Terms of Service

Last Updated on July 20, 2022

  1. GENERAL RULES

1.1 This Terms of Service constitute a legally binding agreement made between you, whether personally or on behalf of an entity ("user" or "you") and The Manila Times ("we" or "us" or "our"), concerning your access to and use of the The Manila Times Digital Edition website, as well as any other media form, media channel, or mobile application related, linked or otherwise connected thereto (collectively, the "Site or Application"). If you choose to use certain The Manila Times digital products displaying or otherwise governed by these Terms of Service, including manilatimes.net (the "Site"), The Manila Times' mobile sites and applications, and any of the features of the Site, including but not limited to RSS feeds, APIs, and Software (as defined below) and other downloads (collectively, the "Services"), you agree that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS THEN YOU ARE EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED FROM USING THE SITE AND THE SERVICES, AND YOU MUST DISCONTINUE THE USE IMMEDIATELY.   
 

1.2 We may revise, enhance or remove portions of these Terms of Service at any time through a notification of the change (by email or by updating the date above after "Last Updated On"). Such changes shall become effective immediately upon posting. It the user's responsibility to review the Terms of Service prior to each use of the Site.
 

1.3 IF ANY OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, OR ANY FUTURE CHANGES, ARE UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, YOU MAY OPT TO: (i) CANCEL YOUR ACCOUNT BY SENDING AN E-MAIL TO: [email protected]; AND/OR (ii) DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE SERVICES INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF SERVICE, INCLUDING THE CHANGES OR MODIFICATIONS THEREON.

1.4 We may modify, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Services at any time, including the availability of any Services feature, database, or content. We may also impose limitations on certain features and services or restrict your access to any or all parts of the Services without notice or liability.

1.5 Exposure to advertisements present on the Site is a condition of accessing the Services.

  1. RIGHTS ON THE SITE CONTENT

2.1 The contents of the Services and the Site are only intended for your personal and non-commercial use. All materials published or available on the Services (including, but not limited to text, photographs, images, illustrations, designs, audio clips, video clips, "look and feel," metadata, data, or compilations, all also known as the "Content") are protected by copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights, and owned or controlled by The Manila Times or the party credited as the provider of the Content. The Manila Times also owns copyright in the selection, coordination, compilation, and enhancement of such Content ("Arrangement"). You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as provided in Section 2.2 of these Terms of Service), create new works from, distribute, perform, display, communicate to the public or in any way exploit, any of the Content, Arrangement or Services, in whole or in part.

2.2 You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable materials available on the Services PROVIDED that the same is dedicated for your personal use only; PROVIDED FURTHER that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for purposes other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from Manila Times, or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice included in the Content.

  1. USER GENERATED CONTENT

3.1 Uploading, distributing or publishing any libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material is strictly prohibited. You shall not imitate or in any other manner misrepresent your identity, affiliation or status to the prejudice of a third person. You likewise agree not to provide any material and/or misleading information for purposes of defrauding another.

The use of words or phrases which tend to abuse or discriminate any member on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, and the like, is strictly prohibited.

3.2 You agree that any submissions or entry you make to the Services may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by The Manila Times. The Manila Times reserves the right to delete, move, or edit the submissions or entries that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, in violation of these Terms of Service, or otherwise unacceptable.

3.3 As a consequence, you grant The Manila Times the perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, sub-licensable license to the submissions or entries you made, which includes the right for The Manila Times, or any third party it may designate, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, communicate to the public, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify and adapt, in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed.

3.4 You are solely responsible for the content of your submissions or entries. While The Manila Times does not and cannot review every submission, and is not responsible for the content of these messages, The Manila Times reserves the right to delete, move, or edit submissions that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or in violation of these Terms of Service.

3.5 By making a submission, you are consenting to its display and publication on the Site and in the Services and for related online and offline promotional uses.

  1. PROHIBITED USE OF THE SERVICES

4.1 You may not access, use, or attempt to access or use, the Services for purposes of harming The Manila Times or any other third person. You may not use the Services in violation of applicable laws or in violation of our or any third party's intellectual property or legal rights. You further agree that you shall not attempt or induce anyone else attempt to circumvent, reverse, decrypt, or otherwise alter or interfere with the Services, or any content thereof, or make any unauthorized use thereof.

4.2 Furthermore, without The Manila Times' prior written consent, you shall not:

(a) Access any part of the Services, Content, data or information you do not have permission or authorization to access or for which The Manila Times has revoked your access;

(b) Use robots, spiders, scripts, service, software or any manual or automatic device, tool, or process designed to data mine or scrape the Content, data or information from the Services, or otherwise access or collect the Content, data or information from the Services using automated means;

(c) Use services, software or any manual or automatic device, tool, or process designed to circumvent any restriction, condition, or technological measure that controls access to the Services in any way, including overriding any security feature or bypassing or circumventing any access controls or use limits of the Services;

(d) Cache or archive the Content (except for a public search engine's use of spiders for creating search indices); and

(f) Do anything that could disable, damage or change the functioning or appearance of the Services, including the presentation of advertising.

Note that in engaging in a prohibited use of the Services may result in civil, criminal, and/or administrative penalties, fines, or sanctions against the user and those in connivance with the user.

  1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES; INDEMNIFICATION; LIMITATION OF LIABILITIES

5.1 You signify, permit and agree:

(a) That no material of any kind, submitted or forwarded through your account, will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or intellectual property rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; and

(b) If you are under eighteen years old, your parent or legal guardian has read these Terms of Service and agreed to them and your use of the Service.

5.2 The Manila Times does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Services by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk.

