Case Digest of Primicias Vs Fugoso 80 Phil 71

Primicias vs Fugoso
80 Phil 71
Facts:
 Petitioner Cipriano Primicias campaign manager of the Coalesced Minority Parties compel Mayor
Valeraino Fugoso for not issuing a permit for the holding of a public meeting at Plaza Miranda on
Sunday afternoon.
 The Philippine legislature has delegated the exercise of the police power to the Municipal Board of
the City of Manila, which according to section 2439 of the Administrative Code is the legislative body
of the City. Section 2444 of the same Code grants the Municipal Board, among others, the following
legislative power, to wit:
o (p) to provide for the prohibition and suppression of riots, affrays, disturbances, and
disorderly assemblies,
o (u) to regulate the use of streets, avenues ... parks, cemeteries and other public places" and
"for the abatement of nuances in the same, and
o (ee) to enact all ordinances it may deem necessary and proper for sanitation and safety, the
furtherance of prosperity and the promotion of morality, peace, good order, comfort,
convenience, and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants.
 The Municipal Board of the City of Manila, enacted sections 844 and 1119. Section of the Revised
Ordinances of 1927 prohibits as an offense against public peace, and section 1262 of the same
Revised Ordinance penalizes as a misdemeanor, "any act, in any public place, meeting, or procession,
tending to disturb the peace or excite a riot; or collect with other persons in a body or crowd for any
unlawful purpose; or disturb or disquiet any congregation engaged in any lawful assembly."
And section 1119 provides the following:
SEC. 1119 Free for use of public — The streets and public places of the city shall be kept free and clear
for the use of the public, and the sidewalks and crossings for the pedestrians, and the same shall only
be used or occupied for other purposes as provided by ordinance or regulation: Provided, that the
holding of athletic games, sports, or exercise during the celebration of national holidays in any streets
or public places of the city and on the patron saint day of any district in question, may be permitted
by means of a permit issued by the Mayor, who shall determine the streets or public places or
portions thereof, where such athletic games, sports, or exercises may be held: And provided,
further, That the holding of any parade or procession in any streets or public places is prohibited
unless a permit therefor is first secured from the Mayor who shall, on every such ocassion, determine
or specify the streets or public places for the formation, route, and dismissal of such parade or
procession: And provided, finally, That all applications to hold a parade or procession shall be
submitted to the Mayor not less than twenty-four hours prior to the holding of such parade or
procession.
Issue:
Whether or Not the freedom of speech was violated
Ruling:
Yes. Dealing with the ordinance, specifically, Sec. 1119
Sec. 1119, said section provides for two constructions:
(1) the Mayor of the City of Manila is vested with unregulated discretion to grant or refuse, to grant
permit for the holding of a lawful assembly or meeting, parade, or procession in the streets and other
public places of the City of Manila;
(2) The right of the Mayor is subject to reasonable discretion to determine or specify the streets or public
places to be used with the view to prevent confusion by overlapping, to secure convenient use of the
streets and public places by others, and to provide adequate and proper policing to minimize the risk
of disorder. The court favored the second construction. First construction tantamount to authorizing
the Mayor to prohibit the use of the streets. Under our democratic system of government no such
unlimited power may be validly granted to any officer of the government, except perhaps in cases of
national emergency.
After a mature deliberation, we have arrived at the conclusion that we must adopt the second construction,
that is construe the provisions of the said ordinance to mean that it does not confer upon the Mayor the
power to refuse to grant the permit, but only the discretion, in issuing the permit, to determine or specify the
streets or public places where the parade or procession may pass or the meeting may be held.
Doctrine:
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; RlGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND TO PEACEFULLY ASSEMBLE AND PETITION
GOVERNMENT FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES, NOT ABSOLUTE; REGULATION UNDER POLICE POWER; POLICE
POWER, BY WHOM EXERCISED.—The right to freedom of speech, and to peacefully assemble and petition the
government for redress of grievances, are fundamental personal rights of the people recognized and
guaranteed by the constitutions of democratic countries. But it is a settled principle growing out of the nature
of well-ordered civil societies that the exercise of those rights is not absolute for it may be so regulated that it
shall not be injurious to the equal enjoyment of others having equal rights, nor injurious to the rights of the
community or society. The power to regulate the exercise of such and other constitutional rights is termed the
sovereign "police power," which is the power to prescribe regulations, to promote the health, morals, peace,
education, good order or safety, and general welfare of the people. This sovereign police power is exercised by
the government through its legislative branch by the enactment of laws regulating those and other
constitutional and civil rights, and it may be delegated to political subdivisions, such as towns, municipalities
and cities by authorizing their legislative bodies called municipal and city councils to enact ordinances for the
purpose.
SCOPE OF POLICE POWER DELEGATED TO MUNICIPAL BOARD OF MANILA.—The Philippine Legislature has
delegated the exercise of the police power to the Municipal Board of the City of Manila, which according to
section 2439 of the Administrative Code is the legislative body of the City. Section 2444 of the same Code
grants the Municipal Board, among others, the following legislative powers, to wit: "(p) to provide for the
prohibition and suppression of riots, affrays, disturbances, and disorderly assemblies, (u) to regulate the use of
streets. avenues, * * * parks, cemeteries and other public places" and "for the abatement of nuisances in the
same," and "(ee) to enact all ordinances it may deem necessary and proper for sanitation and safety, the
furtherance of prosperity and the promotion of morality, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, and
general welfare of the city and its inhabitants."
MEETING AND ASSEMBLY IN STREET OR PUBLIC PLACE IN MANILA, REGULATION OF.—As there is no express
and separate provision in the Revised Ordinance of the City of Manila regulating the holding of public meeting
or assembly at any streets or public places, the provision of section 1119 of said Ordinance to the effect,
among others, "that the holding of any parade or procession in any streets or public places is prohibited unless
a permit therefor is first secured from the Mayor, who shall, on every such occasion, determine or specify the
streets or public places for the formation, route, and dismissal of such parade or procession," may be applied
by analogy to meeting and assembly in any street or public places.

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Primicias vs Fugoso

And section 1119 provides the following:

Whether or Not the freedom of speech was violated

Yes. Dealing with the ordinance, specifically, Sec. 1119

Sec. 1119, said section provides for two constructions:

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