Case Digest (G.R. No. L-32717)
Facts:
Amelito R. Mutuc v. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. L-32717. November 26, 1970, the Supreme Court En Banc, Fernando, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Amelito R. Mutuc, a resident of Arayat, Pampanga, was a candidate for delegate to the Constitutional Convention. On October 24, 1970, respondent Commission on Elections (COMELEC) sent him a telegram acknowledging that his certificate of candidacy had been given due course but forbidding the use of jingles in his mobile campaign units equipped with sound systems and loudspeakers.
On October 29, 1970, Mutuc filed a special civil action for a writ of prohibition (and prayed for a preliminary injunction) in this Court, alleging that the COMELEC order abridged his constitutional right to freedom of speech and that there was no plain, speedy and adequate remedy. The Court required respondent to answer by November 2, 1970, and set oral argument for November 3, 1970; no preliminary injunction was issued.
In its answer filed November 2, 1970, COMELEC did not deny the petition’s factual allegations but justified the prohibition by invoking Republic Act No. 6132 (1970), specifically section 12(E), which proscribes the purchase, production or distribution of "electoral propaganda gadgets" — listing pens, lighters, fans, flashlights, athletic goods or materials, wallets, bandanas, shirts, hats, matches, cigarettes and concluding with "and the like." COMELEC characterized the taped jingle as a recorded tangible propaganda material subject to confiscation under that provision.
The case was orally argued on November 3, 1970. Given the proximity of the election, the Court issued a minute resolution on the afternoon of November 3, 1970, granting the writ of prohibition, permanently restraining COMELEC from...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Commission on Elections have statutory power to prohibit petitioner’s use of taped political jingles in his mobile sound systems?
- Did the prohibition, if imposed, violate petitioner’s constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression?
- Could a taped jingle be validly classified as one of the "electoral propaganda gadgets" within the meaning of Section 12(E) of R.A. No. 6132 such that COMELEC coul...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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