21 May 2009

Church acquires TV/Radio franchise in the Philippines

One of the latest feats in the history of the church in the Philippines was to acquire a license to operate television and radio stations in the country. For some years this had been the dream of church leaders to go on air by way of obtaining a franchise for nationwide broadcasts.

That historic event was sealed on May 21, after several months of negotiation, when the officers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in southern Philippines (SPUC) signed the memorandum of agreement with Conal and Digital Holdings. This legal document transfers the right of the former owner to the Adventist Church to operate a television and radio network in the Philippines. Henceforth, Hope Channel will operate its stations in the Philippines under this franchise.

The acquirement of the franchise started the process of applying for TV and radio frequencies in towns and cities all over the country. “We thank the Lord for allowing us to come this far and we will surely depend on His guidance, direction and help to enable us to obtain frequencies so we can go on air soon,” said Dr Jonathan C Catolico, communication director for the church in the southern Asia-Pacific region (SSD).

The representatives of the church have started working with the government’s national telecommunication commission to process applications for frequencies. An initial number of 20 ultra high frequency stations have been targeted to cover a wide geographical area of the country. “While the process may take considerable amount of time and money, the church is happy that a license has been granted and anytime soon our broadcasts will go nationwide,” added Catolico.

The Hope Channel studio facility in Cagayan de Oro City will serve as the headquarters of Hope Channel in the Philippines. Other production studios in northern and central Philippines will beef up production for national and international broadcasts.

“Our church needs to employ a more modern way of communicating God’s message and we do this through radio, television, mobile phones and other methodologies. We thank our world church headquarters for the approval of the project. We will encourage our church members to invest their money and efforts to establish stations—TV or radio— in their localities,” challenged Pastor Wendell Serrano, SPUC president, who signed the transfer agreement on behalf of the Adventist Church in the Philippines.

Under special fund of the world church, the establishment of the Adventist broadcasting network in the Philippines, along with the setting up of Hope Channel production facilities in the three regions of the country, and program production for local and international broadcasts will hasten the completion of the Lord’s work in this part of the world,” remarked church leaders. [AND Staff]