DAY 1 (AM) Political Law Flashcards
- Constitution is defined by Cooley as ___________.
A. a body of statutory, administrative and political provisions by which the three branches of government are defined
B. a body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised
C. a body of rules and edicts emanating from the rulings of courts and written guidelines of the executive and the legislature by which government is governed
D. a body of interpretations and rules by which the three branches of government are judged for purposes of sovereign compliance with good corporate governance
- The three essential parts of a Constitution are _________.
A. the bill of rights, governmental organization and functions, and method of amendment
B. the preamble, the bill of rights, and provisions on checks and balances
C. the national territory, the declaration of principles and state policies, and the transitory provisions
D. the executive department, the legislative department, and the judiciary
- The constitutional provision on initiative and referendum is not self-executory. This is so because it requires __________.
A. an implementing resolution from the COMELEC
B. an implementing resolution from the Supreme Court
C. an implementing legislation
D. an implementing resolution from the party-list representative of the House of Representatives
- In an amendment to the constitution by “initiative and referendum”, the “initiative” phase is meant that the people propose the amendments. There is a valid proposal when a proposition has received the approval of ____________.
A. at least 3% of the persons of majority age of each district, and 12% of the registered voters of the region from proposal emanates
B. at least 3% of the registered voters of each province and 12% of the total number of registered voters nationwide
C. at least 3% of the registered voters of each district and 12% of the total number of registered voters nationwide
D. more than 3% of the 3% of the registered voters of each district but less than 12% of the total number of registered voters nationwide
- The Constitution declares that the Philippines is a republican state. Republicanism means __________.
A. the form of government must be presidential
B. the representatives of the government are elected by the people
C. sovereignty resides in the elected representatives of the government
D. the form of government cannot be changed by the people
- A chief characteristic of the presidential form of government is ___________.
A. concentration of power in the judiciary thru the power of expanded judicial review
B. supremacy of the presidency compared to the totality of powers of the legislative
C. regular periodic election of the President for a fixed term
D. unlimited term for the President for as long as elected by the people in free and honest elections
- Which of the following best exemplifies how the system of checks and balances is carried out?
A. The legislature passes a law that prohibits the president from commuting a judiciary imposed sentence, as a check of the president.
B. The President pardons a convict as a way to set aside or modify a judgment of the judiciary.
C. The judiciary overturns a pardon granted by the President as a check on executions.
D. The President pardons an accused after arraignment in the interest of justice.
- Which phrase best completes the following statement?
The starting point of the principle of separation of powers is the assumption of the division of the functions of government into three distinct classes ____________.
A. the bill of rights, state policies, and social justice and human rights
B. the accountability of public officers, the constitutional commissions, and the national economy and patrimony
C. the self-executing provisions, the non-self-executing provisions, and the self-evident social justice provisions
D. the executive, the legislative, and the judicial
- The Constitution provides that the “separation of church and state shall be inviolable.” This is implemented most by the constitutional principles embodied in ___________.
A. the free exercise clause
B. the non-establishment clause
C. the freedom of religious belief clause
D. the freedom of religion clause
- Which one of the following is a non-self-executing provision of the Constitution?
A. No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech.
B. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion.
C. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law.
D. The state shall encourage and support researches and studies on the arts and culture.
- Basic Philippine law, in respect of the modes of acquiring citizenship, follows the rule(s) of __________.
A. jus soli and jus sanguinis
B. naturalization and provides for jus soli
C. jus sanguinis and provides for naturalization
D. none of the above
- Dual allegiance by citizen is _______.
A. inimical to the national interest and is therefore proscribed by law
B. inimical to the national interest and is therefore prescribed by law
C. inimical to the national interest and therefore shall be dealt with by law
D. inimical to the national interest and is therefore outside of coverage of law
- Margarita was born in 1986 to a Filipino mother and Swedish father. She has been living and continues to live in the US for the last 20 years and has also been naturalized as a US citizen. She recently reacquired Philippine citizenship under RA 9225, the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003.
Can Margarita vote in the next national elections?
