PH Law Digest

Ponente: PERALTA, J. Special Civil Actions in the Supreme Court. Certiorari and Prohibition. Summary:  Petitioners: GMA Network, Inc., ABC Development Corporation, Manila Broadcasting Company, Inc., Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and ABS-CBN Corporation, Radio Mindanao Network, Inc., and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (Petitioner-Intervenor) Respondents: Commission on Elections COMELEC issued a resolution that changed the total amount of allowable airtime to electoral candidates from a per-station basis to an aggregate basis (total time for all stations), and petitioners claim it encroaches on the right to freedom of speech. The petition was partially granted. ---------------------------------------- Facts:   Five separate petitions combined questioning the constitutionality of various sections of COMELEC Resolution No. 9615, which reinterprets Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9006 (Fair Election Act) Section 7 (d) – imposes criminal liability on networks in case of exc...

Ponente:   CALLEJO, SR. J. Petition for declaratory relief to declare as unconstitutional certain sections of RA 8042 Summary:  Petitioners: The Executive Secretary, the Secretary of Justice, the Secretary of Labor & Employment, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, OWWA Adminstrator, and POEA Admistrator Respondents: The Hon. Court of Appeals and Asian Recruitment Council Philippine Chapter (ARCO-PHIL), Inc. ARCO-Phil Inc filed a petition to enjoin petitioners from implementing RA 8042 (Migrant Workers & Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995) because of its unconstitutionality. Petitioners questioned ARCO-Phil’s legal standing as an organization. The SC ruled that associations are proper parties to file complaints/petitions in behalf of their constituents, in the case at bar, ARCO-Phil did have locus standi, but it has no locus standi to file the petition for and in behalf of unskilled workers. It failed to implead any unskilled workers in its petition. Nonetheless, the SC found...

Ponente: KAPUNAN J. A Special Civil Action in the Supreme Court. Certiorari and Prohibition. Summary:  Petitioner: Integrated Bar of the Philippines Respondent: Hon. Ronaldo B. Zamora, Gen. Panfilo M. Lacson, Gen. Edgar B. Aglipay, Gen. Angelo Reyes President Estrada deployed the Marines to patrol certain parts of Metro Manila. IBP questioned  the constitutionality of this action. The SC decided that the IBP has no locus standi but chose to take cognizance of the petition as it is of paramount importance to the public (especially in light of Martial Law). SC decided that Estrada's deployment of Marines is constitutional and dismissed the filed petition. ---------------------------------------- Facts: President Estrada, in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief and through a verbal directive, deployed the Marines, to join the PNP in visibility patrols in response to alarming increase in violent crimes in Metro Manila. The PNP Chief, through Police Chief Superintendent Edgar B....

Ponente: KAPUNAN, J. A petition for certiorari assailing the constitutionality and validity of certain memoranda, circulars and/or orders of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)  Facts: On June 26, 1990, LTFRB Chairman Fernando issued DOTC Memorandum Order No. 90-395 allowing provincial bus operators to charge passengers within a range of 15% and above and below the LTFRB official rate of one year. On December 5, 1990, Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOAP) filed an application for rate increase of eight and a half centavos (P0.085) per kilometer for all types of provincial buses. On December 6, 1990, PBOAP reduced its proposed fare to of eight and a half centavos (P0.085) per kilometer for all types of provincial buses. On December 14, 1990, LTFRB granted the fare rate increase. On March 30, 1992, DOTC Secretary Prado issued Department Order No. 92-587 defining ...

Ponente: MONTEMAYOR, J. A joint appeal from the decision of the Court of First Instance of Manila  Summary : CFI Manila declared section 13 of RA 950 as unconstitutional, and ordered David to refund taxes collected from Endencia and David. On appeal from David, SC affirmed the decision, citing that collection of taxes is considered a diminution of the salaries of judicial persons. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Facts: In a previous case, Perfecto v Meer , the Supreme Court held that “taxing the salary of a judicial officer in the Philippines is a diminution of such salary and so violates the Constitution .” To counteract the Court’s ruling, Congress enacted RA 590, with special reference to Sec. 13  as its own interpretation of the aforementioned provision. Pursuant to RA 590, the defendant-appellant in this case, Saturnino David, as Collector of Internal Revenue, ordered the collection of income tax from the salary of the petitioners ...

Ponente: BELLOSILLO J. Petition for review on certiorari of a decision of the CA Facts: In Sept 1988, congressional hearings on the transport crisis lead to the organization of the First National Conference on Land Transportation (FNCLT). The conference was to be participated in by the private sector in the transport industry and government agencies concerned. Its objectives: •    to find ways and means to solve the transportation crisis •    to draft an omnibus bill that would embody a long-term land transportation policy for presentation to Congress 28 Feb 1989: Francisco Wenceslao was elected Executive Director of FNCLT. As such, he wrote numerous solicitation letters to the business community for the support of the conference. Between May and July 1989 a series of articles written by Arturo Borjal was published in his column Jaywalker in The Philippine Star. The articles dealt with the alleged anomalous activities of an "organizer of a conference"...

