SC affirms ruling vs limits on TV pol ads

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed with finality its decision last September striking down the limits imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on campaign advertisements on television and radio stations of candidates in the elections last year.

In a resolution promulgated last Oct. 14 but released by the SC public information office only yesterday, the high court denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the poll body through the Office of the Solicitor General.

“The basic issues raised therein have been passed upon by this Court and no substantial arguments were presented to warrant the reversal of the questioned ruling,” the SC held.

With this, the SC ruling that granted the petitions filed by broadcast networks GMA Network Corp. and ABC Development Corp. before the midterm polls last year now becomes final.

In the decision, the high court specifically declared unconstitutional section 9(a) of Comelec Resolution No. 9615, as amended by Resolution No. 9631, which gives national candidates only 120 minutes in aggregate airtime in all TV networks and 180 minutes in all radio stations, while local candidates have only 60 minutes in all TV networks and 90 minutes in all radio stations.

The SC has made permanent the temporary restraining order it issued on April 16 last year enjoining the implementation of the assailed portion of the Comelec resolution.

The ruling effectively requires the poll body to revert back to its previous rule allowing national bets to have 120 minutes of airtime in each TV network.

The court had cited “the arbitrary manner by which Comelec changed the previous regulation from per station to aggregate total, as violation of freedom of expression, speech and of the press, violation of the people’s right to suffrage and the absence of prior hearing before adoption.”