1962 Bar Examination questions (Continuation) Political Law

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Part of The Lawyers Journal

Title: 1962 Bar Examination questions (Continuation) Political Law
Language: English
Year: 1962
Subject: Constitutional law -- Philippines -- Examinations, questions, etc.; Public law -- Philippines -- Study guides
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Fulltext: 1962 BAR EXAMINATION QUESTIONS (Contim1atio11) POLITICAL LAW I. (a) What ai·c the salient features and characterist ics of our Constitution that give us a government republican in form? (h) What do you understand by lh<' principle of "limited government" as one of the basic principles of constitutional law in the Philippines? (c) Describe briefly the procedun> of :imcnding the Philippine Constitution. 11. (a) Discuss bi·iefly the limitations on the power~ of Congress. (b) Under the Constitution as amended, what am the bills which must originate exclusively in tlie House of Representatives? (c) In the Appropriation Act, Congress provides that no government official or employee shall be permitted to teach more than six hours a week. Is this constitutional? Reasons. (d) Name the instances when a bill or measure duly passed by Congress and submitted to the President for his ap1>roval may become a law without his signature (the President's). III. (a) Pedro Santos who had previously served twelve year.'i in Muntinglupa Prison for swindling is elected unopposed in a congressional district. Under the Constitution, not being a qualified elector, he cannot be a legislator. When informed of this fact, may the House to which he is chosen 11wtu propio postJJOne his induCtion? May it suspend, investigate and thereafter exclude him? Reasons. (b) In case the proper Electoral Tribunal decidi::s that a protested legislator has the necessary qualifications altho in fact he does not have them, may the courts review t he said finding on appeal the1·eto? Reason. (e) On the basis of the repo1t of the Commission on Elections that by reason of certain specified acts of terrorism and violence in certain province;; the voting thercdn did not reflect the true and free expression of the popular will, the Senate, in the course of its session, approved a resolution ordering that pending the termination of the protest lodged against their election with the Electoral Tl'ibunal of the Senate based on said terrorism, the administration of oaths seating thre<! senators be deferred. The senators concerned filed in the Supreme Court a petition for a writ of preliminary injunction against their colleagues, praying for an orde1· annulling the resolution and compelling them to pern1it them to occupy their seats. and to exercise ther senatorial prerogatives. In their pleadings, the respondents alleged that the Court had no jurisdiction over the case and asserted the validity of the resolution. Decide giving JV. (a) The Government grants to a company an exclusive franchise to operate a toll b1·idgc across a rive!'. Subsequently, it institutes condem11ation pl'oceedings for the acquisition of the toll bridge in question for the purpose of converting it into a free bridge. The cor.1pany claims that the obligation of its franchise contract would be impaired in violation of the Constitution. Decide giving reasons. (b) State the meaning of foe constitutional provision "No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws." (c) P ursuant to Republic A ct No. 37, which grants 1we· ference to Filipino citizens in the lease of public market stalls, the Secretary of Finance issued an order declaring all stalls or booths in all public markets as vacated by their occupants a nd their leases terminated on J anuary 1, 19.i?, and that thenceforth al! leases of muket stalls shall be awarded to Filipino citizens. The constitutionality of t he Act in question is attacked as a denial of equa l p rotection to the ChiDecide giving your reasons. V. (a) In what cases, if any, may the courts review or control the cxerci.se of authority of making a1>Pointments vested in the exPcutive dcpal'tmcnt? (b) What a re the limitations on the. power <lf the Pr'!sident to remove public officer,;'! (c) X was the City Engineer of Baguio in 1951. On J u11P 20, l 9GI, the P1·esident appointed Y ad i11terim City Engineer :->f Baguio to take the place of X. X re· fused to vacate his post claiming that he was being removed without cause, and filed a petition for a w?