A. Yes. Dual citizens who are not residents may register under the Overseas Absentee Voting Law.
B. Yes. Margarita is a Filipino citizen and thus may enjoy the right to suffrage like everyone else without registering as an overseas absentee voter.
C. No. Margarita fails the residency requirement under Section 1, Article V of the Constitution for Filipinos.
D. No. Dual citizens upon renunciation of their Filipino citizenship and acquisition of foreign citizenship, have practically and legally abandoned their domicile and severed their legal ties to their homeland as a consequence.
- Which of the following is is an invalid exercise of the legislative power?
A. legislation by local government on purely local matters
B. law granting an administrative agency the power to define policy and fix standards on price control
C. law authorizing the President, in times of war or other national emergency, for a limited period, subject to prescribed restrictions, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy
D. law authorizing the President to fix, within specific limits, tariff rates, import and export quotas, and other duties, within the framework of the national development program of the government
- Which one of the following theories does not support the valid delegation of authority by the Congress to an administrative agency?
A. An administrative agency may “fill up the details” of a statute.
B. The legislature may leave to another body the ascertainment of facts necessary to bring the law into actual operation.
C. An administrative agency has equal expertise with the legislature in crafting and implementing laws.
D. Contingent legislation.
- The rule in Article V1, Section 5 (3) of the Constitution that “Each legislative district shall comprise, as far as practicable, contiguous, compact and adjacent territory” is a prohibition against ___________.
A. re-apportionment
B. commandeering of votes
C. gerrymandering
D. re-districting
- Article V1, Section 5(3) of the Constitution requires that for a city to be entitled to have at least one representative, its population shall be at least __________.
A. 250,000
B. 150,000
C. 100,000
D. 175,000
- A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall be privileged from arrest while Congress is in session for all offenses punishable by imprisonment of not more than _________.
A. life imprisonment
B. reclusion perpetua
C. six years imprisonment
D. four years imprisonment
- No Senator or member of the House of Representatives may personally appear as counsel before _________.
A. any regional court
B. any court of justice
C. any inferior court
D. any appellate court
- Which of the following can be changed by an ordinary law enacted by Congress?
A. commencement of the term of office of Senators
B. date of regular election for President and Vice Presidential
C. authority to transfer appropriation
D. regular election of the members of Congress
- Congress shall have the sole power to declare the existence of a state of war by vote of __________.
A. three-fourths of both Houses in joint session assembled, voting jointly
B. two-thirds of both Houses in joint session assembled, voting jointly
C. two-thirds of both Houses in separate session assembled, voting jointly
D. two-thirds of both Houses in joint session, voting separately
- If by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuring fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed _______.
A. referred
B. unacted
C. refilled
D. re-enacted
- Provisions unrelated to an appropriation bill are considered prohibited. These are called ____________.
A. interlopers
B. riders
C. outriggers
D. add-ons
- The requirement that “Every bill shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed in the title thereof” prevents _________.
A. rollercoaster legislation
B. log-rolling legislation
C. rolling fields legislation
D. loggerhead legislation
- The power of the President to veto any particular part in an appropriation revenue, or tariff bill, is called the _______.
A. specific veto
B. revenue veto
C. item veto
D. monetary veto
- A tax is progressive when ______.
A. the rate fluctuates as the tax base decreases
B. the rate increases as the tax base remains the same
C. the rate increases as the tax base increases
D. the rate decreases as the tax base increases
- When the Supreme Court sits en banc, cases are decided by the concurrence of a majority of the members who ________.
A. actually sent in memos on matters for deliberation and called in their votes thereon
B. actually participated in the oral arguments and voted thereon
C. actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in the case and voted thereon
D. actually took part in the voting thereon and took notes on the actual deliberations
- When the Supreme Court sits in division, cases can be decided by as few as a minimum of _______.
A. three votes
B. four votes
C. five votes
D. six votes
- A person who has a personal and substantial interest in the case, such that he has sustained, or will sustain, direct injury as a result of its enforcement is considered to have __________.
