University of the Philippines

College of Law
Constitutional Law II
First Semester, AY 2006-07
Midterms Exam
Prof. Harry L. Roque

1. John and Marsha have been in a domestic relationship for at least 10

years. One fine day, John, feeling the urge to settle down and to “grow
roots” thought that it was best to institutionalize their relationship through
marriage. Armed thus with a dozen roses, and after a sumptuous dinner
with the best champagne, John went on his feet and asked Marsha to
marry him. Marsha, with tears on her eyes, consented. The happy couple
thereupon proceeded to arrange their “big day”. Unfortunately, the couple
encountered an unexpected obstacle: the civil registrar refused to issue a
marriage license since Marsha apparently was born as Mark thirty years
ago, although it appeared that Mark underwent a successful sex change
operation in Japan five years ago. The couple was informed by the
Registrar that the marriage license could not be issued as the Family Code
specifies that “marriage is between a man and a woman”. The couple then
hired you specifically to file a legal action to compel the civil registrar to
issue the required license. Draft a legal memorandum detailing the issues
which you will have to argue before the courts.

2. The Philippines entered into a Bilateral Immunity Agreement with the

United States. The Agreement provides in part”

1. “For purposes of this agreement, “persons” are current or former

Government officials, employees (including contractors), or military
personnel or nationals of one Party (the US).
2. Persons of one Party (US) present in the territory of the other
(Philippines) shall not, absent the expressed consent of the first Party:

a) be surrendered or transferred by any means to the International Criminal

Court for any purpose, or
b) be surrendered or transferred by any means to any other entity or third
country, or expelled to a third country, for the purpose of surrender to or
transfer to the International Criminal Court.

The Philippine Supreme Court has ruled previously in the Yamashita and
Kuroda cases that the Philippines is bound by customary international law not
to accord impunity to perpetrators of war crimes. The ICC exists precisely to
put an end to impunity to those who will commit these crimes.

You were asked to file a petition to declare the said Treaty as unconstitutional.
Argue.
 3. “Upon his appointment, Chief Justice Panganiban laid down his vision for
the Judiciary. He said that in cases involving liberty, the scales of justice
should weigh heavily against the government and in favor of the poor, the
oppressed, the marginalized, the dispossessed and the weak. He said laws
and actions that restrict fundamental rights come to the courts “with a
heavy presumption against the constitutional validity”. In conflicts
affecting policies on prosperity and development, deference must be
accorded the political branches of government; namely, the Presidency
and Congress. As a rule, courts will not pass upon the merits or wisdom of
economic policies, for these matters have been left by the people to the
President and Congress to evaluate and decide.” Comment citing
authorities for your arguments.

4. The “Katotohanan”, an anti-administration newspaper, published an

editorial as follows: “Senate reporters and the Department of Labor and
Employment labor union say that Secretary Dimagulangan’s resignation
was prompted by an impending Senate investigation of a 1-million pesos
employee fund she withdrew and placed in a bank account only she
knows”.

You were asked to defend the publisher, not the writer of the editorial, in a libel
cases filed by Sec. Dimagulangan against both the writer and the publisher of
“Katotohanan”. Discuss all possible defenses of the publisher, citing as much
authorities as you can.

5. Bishop Dimabili and other civic leaders filed a petition in Court to compel
the Arroyo administration to remit the Province of Palawan 40% of all
earnings arising from the Mampalaya natural gas field as mandated by the
Local Government Code. The Solicitor General filed a Motion to dismiss
on the found of lack of standing to sue and non-justifiability of the issue.
The Judge then asked you write the resolution for this issue in a manner
that would be worthy of the “Best Decision Award” given by the
Foundation for Judicial Excellence, but not necessarily for purposes of
getting a promotion to the Court of Appeals since anyway, he is still young
and could still wait for the outcome of the 2010 elections. Write the
Resolution.