The Best of Pinoy Web (week ending 02/05/10)

As to Noynoy’s illegal ad:

This is perhaps why law students are generally not judges.

The Omnibus Election Code, Section 2 states: “This Code shall govern all elections of public officers and, to the extent appropriate, all referenda and plebiscites.”

Sec. 82(d): “All other forms of election propoganda not prohibited by this Code as the Commission may authorize after due notice to all interested parties and hearing where all the interested parties were given an equal opportunity to be heard[.]”

Section 6.4 of RA 9006 directs COMELEC to supervise the use and employment of press, radio and television facilities insofar as the placement of political advertisements is concerned so as to give candidates equal opportunities under equal circumstances to make known their qualifications and stand on public issues.

Another pillar of statutory construction is the old and familiar rule that where there is a particular enactment and also a general one, which, in its most comprehensive sense would include what is embraced in the former, the particular enactment must be operative, and the general enactment must be taken to affect only such cases within its general language as are not within the provisions of the particular enactment. (United States v. Chase, 135 U. S. 255 (1890)

Then, there is the issue of the statute being used against a political candidate for a content specific purpose in purely political speech. This triggers another pillar of statutory construction that a court must not pass on the constitutionality of an Act of Congress if a construction of the statute is fairly possible by which the question may be avoided and the case can be disposed of upon some other ground. Ashwander v. TVA, 297 US 288 (Brandeis concurring)

I am not a fan of Noynoy in any respect, but I’m also not a fan of half-baked legal opinions. One of the biggest hurdles to the rule of law in the Philippines, is its unnecessary politicization — as was done in this blog entry. If you want people to respect the rule of law, it is very important not to foreclose legitimate political discourse. The political process must be respected and purely political speech, such as an ad, is not a proper subject for courts — which is why courts are reluctant to allow claims that are content specific against purely political speech.