G.R. No. L-24045 June 19, 1979
Percival Ricardo, petitioner, vs. Secretary of Foreign Affairs, respondent.

FACTS

On October 2, 1964, petitioner Percival Ricardo, a reporter for the Manila Chronicle, applied for a passport to travel to Hong Kong. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Mendez, denied the application. The denial was based on the government’s standing policy prohibiting Filipino citizens from visiting communist-oriented countries, including Red China. The Secretary identified Ricardo as among the newspapermen invited by a Chinese Communist representative for a visit to Red China, which was the ultimate destination of his travel plans.
Ricardo filed a petition for mandamus with the Court of First Instance of Manila to compel the Secretary to issue the passport. He argued that the refusal violated his constitutional right to travel, which he claimed was a liberty that could not be deprived without due process of law. The respondent, through the Solicitor General, defended the action by invoking the Secretary’s regulatory authority under Section 28 of Executive Order No. 1, series of 1946, to prescribe rules on passport issuance. The CFI denied the petition, upholding the executive branch’s competence in foreign relations and deeming the policy political and non-justiciable.

ISSUE

Whether the petition for mandamus to compel the issuance of a passport, denied under a 1964 policy banning travel to communist states, remains viable for judicial resolution.

RULING

The Supreme Court dismissed the case as moot and academic. The legal logic for dismissal rests on the principle that courts will not adjudicate matters where no actual substantial controversy exists or where the issues have been rendered academic by supervening events. The core dispute arose in 1964 under a specific foreign policy context—a total ban on travel to communist countries like Red China. By 1979, the factual and legal landscape had fundamentally changed. Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the People’s Republic of China were formally established through a joint communique on June 9, 1975. Consequently, the very prohibition that formed the basis for denying Ricardo’s passport application had been lifted. Since the restrictive policy was no longer in effect, any judicial declaration on its validity or its alleged infringement on the right to travel would have no practical legal effect. The Court therefore found no live controversy requiring resolution and ordered the case dismissed without costs.