The following are questions lifted from the 2020_21 Best Bar Ever.

Answer them using,

preferably, the CLAC method.            

        
1. Can a charismatic and effective 30-year-old former mayor of a chartered city in
Metro Manila legally run for President of the Republic of the Philippines in the
2022 elections? Explain briefly.

2. A law is passed penalizing any criticism of any sitting Member of the Supreme
Court on any media platform. The penalty is higher when the criticism is made
through social media. Is this law constitutional? Explain briefly.                       

3. A law is passed which provides that when the Department of Public Works and
Highways expropriates property for government infrastructure projects, it will
have the sole and exclusive authority to determine the price to be paid as
compensation to the landowner, which amount shall be no more than the
assessed value of the property used for real property taxation. Is this provision of law valid?
Explain briefly.                       

4. A provincial ordinance was passed setting a province-wide curfew for all

minors. This was challenged through a suit filed before the Regional Trial Court
having territorial jurisdiction over the province. The provincial legal officer sought the case's
dismissal on the lone ground that
the Supreme Court has sole and exclusive jurisdiction to determine the
constitutionality of a treaty, law, or ordinance. Should the provincial legal officer's prayer for
dismissal be granted? Explain
briefly.                      
                                                    
5. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed a bill which: (a)
increases the number of Supreme Court Justices from 15 to 20; (b) assigns the
five most senior Justices, including the Chief Justice, exclusively to a Special
Division that will tackle only constitutional cases; and (c) removes from the
Supreme Court En Banc the power to hear and decide cases involving alleged
violations of the Constitution.                           

The Chief Presidential Legal Counsel advises the President to veto the bill,
arguing that the law is unconstitutional because its contents should be the
subject of constitutional amendment rather than of legislation.
            
Is the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel's argument constitutionally sound?
Explain briefly.
                                                                     
6. To contain the spread of a virus, and in line with the World Health
Organization's declaration of a pandemic, the President declared martial law
throughout the entire Philippine archipelago. As an additional justification, the
Proclamation declaring martial law cited the possibility that health protocols
might not be followed.                           

A law student filed a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the
sufficiency of the constitutional and factual bases for the martial law
declaration.                           

Does the law student have standing to file this action? Explain briefly.
                                
7. The Executive Judge of a Regional Trial Court prohibited the conduct of daily
prayers for Muslims inside any room of the Hall of Justice even during break
time.                           

Among Muslims, five daily prayers (salah) are mandatory. In all these daily
prayers, Muslims need to face the qiblah. There is a noontime prayer (Zhuhr)
and an afternoon prayer (Asr). But unlike the other three prayers, these two can
be recited silently, but still on a prayer mat and with body movements.                            

There is a Supreme Court Resolution that allows Catholic masses to be held

during break time inside Halls of Justice. There was only one dissent to this
Resolution on the ground of strict separation of Church and State in relation to
acts of worship. The Executive Judge is a member of a Catholic institution perceived to be
conservative.                           

Did the Executive Judge violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution?
Explain briefly.

8. A news agency incorporated under Philippine laws won two international

awards for its stand on freedom of expression. One of its founding directors
even won the Nobel Peace Prize. For championing free expression, it received
a substantial investment offer from a British philanthropist.

The investment offer comes in the form of funds which can cover at least 80%
of the news agency's operations, both in print and online. In exchange, however,  the British
philanthropist would acquire 51% of the news agency's outstanding
common and voting stocks, as well as get a seat for the philanthropist's nominee
in the news agency's governing board.

Are the conditions of the investment constitutional? Explain briefly.                                                 

            

9. As a car driver was getting into their car inside the parking area of a mall in
Makati, two individuals suddenly came from behind them. One pointed a gun
to the car driver's head while the other grabbed the car keys in the driver's hand.
The two then sped away with the car.

After recovering from the initial shock, the driver took their smartphone and
opened the app “Find My Car.” “Find My Car” is an app that tracks in real time
the movement and location of a car through a Global Positioning System (GPS)
device installed in the car.                           

The driver then went to the nearest police station and showed the officers the
current location of the car as shown on their smartphone. The car appeared to
stop at a spot in Novaliches, Quezon City.                           

Six hours after the car had been stolen, a combined team of elite police officers
from the Highway Patrol Group and the Criminal Investigation Detection
Group, by force and without a warrant, searched a private home in Novaliches,
Quezon City. The private home was pinpointed by the car's GPS tracker as
displayed on the driver's phone.

The private home is enclosed by a gate and is equipped with security cameras.                            

In the private home's garage, the police officers found the driver's car, along
with two other cars which matched police records of previously stolen motor
vehicles. The officers seized and impounded all three cars. Right then and there,
they also arrested the owner of the private home, who was subsequently charged
with carnapping.

Are the seized cars admissible in evidence? Explain briefly.

10. Disappointed that both Houses of Congress are seriously debating a bill seeking
to enable absolute divorce, a citizen filed a petition asking the Supreme Court
to order Congressional deliberations to stop.

Should the petition prosper? Explain briefly.

11. A Senator filed a petition for mandamus to compel a newly elected President to
sign, approve, and transmit to the Senate for its ratification the treaty creating
the International Criminal Court.

Should this petition prosper? Explain briefly.

12. The United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a Resolution

expressing the commitment of its members to pass laws and related policies that
would provide incentives for all citizens of the planet to change their lifestyles
so that the impending disasters brought about by climate change can be avoided
or mitigated. 

As the principal legal adviser to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, you are asked
this query: Is this General Assembly Resolution a valid source of State
obligation under international law? Explain briefly.