APT, the country has availed of the organizations program for overseas training

of telecommunications personnel.

During the past years the country has sent trainees abroad to undergo trainings in such fields as

digital techniques, electronic exchanges, satellite communications, financial management, optical fiber

systems, public relations, microwave systems, telecommunications economics, pulse code modulation,

project planning and programming, project planning and management for a duration of two to three

weeks per course.

Other Institutions

The country is also a recipient of grants and other forms of aid from developed countries.

For instance, Japan has initiated programs in different fields of communications and has also granted

loans to the country for the upgrading of the rural telecommunications system. The Regional

Telecommunications Development Program for Regions I and II of the Bureau of Telecommunications is

one such project. The project which will form part of the nationwide telecommunications network

makes use of the latest of the art technology and will provide cheap and efficient telecommunications

system to that part of the country.

Japan, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has also granted aid for the

expansion and upgrading of the facilities of the Telecommunications Training Institute (TTI) / the Bureau

of Telecommunications (BUTEL).

Other International Bodies

Aside from those mentioned above other international entities have also sponsored training

programs for our technical personnel. These include the UNESCO, ESCAP, Colombo Plan, the Asia

Electronic Union (AEU) and the United Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI).

MANUFACTURING

Up to the early 1970s certain local firms were engaged in the development and manufacture of their

own brands of appliances such as TV and radio receiver sets, stereos and the like. However, these firms,

by virtue of certain policies promulgated by the Martial Law government, eventually folded up. Today

what are being passed off as Philippines-made appliances are actually foreign-developed ones and

whatever manufacturing being undertaken here are merely assemblies of such appliances by

multinational companies.

What can really be considered as local manufacture of electronics and communications is limited to

the manufacture of certain materials and parts used in the assembly of radio and TV sets,

communications equipment and other components such as punched, formed and plated chassis,

brackets, transformer cans, control shafting, dial assemblies, pulleys, some items of hard wares,

nameplates and other related items. Similarly, some entities are engaged in the manufacture of certain

parts made of plastic such as knobs, controls, pulleys, telephone handset and receivers.

Of course, the manufacture of wooden cabinets and special boxes of the famous Philippine

Mahogany has long been in existence. Also being undertaken, although reportedly on a limited scale,

are the manufacture of transformers and TV picture rubes although the glass envelops for the later are

still being imported. Another related activity along this line is coil-making which is being slowly

developed.

THE RADIO AMATEUR SERVICE

The countrys early radio amateurs (called hams) were real experiments who tried out different

circuits and assemblies or even improvised components to make their rigs work.

They tinkered freely with their wireless equipment without any licensing or restrictions of any kind

so that their crude methods often interfered with the transmission of government and commercial

stations. One of their favorite activity was listening to time signal broadcasts from the US radio station in

Cavite and ships of the US naval forces anchored at Manila Bay. A big number of them escaped to the

hills and joined the resistance movement. Their knowledge of radio communications proved to be of

great help not only to the guerillas but the local population as well. With radios assembled from odds

and ends they were able to keep in touch with the Free World and keep our people abreast with the

latest news about the war, in the process, knowing the real score as against the claims of victories by the

occupation army.

One ham who was able to contact McArthurs headquarters in Australia as early as late 1942 was

Mariano V. Tolentino. Tolentino, demonstrating the ingenuity and resourcefulness typical of an amateur

radio enthusiast, constructed from materials produced here and there, his station WPM (8330 KCS), a

transmitter, receiver. His set proved to be of great help and a morale booster to the underground

movement particularly those in the Visayas during the war years.

In September 1944, following the initial bombing raids in Manila by American war planes, the

amateurs heard the broadcasts from Washington DC made by Gen. Basilio Valdez, Brig. Gen. Carlos P.

Romulo, Jaime Hernandez, and President Sergio Osmea himself.

After Liberation, many US Signal Corps men joined PARA. The first post-war PARA meeting was held

at the National Radio School in Manila in June 1945. Frank Swan and George Richard re-assumed their

pre-war posts PAEA President and Secretary-treasurer, respectively.

In 1947, the association of, in representation of an independent Philippines Government, applied for

and was extended recognition as the official member society of the International Telecommunications

Union (ITU) granted to the Philippines its present official prefix DU.

