Political Law Questions for Mockbar:

1. The police served a warrant of arrest on Ariston who was

suspected of raping and killing a female high school student.
While on the way to the police station, one of the police officers
who served the warrant asked Ariston in the local dialect if he
really raped and killed the student, and Ariston nodded and
said, "Opo." Upon arriving at the police station, Ariston saw the
City Mayor, whom he approached and asked if they could talk
privately. The Mayor led Ariston to his office and, while there
in conversation with the Mayor, Ariston broke down and
admitted that he raped and killed the student. The Mayor
thereafter opened the door of the room to let the public and
media representatives witness Ariston's confession. In the
presence of the Mayor, the police and the media, and in
response to questions asked by some members of the media,
Ariston sorrowfully confessed his guilt and sought forgiveness
for his actions.

Which of these extrajudicial confessions, if any, would you

consider as admissible in evidence against Ariston?

2. The Province of Bayanihan is one of the smallest provinces in

the Philippines with only one legislative district composed of
four municipalities: Usa, Duha, Tulo, and Upat.

John Lloyd, a resident and registered voter of Upat

municipality, ran and was elected as member of the Board
Member (BM) of Amaya in the 2013 and 2016 local elections.

While John Lloyd was serving his second term as

Provincial·Board Member, a law was enacted re-apportioning
the four towns of Bayanihan into two legislative districts: Usa
and Duha comprising the First District, and Tulo and Upat
comprising the Second District.
 In the 2019 local elections, Andres ran and was elected as
member of the BM of Bayanihan representing the Second
District.

John Lloyd seeks your legal advice regarding his intention to

run as a member of the BM of Bayanihan for the Second
District in the next local elections in 2022. What will you
advise Andres?

3. A search warrant was issued directing the peace officers to

search and seize undetermined number of fake titles, official
receipts, etc., blank titles and undetermined number of land
transfer transactions kept at the Office of the Register of Deeds,
Quezon City. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG)
submitted a position paper that the warrant was a complete
nullity due to the following reasons:

a. it was issued for three (3) separate offenses Article 171

(Falsification by public officer, employee or notary or ecclesiastic
minister), Article 213 (Frauds against the public treasury and similar
offenses) , and Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act); and

b. the things sought to be searched and seized were not

particularly described .

Rule on the contention of the OSG. Explain.

4. Rudyard ran in the 2016 Presidential election and won. As

projected, his infrastructure programs shall not be finished
until 2025. Hence, he decided to run for Vice-President in the
2022 election and will ask the winning President that he will
take the position as the Cabinet Secretary for the DPWH and
will focus on the infrastructure programs. Upon filing his
candidacy for Vice-President, Juan filed to disqualify Rudyard
to run as Vice-President. If you were Juan, what will be your
legal basis in your petition to disqualify Rudyard?
5. Ernesto, a minor, while driving a motor vehicle, was stopped at
a mobile checkpoint. Noticing that Ernesto is a minor, SPOl Jojo
asked Ernesto to exhibit his driver's license but Ernesto failed to
produce it. SPOI Jojo requested Ernesto to alight from the
vehicle and the latter acceded. Upon observing a bulge in the
pants of Ernesto, the policeman frisked him and found an
unlicensed .22-caliber pistol inside Ernesto's right pocket.
Ernesto was arrested, detained and charged. At the trial,
Ernesto, through his lawyer, argued that, policemen at mobile
checkpoints are empowered to conduct nothing more than a
''visual search". They cannot order the persons riding the
vehicle to alight. They cannot frisk, or conduct a body search of
the driver or the passengers of the vehicle.

Ernesto's lawyer thus posited that:

(a) The search conducted in violation of the Constitution and

established jurisprudence was an illegal search; thus, the gun
which was seized in the course of an illegal search is the "fruit
of the poisonous tree" and is inadmissible in evidence.

(b) The arrest made as a consequence of the invalid search was

likewise illegal, because an unlawful act (the search) cannot be
made the basis of a lawful arrest.

6. In March 2020, the President declared the entire Philippines

under a state of emergency brought by the COVID-19
pandemic in an Executive Order (EO) and directed the Local
Government Units (LGU) through the Secretary of Health
(SOH) to declare a community quarantine through lockdowns
to which the SOH complied. In August 2020, the City of Cebu
questioned the EO since the President does not have a control
power over the LGU, the EO must only be in the nature of a
supervisory power. Decide.

7. On January 19, 2010, R.A. 33001 was passed granting petitioner

a franchise to construct, maintain and operate radio stations in
 the Philippines. The franchise is subject to amendment or
repeal by Congress. In November 2018, an new law was
promulgated to regulate and operate the TV stations. The new
law limited the corporation’s or person’s ownership, etc. of TV
or radio stations to one (1) radio or TV station in one
municiplaity or city and not more than five (5) all over the
country, hence, it limited petitioner’s ownership to only 3 radio
stations in Bacolod City, Iloilo City, and Roxas City.

A petition for declaratory relief was filed, seeking to declare the

new law unconstitutional on the ground of lack of due process.
Petitioner, however, did not allege that it has filed an
application for license to operate a radio or TV station in excess
of the authorized number. Rule on the petition.

8. On December 17, 2019, thePresident extended to Leilanie

Paulino a permanent appointment as chairman of the
Commission on Human Rights. She took her oath before the
Chief Justice and then discharged her functions. On January 9,
2020, she received a letter from the Secretary of the Commission
on Appointment (CA) asking her to submit certain information
and documents in connection with her confirmation as
chairman. She contended that the CA has no jurisdiction to
review her appointment. Is the contention proper? Why?

9. State the concept of maximum tolerance mandated by B.P. 800

otherwise known as the Public Assembly Act of 1985 and
whether it is the same as Calibrated Preemptive Response
(CPR). Explain.

10. The accused was charged with the crime of murder. He

pleaded not guilty. At the trial, it was shown that he was the
last person seen with the victim immediately before and after
the commission of the crime. It was proven further that he and
his cousin a prosecutor from Zamboanga went to the police and
voluntarily told the police that the victim jumped out of his
jeep. He averred that the statements he made at the police
station are not admissible in evidence considering that he was
technically under custodial investigation and that there was no
waiver of his right to remain silent. Is the contention correct?
Why?