Read carefully each question before answering.

Explain your answers fully

and support them with the applicable provisions of the constitution, law and
jurisprudence. 5 pts. each.

1. Distinguish term from tenure. The term of office is the time during which
the officer may claim to hold the office as of right and fixes the interval
after which the several incumbents shall succeed one another. Tenure
represents the portion of the term during which the incumbent actually
holds the office.

2. When is there an effective resignation from public office? There is an effective

resignation from public office when i) there is a formal renunciation of the
remainder of the term; ii) there is physical relinquishment of the office; and
iii) there is acceptance of the resignation by the appointing authority.

3. a) When may a public officer validly continue to hold his office despite the
expiration of his term? b) Can a Provincial Governor hold over if there is
no one elected to succeed him? a) A public officer may validly continue
to hold public office despite the expiration of his term when he does so in
a hold-over capacity. A public officer can continue to hold office in a hold-
over capacity only if there is no express or implied prohibition against such
hold-over. b) No, a provincial governor cannot hold over even if there is
no one elected to succeed him because the fixing by law of the term of a
provincial governor to three (3) years, with the beginning and the end of
the term, is an implied prohibition against holding over.

4. When is there appointment through certification? An appointment

through certification to a position in the civil service occurs when it is
issued to a person who has been selected from a list of qualified persons
certified by the Civil Service Commission from an appropriate register of
eligibles and who meets all the other requirements of the position.

5. Can an appointment be validly issued for a position which will become

vacant only at a future date? Yes. An appointment can be validly issued
for a position that will become vacant at a future date for as long as it
becomes effective only upon the vacancy of the office to which the
appointment is made. There can be no valid appointment to a public office
which is not vacant. Moreover, the power of the appointing authority to
validly appoint is subject to the law on midnight appointment ban.

6. When does abolition of public office violate the constitutional guarantee of

security of tenure? The abolition of a public office violates the
constitutional guarantee of security of security tenure when such abolition
is attended with bad faith. When the abolition of the public office is
 attended with bad faith, its only obvious purpose is the separation of the
incumbent from his office without just cause.

7. Who may exercise the right of suffrage? Art. V of the Constitution states
that suffrage may be exercised by all citizens of the Philippines not
otherwise disqualified by law, who are at least 18 years of age, and who
shall have resided in the Philippines at yeast 1 year, and in the place
wherein they propose to vote, for at least 6 months immediately preceding
the election. No literacy, property, or other substantive requirement shall
be imposed on the exercise of suffrage.

8. When is an appointment temporary and when is it provisional? A

temporary appointment is issued to a person, who may or may not have
the appropriate civil service eligibity, to fill up a position needed only for
a limited period not exceeding six months. It is without a definite tenure
and is dependent upon the pleasure of the appointing authority. A
provisional appointment is issued to a person who has not qualified in an
appropriate examination but who otherwise meets the requirements for
appointment to a regular position in the competitive service, whenever a
vacancy occurs and the filling thereof is necessary in the interest of the
service and there is no appropriate register of eligibles at the time of
appointment.

9. Distinguish the effect of the re-election of a public official on pending

administrative and criminal charges against him. The re-election of a
public official will have the effect of automatically dismissing the
administrative charges against him for offenses allegedly committed
during his previous term. His re-election operates as a condonation by the
people of whatever faults or misconduct he may have previously
committed because it is presumed that when the people re-elected him,
they did so with full knowledge of his life and character and that they
disregarded or forgave his faults or misconduct. His re-election will not,
however, extinguish his criminal liability because a crime is an offense
against the state which is not subject to compromise. Otherwise, his re-
election will constitute a pardon, which can only be extended by the
President.

10. When is there abandonment of public office? There is abandonment of

public office when there is a voluntary and total surrender and
relinquishment of an office by the holder thereof under such circumstances
as clearly to indicate an intention of absolute relinquishment, coupled with
an overt or external act by which the intention is carried out. It connotes
the giving up of the office but is not attended with the formalities observed
in resignation. The two offices cannot be held simultaneously by the same
 person because public policy requires that they be vested in different
individuals lest a hostility or conspiracy of powers in the two offices will
result in irreparable detriment to the people.

11. What is an incompatible public office? An incompatible office is that which

whose character or nature of office or relation to another office is such that
one person should not hold both because of the contrariety and
antagonism which would result in the attempt by one person to faithfully
and impartially discharge the duties of one, toward the incumbent of the
other.

12. Distinguish discretionary duty from ministerial duty. The duty is

discretionary if the officer is allowed to determine how and when it is to
be performed and to decide this matter in one way or the other and be right
either way. The officer is allowed much leeway in arriving at a decision
as the duty is conferred on him in recognition of his good sense or
judgment. The duty is ministerial when the law exacting its discharge
prescribes and defines the time, mode and occasion of its performance with
such certainty that nothing is left for judgment or discretion.

13. Define: a) non-feasance, b) misfeasance, and c) malfeasance? a)

Nonfeasance is the neglect or refusal, without sufficient excuse, to perform
an act which it was the officer’s legal duty to the individual to perform. b)
Misfeasance is the failure to use, in the performance of a duty owing to the
individual, that degree of care, skill and diligence which the circumstances
of the case reasonably demand. c) Malfeasance is the doing, either
through ignorance, inattention or malice, of that which the officer had no
legal right to do at all, as where he acts without any authority whatever, or
exceeds, ignores or abuses his powers.

14. Can the exercise of discretionary duty be delegated? Can its exercise be
compelled? No, the exercise of a discretionary duty cannot be delegated
to another because it is presumed that the officer to whom discretionary
duty has been conferred was chosen because he was deemed fit and
competent to exercise that judgment and discretion, and unless the power
to substitute another in his place has been given to him. Yes, the exercise
of discretionary duty can be compelled but the officer upon whom such
duty has been conferred can only be required to act in a general manner,
i.e. not in any specific manner.

