Case Digest (G.R. No. 26408)
Facts:
The People of the Philippine Islands v. Alejo Titular, G.R. No. 26408, February 21, 1927, the Supreme Court (Malcolm, J., writing for the Court). The prosecution charged Alejo Titular with violating Section 2649 of the Administrative Code, as amended by Act No. 3030, which penalizes anonymous posters or circulars that are designed or tend to injure or defeat a candidate by criticizing his personal character or political action.The information alleged that between 20 March and 12 April 1925 in Lipa, Batangas, Titular wrote, printed, distributed and caused the distribution of an anonymous Tagalog pasquin or circular criticizing and casting aspersions upon Hon. Claro M. Recto, then a candidate for Representative for the Third District of Batangas in the 2 June 1925 elections. The information quoted the Tagalog circular (with a Spanish translation), which primarily posed a series of interrogatories and criticisms about Recto’s performance, promises, alleged financial dealings and fitness for office, and alleged that the anonymous circular intended to injure or defeat Recto.
Titular filed a demurrer to the information on the ground that the facts alleged did not constitute a crime. The trial court sustained the demurrer, principally reasoning that the circular did not injure or defame Representative Recto. The provincial fiscal of Batangas appealed the order sustaining the demurrer to the...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the information, as framed, state an offense under Section 2649 of the Administrative Code (as amended by Act No. 3030), so that the trial court erred in sustaining the demurrer?
- Whether Section 2649, insofar as it penalizes anonymous criticism during elections, is an unconstitutional abridgment of freedom o...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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