QUIZ – 21 Sept.

2019
UDM College of Law
First Year, Constitutional Law I
Block 1
Prof Atty. E.B. BELLEN
Student: Marwin Jasper J Manuel

1. (a) par in parem non habet imperium; (an equal has no power over an
equal) If the acts filed a suit to foreign government representing by
it’s own representative and acting in his official capacity, the
complaint would be subject to review or it would be barred by the
immunity of the foreign sovereign from suit without it’s consent.
Suing a representative of state is believed to be suing the state itself.
That all states are sovereign equals and cannot assert jurisdiction over
one another
(b) Constitutional Law is a branch of law that deals with constitution:
their nature, formation, amendment and interpretation. The
constitution is the basic and paramount law to which all other laws
must conform. The constitution must ever remain supreme, it is the
highest law of the land.
(c) State is a community of persons, more or less numerous,
permanently occupying a fixed territory and possessed of an
independent government organized for political ends to which the
great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience. It consists of
people, territory, government and sovereignty.
(d) archipelago doctrine connect the outermost points of our
archipelago with straight baseline and consider all the waters
enclosed thereby as internal waters. Entire archipelago is considered
as one integrated unit. To protect the territorial interests of an
archipelago that is integrity of the archipelago. Without it, there
would be chaos between our land and other foreign vessel would be
able to pass in our territory and would have no jurisdiction over
them.
(e) parens patriae is one of the important tasks of the government, it
is the guardian of the rights of the people. The Government or any
other authority act as legal protector of citizens those unable to
protect themselves.

2. State and explain the three essential parts of a written constitution,

particularly with reference to the Philippine Constitution.
The three essential parts of a written constitution is constitution of
Liberty, constitution of Sovereignty with the provision of the
constitution Article 1 section 1 “the Philippines is a democratic and
republican state. Sovereignty resides on the people and all
 government authority emanates from them” while constitution of
Government provides article 6 section 1 “the legislative power
shall be vested in the congress of the Philippines which shall
consist of a senate and house of representatives, except to the
extent reserved to the people by the provision on initiative and
referendum.”

3. Which of the following does not belong to the group, and why? (5
points)

a. Verba legis
b. Ut magis valeat quam pereat
c. Potestas delegata non delegari potest
d. Ratio legis et anima
Letter C. potestas delegata non delegari potest simply
because the other three is principles of constitution while
letter C is about the delegation of powers, for example for
the three branches of the Government.

4. State whether you agree or not to each of the following statements.

Preface your answer with either “I agree” or “I don’t agree”, and
Discuss your reason/s.

a. A person who believes that firing a gun is against his conscience

may send someone in his behalf, when the government requires
that all able-bodied Filipino citizens render military service.
I don’t agree because sending a representative on one’s
behalf would require this person to look for his own
representative, in addition, one of our main duty as Filipino
citizen is to defend our country and must willing to die just
for the sake of our country.

b. The Preamble of the 1987 Constitution serves no purpose at all and

in the interpretation of the Constitution it has no use.
I don’t agree because preamble is the summarization of the
constitution. It is the overview of a story. It gives aim and
ideals of the whole constitution.

c. In the Philippines, the constituent functions of government are

more important and given more attention than its ministrant
functions.
I don’t agree because here in our country is the common
welfare of the people always prioritized. We are democratic
and republican state, we are by and for the people not only
 legal relation, definition and punishment of crimes but
public works, public health and other ministrant works.

d. Separation of powers simply means that the judiciary may apply

the law but may not enact it; the Congress or legislative branch
may enact the law and enforce it but may not apply the same; and
that the Executive branch may implement and interpret the laws.
I don’t agree. The purpose of separation of powers is
intended to prevent a concentration of authority in one
person or group of person that lead to an irreversible error.
Separation of powers is not independence but
interdependence; for the purpose of common welfare that
affirms union.

e. The Constitution makes it clear that in the Philippines it is only in

Congress where legislative power is vested.
I don’t agree. According to the constitution article 6 section 1
with the extent reserved to the people by the provision on
initiative and referendum. More so, there are non legislative
power like power to canvass presidential election, power to
remove from office thru impeachment and other non-
legislative power.

f. Congress may not exercise powers considered non-legislative.

