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Spouses Romualdez vs. Comelec [DISSENTING OPINION, TINGA, J.]

SPOUSES CARLOS S. ROMUALDEZ and ERLINDA R. ROMUALDEZ, Petitioners, versus COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS and DENNIS GARAY, Respondents

G.R. No. 167001 | 2008-04-30

DISSENTING OPINION

Tinga, J.:

This case presented itself with an alluring promise - the rare opportunity to declare a penal provision unconstitutional and void for vagueness, in the process obliterating the impression, spawned by recent pronouncements of the Court based on an erroneous reading of applicable American jurisprudence, that such a denouement would not unfold in this jurisdiction. Quite lamentably, the majority prevented the promise from blossoming to fruition, perpetuating instead a grievous doctrinal error which is already the subject of strenuous criticism within the legal academe.[1]

A vague criminal statute at its core...