Court Voids NTC Blocking Memo: Prior Restraint of Protected Speech Has No Place in a Democracy
We therefore call on the people to treat this ruling as a mandate to insist on a press that can report and publish without fear of being taken down, and on a citizenry free to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas across all frontiers. A democracy worthy of the name rests on people who are able to think, speak, debate, and dissent—with journalists and communities prepared to resist censorship and repression whenever they appear, online or offline.
November 26, 2025
NUPL
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers is a nationwide voluntary association of human rights lawyers in the Philippines, committed to the defense, protection, and promotion of human rights, especially of the poor and the oppressed.

November 25, 2025

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers welcomes the Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 104, declaring void the National Telecommunications Commission’s June 8, 2022 Memorandum ordering internet service providers to block Bulatlat and 25 other websites. The ruling, issued on November 18, 2025, is a clear statement on the limits of administrative power and the continuing need to guard against censorship disguised as regulation. The NUPL is counsel for Bulatlat in this case.

The Court reviewed the NTC’s mandate under Executive Order No. 546 and found no authority, express or implied, that allows the Commission to “block,” “restrict,” or “limit access” to online publications. Its powers concern, among others, the supervision of telecommunications services, the licensing of radio frequencies, and the regulation of utilities. As the Decision states, the NTC’s “authority does not extend to the suppression of content or the restriction of access to online publications as contained in the assailed Memorandum.”

The Court also rejected the NTC’s reliance on Section 46(m) of the Anti-Terrorism Act. This provision, the Court explained, “does not confer upon such agencies the authority to undertake actions that, by their nature, require due process—such as the restriction or blocking of access to online publications.” To read it as granting that power, the Decision warned, “would unduly expand the scope of the law and sanction acts beyond the statutory limits of administrative competence.” And yet, the NTC treated the letter from then National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon asking for the blocking as a “ministerial task,” even though an action of such magnitude could not be taken “without first giving notice, conducting a hearing, or otherwise observing due process.”

Most importantly, the Court held that the Memorandum was a form of prior restraint that violated the constitutional guarantees of press freedom and free expression. The restraint was also content-based and therefore subject to the strictest scrutiny. The burden to show a clear and present danger of a substantive evil that could justify such a restriction lay with the State. But it failed to do so, as none of the defendants presented competent proof that Bulatlat’s reporting, or the operation of its publisher, Alipato Media Center, Inc., posed any imminent threat to national security or public order. By preventing Bulatlat from reaching its audience, the Court noted, “the NTC’s issuance effectively imposed censorship even before the alleged objectionable content could be subject to any judicial determination.”

Bulatlat’s reporting, like that of any media organization, may be contested, criticized, or challenged in the arena of public debate. What the Constitution does not allow is for the state to shut down that discourse. It draws a clear, bright line: the State may not, by prior restraint, prevent protected speech from being heard, nor dress up content-based restrictions as “regulations” that quietly dictate what the public may or may not access. The Court has now restored those limits.

With the Memorandum now declared void, the injunction against it should be made permanent, and ISPs must promptly lift the blocking of the other websites. Nonetheless, if this ruling brings closure to one abusive act, it also calls us to remain vigilant against the next. The machinery that produced the Memorandum—through quiet encroachments, elastic appeals to “national security,” and new methods for suppressing dissenting and critical voices—remains very much intact. The tactics have shifted from padlocking printing presses to issuing secret blocking orders, but the intent remains the same: to narrow the public’s field of vision and control what it is allowed to see and understand.

We therefore call on the people to treat this ruling as a mandate to insist on a press that can report and publish without fear of being taken down, and on a citizenry free to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas across all frontiers. A democracy worthy of the name rests on people who are able to think, speak, debate, and dissent—with journalists and communities prepared to resist censorship and repression whenever they appear, online or offline. ###

Reference:

Atty. Josalee S. Deinla
NUPL Secretary General
+639174316396

Read more

We Will Not Fall for the Lies: On the Toboso Killings and the Military’s Pattern of IHL Violations

We Will Not Fall for the Lies: On the Toboso Killings and the Military’s Pattern of IHL Violations

We call for a truly independent investigation into the April 19 killings in Toboso with full and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers, independent human rights experts, and the families of the dead. We call for accountability — not just for those who pulled the trigger, but for those who ordered, tolerated, and concealed the killings. We call on the international community to monitor this case closely, as it is not an isolated incident but part of a continuing pattern of IHL violations across the Philippine countryside.

DEFEND WOMEN’S DIGNITY, FIGHT MISOGYNY, AND RESIST ALL FORMS OF ABUSE AND OPPRESSION

DEFEND WOMEN’S DIGNITY, FIGHT MISOGYNY, AND RESIST ALL FORMS OF ABUSE AND OPPRESSION

There can be no genuine equality while women remain targets of abuse, exploitation, and contempt, and while poor and working women continue to suffer the combined violence of patriarchy and economic oppression. To defend women’s rights is to fight misogyny in all its forms, demand accountability from those who perpetuate it, and challenge the social order that keeps women vulnerable, silenced, and exploited.

NUPL seeks amparo and habeas data protection for Negros people’s lawyer and PDG members; flags continuing threats vs. Isabela people’s lawyer despite existing protective writs

NUPL seeks amparo and habeas data protection for Negros people’s lawyer and PDG members; flags continuing threats vs. Isabela people’s lawyer despite existing protective writs

NUPL urged the Supreme Court to consider safeguards that protect lawyers and litigants and keep court processes safe, including convening a dialogue on effective protective mechanisms, issuing guidance when red-tagging and guilt-by-association narratives surface in court proceedings, and adopting clear protocols for responding to credible threats against counsel.

Share This