Ponente: TINGA J.  Petition for review on certiorari of a decision of the CA Facts: On 13 Oct 1991, Segundo Lim caused the publication of records of criminal cases filed against Cirse Choy Torralba as well as photographs of the latter being arrested in a plush uptown hotel in Cebu. These were published by means of a one-page advertisement paid for by Lim in the Sunday Post, a weekly publication edited and published by   Ciriaco Boy Guingguing. The Sunday Post was circulated in the province of Bohol, as well as in the Visayas and Mindanao. Cirse Choy Torralba was a broadcast journalist who handled two programs for radio stations DYLA and DYFX. Consequently, Torralba filed   before RTC Cebu City a criminal complaint for libel against Lim and Guinguing. He asked for moral, compensatory and exemplary damages + attorneys fees. He argued that: •       The publication placed him in public contempt and ridicule. •     ...

Ponente: MENDOZA J. Appeal from a decision of the RTC Manila Facts: Petitioner Rodolfo R. Vasquez is a resident of the Tondo Foreshore Area. Sometime in April 1986, he and some 37 families from the area went to see then National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Lito Atienza regarding their complaint against their Barangay Chairman, Jaime Olmedo, a public official. After their meeting with Atienza and other NHA officials, Petitioner and his companions were met and interviewed by newspaper reporters at the NHA compound concerning their complaint. The next day, April 22, 1986, the following excerpts of the news article appeared in the newspaper Ang Tinig ng Masa. In the article, published were supposed allegations by Vasquez that (1) “nakipagsabwatan umano si Chairman Jaime Olmedo upang makamkam ang may 14 na lote ng lupa”; (2) ang mga lupa ay ilegal na patituluhan, nagawa ito ni Olmedo sa pakikipagsabwatan sa mga project manager at legal officers ng NHA; (3) kasangkot di...

Ponente:  FELICIANO J. A petition for certiorari to review the order of the RTC Makati Facts: Petitioner Hal McElroy an Australian film maker, and his movie production company, Petitioner Ayer Productions pty Ltd. envisioned, sometime in 1987, the filming for commercial viewing and for Philippine and international release, the historic peaceful struggle of the Filipinos at EDSA. The proposed motion picture was entitled "The Four Day Revolution". In a letter dated 16 December 1987, McElroy informed Juan Ponce Enrile (JPE) about the projected motion picture enclosing a synopsis of it. JPE replied that “he would not and will not approve of the use, appropriation, reproduction and/or exhibition of his name, or picture, or that of any member of his family in any cinema or television production, film xxx". Petitioners acceded to this demand. 23 Feb 1988: JPE filed a Complaint with application for TRO and Writ of Preliminary Injunction with the RTC Makati, seeking t...

Ponente: REHNQUIST, C.J. Certiorari to the US CA for the 4th Circuit Facts: Respondent Jerry Falwell, a nationally known minister who has been active as a commentator on politics and public affairs, sued Petitioner Hustler Magazine, Inc. ("HUSTLER")  and its publisher, Petitioner Larry Flynt, to recover damages for invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress arising from the publication of an advertisement “parody”,  which, among other things, portrayed him as having engaged in a drunken incestuous rendezvous with his mother in an outhouse. The District Court directed a verdict against respondent on the privacy claim, and submitted the other two claims to a jury. The jury found for petitioners on the defamation claim, but found for respondent on the claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress and awarded damages: $100k in compensatory damages,; $50k in punitive damages. On appeal, the US CA for the 4th Circuit affirmed the judgm...

Ponente: HARLAN J. Certiorari to the US CA for the 5th Circuit Facts: 1st Case:  Curtis Pub. Co. v. Butts Saturday Evening Post published an article entitled “The Story of  a College Football Fix” which accused Wally Butts of conspiring to fix a football game between the University of Georgia and the University of Alabama, played in 1962.  Butts was then the athletic director of UG. The article purported that George Burnett, an Atlanta insurance salesman, had accidentally overheard, because of electronic error, a telephone conversation between Butts and the head coach of the UA, Paul Bryant, which took place approximately one week prior to the game, wherein Butts  gave to the coach Georgia's plays, defensive patterns, “all the significant secrets Georgia's football team possessed." Butts brought a diversity libel in the federal courts in Georgia seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Butts' contention was that the magazine had departed greatly from the standards ...