JMM Promotion and Management vs Court of Appeals

G.R. No. 120095 – 260 SCRA 319 – Political Law – Constitutional Law – Police
Power

Due to the death of one Maricris Sioson in 1991, Cory banned the
deployment of performing artists to Japan and other destinations. This was
relaxed however with the introduction of the Entertainment Industry
Advisory Council which later proposed a plan to POEA to screen and train
performing artists seeking to go abroad. In pursuant to the proposal POEA
and the secretary of DOLE sought a 4 step plan to realize the plan which
included an Artist’s Record Book which a performing artist must acquire
prior to being deployed abroad. The Federation of Talent Managers of the
Philippines assailed the validity of the said regulation as it violated the right
to travel, abridge existing contracts and rights and deprives artists of their
individual rights. JMM intervened to bolster the cause of FETMOP. The
lower court ruled in favor of EIAC.

ISSUE: Whether or not the regulation by EIAC is valid.

HELD: The SC ruled in favor of the lower court. The regulation is a valid
exercise of police power. Police power concerns government enactments
which precisely interfere with personal liberty or property in order to
promote the general welfare or the common good. As the assailed
Department Order enjoys a presumed validity, it follows that the burden
rests upon petitioners to demonstrate that the said order, particularly, its
ARB requirement, does not enhance the public welfare or was exercised
arbitrarily or unreasonably. The welfare of Filipino performing artists,
particularly the women was paramount in the issuance of Department
Order No. 3. Short of a total and absolute ban against the deployment of
performing artists to “”high risk”” destinations, a measure which would only
drive recruitment further underground, the new scheme at the very least
rationalizes the method of screening performing artists by requiring
reasonable educational and artistic skills from them and limits deployment
to only those individuals adequately prepared for the unpredictable
demands of employment as artists abroad. It cannot be gainsaid that this
scheme at least lessens the room for exploitation by unscrupulous
individuals and agencies.