LAGUNZAD vs.VDA. DE GONZALES & CA

MANUEL LAGUNZAD, petitioner, vs.MARIA SOTO VDA. DE GONZALES and THE COURT OF APPEALS, respondents.G.R. No. L-32066 August 6, 1979

FACTS

Petitioner Manuel Lagunzad, a newspaperman, began the production of a movie entitled "The Moises Padilla Story" portraying the life of Moises Padilla, a mayoralty candidate of the Nacionalista Party for the Municipality of Magallon, Negros Occidental and for whose murder, Governor Rafael Lacson, a member of the Liberal Party then in power and his men were tried and convicted.  The emphasis of the movie was on the public life of Moises Padilla, there were portions which dealt with his private and family life including the portrayal in some scenes, of his mother, Maria Soto, private respondent herein, and of one "Auring" as his girl friend. Padilla’s half sister, for and in behalf of her mother, Vda.de Gonzales, objected to the "exploitation" of his life and demanded in writing for certain changes, corrections and deletions in the movie. After some bargaining as to the amount to be paid Lagunzad and Vda. de Gonzales, executed a "Licensing Agreement" whereby the latter as LICENSOR granted Lagunzad authority and permission to exploit, use, and develop the life story of Moises Padilla for purposes of producing the picture for consideration of P20,000.00.Lagunzad paid Vda. de Gonzales the amount of P5,000.00. Subsequently, the movie was shown indifferent theaters all over the country. Because petitioner refused to pay any additional amounts pursuant to the Agreement, Vda. de Gonzales instituted the present suit against him praying for  judgment in her favor ordering petitioner 1) to pay her the balance of P15,000.00, with legal interest from   of the Complaint; and 2) to render an accounting of the proceeds from the picture and to pay the corresponding 2-1/2% royalty there from, among others. Petitioner contended in his Answer that the episodes  in life of Moises Padilla depicted in the movie were matters of public knowledge and occurred at or about the same time that the deceased became and was a public figure; that private respondent has no property right over those incidents; that the Licensing Agreement was without valid cause or consideration and constitutes an infringement on the constitutional right of freedom of speech and of the press; and that he paid private respondent the amount of P5,000.00 only because of the coercion and threat employed upon him. As a counterclaim, petitioner sought for the nullification of the Licensing Agreement, Both the trial court and the CA ruled in favor of Vda. deGonzales.

ISSUES

 Whether or not the fictionalized representation of Moises Padilla is an intrusion upon his right to privacy notwithstanding that he was a public figure.

Whether or not Vda. de Gonzales., the mother, has any property right over the life of Moises Padilla considering that the latter was a public figure.

Whether or not the Licensing Agreement constitutes an infringement on the constitutional right of freedom of speech and of the press.

HELD

YES, being a public figure ipso facto does not automatically destroy in toto a person's right to privacy. The right to invade as person's privacy to disseminate public information does not extend to a fictional or novelized representation of a person, no matter how public a figure he or she may be. In the case at bar, while it is true that petitioner exerted efforts to present a true-to-life story of Moises Padilla, petitioner admits that he included a little romance in the film because without it, it would be a drab story of torture and brutality.

 YES, Lagunzad cannot dispense with the need for prior consent and authority from the deceased heirs to portray publicly episodes in said deceased's life and in that of his mother and the members of his family. As held in Schuyler v. Curtis" a privilege may be given the surviving relatives of a deceased person to protect his memory, but the privilege exists for the benefit of the living, to protect their feelings and to prevent a violation of their own rights in the character and memory of the deceased."

NO, Lagunzad claims that as a citizen and as a newspaperman, he had the right to express his thoughts in film on the public life of Moises Padilla without prior restraint. The right of freedom of expression, indeed, occupies a preferred position in the "hierarchy of civil liberties." It is not, however, without limitations. One criterion for permissible limitation on freedom of speech and of the press is the "balancing-of-interests test." The principle requires a court to take conscious and detailed consideration of the interplay of interests observable in a given situation or type of situation."

In the case at bar, the interest’s observable are the right to privacy asserted by respondent and the right of -freedom of expression invoked by petitioner. Taking into account the interplay of those interests, and considering the obligations assumed in the Licensing Agreement entered into by petitioner, the validity of such agreement will have to be upheld particularly because the limits of freedom of expression are reached when expression touches upon matters of essentially private concern