Case Digest (G.R. No. L-59329)
Facts:
This is Eastern Broadcasting Corporation (DYRE) v. The Hon. Jose P. Dans, Jr., et al., G.R. No. 59329, promulgated July 19, 1985, the Supreme Court En Banc, Gutierrez, Jr., J., writing for the Court. Eastern Broadcasting Corporation (DYRE) (petitioner) sought relief to compel respondents — including Jose P. Dans, Jr., Minister of Transportation & Communications, and Ceferino S. Carreon, Commissioner, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) (respondents) — to allow reopening of radio station DYRE after it had been summarily closed on grounds of national security.Petitioner alleged it was deprived of due process when the station was closed on a general allegation that the station was being used to incite sedition; no hearing was afforded, no proof was adduced, and petitioner was not informed of the factual basis for the administrative action. The closure was said to have followed the station’s shift toward coverage of public events and programs on public affairs.
Before the Court could promulgate a decision finally resolving the merits, petitioner, through its president, filed on March 25, 1985 a motion to withdraw or dismiss the petition, stating that it had sold DYRE and its rights to Manuel B. Pastrana and that the new owner and petitioner no longer had any interest in pursuing the suit, rendering the case moot and academic. The Court granted the motion to dismiss as moot but, for the guidance of inferior courts and quasi‑judicial bodies, issued an extended statement reiterating procedural safeguards for administrative closures, the applicability of the clear and present danger standard to l...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the petition should be dismissed as moot and academic due to petitioner’s sale of the station and motion to withdraw.
- Whether the summary closure of DYRE without prior hearing violated due process.
- Whether the closure could be justified as a permissible restriction on freedom of speech/press under the applicable test for limiting expression (clear and present danger), and h...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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