Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence


Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence > Year 1979 > June 1979 Decisions > G.R. No. L-24045 June 19, 1975

PERCIVAL RICARDO v. SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS:




PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

SECOND DIVISION

[G.R. No. L-24045. June 19, 1975.]

PERCIVAL RICARDO, Petitioner, v. SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Respondent.


R E S O L U T I O N


SANTOS, J.:


Appeal from the decision dated November 24, 1964 of the Court of First Instance of Manila, Branch III, then Judge later Justice of the Court of Appeals Jesus y Perez, presiding, in Civil Case No. 58625, entitled "Percival Picardo, Petitioner, v. Secretary of Foreign Affairs," respondent, denying petitioner-appellant Picardo’s petition for mandamus to compel the respondent Secretary of Foreign Affairs to issue to him a passport to go to Hongkong, and eventually to Red China.

It appears that on October 2, 1964, herein petitioner-appellant who was a reporter of the defunct Manila Chronicle and a member of the Manila Press Club, applied for a passport to Hongkong. 1 The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Mauro Mendez, refused to issue the passport on the ground that Percival Picardo was among the newspapermen who were invited by the Chinese Communist representative in Jakarta, Yang Yi, for a visit to Red China. At that time, the government had a standing policy to prohibit Filipino citizens from visiting communist-oriented countries including Red China. 2 Consequently, petitioner-appellant, through counsel, filed a petition for mandamus with the aforesaid Court of First Instance, praying that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs be directed to issue the requested passport.

Petitioner-appellant contended that the refusal of the Department of Foreign Affairs to issue his passport was a patent violation of his constitutional right to travel, "which right is part of the liberty of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law . . ." 3

Upon the other hand, the Department, through the Office of the Solicitor General, claimed that it has the power and authority to control exit from the country because Section 28 of the Executive Order No. 1, series of 1946 authorizes the Secretary of Foreign Affairs to prescribe regulations on the issuance of passports. 4

CFI Judge Jesus Y. Perez. decided in favor of the Department of Foreign Affairs and denied Picardo’s petition for mandamus stating, among other things, that "the prohibition to go to communist-controlled countries is within the competence of the Chief Executive to promulgate in the exercise of the vast Constitutional power to conduct our foreign relations . . ." and is political in character; thus, the policy "should not be interfered with by the Court." 5

Petitioner-appellant appealed to this Court.

The issues raised in this appeal with mandamus have become moot and academic, not only because the incident involved had taken place way back in the year 1964, when there was a total ban on travel by Filipino nationals to communist states like Red China, 6 but also because diplomatic relations bad already been established between the Philippines and the said country thru a joint communique issued on June 9, 1975, and the prohibition against Filipino citizens from visiting Red China has been lifted.chanrobles virtual lawlibrary

IN VIEW THEREOF, this case is hereby ordered DISMISSED. No costs.

SO ORDERED.

Antonio, (Acting Chairman), * Aquino, Abad Santos, and De Castro, **, JJ., concur.

Endnotes:



1. Rollo, p. 113 (Decision).

2. Ibid.

3. Id., p. 74.

4. Id., p. 91.

5. Id., pp. 140-141 (Decision).

6. See testimony of Mr. Librado D. Cayco, t.s.n. of Nov. 4, 1964, p. 11.

* Justice Antonio P. Barredo is on leave.

** Justice Pacifico de Castro was designated to sit in the Second Division in lieu of Justice Hermogenes Concepcion Jr.




Back to Home | Back to Main




















chanrobles.com





ChanRobles On-Line Bar Review

ChanRobles Internet Bar Review : www.chanroblesbar.com

ChanRobles MCLE On-line

ChanRobles Lawnet Inc. - ChanRobles MCLE On-line : www.chanroblesmcleonline.com






June-1979 Jurisprudence                 

  • G.R. No. L-46938 June 14, 1979 - EVANGELISTO RACELA v. AGUSTIN C. BAGASAO

  • G.R. No. L-30271 June 15, 1979 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. LEONARDO DAHIL

  • A.M. No. 242-MJ June 19, 1979 - MAXIMO UBAS v. BENITO P. CINCO

  • A.M. No. 1696-MJ June 19, 1979 - SANCHO LAWAN v. ANTONIO MOLETA

  • G.R. No. L-24045 June 19, 1975

    PERCIVAL RICARDO v. SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

  • G.R. No. L-24810 June 19, 1979 - JOSE M. VILLARAMA, ET AL. v. COURT OF APPEALS, ET AL.