·it of quo wcwmnlo against Y. Decide the case giving your reasons. VI. (a) You arc the representative from the Jone Congressional district of Bataan and you are interested in the conversion of a barrio of the town of Salanga into an independent municipality. Under existing laws, what are the courses of actio11 open to you to accomplish your desire? (b) Explain briefly the meaning of; "municipal corporntions present a dual aspect and perform powers and functions in a dual capacity." (c) Before the cession of the Philippine Islands to the United States, Juan Santos was a ci-cditor of the City of Manila. After said City was incorporated under a new charter, Santos brought a n action against the City of Manila to recover the sum due him. As a matt.er of defense it was claimed that the old City of Manila, which incurred the debt, had been dissolved by the change of sovereignty and that by the new in· col'porntion of the City of Manila the liability of the old city had already been extinguished. Decide givrng your i·easons. VII. (a) Unde1· what condjtions may the Pl'csident of the Philippines deport aliens and what is the basis of his authority to do so? (b) What is the composition of the Deportation Board as at present organized and what a re its functions? (c) An alien has been ordered deported by the President, having found, after due investigation by the Depo11ation Board, an undesirable alien. Not being satisfied with the decision of the P resident, he institutes an action petitioning the Supreme Court to review his case, alleging that the evidence adduced at the investigation and upon which the President based his decision was irisufficient to warrant his depoltation. Decide giving VIII. (a) Under the Constitution, who is n1.1thol'ized to judge all contests relating to the election, returns und qualificaSeptem~r 30, 1962 LAWYERS JOURNAL Page 283 tions or l1\embers of Congress? What is its composition? (b) What is the limitation, if any, on the power of Congress to punish private individuals for contempt? Explain briefly you1· answer. (c) One A assaulted Representative B on January 30, 1960. The House of Representatives of which Representative B was a member adopted a resolution on February 10, 1960, requiring the Speaker to ord1:r the arrest of A to be confined in Muntinglupa Prison for twenty-four hours. The House adjourned that 10ession on the 19th of May, 196-0, without the order of arrest having be('n sened on A. A confirmatory resolution was approved by the House on J anuary 31: 1961, <lui·ing the regular session of the Legislature. Shor1ly thereafter, a new wanant of arrest was issued by the Speaker of the House of Repri!Sentatives, and A was taken into custody by a Constabulary officer. A petitioned for a writ of Habea:.; Corp1u;. Deci.de giving reasons. IX. (a) The Constitution provides that the Congress may authorize upon payment of just compensation, the "expropl'iation of lands to be sub-divided mto small lots and conveyed at cost to individuals". ls this not a violation of one of the constitutional limitations on the exercise of the power of eminent domain, namely, that private property taken shall be for public use? Reasons. . (b) In ihe exercise of the !)OW!!!' of eminent domain, may the state appropriate contrncts in spite of the provison of the Constitution that "no luw impairing the obligation of contracts shall be enacted"? Reasons. (c) For the extension of the Dewey Boulevard it was neccs· sary to take over 1/ 5 of the land belonging to B. Before the extension thereof, the market value vf the entir(' land was Pl000.00. As a result of the improvem~nt, the remaining 4/ 5 has now a market value of 1110,000.00. Jn view hereof the government contends that there 1s no more obligation to pay for the land appropriated. Decide giving reasons. X. (a) Differentiate between the power exercised by the President over the executive departments and the bureaus or offices of the National Government from that exercised by him over the local governments. In your opinion, which is more effective - that exercised by him over the departments and bureaus or offices of the National Government or that over the local governments? Why? (b) The Municipal Council of Villasis enters into a contract with Juan Sison whereby the latter is g ranted the lease of a fishpond for a period of two years in consideration of the sum of five thousand pesos. After one year, the Municipal Council rescinds the contract without any sufficient justification