BIRTH OF PHILIPPINE BROADCASTING

It can be rightfully stated that the pioneers in the field of broadcasting in the Philippines were the

radio amateurs or hams.

In fact, the first radio broadcasting station in the country was an experimental five-watt transmitter

put up by Ed Martin, as American ham, in the Pacific Building in District of Binondo Manila in 1923.

The first low-power broadcasts were made with the use of low-power GE and RCA transmitter. As

was to be expected, the first enthusiastic audiences and listeners were fellow radio amateurs who, using

individual headphones, listened to the impromptu talks and the music played on phonographs. The

broadcasts were made once or twice a week during which time some fellow amateurs would sometimes

drop in and play musical instruments before the carbon microphone.

Later, another station was put up by one Fred J. Elser, another ham, in Ermita using a pair of 50-watt

tubes and about 100-watt power.

Another station was also put up at Camp Nichols, Rizal (now Villamor Air Base) which enjoyed big

listenership among amateurs using crystal sets or the three tube Federal receivers marketed by the

Hermans Electrical Supply owned by Henry Herman.

Herman himself, in October 1924, put up his KZKZ, the first high power station in Manila. Studio and

transmitter were housed at the penthouse of the Santos Building on Plaza Sta. Cruz.

A year later, Herman sold KZKZ to the Radio Corporation of the Philippines (RCP) headed by Marcos

Roces which increased the stations power to 500 watts.

In 1924, another radio corporation, Far Eastern Radio (FER) headed by Col. Andres Soriano and one

Admiral Bullard, purchased Elsers transmitter and hired him to build station KZRQ, a 500-watt station,

at the Manila Hotel. The station was inaugurated in December 1924.

In November 1925, Isaac Beck, owner of I, Beck Inc., a department store on the Escolta which

distributed the Crosley and other brands of radio receivers, purchased from Jose Jimenez, another

amateur, the latters radiophone transmitter, antenna poles and insulators installed a top the Farmacia

San Fernando in Binondo and with it put up Manilas third broadcasting station, KZIB, a 20-watt station.

Five years later, the stations power was increased to one kilowatt. (Mr. Beck was interred by the

Japanese military at the UST concentration Camp during the enemy occupation of the Philippines during

World War II, due to the harsh conditions obtaining at the camp; he died some months before the

arrival of the American Liberation forces in 1945.

In 1927, Erlanger and Galinger, Inc., put up KZRM, a one-kilowatt station (subsequently increased to

two kilo-watts), and KZEG, a sister station. These stations were sold to J. Amado Araneta (then owner of

the DMHM newspaper chain) in 1939.

In 1939, the H.E. Hecock Company, put up KZRH, the countrys first commercial broadcast station

and the most powerful station then. The new station had a 10-kilowatt transmitter. Its studios were

located at the top floor of the Hecocks Building on the Escolta Manila.

When the Philippines was occupied by Japan during World War II, the station, renamed PIAM by the

Japanese Occupation Authorities, was the only radio station which the enemy allowed to operate.

However, two other stations aside from PIAM to broadcast anti-Japanese propaganda, during the early

months of the Occupation. The first one, the Voice of Freedom, eventually went off the air after the

fall of Bataan and Corregidor. Two days after The Voice was silenced another voice this time Carlos

Malonzo, an 18-yearold native of Sibul, San Miguel Bulacan. Malonzo made his broadcast daily at noon

informing the Filipinos about the progress of the war at the same time boosting his companions would

get out in his car and distributed pamphlets containing information about the war. They also destroyed

enemy property.

On July 4, 1942, he married his sweetheart Violeta Brown. By this time, however, the enemy had

already pinpointed the source of the voice and was already shadowing him following a tip from an

electronics dealer who wanted to be in the good graces of the Japanese. He had advised the enemy on

what to do to be able to trap Juan dela Cruz.

The next day while preparing gor his new broadcast, the Japs arrested Malonzo and his friends.

He was kept in prison for four months during which time he was continually tortured. He was offered life

and freedom provided that he pledge allegiance to the Japanese flag. He refused to do and was brutally

murdered.