5.3 You hereby agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless The Manila Times and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the "Indemnified Parties") from and against any and all liability and costs, including, but not limited to, whatever kind of damages and attorneys' fees incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach these Terms of Service or the aforementioned representations, warranties and agreements. You shall provide full cooperation, when required, in the preservation or defense of any such claim. The Manila Times reserves the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter, subject to indemnification by the user who caused any litigation pertinent to these Terms of Service.

5.4 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW,IN NO EVENT WILL MANILA TIMES, ITS AFFILIATES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SHAREHOLDERS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, ADVERTISERS, SUPPLIERS, CONTENT PROVIDERS AND LICENSORS ("THE MANILA TIMES PARTIES") BE LIABLE, JOINTLY OR SEVERALLY, TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PERSON AS A RESULT OF YOUR ACCESS OR USE OF THE SERVICES, SUBMISSIONS OR CONTENT, FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF SAVINGS, LOSS OF REVENUES, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL (COLLECTIVELY, THE "EXCLUDED DAMAGES"). THESE LIMITATIONS APPLY WHETHER THE ALLEGED LIABILITY IS BASED ON NEGLIGENCE, TORT OR CONTRACT, EVEN IF ANY OF THE MANILA TIMES PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF, OR IN ANY MANNER COULD HAVE FORESEEN ANY OF THE EXCLUDED DAMAGES, AND IRRESPECTIVE OF ANY FAILURE TO PROVIDE REMEDY THEREON.

  1. REGISTRATION AND SECURITY

6.1 As part of the registration or account creation process, you are required to provide login credentials such as e-mail address and password, or you can opt to link another account, such as your Facebook or Google accounts. You also can be requested to provide certain registration information, which must be true, accurate and updated.

Each registered account is for a single user only. You are not allowed to share your registration login credentials or give your login credentials to a third person, otherwise, we may cancel or suspend your access to the Services. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, which you will not have to reveal to any representative or agent of The Manila Times. Failure to comply with the foregoing shall constitute a breach of these Terms of Service, which may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account.

6.2 It is your responsibility to immediately report any known or suspected unauthorized use(s) of your account, or any known or suspected breach of security, including loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of your password or credit card information.

6.3 You are responsible for all use, transaction or any activity on your account with The Manila Times. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Terms of Service, any fraudulent, abusive, or otherwise illegal activity may be a ground for termination of your account, at our sole discretion, and may be referred to the appropriate law-enforcement agency.

  1. FEES AND PAYMENTS

7.1. Subject to advance notice of chargeable fees, and your prior consent, we may, at any time charge fees for access to all or any portion of the Services. You shall pay all the fees and charges incurred through your account at the rates in effect for the billing period in which such fees and charges are incurred, including, but not limited to charges for any digital products or services offered for sale through the Services by us or by any other vendor or service provider. All fees and charges, including all applicable taxes relative to such use, shall be billed to and paid for by you.

  1. EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

8.1 You consent to receive electronic communications, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications we provide to you electronically, via email, on the Website and on the Application, satisfy any legal requirements provided that such communication be in writing.

  1. SOFTWARE LICENSES

9.1 You may not sub-license, assign or transfer any license granted by The Manila Times, and any attempt to secure a sub-license, assignment or transfer shall be null and void. You may make one copy of such Software for archival purposes only. Furthermore, you may not otherwise copy, distribute, modify, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from Software.

  1. TERMINATION

10.1 You may terminate your account at any time by sending a message to our Customer Care through [email protected]. On the other hand, our Cancellation and Refund Policy will govern the termination of paid digital products.

  1. CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY

11.1 When you cancel a subscription, you cancel only future charges associated with your subscription. You may notify us of your intent to cancel at any time, but the cancellation will become effective at the end of your current billing period.

 

11.2 Cancellations are effective the following billing cycle. You will not receive a refund for the current billing cycle. You will continue to have the same access and benefits of your product for the remainder of the current billing period.

 

11.3 We reserve the right to issue refunds or credits at our sole discretion. If we issue a refund or credit, we are under no obligation to issue the same or similar refund in the future.

  1. Jurisdiction and Compliance with Laws

12.1. These Terms of Service, your use of the Application and the Services and the relationship between the parties shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines without reference to its conflicts of law provisions. Any and all claims, causes of action, or disputes relating or pursuant to, arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Service shall be brought solely before the appropriate courts in Manila City, Philippines to the exclusion of all other courts and venues. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of these courts and hereby waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over the parties by such courts and to venue in such courts on any ground, including without limitation on the ground of inconvenient forum.

12.2 Any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of the Services or these Terms of Services must be filed within one year after such claim or cause of action arose otherwise, the same shall be barred. Any claim by you that may arise in connection with these Terms of Service will be compensable by monetary damages and you will in no event be entitled to injunctive or other equitable relief. You also hereby expressly waive any right to resort to any form of class action.
 

  1. SEVERABILITY

13.1 If any provision of these Terms of Service shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Service and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
 

  1. MISCELLANEOUS

14.1 These Terms of Service and any policies or operating rules posted by us on the Applicationand the Site constitute the entire agreement between you and us. Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms of Service shall not operate as a waiver of such right or provision. These Terms of Service operate to the fullest extent permissible by law. We may assign any or all of our rights and obligations to others at any time. We shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, delay or failure to act caused by any cause beyond our reasonable control.
 

14.2. If any provision or part of a provision of these Terms of Service is unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision or part of the provision is deemed severable from these Terms of Service and does not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.
 

14.3. There is no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship created between you and us as a result of these Terms of Service. You agree that these Terms of Service will not be construed against us by virtue of having drafted them. You hereby waive any and all defenses you may have based on the electronic form of these Terms of Service and the lack of signing by the parties hereto to execute these Terms of Service.