PMPF vs Manglapus

People’s Movement for Press Freedom vs. Manglapus GR 84642, September 13, 1988 FACTS:  Petitioners, consisted of members of the mass media, were seeking information from the Presidents representatives on the state of the then ongoing negotiations of the RP-US Military Bases Agreement.  A collision between governmental power over the conduct of foreign affairs and the citizen’s right to information. ISSUE: Whether the information sought by the petitioners are of public concern and are still covered by the doctrine of executive privilege? HELD: The Court adopted the doctrine in U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. that the President is the sole organ of the nation in its negotiations with foreign countries. The Court denied the petition, stressing that "secrecy of negotiations with foreign countries is not violative of the constitutional provisions of freedom of speech or of the press nor of the freedom of access to information."