2012 BAR EXAMINATIONS
POLITICAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAW
7 October 2012 8:00 A.M. - 10 A.M.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (MCQs)
INSTRUCTIONS
The following questionnaire consists of one hundred (1 00)
MCQs
numbered 1 up to 100 contained in TWENTY TWO (22) pages.
Answer each question on the MCQ Answer Sheet by shading
completely the appropriate circle corresponding to the
letter you
have chosen. (Read the Marking Instructions on the Answer
Sheet)
A void erasures on the Answer Sheet. If you need to make
erase completely the ans\ver you want to change.
Do not explain your answers in the MCQ portion of the exam.
You
will not earn any credit for that.
Keep the Answer Sheet clean. Do not make unnecessary marks
on
it. Do not fold, roll, scratch, crumple or tear it.
You may write on the questionnaire and use it as scratch
paper but
make sure to transfer your answer to the Answer Sheet.
Provide
ample time to transfer the answers if you choose to do this.
Answer first the MCQs completely before going to the
essay-type
questions.
HAND IN YOUR ANSWER SHEET. THERE IS NO NEED TO
RETURN THIS QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE HEAD WATCHER.
GOOD LUCK!!!
..
n
2012 Bar Examinations Committee
PLEASE CHECK THAT THIS SET CONTAINS TWENTY THREE
(23) PAGES (INCLUDING THIS PAGE).
WARNING: NOT FOR SALE OR UNAUTHORIZED USE I Political Law
Page 2 of23
1. 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.
2. The three Jssential parts of a Constitution are:
a) the bill of rights, governmental organization and
functions, and
method of amendment;
b) the preamble, 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.
3. The constitutional provision on initiative and referendum
is not selfexecutory. This is so because it requires:
a) an implementing resolution from the COMELEC ;
b) an implementing resolution from the Supreme Court;
c) an implem¢nting legislation;
d) an implementing resolution from the party-list
representatives of the
House of Representatives.
4. 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 where the
proposal
emanates;
b) at least 3% of the registered voters of each province and
12°/o of the
total number of registered voters nationwide;
c) at least 3°/o of the registered voters of each district
and 12°/o of the
total number of registered voters nationwide; IPolitical Law
Page 3 of23
d) more than 3°/o of the 3% of the registered voters of each
district but
less than 12% of the total number of registered voters
nationwide.
5. The Constitution declares that the Philippines is a
republican state.
Republicanism means:
1
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.
6. 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.
7. 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 judicially 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.
8. Which phrase best completes the 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. I
Political Law Page 4 of23 J
9. 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.
10. 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 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.
11. 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.
12. Dual allegiance by citizen is:
a) inimical to the national interest and is therefore
proscribed by law;
b) inimical to 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.
13. Margarita was born in 1986 to a Filipino mother and a 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 I Political Law Page 5 of23
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 1of foreign citizenship, have practically and
legally
abandoned their domicile and severed their legal ties to
their
homeland as a consequence.
14. Identify which one 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 controls;
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 .
15. 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.
16. 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)
d) re-districting.
·17. 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; lPolitical Law Page 6 of23
b) 150,000;
c) 100,000;
d) 175,000.
18. 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.
19. No 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
d) any appellate court.
20. 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.
21. Congress shall have the sole power to declare the
existence of a
state of war by a 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.
22. If by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall
have failed to
pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal
year, the
general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year
shall be
deemed:
a) referred;
b) unacted; IPolitical Law Page 7 of23 I
c) refilled;
d) re-enacted.
23. Provisions unrelated to an appropriation bill are
considered
prohibited. These are called:
1
a) interlopers;
b) riders;
c) outriggers;
d) add-ons.
24. 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.
25. The power of the President to veto any particular part
in an
appropriation revenue, or tariff bill, is called the:
a) specific vetb;
b) revenue veto;
c) item veto;
d) monetary veto.
26. 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.
27. When the Supreme Court sits en bane, 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 therepn;
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.
28. When the Supreme Court sits in division, cases can be
decided by (Political Law Page 8 of23
as few as a minimum of:
a) three votes;
b) four votes;
c) five votes;
d) six votes.
29. 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 tb challenge the governmental act.
30. Congressman Sugar 011 authored a bill called House Bill
No. 0056
which legalizes jueteng. When the Bill became law (RA 1
0156), 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 citizenship 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.