G.R. No. L-32546 October 17, 1970
ANACLETO D. BADOY, JR., petitioner, vs. JAIME N. FERRER, Chairman, CESAR MIRAFLOR, and LINO M. PATAJO, Members, Commission on Elections, respondents.

FACTS

The case involves a constitutional challenge to a provision of Republic Act 6132, specifically Section 12(F), which regulates election campaign advertisements. The petitioner, Anacleto D. Badoy, Jr., filed petitions against the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The provision in question imposes restrictions on paid political advertisements in newspapers and other publications during the election period for delegates to the Constitutional Convention.

ISSUE

Whether Section 12(F) of Republic Act 6132 constitutes an unreasonable and unconstitutional restraint on the freedom of the press and the rights of candidates to campaign.

RULING

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Barredo voted to declare Section 12(F) of Republic Act 6132 unconstitutional. He argued that the provision is a repugnant restraint on the freedom of the press and, more critically, on a candidate’s right to campaign. He emphasized that freedoms of speech, press, and assembly are absolute when exercised in relation to the right of suffrage. The provision’s requirement for a candidate to include the names of all opponents with equal prominence in any paid advertisement was deemed an “intolerable infringement” and an “odious compulsion,” forcing a candidate to spend his own money to publicize his adversaries. He contended that such restrictions lead to a dearth of voter information, which is detrimental to democracy, especially for an election as important as for a Constitutional Convention. He expressed that the law produces a greater evil than it purports to remedy by stifling the necessary flow of information to the electorate.