ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation v. Commission on Elections
GR No. 133486
January 28, 2000
Facts:
The broadcasting group ABS-CBN wanted to cover the May 1998 national elections and conduct an exit survey. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released a resolution enjoining the company to do so on the grounds that the findings of the project might conflict with the official COMELEC count as well as the unofficial quick count of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and may result in violence and anarchy among the voters.
Issue:
1. Can the COMELEC legally prevent ABS-CBN from conducting exit polls during the national elections?
2. Has the issue been rendered moot and academic because the elections had already occurred?
Ruling:
1. No. Two tests are available for determining if the freedom of speech and expression may be limited: the clear and present danger rule and the dangerous tendency rule. In this case, the Court decided that the COMELEC’s fear of violence and anarchy occurring because of the exit polls are merely speculative and is thus untenable, i.e., it does not pass any of the two tests. Although the government has the power to limit the freedom using its police power, it should not do so if there are other measures that can be done to achieve the goal. The exit polls will not have the power of replacing the official COMELEC count. Their concern for possible violent reactions does not justify the total ban on conducting the exit polls, which is a means of adding “meaning to the equally vital right of suffrage.”
The petition was granted and the temporary restraining order against the COMELEC resolution was made permanent.
2. No. The issue is not totally moot because while the resolution affected only the 1998 elections, its “implications on the people’s fundamental freedom of expression transcend the past election.” This means that this issue could come up again in subsequent elections, so whatever decision the Court releases can have future applications
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