(Updated 2:02 p.m.) BAGUIO CITY — The Supreme Court on
Tuesday stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from imposing new
airtime limits on political advertisements on television and radio.
SC spokesman and Public Information Office chief Ted Te said the magistrates voted 9-6 in favor of issuing a status quo ante order against Comelec Resolution 9615 (issued in January) and Resolution 9631 (February).
The petitions were filed by media organizations GMA Network Corp, ABC Corp. (TV5) and the Kapasinan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas. Candidates and political parties have less than a month before the elections to take advantage of unrestricted advertising on broadcast media. The Comelec had sought to prevent the more moneyed candidates from flooding the airwaves with their commercials.
Te did not explain why the court decided to issue a status quo ante order rather than the temporary restraining order sought by the petitioners.
Those who dissented from the majority ruling were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Associate Justices Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad, Mariano del Castillo, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Bienvenido Reyes. As it does every summer, the Supreme Court is currently deliberating in Baguio.
Under the January resolution, which was upheld by the February resolution, the Comelec set the following guidelines:
In a petition filed last February 8, GMA Network described the airtime limits on political ads as "too restrictive."
"We raised that the aggregate airtime for political advertisements is restrictive considering that it impinges on the right to suffarge and the right of the people to be informed on important matters and the right of the people to free speech and expression," said one of the network's lawyers, Maria Estelita Arles, in the petition.
GMA Network asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction against the Comelec ruling. It also said the Comelec ruling should be declared unconstitutional and unlawful for having been promulgated in excess or without jurisdiction.
"Section 9(a) of the new rules is a cruel and oppressive regulation as it imposes the unreasonable and nearly impossible burden on the broadcast mass media of monitoring a candidate's or political party's aggregate airtime minutes in real time, in order to avoid administrative and criminal liability," a portion of the network's petition read.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who is seeking re-election in next month's midterm elections and who requested to participate in the case, has described the Comelec order as "unconstitutional [for] limiting the people's right to information... and smacks of prior restraint.”— KBK/HS, GMA News
SC spokesman and Public Information Office chief Ted Te said the magistrates voted 9-6 in favor of issuing a status quo ante order against Comelec Resolution 9615 (issued in January) and Resolution 9631 (February).
The petitions were filed by media organizations GMA Network Corp, ABC Corp. (TV5) and the Kapasinan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas. Candidates and political parties have less than a month before the elections to take advantage of unrestricted advertising on broadcast media. The Comelec had sought to prevent the more moneyed candidates from flooding the airwaves with their commercials.
Te did not explain why the court decided to issue a status quo ante order rather than the temporary restraining order sought by the petitioners.
Those who dissented from the majority ruling were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Associate Justices Arturo Brion, Roberto Abad, Mariano del Castillo, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Bienvenido Reyes. As it does every summer, the Supreme Court is currently deliberating in Baguio.
Under the January resolution, which was upheld by the February resolution, the Comelec set the following guidelines:
- For all national candidates, 120 minutes on all TV networks and 180 minutes on all radio stations
- For all local candidates, 60 minutes in all TV networks and 90 minutes in all radio stations.
In a petition filed last February 8, GMA Network described the airtime limits on political ads as "too restrictive."
"We raised that the aggregate airtime for political advertisements is restrictive considering that it impinges on the right to suffarge and the right of the people to be informed on important matters and the right of the people to free speech and expression," said one of the network's lawyers, Maria Estelita Arles, in the petition.
GMA Network asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction against the Comelec ruling. It also said the Comelec ruling should be declared unconstitutional and unlawful for having been promulgated in excess or without jurisdiction.
"Section 9(a) of the new rules is a cruel and oppressive regulation as it imposes the unreasonable and nearly impossible burden on the broadcast mass media of monitoring a candidate's or political party's aggregate airtime minutes in real time, in order to avoid administrative and criminal liability," a portion of the network's petition read.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who is seeking re-election in next month's midterm elections and who requested to participate in the case, has described the Comelec order as "unconstitutional [for] limiting the people's right to information... and smacks of prior restraint.”— KBK/HS, GMA News
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