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MANUEL ELIZALDE vs. MARIO J. GUTIERREZ

MANUEL ELIZALDE, FRED J. ELIZALDE, PRUDENCIO R. EUROPA, petitioners, vs. HON. MARIO J. GUTIERREZ, Presiding Judge, CFI-Ilocos Sur, Branch III, and PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, represented in this instance by JESUS F. GUERRERO, Provincial Fiscal of Ilocos Sur, respondents.

G.R. No. L-33615 | 1977-04-22

FERNANDO, J:

It was the refusal of respondent Judge Mario J. Gutierrez 1 to grant motion to quash of petitioners, who were the accused in a prosecution for libel, notwithstanding the invocation of their constitutional right to freedom of expression 2 that led to this suit for certiorari and prohibition. All that could be alleged in the information against them was the publication in the Evening News, a newspaper of general circulation, of an item reproducing in full a dispatch from the Philippine News Service, a reputable news-gathering agency. It summarized the testimony of Jaime Jose in a pending rape case wherein the name of Vincent...