"On my honor as a law student, I have neither given nor received aid on this examination.

"

Villalobos, Jay Antoine B.

1. Is the house of senate a continuing body? Explain with legal basis.

Ans. Yes, under the constitution a senator must have a term of six years, that term
allows senators to be less subject to the pressures of public opinion pleas of
special interest.
The senate focus on the nation issues while the house of representatives focuses
on more domestic issues.
2. What are the yeas and nays that should be contained in a journal? Explain each.
Ans. These are the documents in the public domain that can be used freely in its
original content

3. Cite at least three rules in connection with the consecutiveness of terms and
involuntary interruptions relative to the application of the rules on term limit for
elective officers. Explain each.
Ans. The term of office of the senators shall be six years, senators shall not serve for
more than two consecutive terms, and involuntary interruptions are not considered
in continuity of service for the full term of which.

4. Explain the four parameters in the Philippine-style party list election system,
Ans.
 Sectoral parties
An organized group of citizen, whose principal advocacy pertains to the special
interest and concerns of their sector
 Sectoral organizations
A group of citizens or a coalition of groups of citizens who share similar physical
attributes or characteristics, employment, interests or concerns.
 Political parties
An organized group of citizens advocating an ideology or platform, principles and
policies for the general conduct of government and which, as the most immediate
 means of securing their adoption, regularly nominates and supports certain of its
leaders and members as candidates for public office.
 Coalitions
An aggrupation of duly registered national, regional, sectoral parties or
organizations for election purposes.

5. Explain the following concepts as embodied under the 1987 constitution and cite at
least two examples of each.
 Doctrine of separation of powers

Ans. This is when the three branches of the government are being separated
to have a government of laws to maintain balance of power.

 Doctrine of blending of powers

Ans. This is when the three branches of the government shares their power.

 Doctrine of checks and balances

Ans. This is when a constitution allows each branch of the government to

amend or veto an act of another branch.

6. Summarize/digest the following case

 Tecson vs COMELEC G.R. No. 161434, March 3, 2004)
 Poe-Llamanzares vs. COMELEC (G.R. No. 221697, March 8, 2016)

7. Congresswoman Sarah Bhutan is a co-owner of an industrial estate in Sta. Rosa,

Laguna which she had declared in her Statement of Assets and liabilities. A member
of her political party authored a bill which would provide a 5-year development plan
for all industrial estates in the southern Tagalog Region to attract investors. The plan
included an appropriation of 2 billion pesos for construction of roads around the
estates. When the bill finally became law, a civil society watchdog questioned the
constitutionality of the law as it obviously benefited Congresswoman’s industrial
estate. Decide with reasons
Ans. Under the law, its constitutionality that it obviously benefited
Congresswoman’s industrial estate is unsatisfied, as it is said, that all the members
of the house shall upon the assumption of office, to make a full disclosure of their
financial and business interest, However as a co-owner of an industrial estate in
 Sta. Rosa, Laguna which she declared in her statement of assets and liabilities is
against the Art VI section 12.

8. Andres Ang was born of a Chinese father and a Filipino mother in Sorsogon on
January 20, 1973. In 1988, his father was naturalized as a Filipino citizen. In the May
11, 1998 national election, Andres Ang was proclaimed as the duly elected
Representative of the First District of Sorgoson. Juan Bondol who received the
second highest number of votes, filed a petition contending that Andres Ang is not a
natural born citizen of the Philippines and therefore is disqualified to be a member of
the House. Who has jurisdiction over the petition? Explain with reason.
Ans. Provided by the law, those persons who were born before january 17, 1973
of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippines citizenship upon reaching the age of
maturity, however Andres Ang was born three days after the time adoption of the
the constitution, partly his father was naturalized right after the timely adoption,
therefore he does not meet the qualifications to acquire the citizenship, the
supreme court however shall have no jurisdiction over this case, as stated in law,
the congress shall, and will prescribe the qualifications, to run as a member of the
house.
(6.1) (Tecson vs COMELEC G.R. No. 161434, March 3, 2004)
FACTS:
Petitioners sought for respondent Poe’s disqualification in the presidential
elections for having allegedly misrepresented material facts in his (Poe’s)
certificate of candidacy by claiming that he is a natural Filipino citizen despite his
parents both being foreigners. Comelec dismissed the petition, holding that Poe
was a Filipino Citizen. Petitioners assail the jurisdiction of the Comelec,
contending that only the Supreme Court may resolve the basic issue on the case
under Article VII, Section 4, paragraph 7, of the 1987 Constitution.
ISSUES:

Whether or not it is the Supreme Court which had jurisdiction.

