1)

What is Public Office according to Mechem in his A Treatise on the Law of Public Offices and Officers? (5pts) A public office is the right, authority, duty created and conferred by law, by which for a given period, either fixed by law or enduring at the pleasure of the appointing power, an individual is vested with some portion of the sovereign functions of the government, to be exercised by him for the benefit of the public. (p.1)

2)

What is Public Office according to the Philippine Constitution, particularly Article XI, Section 1 thereof? (5pts) Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives. (p.2)

3)

What are the five (5) essential elements of a Public office? (5pts) a) It is created by the Constitution or by law or by some body or agency to which the power to create the office has been delegated. It must be invested with an authority to exercise some portion of the sovereign power of the State to be exercised for pubic interest. Its powers and functions are defined by the Constitution, or by law, or through legislative authority. The duties pertaining thereto are performed independently, without control of superior power other than law, unless they are those of an inferior or subordinate officer, created or authorized by the legislature and placed by it under the general control of a superior officer or body. It is continuing and permanent in nature and not occasional and intermittent. (p.9)

b)

c) d)

e)

4)

The term qualification to public office may be used in two (2) senses and these are? (5pts) a) b) It may refer to the endowment or accomplishment which fits one for office. It may refer to the act which a person, before entering upon the performance of his duties, is, by law, required to do, such as the taking, and often, of subscribing and filing of an official oath, and, in some cases, the giving of an official bond. (p.20)

5)

Can the Congress of the Philippines prescribe qualifications to the holding of a public office? (10pts)

Congress is generally empowered to prescribe the qualifications for holding public office, provided it does not exceed thereby its constitutional powers or impose conditions of eligibility inconsistent with constitutional provisions. Qualifications for office must have a rational basis. There must be a rational nexus between the requirements and duties of the position in question. The qualifications prescribed must not be too detailed as to practically making an appointment which is an executive function and not legislative. (p.21)

6)

What is the composition of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and what are their qualifications? (10pts)

There shall be a Commission on Elections composed of a Chairman and six Commissioners who shall be natural-born citizens of the Philippines and, at the time of their appointment, at least thirty-five years of age, holders of a college degree, and must not have been candidates for any elective position in the immediately preceding elections. However, a majority threof, including the Chairman, shall be members of the Philippine Bar who have been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years. CONSTI Art IX-C Sec 1(1) (p.36)

7)

(a) Who are the public officers who may be impeached? (5pts) President Vice-President Members of the Supreme Court Members of the Constitutional Commissions Ombudsman (p.41)

(b) What are the six (6) grounds of impeachment? (5pts) Conviction of:

Culpable Violation of the Constitutution Treason Bribery Graft and Corruption Other High Crimes Betrayal of Public Trust (p.41)

(c) Define or describe each ground. (10pts) Kapoy type. Gamiti lang ug magic-magic nga estorya

8)

Under RA 7160 , what are those seven (7) categories of persons disqualified from running for any elective local position? (10pts) a) Those sentenced by final judgment foran offense involving moral turpitude or for an offense punishable by one (1) year or more of imprisonment, within two (2) years after serving sentence. Those removed from office as a result of an administrative case. Those convicted by final judgment for violating the oath of allegiance to the Republic. Those with dual citizenship. Fugitive from justice in criminal or political cases here or abroad. (Not only applicable for those who flee after conviction to avoid punishment but likewise those who, after being charged, flee to avoid prosecution.)

b) c) d) e)

f)

Permanent residents in a foreign country or those who have acquired the right to reside abroad and continue to avail the same right after the effectivity of this code. The insane or feeble-minded. (p.48)

g)

9)

Article IX-B of the Philippine Constitution, Section 2 (2) provides that Appointments in the civil service shall be made according to merit and fitness to be determined as far as practicable, and except to positions which are policy-determining, primarily confidential, or highly technical, by competitive examination. (a) According to the Constitution, what is the only basis for appointment in the civil service? (5pts) As a general rule, the selection of any appointee to any government position shall be made only according to merit and fitness to be determined as far as practicable, by competitive examination to perform the duties and assume the responsibilities of the position, without consideration such as sex, color, social status, religion, or political affiliation. (p.86)

(b) What is meant by policy-determining, primarily confidential, and highly technical? (10pts) A position is Policy determining where its occupant is vested with the power of formulating policies for the government or any of its agencies, subdivisions, or instrumentalities, like that of a member of a Cabinet. A position is Primarily confidential where its occupant enjoys more than the ordinary confidence in his aptitude of the appointing power but bears primarily such close intimacy which insures freedom of intercourse without embarrassment or freedom from misgiving of betrayal of personal trust on confidential matters of the State, like that of a private secretary or a confidential agent. For someone holding a primarily confidential position, more than ordinary confidence is required. A position is Highly technical where the occupant is required to possess skills or training in the supreme or superior degree, like that of a scientist. (p.88)

10) Distinguish the powers and duties of public officers. (a) Ministerial vs Discretionary (5pts) Official duty is Ministerial when it is absolute, certain, and imperative involving merely execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts. Discretionary or judicial duties are such as necessarily require the exercise of reason in the adaptation of means to an end, and discretion in determining how or whether the act shall be done or the course pursued. (p.134)

(b) Mandatory vs Permissive (5pts) Where the provisions of a statute relating to public officers are intended for the protection of the citizen, and to prevent a sacrifice of his property, and by a disregard of such provisions his rights might be and generally injuriously affected, they are Mandatory. Where statutory provisions define the time and mode in which public officers will discharge their duties, and those which are obviously designed merely to secure order, uniformity, system, and dispatch in public business, are generally deemed Permissive or directory. (p.135)

(c) Power of Control vs Power of Supervision (5pts) Power of Control implies the power of an officer to manage, direct or govern, including the power to alter or modify or set aside what a subordinate had done in the performance of his duties and to substitute his judgment for that of the latter. Power of Supervision is the power of oversight over an inferior body. It does not include any restraining authority over such body. A supervising officer merely sees to it that the rules are followed, but he himself does not lay down such rules,

nor does he have the discretion to modify or replace them. If the rules are not observed, he may order the work done or re-done to conform with the prescribed rules. He cannot prescribe his own manner for the doing of the act. (p.135)