15. D is a bona fide member of the Philippine Bar. In 2007, he was elected a
member of the Provincial Board of Rizal Province. a) Can D appear as
counsel for E who is accused of the offense of bigamy? D was later elected
Congressman in a special election held in October 2008. b) Can D continue
 to appear as counsel for E? a) Yes, D can appear as counsel for an accused
in a criminal case for as long as the accused is not an officer or employee
of the national or local government who is accused of an offense
committed in relation to his office. It does not appear that E is an employee
of the national or local government; but even if he is, the offense of bigamy
is one the commission of which is not in relation to public office. b) No,
he can no longer continue to appear as counsel for E. Article VI, Sec. 14 of
the Constitution prohibits members of Congress from personally
appearing as counsel before any court of justice or before the Electoral
Tribunals, or quasi-judicial and other administrative bodies.

16. G is a public school teacher whose husband ran for municipal mayor
during the national elections in May 2007. In one of the faculty meetings,
G called the attention of her fellow teachers to the deteriorating state of
their school building and why she thinks that once elected mayor, her
husband could help in its renovation and improvement. Did G violate any
official inhibition? Yes, G being a member of the Civil Service, she is
prohibited by Art. IX-B, Sec. 2(4) of the Constitution from engaging in
electioneering or partisan political campaign. By stating during the faculty
meeting that once her husband is elected mayor he would be able to help
in the renovation and improvement of the school building, she was
practically promoting his candidacy and indirectly urging her fellow
teachers to vote for him. Asking others to vote for a particular candidate
is a form of partisan political campaign.

Alternative answer: The Civil Service law does not prohibit, and in fact
allows, any civil service official or employee to express his views on current
problems or issues, or to mention the names of candidates for public office
whom he supports. The mere act of G of expressing her view of how her
husband could help in the renovation and improvement of the school
building once he is elected mayor is a form of expression of why she
supports her husband’s candidacy.

17. The daughter of the President passed the rigorous written and oral
examinations for Foreign Service officers. She possesses all the
qualifications and the eligibility required for appointment as Consul of
Republic of Philippines. a) Explain why the President’s daughter cannot
be appointed a member of the Foreign Service. b) Will your answer be the
same if she was instead appointed Secretary of the Department of Foreign
Affairs? a) The President’s daughter cannot be appointed a Consul of the
Republic of the Philippines because that will constitute nepotism. The
power to appoint members of the Foreign Service is vested on the
President. There is nepotism when the appointment is made in favor of a
relative within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity of the
 appointing power or recommending authority or the chief of the bureau of
office or of the offices exercising immediate supervision over the
appointee. b) Yes, because her appointment as Secretary of the
Department of Foreign Affairs will not only constitute nepotism but the
Constitution expressly prohibits the appointment of the spouse and
relatives by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth civil degree of the
President as department Secretaries.

18. K and L are both employees of the Bureau of Customs. K obtained a loan
from L. To ensure payment of the loan, K executed a promissory note
where she also expressly assigned her salary for two (2) months to L. On
payroll day, L went to the disbursing officer of the Bureau of Customs,
presented the promissory note and deed of assignment executed by K, and
claimed the salary of K. Can L compel the payroll officer of the Bureau of
Customs to deliver to her the salary of K? Explain. No. Public policy
prohibits the assignment of the salary of a public officer not only because
such salary still belongs to the state as long as it has not yet been actually
collected by the public officer. Before the salary of a public officer is
actually delivered to him, the same still forms part of the public funds
which cannot be the subject of a private contract or agreement. The public
officer to whom the salary is due has no power over it prior to its delivery
to him. He cannot assign it without the consent of the government.

19. Explain why a temporary appointment or designation in an acting capacity

cannot be made in favor of a member of the Commission on Elections. Art.
IX-A, Sec. 1 of the Constitution expressly describes the Constitutional
Commissions as “independent”. Although essentially executive in nature,
they are not under the control of the President in the discharge of their
respective functions. A temporary appointment and a designation in an
acting capacity are by their very terms temporary and revocable at will by
the appointing authority who, in this case, is the President. They can be
withdrawn anytime by the President at any time and for whatever reason
that the President may deem fit. No cause need be established to justify
the revocation or withdrawal of the appointment or designation. The
members of the Comelec will, thus, lose their security of tenure, which is
one of the safeguards to their independence.

20. Teehankee was convicted of murder for the shooting of Maureen

Hultmann on the eve of election day and for violation of the election laws
because he did not have any certificate of exemption from the gun ban
issued by the Comelec. Seventeen years into the service of his sentence,
the President granted absolute pardon to Teehankee and he was released
from prison. Rule on the validity of the pardon of Teehankee. Teehankee
committed two (2) separate crimes of murder and violation of the election
 law. The pardon is valid insofar as the commission of the crime of murder
is concerned. Since it does not appear that the President sought the
favorable recommendation of the Comelec, the pardon is not valid with
respect to the violation of the election law is concerned. Art. IX-C, Sec. 5 of
the Constitution states that “No pardon, amnesty, parole, or suspension of
sentence for violation of election laws, rules, and regulations shall be
granted by the President without the favorable recommendation of the
Commission.”

21. At the forefront of the US$700 Billion financial bailout program of the US
Federal Government for ailing US banks and quasi-banking institutions is
the US Federal Reserve which is the central banking system of the United
States. Its current chairman is Ben Shalom Bernanke. Whom did he
succeed? Alan Greenspan

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