A. understanding to challenge the governmental act
B. standing to challenge the governmental act
C. opportunity to challenge the governmental act
D. familiarity to challenge the governmental act
- Congressman Sugar Oll authored a bill called House Bill No, 0056 which legalizes jueteng. When the Bill became law (RA 10156), Fr. Nosu Gal, a priest, filed a petition seeking for the nullification of RA 10156 on the ground that it is unconstitutional as it violates Section 13, Article II, of the 1987 Constitution which states that “The state recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being”. Fr. Gal filed the petition as a concerned citizen and as taxpayer.
Does Fr. Gal have locus standi?
A. No, because Fr. Gal has no personal and substantial interest that will be prejudiced by the implementation of the law.
B. No, the law concerns neither citizens nor expenditure of public funds.
C. Yes, because the issue is of transcendental importance.
D. Yes, because as priest, Fr. Gal has special interest in the well-being of the youth.
- Where there is “the impossibility of a court’s undertaking independent resolution without expressing lack of the respect due coordinate branches of government; or an unusual need for unquestioning adherence to a political decision already made; or the potentially of embarrassment from multifarious pronouncement by various departments on a question,” describes what kind of political question?
A. adherence kind
B. prudential kind
C. respectful kind
D. deference kind
- The “operative fact” doctrine of constitutional law is applied when a law is declared _________.
A. operative
B. factual
C. constitutional
D. unconstitutional
- The totality of governmental power is contained in three great powers of ____________.
A. police power, power of sequestration, and power of foreign policy
B. power of immigration, municipal power, and legislative power
C. executive power, legislative power, and judicial power
D. police power, power of eminent domain, and power of taxation
- The most essential, insistent, and the least limitable of (government) powers, extending as it does to all the great public needs, is __________.
A. emergency power
B. police power
C. legislative power
D. power to declare martial law
- In the hierarchy of civil liberties, which right occupies the highest preferred position?
A. right to academic freedom
B. right to a balanced and healthful ecology
C. right to freedom of expression and of assembly
D. right to equal health
- In which of the following would there be no double jeopardy even if a subsequent case is filed?
A. Pot is accused before the RTC of qualified theft. After innumerable postponements against Pot’s wishes, he moves for dismissal for denial of the right to a speedy trial. Prosecutor objected. Dismissal granted.
B. Pot is accused before the RTC of qualified theft. After innumerable postponements against Pot’s wishes, the prosecutor moves for dismissal with the consent of Pot. Granted.
C. Pot is accused before the RTC of qualified theft. After innumerable postponements against Pot’s wishes, he moves for dismissal for denial of the right to a speedy trial. Prosecutor posts no objections. Dismissal granted.
D. Pot is accused before the RTC of qualified theft. After innumerable postponements against Pot’s wishes, the prosecutor moves for dismissal over the objections of Pot. Granted.
- Under Article III, Section 2 of the Bill of Rights, which provides for the exclusion of evidence that violate the right to privacy of communication and correspondence, to come under the exclusionary rule, the evidence must be obtained by _________.
A. private individuals acting on their own
B. government agents
C. private individuals acting on orders of superiors
D. former high government officials
- The complementing regime that best characterizes the guarantees of freedom of speech and of the press are ________.
A. prior punishment and moderate punishment
B. prior censorship and subsequent remedies
C. no prior restraint and subsequent punishment
D. no prior restraint and no subsequent punishment
- The free exercise and non-establishment clauses pertain to which right under the Bill of Rights?
A. liberty of movement
B. liberty of abode
C. religion
D. life and liberty
- The Gangnam Style’s Witnesses (whose tenets are derogatory to the Catholic Church), applied for a permit to use the public plaza and kiosk to hold their religious meeting on the occasion of their founding anniversary. Mayor Lebron allowed them to use the northwestern part of the plaza but not the kiosk (which is a few meters away from the Catholic church). Members of the Gangnam Style Witnesses claim that the act of Mayor Lebron is a violation of their freedom of assembly and religion.
Is this correct?
A. No, because this is valid exercise of police power.
B. Yes, because the plaza being of public use can be used by anybody regardless of religious belief.
C. No, because historical experience shows that peace and order may be disturbed whenever two opposing religious groups or beliefs expound their dogmas.
D. Yes, because there is no clear and present danger in holding a religious meeting by another religious group near a Catholic church.