and awards the fishpond to Pedro Santos for a similar period and for the same amount. Sison now hires you to handle the case for him. As counsel, do you think he has a cause of action for damages? If so, against whom and why? Reasons. CRIMINAL LAW I. (a) What are the PENAL CODES enacted for operation in the Philippines? Give the respective YEARS in which they were made effective. (b) Before or after the promulgation of Act 3815 (Revised Penal Code), were any project or projects ever prepared and submitted to Congress or governmental authorities amending the SYSTEM of penology of the Philippines? If so, enumerate them chronologically, giving the names of their respective authors. IL "A", a Consul of the Philippines stationed in X-place, in the exercise of his official functions as such, while in his place of assignment and for the consideration cf P10,000 prepared va1·ious documents in favor of "B" wherein he knowingly made untruthful statements in the nanation of facts and in connection therewith he issued "B" the COITesponding VISA authol'izing "B'' to enter Philippine soi! to which "B.' was not entitled : (a) Has "A" committed any crime defined and punished in the Revised Penal Code? If so, lmme it; If not, explain your answer. (b) Can "A" be prosecuted in the Philippines fo1· said crime? Why? l!I. (a) Explain the aggravating circumstance that the crime was committed by a band. (b) W.hat shall be the nature or extent of the disguise necessary to consider its attendance as an aggmvating ('i1·· cumstance? (c) Article 14, paragraph 6, of the Revised Penal Code men~ tions 3 aggravating circumstances, i.(·., night time. ~n inhabited place and that the crime be committed bv a band. Are ALL these 3 circumstances when atten<iing the commission of a crime to be considered as only one or as 3 different and separate from one anothc!'? Why? IV. (a) Can the crime of rebellion be com11lexed with other common crimes? Why? (b) In ~960, Juliet committed 6 ('l'imes of es~afa to the damage of the respective offended patties in the sum of Pl,000 in each case. She was in the same year proseeuted for all the G cases: 2 in the Couit of First In stance of l\tanila, 2 in Quezon City, 1 in Pasar City and the last one in Caloocan City. She was convicted afte1· hearing in all the 6 cases. I n the imposition of th(' corresponding penalties: (a) would she be entilled to the benefits of lhe thl'eefold-lcngth-of-timc rule provided in Rule 70, last paragraph, of the Revised Penal Code as amended by Comnlt)nwealth Act No. 217, Section 2? Jn the affii·mative case, how could that rule be applied to her? V. One morning, Hilarion went to the house of Dionisio. and nnd there had an altercation with him over ce1·t:1in deliveries of tobacco leaves which the latter did not want to yield. E11raged, Hilarion left saying that he was to come back at noon, which he did, armed with a paltik and a bolo, and at a distance of 30 feet from the house, called Dionisio to 'come down'. As the latter l'efused, Hilarion to compet Dionisio to come down, set fire to Dionisio's hou~e- Naturally, Dionisio fled before the house was cl('stroyed. Is Hilarion liable for the crime of arson provided in Art. 221, No. 1, of the Revised Penal Code for having set fil'c to a dwelling house knowing it to he occupied by c'lle or more persons at the time of the fire? Explain yout· answ'.!r. VI. A, B, C, D, E and F conspired to commit the crime of r r11'be1·y with homicide in the house of the ~pouses Y and 'l.. residing in San J uan,· Rizal. F, a ~ervant o( said spousez became nfraid upon learning that the conspirators inte!1Ced also to kill his master and informed them of lhe proposed crime. Said spouses sought then the protection of the NBI and the Constabulary, so that when on August 1, 1962, the malefactors went to the house of said spouses to con~ summate their intended felony and were in the act of oarrying the spouses' automobile away from the garage, they were halted by the government forces whereupon a gun hattlc ensued with the 1·esult that F, the spouse-;;' servant. and C, one of the malefactors, we1·~ killed. Did the surviving malefac«irs commit the composite or SJl('Cial crim0 of robbery with homicide notwithstanding the foct thal one of the pC!rsons killed had participated in the conspiracy and the other was one of t.hc malefacto1·s killed by the government forces ? Explain your Page 284 LAWYERS JOURNAL September 30, 1962
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