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Chavez Vs. Gonzales [CONCURRING OPINION, SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ, J.]

Francisco Chavez, Petitioner, versus RAUL M. GONZALES, in his capacity as the Secretary of the Department of Justice; and NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (NTC), Respondents.

G.R. No. 168338 | 2008-02-15

CONCURRING OPINION


SANDOVAL - GUTIERREZ, J.:


"Where they have burned books,
they will end in burning human beings."

These are the prophetic words of the German Author Heinrich Heine when the Nazis fed to the flames the books written by Jewish authors. True enough, the mass extermination of Jews followed a few years later. What was first a severe form of book censorship ended up as genocide.

Today, I vote to grant the writs of certiorari and prohibition mindful of Heine's prophecy. The issuance of the Press Release by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is a form of censorship. To allow the broadcast media to be burdened by...