The next years following the end of World War II saw the proliferation of radio broadcasting stations

in the country. As of December 31, 1985 there were in operations 328 radio broadcasting in operation,

240 of which were AM and 38 were FM stations.

Television broadcasting on the other hand, came to the Philippines in 1953 when the Alto

Broadcasting Corporation (ABS)owned by Judge Antonio Quirino put up DZAQ TV 3, the countrys first

commercial TV station.

In 1960 the Inter-Island Broadcasting Corporation put up Channel 13. The following year, the

republic Broadcasting Systems (RBS) put up channel 7.

Two more TV stations were established in 1962; Channel 5 of the Associated Broadcasting

Corporation (ABC) and Channel 11 of the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation.

Color Television was introduced in 1967 by ABS-CBN.

Before the imposition of Martial Law by the Marcos Regime in 1972, the biggest broadcasting

network in the country was ABS-CBN, a merger of the Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) and the Chronicle

Broadcasting Network (CBN). ABS-CBN is credited with having pioneered in several aspects of local

broadcasting.

Starting as the Bolinao Electronics Corporation, a dealer in US Army surplus electronics equipments

and materials which has obtained a manufacturing license from RCA, ABS-CBN was the first to undertake

the fabrication locally of broadcast audio and transmitter equipment. In addition, it also had several

other firsts to its credit. First to locally fabricate 50-kilowatt AM transmitter, first FM stereo, first to

use the Ampliphase transmitter, first to use the video tape recorder, first to telecast in color (1967), put

up a CATV system, first in TV relay system, first TV multi-station simulcast covering Luzon and the

Vizayas, first to have two way TV circuit via satellite, first to cover the Olympics and various other firsts

in the local broadcast field.

In 1969, Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS) bought the facilities of Channel 9 from ABS-CBN to start

the operation of its own network.

PHILIPPINE TELECOMMUNICATION STORY AT A GLANCE

1867 - Three members of the telegraph Corps of Spain are dispatched by Royal Order to the Philippines

to put up a telegraph training school and establish a communication system linking all the principal

towns and cities in the country. The first telegraph link to be established is between Manila and the

island of Corregidor.

1871 Rafael de Isquierdo y Gutierrez assumes the governor-generalship of the Islands. During this

administration the countrys first steamship service is opened and more telegraph lines were installed.

He is the same governor general who signed the death verdict of the three martyr-priests Fathers

Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora in 1872.

1872 A Telegraph Practical School is established by Gov. Gen. Isquierdo (March 15).

1878 The Spanish Government in Madrid awards to the Eastern Extension Australasia and China

Telegraph Company, an English firm, a 40-year old concession to the lay down a submarine telegraph

cable that will link the Philippines with Hongkong, 535 nautical miles away. Cable laying is undertaken by

the companys cable ship Calabria.

1880 The Philippine-Hongkong submarine cable, the countrys first overseas telegraph link, is

completed. The Philippine end of the cable lands at Bolinao, then part of Zambales province. The system

is made available for public telegrams on May 8.

1888 Valeriano Weyler y Nicolao is appointed governor-general. During his administration (1888-

1891), the first telephone system and the first street car service (pony-drawn and plying the Manila-

Malabon route) are inaugurated.

1889 Gov. Gen. Weyler is instructed by the Madrid Government to authorize the construction of a

telephone system in Manila (June 7).

1890 The countrys first telephone system is inaugurated.

1897 Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company, in accordance with a 20-year

contract with the Spanish Government and a yearly subsidy of $22,500, lays a submarine cable

interconnecting Manila with Capiz, Iloilo, Bacolod, Escalante and Cebu using the company cable ship

Sherard Osborne The manila end of the cable lands on an isolated spot in a beach in the Malate

district.

1898 Revolutionist from Zambales attacks the cable station at Bolinao. The 160-mile overland cable

connecting the Bolinao end of the Philippines-Hongkong cable with Manila is replaced by an undersea

cable following frequent cuttings of the aerial cable by the Revolutionary Army.

Telegraph service between Manila and Hongkong is interrupted due to the damage of the cable

during the Battle of Manila Bay between the American and Spanish naval forces. The line is restored in

August 20.

Emilio Aguinaldo, head of the Revolutionary Government, issues a decree officially opening the

Philippine telegraph services (November 2) and the postal service (November 10) in areas in Luzon

under the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Government.

