QUIZ – 21 Sept.

2019
UDM College of Law
First Year, Constitutional Law I
First Semester, SY 2019
ProfLAtty. E.B. BELLEN

1. Explain the meaning of the following:

(a) par in parem non habet imperium;

A State cannot be sued in the courts of a foreign state is a rule of international law and
is closely identified with the personal immunity of a foreign sovereign from suit and,
with the emergence of democratic states, made to attach not just to the person of the head
of state, or his representative, but also to the state itself in its sovereign capacity. If the
acts giving rise to a suit are those of a foreign government done by its foreign agent,
although not necessarily a diplomatic personage, but acting in his official capacity, the
complaint could be barred by the immunity of the foreign sovereign from suit without its
consent. Suing a representative of a state is believed to be, in effect, suing the state itself.
The proscription is not accorded for the benefit of an individual but for the State, in
whose service he is, under the maxim - par in parem, non habet imperium - that all states
are sovereign equals and cannot assert jurisdiction over one another.

(b) Constitutional Law;

Constitutional Law is the study of proper balance of liberty and authority to prevent
anarchy which is the absence of government with too much liberty and tyranny in the
authority of the government. It is also the fundamental law of the land which defines
the power of the government.

(c) State;
State is a community of persons, 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.

(d) archipelago doctrine;

The Archipelagic Doctrine is a specification in the Philippine Constitution defining

the boundaries of the country. It stated:

"The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago with all the islands and
waters embraced therein and all the other territories belonging to the Philippines.”

It is defined as all waters, around between and connecting different islands

belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, irrespective of their width or
dimension, are necessary appurtenances of its land territory, forming an
integral part of the national or inland waters, subject to the exclusive
sovereignty of the Philippines. It is found in the 2nd sentence of Article 1 of
the 1987 Constitution. It emphasizes the unity of the land and waters by
defining an archipelago as group of islands surrounded by waters or a body
of waters studded with islands.
 (e) parens patriae.

It is one of the important tasks of the government is to act for the State as parens
patriae, or guardian of the rights of the people.

2. State and explain the three essential parts of a written constitution, particularly with
reference to the Philippine Constitution.

Essential Parts of a Written Constitution

a. Constitution of Liberty. Sets forth the fundamental civil and political rights of the
citizen.
b. Constitution of government. Outlines the organization of the government enumerating
its power to certain rule.
c. Constitution of sovereignty. Contains the provisions on how to amend and to revise
our constitution.

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

Potestas delegata non delegari potest does not belong to the group because it is
more delegation of powers rather than the others who are in effect to interpret the law.

Verba legis is when the law is clear and unequivocal the Court has no other alternative
but to apply the law and not to interpret.
Ut magis valeat quam pereat means it is better for a thing to have effect than to be
made void.
Potestas delegate non delegari potest means no delegated powers can be further
delegated.
Ratio legis et anima is when there is ambiguity, the words of the Constitution should
be interpreted in accordance with the intent of its framers.

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. (3 points each)

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 agree, because the government requires the person to render military service not the
constitution and it is his right to disagree according to his right of belief.

b. The Preamble of the 1987 Constitution serves no purpose at all and in the
interpretation of the Constitution it has no use.
 I disagree since the Preamble of the 1987 Constitution is the kind of democracy we
have, together with our rights stating our purpose, aims, and justification of being a
Filipino citizen.

c. In the Philippines, the constituent functions of government are more important and
given more attention than its ministrant functions.

I disagree because the constituent functions is about keeping of order and providing
for the protection of persons and property from violence and robbery and ministrant
functions are those that are undertaken only by way of advancing the general interests
of society and are merely optional so these functions are both important for the
common good.

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 disagree because The Congress cannot enforce the law only the Executive branch
can enforce it and Executive branch cannot interpret and implement the law for it is
the Legislative who implements the law and the Judiciary interprets the law.

e. The Constitution makes it clear that in the Philippines it is only in Congress where
legislative power is vested.

