Sereno, et. al vs.

Committee on Trade and other Related Matters (CTRM)

February 1, 2016

Case digest by: SMBonrustro

Facts:

Petitioners filed a petition for Mandamus against CTRM after the latter denied its request for the
disclosure of the minutes of the meeting conducted by CTRM which resulted in the lifting of the
suspension of the tariff reductions on petrochemicals and certain plastic products. Petitioners are
members of the Association of Petrochemical Manufactures in the Philippines. They believe that the
suspension of the tariff reductions on petrochemicals and certain plastic products is prejudicial to their
business. Petitioners invoked Section 28 Article 2 of the constitution in relation to Section 7 of Article 3,
which provides:

Section 28 Article 2 – “Subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law, the State adopts and
implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest.”

Section 7 Article 3 – “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall
be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents and papers pertaining to official
acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy
development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by
law.”

The petitioners believe that there petition be granted based on the cited provisions of the
constitution as it grants absolute right to the people.

Issue:

Whether or not the mentioned provisions of the constitution be a ground for a petition for
mandamus?

Ruling of the court:

The constitutional guarantee to information does not open every door to any and all
information, but is rather confined to matters of public concern. It is subject to such limitations
as may be provided by law. The state’s policy of full public disclosure of information is
restricted to transactions involving public interests and is tempered by reasonable conditions
prescribed by law.