Whether or not Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion in holding that Poe
was a Filipino citizen.

RULING:

The Supreme Court had no jurisdiction on questions regarding “qualification of a

candidate” for the presidency or vice-presidency before the elections are held.
“Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal”  in connection with Section 4,
paragraph 7, of the 1987 Constitution, refers to “contests” relating to the election,
returns and qualifications of the “President” or “Vice-President”, of the
Philippines which the Supreme Court may take cognizance, and not of
“candidates” for President or Vice-President before the elections.

Comelec committed no grave abuse of discretion in holding Poe as a Filipino

Citizen. The 1935 Constitution on Citizenship, the prevailing fundamental law on
respondent’s birth, provided that among the citizens of the Philippines are “those
whose fathers are citizens of the Philippines.”
(6.2) (Poe-Llamanzares vs. COMELEC (G.R. No. 221697, March 8, 2016)
FACTS:
Petitioner Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares was found abandoned as a
newborn infant in the Parish Church of Jaro, Iloilo on Sept. 3, 1968. After passing
the parental care and custody over petitioner by Edgardo Militar to Emiliano
Militar and his wife, she has been reported and registered as a foundling and
issued a Foundling Certificate and Certificate of Live Birth, thus was given the
name, Mary Grace Natividad Contreras Militar. When the petitioner reached the
age of five (5), celebrity spouses Ronal Allan Kelley (aka Fernando Poe, Jr) and
Jesusa Sonora Poe (aka Susan Roces) filed a petition foe her adoption. The trial
court granted their petition and ordered that her name be changed to Mary Grace
Natividad Sonora Poe. She married Teodoro Misael Daniel V. Llamanzares, a
citizen of both the Philippines and the U.S., in San Juan City and decided to flew
back to the U.S. after their wedding. She gave birth to her eldest child while in the
U.S.; and her two daughters in the Philippines.
In 2006, She took her Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines
pursuant to RA No. 9225 or the Citizenship retention and Re-acquisition Act of
2003, she filed a sworn petition to reacquire Philippine citizenship together with
petitions for derivative citizenship on behalf of her three children which was
granted. She registered as a voter; secured Philippine passport; appointed and took
her oath as Chairperson of the MTRCB after executing an affidavit of
Renunciation of American citizenship before the Vice Consul of the USA and was
issued a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the USA in 2011.
In 2012, she filed with the COMELEC her Certificate of Candidacy for Senator
for the 2013 Elections wherein she answered “6 years and 6 months” to the
question “Period of residence in the Philippines before May 13, 2013.” Petitioner
obtained the highest number of votes and was proclaimed Senator on 16 May
2013.
On 15 October 2015, petitioner filed her COC for the Presidency for the May
2016 Elections. In her COC, the petitioner declared that she is a natural-born
citizen and that her residence in the Philippines up to the day before 9 May 2016
would be ten years and eleven months counted from 24 May 2005.
Petitions were filed before the COMELEC to deny or cancel her candidacy on the
ground particularly, among others, that she cannot be considered a natural-born
Filipino citizen since she cannot prove that her biological parents or either of
them were Filipinos.  The COMELEC en banc cancelled her candidacy on the
 ground that she was in want of citizenship and residence requirements, and that
she committed material misrepresentations in her COC.

ISSUE:
Whether or not Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares is a natural born
Filipino citizen?
RULING:
Yes Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares is a natural born Filipino Citizen.
There are also no provisions in the Constitution with intent or language permitting
discrimination against foundlings as the three Constitutions guarantee the basic
right to equal protection of the laws. Foundlings are citizens under international
law as this is supported by some treaties