Bantay Republic Act or BA-RA 7941 V COMELEC PDF
Bantay Republic Act or BA-RA 7941 V COMELEC PDF
*
G.R. No. 177271. May 4, 2007.
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* EN BANC.
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(BA-RA 7941) and Urban Poor for Legal Reforms (UP-LR) for
cancellation of accreditation on the grounds thus advanced in
their petition; In certiorari proceedings, the Court is not called
upon to decide factual issues and the case must be decided on the
undisputed facts on record.—The Court is unable to grant the
desired plea of petitioners BA-RA 7941 and UP-LR for
cancellation of accreditation on the grounds thus advanced in
their petition. For, such course of action would entail going over
and evaluating the qualities of the sectoral groups or parties in
question, particularly whether or not they indeed represent
marginalized/underrepresented groups. The exercise would
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GARCIA, J.:
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1 At least nine (9) party-list groups subject of the second petition are
respondents in the first petition.
2 G.R. No. 147589, June 26, 2001, 359 SCRA 698.
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3 ABS, Babae Ka, PEP, ANC, FPJPM, AAPS, AANGAT ka Pilipino and
KALAHI.
4 AKSA.
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connection with the May 14, 2007 Elections only after 3:00 p.m.
on election day.
Let the Law Department implement this resolution and reply
to all letters addressed to the Commission inquiring on the party-
list nominees.” (Emphasis added.)
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While the Comelec did not explicitly say so, it based its
refusal to disclose the names of the nominees of subject
party-list groups on Section 7 of R.A. 7941. This provision,
while commanding the publication and the posting in
polling places of a certified list of party-list system
participating groups,
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enshrined in the self-executory Section 7, Article III of the
Constitution, viz.:
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15 Gonzales v. Narvasa, G.R. No. 140835, August 14, 2000, 337 SCRA
733.
16 Legaspi v. Civil Service Commission, G. R. No. L-72119, May 19,
1987, 150 SCRA 530, citing Cooley.
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and may seek its enforcement by mandamus. And since
every citizen by the simple fact of his citizenship possesses
the right to be informed, objections
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on ground of locus
standi are ordinarily unavailing.
Like all constitutional guarantees, however, the right to
information and its companion right of access to official
records are not absolute. As articulated in Legaspi, supra,
the people’s right to know is limited to “matters of public
concern” and is further subject to such limitation as may be
provided by law. Similarly, the policy of full disclosure is
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17 Tañada v. Tuvera, G. R. No. L-63915, April 24, 1985, 136 SCRA 27.
18 Bernas, The Constitution of the Philippines: A Commentary, 1996 ed.,
p. 334.
19 Chavez v. Presidential Commission on Good Government, G.R. No.
130716, December 9, 1998, 299 SCRA 744.
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20 Ayer Productions Pty. Ltd. v. Capulong, G.R. No. L-82380, April 29,
1988, 160 SCRA 861.
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