I don’t agree. Non-legislative power of the congress is also
given several powers and responsibilities in a certain
situation. Like, power to declare the existence of a state of
war with a two-thirds vote of the congress. Also legislative
inquiry, in aid of legislation and other non legislative power
can exercise its power.

g. A City already comprising one legislative district is no longer or is

not yet entitled to another or second legislative district even if its
population has already reached 489,000 six years after its creation
as a city.
Yes I agree. Atleast 250,000 population to have its own
legislative district but it is not automatic to have another one
if exceeds.

h. Party list Kita Tayo is entitled to two seats or representatives to

the House of Representatives because it earned 1,313,045 votes of
the 20,000,000 votes cast under the Party list system in the most
recent congressional elections participated in by 53 Million
registered voters.
 I don’t agree because kita tayo party list got 6.5 percent of
the casted votes under the party list system. It should be
given three seats for the house of representatives and three
seats is the maximum seats of the house of representatives.

i. The appointment of former Senator Gregorio as Secretary of the

Department of Housing is unconstitutional since he was the
author of the bill which became the law which created the said
department.
I don’t agree. He is no longer a senator, he can be the
secretary of housing. It is constitutional. There’s no law that
prohibits a senator to act as secretary of a certain department
that he was previously the author of that law.

j. A lawyer-Senator who, in a speech delivered during a session of

the Senate, called all Supreme Court Justices as idiots and the
Chief Justice as clown, may be disbarred or removed as a lawyer.
I don’t agree. A lawyer-senator can invoke his privilege
speech/debate but if the lawyer-senator has a conviction of
gross misconduct, grossly immoral conduct, or a crime of
involving immoral turpitude or disobedience of any lawful
order of a superior court the latter can removed as a lawyer.

5. Distinguish:
(a) suability and liability of states;
Suability depends on the consent of the state to be
sued, liability on the applicable law and the established facts.
The circumstance that a state is suable does not necessarily
mean that it is liable; on the other hand, it can never be
held liable if it does not first consent to be sued.

(b) nation and state;

a nation refers to a group of people who feel bound into a
single body by shared culture, values, folkways, religion
and/or language. A state just refers to a patch of land with a
sovereign government. States often coincide with nations
(and are called "nation-states," but not always. States that
overlap multiple nations tend to have civil wars; states that
exclude parts of a nation tend to have wars with the
neighboring state(s) that contain the rest of the nation.
(c) government and administration;
Government refers to the group of authorized people who
governs a country or a state. State refers to the organized
political community living under a single system
 of government. The main difference
between state and government is that state is more or less
permanent whereas government is temporary.

(d) de jure and de facto governments;

A de jure government is the legal, legitimate government of
a state and is so recognized by other states. In contrast, a de facto
government is in actual possession of authority and control of the
state.

(e) legal and political sovereignty

Legal sovereignty is the body which has the power to
issue final commands in the form of laws is the legal
sovereign in a state. This power may be vested in one person
or a body of persons. While political sovereign, in
democracies, the political sovereign receives its authority
from the electorate, whatever be the basis of the right of vote,
and is answerable to it for the exercise of its powers.

6. Multiple choice question: Which of the following is not an element of

the state: (Explain why the choice was preferred) Note: it’s possible that there can be
more than one correct answer.
a. territory
b. government
c. people
d. sovereignty
e. independence
f. degree of civilization
Not element of state are independence and degree of
civilization because the rest is the element of state.
Independence and decree of civilization are already included
in government and people. The independency of the
government by and for the common welfare and the degree
of civilization is the modernization of the country including
its government and people.

7. What is a self-executing provision of the Constitution? State and

explain at least two rules in the interpretation or construction of a
constitutional provision. (10 pts.)
A constitutional provision is self-executing when it can be
given effect without the aid of legislation, and there is
nothing to indicate that legislation is intended to make it
operative.
8. A and C, brothers of B, the presiding bishop in the Church of
Faithful Adherents issued a press statement which alleged that
they were abducted by armed church leaders and brought to a
forested area and tied on a tree for three days until they were
rescued by a Forester. They alleged that they were kidnapped
because they expressed displeasure over how their leaders had
prevented them access to the church’s financial records. A day
after the press statement was read over several radio and
television stations, the governing council of the church declared
that the bishop’s brothers were excommunicated from the church.

The concerned siblings went to court and filed a case for

kidnapping against their brother and the church leaders
responsible for the abduction and for civil damages for unduly
excommunicating them from the Church. B moved for the
dismissal of the case, invoking the principle of separation of
church and state, and freedom of religion, and arguing that the
Court has no jurisdiction over the criminal and the civil cases
considering that said cases involved matters purely internal to
their church. If you were the Judge how would you rule on the
motion to dismiss? Explain with reasons. (10)

According to the revised penal code 268 “If the offender shall
voluntarily release the person so kidnapped or detained within
three days from the commencement of the detention, without
having attained the purpose intended, and before the institution of
criminal proceedings against him”. 1) That the accused took
advantage of their public positions, 2) that the aforestated offense
was committed with aid of armed men, 3) that the detains another
deprives him of his liberty. 4) the detention is illegal. As a judge of
this court the motion for dismissal is DENIED.

9. In connection with the suspension from office of Members of

Congress, explain the difference between the suspension
contemplated in the Constitution from the suspension prescribed
in Republic Act 3019 or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
(5)
The suspension contemplated in the Constitution is different
from the suspension prescribed in the Anti-Graft and
Corrupt Practices Act [RA 3019]. The latter is not a penalty
but a preliminary preventive measure and is not imposed
upon the petitioner for misbehavior as a member of
Congress.