No.

1501 / 09-FEB-2015

Ateneo Student Judicial Court

Ateneo de Manila University - Loyola Schools
Case No. _______________
IN THE MATTER OF PROVISIONS OF ATENEO COMELECS CAMPAIGN MANUAL
REQUIRING CANDIDATES TO SUBMIT FOR APPROVAL THEIR CAMPAIGN
PARAPHERNALIA
CHRISTIAN I. DY
Petitioner
Versus
ATENEO COMELEC
Respondent
To:
The Honorable Magistrates of the Student Judicial Court, the humble petition of the
petitioner above named.
PETITION
Ateneo Commission on Elections issued a campaign manual to candidates for this years General
Elections. Certain provisions require candidates to submit their campaign paraphernalia for approval prior
to their actual production and posting. As a student afforded with certain rights by the Magna Carta for
Students Rights and as a candidate for the 2015 Sanggunian General Elections, I, CHRISTIAN I. DY (IIAB Economics-Honors Program) hereby petition the honorable Court to declare unconstitutional and
consequently nullify these provisions. The following are arguments in favor of such resolution:
ARGUMENTS
Article IV, Section I of the Magna Carta for Students Rights state a Right against Prior
Restraint. It is hardly conceivable to the petitioner that students shed this right the moment they agree to
become candidates for election. The same provision of the Magna Carta states, Students shall have the
right to express their views and opinions freely in a manner acceptable to the academic community. The
power to approve or reject campaign material makes Ateneo COMELEC the sole determiner of which
campaign materials are acceptable to the academic community. In fact, they can under certain
provisions of the manual, prevent content from even reaching the academic community that will decide
what is acceptable.
Furthermore, granting COMELEC the power to approve or reject content may allow for such
irregularities as the rejecting of all of one candidate or partys campaign materials, or the delaying of
notice of approval to some candidates, to give other candidates an unjust advantage of time.

The petitioner believes that COMELEC reserves the power to determine the form of
campaigning. The petitioner believes however that COMELEC does not reserve the power to determine
the content of the campaign. Inherent in the exercise of power to approve or reject content is the power to
censor content, a power which, under the Magna Carta, no Ateneo institution reserves.
PRAYER
Wherefore, in the interest of our student democracy, it is respectfully prayed of the honorable
Court that the provisions requiring candidates to submit paraphernalia for approval be declared
unconstitutional and be consequently nullified. It is also prayed for that a Temporary Restraining Order
on the implementation of said rules be issued until further discussion of the matter is made. Petitioner also
prays for other reliefs that the Court may deem just under the established premises.
Ateneo de Manila University, 7 February 2015
Submitted by

CHRISTIAN I. DY
2- AB Economics-Honors Program
christian.dy@obf.ateneo.edu