I agree that, it is only in the Congress which consists of a Senate and a House of
Representatives shall the legislative power be vested, according to Article VI Section
1 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

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

I disagree, congress can exercise powers considered non legislative. Non legislative
powers are power to canvass the presidential elections, to declare the existence of a
state of war, to give concurrence to treaties and amnesties, to propose constitutional
amendment and to impeach.

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.

I disagree, because there can be a second legislative district or more base on

population.

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 agree because it should be 2% votes to have a seat at 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 disagree, since he finished the term first of being a senator before being appointed as
Secretary of the Department of Housing, so he didn’t violate Article VI section 13.

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 disagree, under Article VI section 11, A Senator or Member of the House of

Representatives shall, in all offenses punishable by not more than six years
imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the Congress is in session. No member
shall be questioned nor be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in
Congress or in any committee thereof.
The rule provides for two kinds of immunities to wit: immunity from arrest and the
privilege of speech and debate only under session.

5. Distinguish: (a) suability and liability of states;

The mere fact that the State is suable does not mean that it is liable; or to put it
another way, waiver of immunity by the State does not mean concession of its
liability. As already explained, suability is the result of the express or implied consent
of the State to be sued. Liability, on the other hand, is determined after hearing on the
basis of the relevant laws and the established facts. When therefore, the State allows
itself to be sued, all it does in effect is to give the other party an opportunity to prove,
if it can, that the State is liable. The State in many cases, may be suable but not liable.

(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.

(c) government and administration;

Government is distinct from administration. Government is the agency which formulates,

expresses and realizes the will of the people. On the other hand, administration is
composed of group of persons in whose hands the reins of government are for the time
being. It is the administration that runs the affairs of the government for a given period of
time, after which another administration may be called upon by the people to serve them.
That is why we say that administration changes but the government does not.

(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.

and (e) legal and political sovereignty.

Legal and political sovereignty are the two aspects of the one sovereignty of the state. But
at the same time both the aspects stands poles apart. Legal sovereign is a law-making
authority in legal terms, whereas political sovereignty is behind the legal sovereign.
6. Multiple choice question: Which of the following is not an element of the state: (5
points) (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

Independence and degree of civilization are not included in the element of a state for
sovereignty is already define as being an independent state and degree of civilization
is not needed to determine a state.

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.

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.
A basic principle of statutory interpretation is that courts should "give effect,
if possible, to every clause and word of a statute, avoiding, if it may be, any
construction which implies that the legislature was ignorant of the meaning of the
language it employed."
Constitutional interpretation, or constitutional construction, the term more
often used by the Founders, is the process by which meanings are assigned to words
in a constitution, to enable legal decisions to be made that are justified by it.

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.

Section 6 reiterates that the Separation of church and State is shall be

inviolable. The doctrine cut both ways, the State is prohibited from interfering in
purely ecclesiastical affairs while the Church is barred from meddling in purely
secular matters.
Ruling:
Wherefore, the petition prayed for is hereby dismissed.
 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)

Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members
for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all its Members,
suspend or expel a Member. A penalty of suspension, when imposed, shall not exceed
sixty days. According to Article VI Section 16(3)

Section 5. Prohibition on certain relatives. It shall be unlawful for the spouse or for
any relative, by consanguinity or affinity, within the third civil degree, of the
President of the Philippines, the Vice-President of the Philippines, the President of the
Senate, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to intervene, directly or
indirectly, in any business, transaction, contract or application with the Government:
Provided, That this section shall not apply to any person who, prior to the assumption
of office of any of the above officials to whom he is related, has been already dealing
with the Government along the same line of business, nor to any transaction, contract
or application already existing or pending at the time of such assumption of public
office, nor to any application filed by him the approval of which is not discretionary
on the part of the official or officials concerned but depends upon compliance with
requisites provided by law, or rules or regulations issued pursuant to law, nor to any
act lawfully performed in an official capacity or in the exercise of a profession.

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