1899 The Americans take over control of the Philippines from Spaniards. They establish their own

telegraph and telephone systems for the needs of the military. The system consists of 2,400 kilometers

of undersea cables and landlines linking the major islands of the country.

1901 A department of posts under the Department of Commerce in the civil government is created.

1902 The Philippine Commission organizes a telegraph division under the Constabulary (September

15).

A submarine telegraph cable is laid between Romblon, and Boac, Marinduque, 121 kilometers

apart (November 21).

The Bureau of Posts is created in accordance with Act 462 of the Philippine Commission.

1903 The first Pacific cable linking Manila with San Francisco, USA, is completed by the Commercial

Pacific Cable Company (July 4). US President Theodore Roosevelt and Philippine Governor General

William Howard Taft exchange messages to inaugurate the event.

1905 Two Americans, Louis Glass and John Sabin, organize the Philippine Island Telephone and

Telegraph Corporation (PITTC). The company starts with 500 telephone subscribers in Manila.

1906 In accordance with the government reorganization law, the telegraph division is transferred from

the Constabulary to the Bureau of Posts. Gradual transfer military lines and offices to the Insular

Government are to continue up to 1910.

Finding the telephone system more difficult to handle than its other services, the Bureau of Posts

converts some of its telephone circuits into telegraph circuits. The rest are turned over to certain

provincial governments.

1910 The Posts-Telegraph School of the Bureau of Posts is inaugurated. Among its first Filipino

instructors are Faustino Navarro, Jesus Alvarez and Petronilo Taracatac. Trainees (called pensionados) in

the school are entitled to a monthly allowance of P20 (later increased to P30) each.

1911 At the time close of the 1910-1911 fiscal periods on June 30, 1911, the Bureau of Posts no longer

operate any telephone line.

1914 Another telephone system of the PITTC, using a magneto-type switchboard, is established in

Iloilo City.

1917 With the development of the governments own internal telecommunications system, the inter-

island cable network of Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company is phased out.

Eugenio Padua is appointed superintendent of the telegraph division of the Bureau of the

Telegraph Division of the Bureau of Posts, the first Filipino o hold such position.

1919 The countrys first wireless (radio) stations are established by the Bureau of Posts in San Jose

(Mindoro), Puerto Princesa (Palawan), Jolo (Sulu), Zamboanga, Davao and Malabang (Lanao). Two other

stations in Cavite and Corregidor are maintained and operated by the United States Army.

The first and only group of Filipino pensionados of the Insular Government graduate from the US

Naval Radio Station in Cavite. Selected in a competitive examination conducted by the Posts-Telegraph

School, the pensionados are Fidel Gestosani, Diosdado Dizon, Ludovico Banas, Gaudencio Pangan, Juan

Alayu, Eleuterio Funes, Jose F. Ditan and Rafale Anonas.

The first automatic telephone system is installed in Manila by PITTC.

1920 The Posts Telegraph School of the Bureau of Posts conducts its first class in wireless (radio)

telegraphy with Guillermo Rodil (of Cavite) as instructor.

The Philippine Sparks and Postmasters Association, Inc., the first organization of government

radio and telegraph operators and postmaster-operators, is organized.

1921 - The Philippine Sparks and Postmasters Association, Inc., under the presidency of Guillermo Rodil

is successful in its lobby fort he passage of a law by the 6th Philippine Legislature extending leave

privileges to government telegraphists, privileges then already enjoyed by other employees of the

government. The new law grants 21 vacation leave and 30 days accrued leave to telecom personnel.

1922 The Bureau of Posts establishes a costal service station using spark transmitters. The stations are

located at Iloilo, Palawan, Cebu, Catbalogan, Lucena, Infanta and Zamboanga. The coastal stations, many

of them manned by Americans, serve the countrys inter-island shipping.

Amateur Radio Club of the Philippines (ARCP), the countrys first organization of radio amateurs,

is organized. Elected first president is Tomas Rivera.

The Philippine Islands Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (PITTC) are dissolved and withdraw

business from the Philippines. The Philippine Telephone and Telegraph Corporation are organized and

take over the accounts of the PITTC.

