FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Unless the government can
O’BRIEN TEST
A governmental regulation is valid if:
1. It is within the constitutional power of government;
2. It furthers an important or substantial governmental interest;
3. The governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free
expression;
4. The incidental restriction on the freedom is no greater than is essential
to the furtherance of that interest.
Overbreadth Doctrine
Prohibits the government from achieving its purpose by “means that sweep
unnecessarily broadly, reaching constitutionally protected as well as
unprotected activity”. The essence of “overbreadth” is that the government
has gone too far; its legitimate interest can be satisfied without reaching so
broadly into the protected freedom.
*The SC said that a statute or regulation is void for overbreadth when it
offends the constitutional principle that a government purpose to
control or prevent activities constitutionally subject to State regulation
may not be achieved by means that seep unnecessarily broadly and
thereby invade the area of protected freedoms.
Four Aspects of Freedom of the
Press
1. Freedom from Prior Restraint
a. Content-Based- i.e., the restriction is based on the subject
matter of the utterance or speech.
 a governmental action that restricts freedom of speech or
of the press based on content is given the strictest
scrutiny in light of its inherent and invasive impact. Only
when the challenged act has overcome the clear and
present danger rule will it pass constitutional muster, with
the government having the burden of overcoming the
presumed unconstitutionality.
overthrow this presumption, the content-based restraint
will be struck down.
b. Content-Neutral - i.e., merely concerned with the incidents of
the speech, or one that merely controls the time, place or
manner, and under well-defined standards.
 When the speech restraints take the form of a content-
neutral regulation, only a substantial governmental
interest is required for its validity. Because regulations of
this type are not designed to suppress any particular
message, they are not subject to the strictest form of
judicial scrutiny but an intermediate approach—
somewhere between the mere rationality that is required of
any other law and the compelling interest standard applied
to content-based restrictions.
 The test is called intermediate because the Court will not
merely rubberstamp the validity of a law but also require
that the restrictions be narrowly-tailored to promote an
important or significant governmental interest that is
unrelated to the suppression of expression.
2. Freedom from punishment subsequent to publication
3. Freedom of Access to Information
4. Freedom of Circulation
Tests of Valid Governmental
Interference
1. Clear and Present Danger Rule
 Whether the words are used in such circumstances and of such a
nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring
about the substantive evils that the State has the right to prevent.
2. Dangerous Tendency Rule
 If the words uttered create a dangerous tendency of an evil which
the State has the right to prevent, then such words are punishable.
3. Balancing of Interest
 When particular conduct is regulated in the interest of public order,
and the regulation in an indirect, conditional, or partial abridgment
 of speech, the duty of the courts is to determine which of the two
conflicting interests demands the greater protection under the
particular circumstances presented.
_____________________________________________________________
LAW ON PUBLIC OFFICERS
General Disqualifications under the
Constitution
1. No candidate who lost in an election shall, within 1 year after such
election, be appointed to any office in Government. (S6, Art. IX-B)
2. No elective official shall be eligible for appointment or designation in any
capacity to any public office or position during his tenure.
Special Disqualifications under the
Constitution
1. The President, VP, the Members of the Cabinet, and their deputies or
assistants shall not, unless otherwise provided in this Constitution, hold
any other office or employment (practice of profession, business, or be
financially interested in any contract with the gov’t.) during their tenure.
(S13, Art. VII, Const.)
2. No Senator or Member of the HR may hold any other office or
employment in the Government, or any subdivision, agency, or
instrumentality thereof, including GOCCs or their subsidiaries, during his
term without forfeiting his seat. Neither shall he be appointed to any
office which may have been created or the emoluments thereof
increased during the term for which he was elected. (S13, Art. VII,
Const.)
3. The Members of the Supreme Court and of other courts established by
law shall not be designated to any agency performing quasi-judicial or
administrative functions. (S12, Art. VIII, Const.)
4. No Member of a Constitutional Commission shall, during his tenure,
hold any other office or employment. The same disqualification applies
to the Ombudsman and his deputies. (S2, Art. IX-A)
5. The Ombudsman and his Deputies shall not be qualified to run for any
office in the election immediately succeeding their cessation from office.
(S11, Art. XI, Const.)
Members of the Constitutional Commissions, the Ombudsman and his
Deputies must not have been candidates for any elective position in the
elections immediately preceding their appointment.
6. The Ombudsman and his Deputies shall serve for a term of 7 years
without reappointment.
7. The spouse and relatives by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth
civil degree of the President shall not during his tenure be appointed as
members of the Constitutional Commissions, or the Office of the
Ombudsman, or as Secretaries, Undersecretaries, chairmen or heads of
bureaus or offices, including government-owned or controlled
corporations and their subsidiaries.
Eligibility and Qualification
Requirement (p.38 correction)
Eligibility – the state or quality of being legally fit or qualified to be chosen.
The term usually used in reference to the Civil Service Law, refers to the
endowment or requirement or accomplishment that fits one for a public
office.
Qualification – endowment or act which a person must do before he can
occupy a public office.
Qualification is understood in 2 senses:
1. Endowment – refers to the qualities or attributes which make an
individual eligible for public office. It must be possessed at the time of
appointment or election and continuously for as long as the official
relationship continues (i.e., age, citizenship etc.).
2. Act – refers to the act of entering into the performance of the functions
of the office (i.e., taking of oath of office).
NOTE: Failure to perform an act required by law could affect the officers’ title
to the given office, e.g. the office of any elected official who refuses to take
his oath of office within 6months from his proclamation shall be considered
vacant unless said failure is for cause beyond his control.
 Retirement

CSC MC No. 27 allows extension of service only for 1 year (instead of what
is needed to complete the 15-year service requirement for retirement).
However, the head of the agency is vested with discretionary authority to
allow or disallow extension of service of an official or employee who has
reached 65 without completing the 15 years of government service, to be
exercised in conformity with CSC MC 27.

In the Judiciary, the Court allows such extension if satisfied that the career
of the retiree was marked by competence, integrity, and dedication to public
service.

*A person who has reached the compulsory retirement age of 65 may

still be appointed to a governmental position provided that it is a
coterminous or primarily confidential position.

*The tenure of a confidential employee is coterminous with that of

appointing authority, or is at the latter’s pleasure.