  • G.R. No. L-25847 June 19, 1979 - POTENCIANO SUNGA, ET. AL. v. BENITO DE GUZMAN, ET. AL.

  • G.R. No. L-33496 June 19, 1979 - NATIONAL WATERWORKS & SEWERAGE AUTHORITY v. COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, ET AL.

  • G.R. No. L-48948 June 19, 1979 - FLORENTINO ENRIQUEZ, ET AL. v. NESTOR C. RIVERA, ET. AL.

  • G.R. No. L-48962-63 June 19, 1979 - UNITED LUMBER & GENERAL WORKERS OF THE PHIL. v. CARMELO C. NORIEL, ET AL.

  • A.M. No. 690-CFI June 29, 1979 - BENITO B. NATE v. ENRIQUE A. AGANA, SR.

  • A.M. No. P-1622 June 29, 1979 - LEONARDA VDA. DE MALASARTE v. LIBRADO Z. YEBES

  • A.M. No. 1810-CTJ June 29, 1979 - ANGELINA S. SALCEDO v. ENRIQUE B. INTING

  • A.M. No. 10469-MC June 29, 1979 - J. CESAR SANGCO v. BIENVENIDO G. PALILEO

  • G.R. No. L-25954 June 29, 1979 - CATALINA DE LEON v. PETRONILO CASTAÑEDA

  • G.R. No. L-26704 June 29, 1979 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. DALMACIO SABENORIO, ET AL.

  • G.R. No. L-31384 June 29, 1979 - COMMODITY FINANCING CO., INC. v. JOSE B. JIMENEZ

  • G.R. No. L-32562 June 29, 1979 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. AURELIO S. CRISTOBAL, JR.

  • G.R. No. L-32574 June 29, 1979 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. ARMANDO B. ESTERO

  • G.R. No. L-32599 June 29, 1979 - EDGARDO E. MENDOZA v. ABUNDIO Z. ARRIETA

  • G.R. No. L-32832 June 29, 1979 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. LUIS BERALDE

  • G.R. No. L-33115 June 29, 1979 - MISAEL P. VERA v. VICENTE N. CUSI, JR.

  • G.R. No. L-33213 June 29, 1979 - ARTEMIO C. REYES v. ANDRES STA. MARIA

  • G.R. No. L-35236 June 29, 1979 - SECRETARY OF EDUCATION v. MAGNO S. GATMAITAN

  • G.R. No. L-35666 June 29, 1979 - MARINA B. VARGAS v. COURT OF APPEALS

  • G.R. No. L-36101 June 29, 1979 - RICARDO ROCERO v. CAPTAIN JAVIER OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY

  • G.R. No. L-38145 June 29, 1979 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. PABLEO A. CABELTES

  • G.R. No. L-39016 June 29, 1979 - TAMDA SERVICE COOPERATIVE, INC. v. CITY MAYOR OF TACLOBAN CITY

  • G.R. No. L-40597 June 29, 1979 - AUGUSTO B. ONG YIU v. COURT OF APPEALS

  • G.R. No. L-42458 June 29, 1979 - JOSE SALVADOR, JR. v. WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION COMMISSION

  • G.R. No. L-42508 June 29, 1979 - MARIA D. OBOR v. WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION COMMISSION

  • G.R. No. L-44762 June 29, 1979 - PEDRO ELEGADO v. WORKMEN’S COMPENSATION COMMISSION

  • G.R. No. L-48706 June 29, 1979 - LOURDES E. BENGZON v. AMADO G. INCIONG

  • G.R. No. L-49462 June 29, 1979 - COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS v. COURT OF TAX APPEALS

  • G.R. No. L-49678 June 29, 1979 - ALLIED INVESTIGATION BUREAU, INC. v. BLAS F. OPLE

  • G.R. No. L-50471 June 29, 1979 - JULIO SALACUP v. TOMAS P. MADDELA, JR.