1923 Gov. Gen. Francis Burton Harrison issues a regulations governing the Philippine telegraph service.

A Radio Commission is composed of an officer of the US Navy, a representative of the US army Signal

Corps and Gonzalo Kamantigue of the Bureau of Posts, is created. The Commission is charged with the

supervision and implementation of radio regulations in the country.

Radio Broadcasting is introduced in the country.

1924 Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood issues an executive order applying to the Philippines the decisions of

the International Radio Telegraph Convention held in London in 1912 as previously recommended by

the US Senate and ratified by the President of the United States on February 15, 1913 for the United

States and its possessions (January).

Dapitan (in Zamboanga) radio station is established as replacement for the old submarine cable

coming from Zamboanguita in Negros to Baliangao (April 13).

Negros Telephone Company is established.

KZKZ broadcast station of Henry Herman starts broadcasting from the penthouse of the Santos Building

on Plaza Sta. Cruz in Manila with a 100-watt transmitter (October).

Radio Corporation of the Philippines and Far Eastern Radio (FER) are formed.

Philippines Radio Club, the second amateur radio club, is organized. Lt. Haydn P. Roberts of the US Army

Signal Corps is elected first president.

KZRQ, 1 500-watt broadcast station is established by Eastern Radio (inaugurated in December).

1925 KZKZ is sold to Radio Corporation of the Philippines, which increases its station power to 500

watts.

Isaac Beck, owner of I. Beck, Inc., a Department Store on the Escolta in Manila, establishes station

KZIB, a 20-watt station (November). (The stations capacity is increased to one kilowatt five years later).

Clemente Zamora is contacted by the Bureau of Posts to change some of its spark transmitters to

tube transmitters.

1926 The first arc transmitters in the Philippines are installed in Infanta and Cebu.

1927 RCA Communication of the Philippines opens the first radiotelegraph circuit between Manila and

San Francisco, USA followed by similar circuits between the Philippines and other countries.

Erlanger and Galinger, Inc., establish KZRM, a one kilowatt station (later increased to two

kilowatts) and KZEG, a sister station.

The Dapitan radio station of the Bureau of Posts is equipped with the new vacuum tube

transmitters (April 13).

Act 3396 (the first radio law) is enacted (December 5) making it compulsory for all ships of

Philippine registry to have radio apparatus installed aboard. Implementation of the law is delegated to a

section of the Telegraph Division of the Bureau of Posts.

1928 The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) is incorporated under the provisions of

the corporation law of the Philippines (November 28).

The Philippine Legislature enacts Act 3495 granting the Robert Company a franchise to province

international telegram service (December 8).

1929 The Robert Dollar Company begins operation.

1930 Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company establish its Manila office.

Operations of nine telegraph stations of the Bureau of Posts (Manila, Aparri, Laoag, Cagayan de

Oro, Zamboanga, Davao, Iloilo, Cebu and Tacloban) is turned over temporarily to the Radio Corporation

of the Philippines, a private firm, with a view to making the service more efficient. The arrangement

lasted only for a few months and the service was subsequently returned to the Bureau of Posts.

1931 Direct radio contact between Zamboanga and Sandakan in North Borneo is established per

agreement with the British North Borneo Company. Most of the operators in Sandakan are Chinese.

In accordance with the first post-World War II conference of the International telecommunication

Union (ITU) held in Atlantic City, USA, call signs of radio broadcasting stations in the Philippines are

changed from K to D. The call sign K is assigned to the US and its colonies and possessions only.

The Philippine Amateur Radio Association (PARA) is extended recognition as an official member-

society of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

1948 The countrys first modern radio-teletype service is put into operation by the Bureau of

Telecommunications between Manila and Cebu.

The Government Radio and Telegraph Operators Union (GRATOU) were organized by Tranquilino

V. Pascual. (GRATOU is credited with having worked for enactment RA 771, which standardized the

salaries and provided for other benefits of government telegraph men).

1949 Globe Wireless establishes the first ground-to-air radio telephone communications for airlines

when Pan American World Airways entered into an operating agreement with the company.

1951 In accordance with the provisions of Executive Order No. 392 series of 1951 the Radio Control

Division together with the Radio Control Board was transferred to the newly created Department of

Public Works and Communications.

1953 The countrys first commercial television station, DZAQ-TV Channel 3 of the Alto Broadcasting

System (ABS), owned by Judge Antonio Quirino goes on the air.

1955 BUTEL inaugurates the countrys first social telegram service with President Ramon Magsaysay

who marks the 48th birthday anniversary as the first recipient (August). (Originally in English, the

telegrams also had Spanish and Tagalog texts the English texts were by Jose T. Tumbukon while the

Tagalog texts were prepared by Federico A. Oquindo).

RCA Communications introduces telex exchange services between the Philippines and the United

States and later from the US to Europe.

PLDT introduces microwave communications on short haul basis between two of its exchanges in

Luzon. (The network is extended throughout Luzon in 1966,to the Visayas in 1967 and to Mindanao in

1968).

1956 Work starts on the automation of the Government Telephone System. The government floated

bonds for the purpose.

Globe Wireless and Mackay Radio merge their transmitting and receiving facilities.

RA 146 is enacted. The new law abolishes the radio registration fee charged on all radio receivers

sets in the country, the main source of the radio broadcasting fund.

1957 The Bureau of Telecommunications installs free GTS public telephones in various public buildings

in the City of Manila. (The service is discontinued after only a few weeks on account of a ruling by the

General Auditing Office that it violates government auditing regulations).

The GTS starts operation of a crossbar type automatic telephone exchange, reportedly the first of

its kind in Asia, at the time, at Malacaang Palace.

1958 PLDT terminates its contract with RCA Communications on the operation of the domestic side of

the PLDT-RCA jointly operated overseas telephone service even as PLDT warns that it will cut off its

trunk line connections with the GTS. A court order restrains the telephone company from carrying out

the plan.

In accordance with an agreement between the Philippines and Japan, bidding for the five-year

requirements of the BUTEL expansion and improvement project is conducted in Tokyo by the Philippines

Reparations Commission. Bid winner is the Nippon Electric Company (NEC).

Director Jose S. Alfonso of the Bureau of Telecommunications proposes the conversion of the

BUTEL into a commission-type- supervisory body patterned after the Federal Communications

Commission of America.

In accordance with an agreement between the Bureau of Telecommunications and the US

Federal Communications Commission (FCC), three telecommunications experts from the national

Science Laboratory of the US conduct a survey of the local telecommunications industry. The project is

under the auspices of the International Cooperation Administrations (ICA).

1959 Congress enacts RA 2612 authorizing the government to negotiate loans for financing a

nationwide telecommunications expansion and improvement program.

The Philippines wins a seat in the Administrative Council of the ITU during the Unions

Plenipotentiary Conference in Geneva. During the same conference the Philippines submitted a proposal

for new methods of generating call signs for use by radio stations of all ITU member-countries.

Director of Telecommunications, Jose S. Alfonso suggests seeking the assistance of the ITU

technical branch in the implementation of a telecommunications-training program in the Philippines.

During the year, the Bureau of Telecommunications implements its regionalization plan

subdividing the country into eight regional telecommunication regions; inaugurates its inter-provincial

telephone service to Vigan (Ilocos Sur), Laoag (Ilocos Norte), Bagued (Abra), and San Fernando (La

Union) extending for the first time to these Northern Luzon provincial capitals the benefits of inter-

provincial telephone service, initiates a series of talks on the possibility of integrating all

communications networks of various government agencies, and reduces the rates of its press telegrams

from three centavos to two centavos per word.

1960 The Government Telephone System switches to automatic operation. However, plans to

introduce a metered rate system are deferred due to technical defects in the systems French-made

equipment.

The Republic Act 2963 grants to the Radio Communications of the Philippines Incorporated

(RCPI) a franchise to operate commercial radiotelephony, radiotelegraphy, television, coastal and

marine communications for international operation.

RA 3006 grants a franchise to Philippine Wireless, Inc., to operate commercial

telecommunications services within and outside the Philippines.

Inter Island Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) puts up channel 13.

1961 Contract within the Nippon Electric Company (NEC) for the procurement of capital goods and

technical services needed in the first year requirements of the government telecommunications

expansion and improvement projects is finalized.

ITU act on the Philippines proposal to put up a national telecommunications- training center in

Manila.

Republic Broadcasting System (RBS) put up channel 7.

1962 Malacaang suspends the implementation of several national projects charged against

reparations including the contract of the Bureau of Telecommunications with NEC.

The plan of operation of the telecommunications Training Institute is signed in Manila (June 5) by

Secretary of Public Works and Communications Brigido M. Valencia for the Philippines, and Alfredo

McKinzie, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) resident representative in the Philippines, for

the Untied Nations.

Associated Broadcasting Company puts up channel 5.

Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation puts up channel 11.

RA 4546 grants the Universal Telecommunications System a franchise to operate commercial

telecommunications services in the country.

The Secretary of Public Works and Communications issues Department Order 41 renaming the

Radio Control Division the Radio Control Office (RCO).

Former BUTEL Director Jose S. Alfonso puts up the Philippine Telegraph and Telephone

Corporation (PT&T). (Congressional franchise is given to the firm two years later).

1963 Malacaang lifts the suspension imposed on the BUTEL thus enabling the bureau to start work

on its nationwide telecommunications expansion and improvement project.

The Telecommunications Training Institute starts operation in Valenzuela, Bulacan.

A survey of the Philippine Telecommunications service is undertaken by the International

Telecommunications Union through ITU Bangkok.

1964 Senate Bill 644 creating a National Telecommunications Commission

and passed by the Fifth Congress is vetoed by President Diosdado Macapagal.

Construction of the $150-million trans-Pacific submarine cable is completed. The project is a

cooperative effort of KDD of Japan, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, Hawaiian Telephone

Company, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and RCA Communications of the Philippines.

1965 President Diosdado Macapagal signs Republic Act 4200 (Anti0Telephone Wire Tapping Law)

which prohibits and penalizes wire tapping with a penalty of imprisonment from six months to six years.

RA 4491 authorizes the merger of Globe Wireless and Mackay Radio (June 19) as RA 4630

authorizes the change of name of Globe Wireless, Ltd., to Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation

(June 19).

1966 Director Antonio C. Gamboa Jr., of the Bureau of Telecommunications urges the government to

initiate the establishment of a factory to manufacture telecommunications equipment spare parts with

$1-million as capital base.

GTS Inter-provincial telephone service between Manila and Aparri, Cagayan is opened to public

service.

Another bill proposing the creation of a National Telecommunication Commission is filed in

Congress by Rep. Jose C. Aquino of Agusan. The proposed Commission will have jurisdiction over wire

and wireless telecommunications public and private.

The coaxial cable system between Manila and Hongkong via Guam is opened to public service.

The Philippines joins the International Telecommunication Satellite Consortium (INTELSAT).

The Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (PHILCOMSAT) is incorporated (December).

The Manila-Baguio City microwave link of the Bureau of Telecommunication is established.

1967 An interim communications satellite earth station of PHILCOMSAT a government corporation,

and operated by the Philippine Overseas Telecommunication Corporation (POTC), a private entity, is

inaugurated in Barrio Pinugay, Tanay Rizal, making Philippines the first Southeast Asian Country to

operate such a station (April).

Final stage of the Southeast Asia Commonwealth Cable (SEACOM) interconnecting Guam and

Hogkong is completed. The cable interconnects with the trans-Pacific cable at Guam thus facilitating the

country is linked with Guam via the Trans-Pacific cable.

A survey of the countrys telecommunications services, both government and private, is

undertaken jointly by the Bureau of Telecommunications and the US Agency for International

Development (USAID).

Another survey of the local telecommunications industry is undertaken by the International

Telecommunications Union through ITU Bangkok.

The 27th meeting of the Interim Committee Satellite Communication Consortium (INTELSAT), held

in Washington D.C., USA approves the Philippine application to operate a permanent earth station.

ITT-Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation inaugurate its $3.5 million Pentacota automatic

telex-switching center in Manila.

Color television is introduced into the country.

Control of PLDT passes into Filipino hands when General Telephone and Electric Corporation of

New York, which previously held the controlling stocks of the company, relinquished control in favor of a

Filipino group headed by Ramon Cojuangco.

1968 The countrys permanent earth station is inaugurated in Pinugay, Tanay Rizal (May 2).

The Telecommunications development Board is created in accordance with Presidential

Administrative Order No. 1