I

The Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Association (GBTYA), an organization of gay, bisexual,
and transgender persons, filed for accreditation with the COMELEC to join the forthcoming party-list
elections. The COMELEC denied the application for accreditation on the ground that GBTY A
espouses immorality which offends religious dogmas. GBTY A challenges the denial of its
application based on moral grounds because it violates its right to equal protection of the law.

(1) What are the three (3) levels of test that are applied in equal protection cases?
Explain. (5%)

(2) Which of the three (3) levels of test should be applied to the present case? Explain.
(5%)

II

Five foreign nationals arrived at the NAIA from Hong Kong. After retrieving their checked-in luggage,
they placed all their bags in one pushcart and proceeded to Express Lane 5. They were instructed to
place their luggage on the examiner's table for inspection.

The examiner found brown-colored boxes, similar in size to powdered milk boxes, underneath the
clothes inside the foreigners' bags. The examiner discovered white crystalline substances inside the
boxes that he inspected and proceeded to bundle all of the boxes by putting masking tape around
them. He thereafter handed the boxes over to Bureau of Customs agents. The agents called out the
names of the foreigners one by one and ordered them to sign their names on the masking tape
placed on the boxes recovered from their respective bags. The contents of the boxes were thereafter
subjected to tests which confirmed that the substance was shabu.

Can the shabu found inside the boxes be admitted in evidence against the five foreigners for the
charge of illegal possession of drugs in violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of
2002? (5%)

III

Two police teams monitored the payment of ransom in a kidnapping case.

The bag containing the ransom money was placed inside an unlocked trunk of a car which was
parked at the Angola Commercial Center in Mandaluyong City.

The first police team, stationed in an area near where the car was parked, witnessed the retrieval by
the kidnappers of the bag from the unlocked trunk. The kidnappers thereafter boarded their car and
proceeded towards the direction of Amorsolo St. in Makati City where the second police team was
waiting.

Upon confirmation by radio report from the first police team that the kidnappers were heading
towards their direction, the second police team proceeded to conduct surveillance on the car of the
kidnappers, eventually saw it enter Ayala Commercial Center in Makati City, and the police team
finally blocked it when it slowed down. The members of the second police team approached the
vehicle and proceeded to arrest the kidnappers.
Is the warrantless arrest of the kidnappers by the second police team lawful? (10%)

IV

Ernesto, a minor, while driving a motor vehicle, was stopped at a mobile checkpoint. Noticing that
Ernesto is a minor, SPOl Jojo asked Ernesto to exhibit his driver's license but Ernesto failed to
produce it. SPOI Jojo requested Ernesto to alight from the vehicle and the latter acceded. Upon
observing a bulge in the pants of Ernesto, the policeman frisked him and found an unlicensed .22-
caliber pistol inside Ernesto's right pocket. Ernesto was arrested, detained and charged. At the trial,
Ernesto, through his lawyer, argued that, policemen at mobile checkpoints are empowered to
conduct nothing more than a ''visual search". They cannot order the persons riding the vehicle to
alight. They cannot frisk, or conduct a body search of the driver or the passengers of the vehicle.

Ernesto's lawyer thus posited that:

[a] The search conducted in violation of the Constitution and established

[b] The arrest made as a consequence of the invalid search was likewise illegal,
because an unlawful act (the search) cannot be made the basis of a lawful arrest. (5%)

Rule on the correctness of the foregoing arguments, with reasons.

A law is passed intended to protect women and children from all forms of violence. When a woman
perceives an act to be an act of violence or a threat of violence against her, she may apply for a
Barangay Protection Order (BPO) to be issued by the Barangay Chairman, which shall have the
force and effect of law. Conrado, against whom a BPO had been issued on petition of his wife, went
to court to challenge the constitutionality of the law. He raises that the law violates the equal
protection clause, because while it extends protection to women who may be victims of violence by
their husbands, it does not extend the same protection to husbands who may be battered by their
wives. (5%)

VI

The Government, through Secretary Toogoody of the Department of · Transportation (DOTr), filed a
complaint for eminent domain to acquire a 1,000- hectare property in Bulacan, owned by Baldomero.
The court granted the expropriation, fixed the amount of just compensation, and installed the
Government in full possession of the property.
 [a] If the Government does not immediately pay the amount fixed by the court as just
compensation, can Baldomero successfully demand the return of the property to him?
Explain your answer. (5%)

[b] If the Government paid full compensation but after two years it abandoned its plan
to build an airport on the property, can Baldomero compel the Government to re-sell
the property back to him? Explain your answer. (5%)

VII

Paragraphs c, d and f of Section 36 of Republic Act No. 9165 provide:

"Sec. 36. Authorized drug testing. xx x The following shall be subjected to undergo drug testing: xx x

c. Students of secondary and tertiary schools x x x;

d. Officers and employees of public and private offices x x x;

f. All persons charged before the prosecutor's office with a criminal offense having an
imposable imprisonment of not less than 6 years and 1 day;"

Petitioners contend that the assailed portions of Sec. 36 are unconstitutional for violating the right to
privacy, the right against unreasonable searches and seizures and the equal protection clause.
Decide if the assailed provisions are unconstitutional. (10%)

VIII

Jojo filed a criminal complaint against Art for theft of a backpack worth P150.00 with the Office of the
City Prosecutor of Manila. The crime is punishable with arresto mayor to prision correccional in its
minimum period, or not to exceed 4 years and 2 months. The case was assigned to Prosecutor
Tristan and he applied Sec. 8(a) of Rule 112 which reads: "(a) If filed with the prosecutor. - If the
complaint is filed directly with the prosecutor involving an offense punishable by imprisonment of
less than four (4) years, two (2) months and one (1) day, the procedure outlined in Sec. 3(a) of this
Rule shall be observed. The Prosecutor shall act on the complaint within ten (10) days from its
filing."

On the other hand, Sec. 3(a) of Rule 112 provides: "(a) The complaint shall state the address of the
respondent and shall be accompanied by affidavits of the complainant and his witnesses as well as
other supporting documents to establish probable cause. x x x"

Since Sec. 8(a) authorizes the Prosecutor to decide the complaint on the basis of the affidavits and
other supporting documents submitted by the complainant, Prosecutor Tristan did not notify Art nor
require him to submit a counter-affidavit. He proceeded to file the Information against Art with the
Metropolitan Trial Court. Art vehemently assails Sec. 8(a) of Rule 112 as unconstitutional and
violative of due process and his rights as an accused under the Constitution for he was not informed
of the complaint nor was he given the opportunity to raise his defenses thereto before the
Information was filed. Rule on the constitutionality of Sec. 8(a) of Rule 112. Explain. (10%)
 IX

At about 5:30 A.M. of September 15, 2019 Police Senior Inspector Officer A of the Manila Police
District Station received a text message from an unidentified civilian informer that one Mr. Z would
be meeting up later that morning with two (2) potential sellers of drugs at a nearby restaurant. As
such, Officer A decided to hang around the said place immediately.

At about 9:15 A.M., two (2) male passengers. Named A and Y, who were each carrying a traveling
bag, alighted from a bus in front of the restaurant. A transport barker, serving as a lookout for Officer
A, signaled to the latter that X and Y were "suspicious-looking."

As the two were about to enter the restaurant, Officer A stopped them and asked about the contents
of their bags. Dissatisfied with their response that the bags contained only clothes, Officer A
proceeded to search the bags and found packs of shabu therein. Thus, X and Y were arrested, and
the drugs were seized from them. According to Officer A, a warrantless search was validly made
pursuant to the stop and frisk rule; hence, the consequent seizure of the drugs was likewise valid.

(a) What is the stop and frisk rule? (5%)

(b) Was the stop and frisk rule validly invoked by Officer A? If not, what is the effect
on the drugs seized as evidence? Explain. (5%)

Around 12:00 midnight, a team of police officers was on routine patrol in Barangay Makatarungan
when it noticed an open delivery van neatly covered with banana leaves. Believing that the van was
loaded with contraband, the team leader flagged down the vehicle which was driven by Hades. He
inquired from Hades what was loaded on the van. Hades just gave the police officer a blank stare
and started to perspire profusely. The police officers then told Hades that they will look inside the
vehicle. Hades did not make any reply. The police officers then lifted the banana leaves and saw
several boxes. They opened the boxes and discovered several kilos of shabu inside. Hades was
charged with illegal possession of illegal drugs. After due proceedings, he was convicted by the trial
court. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction.

In his final bid for exoneration, Hades went to the Supreme Court claiming that his constitutional right
against unreasonable searches and seizures was violated when the police officers searched his
vehicle without a warrant; that the shabu confiscated from him is thus inadmissible in evidence; and
that there being no evidence against him, he is entitled to an acquittal.

For its part, the People of the Philippines maintains that the case of Hades involved a consented
warrantless search which is legally recognized. The People adverts to the fact that Hades did not
offer any protest when the police officers asked him if they could look inside the vehicle. Thus, any
evidence obtained in the course thereof is admissible in evidence.

Whose claim is correct? Explain. (10%)

The National Building Code and its implementing rules provide, inter alia, that operators of shopping
centers and malls should provide parking and loading spaces, in accordance with a prescribed ratio.
The Solicitor General, heeding the call of the public for the provision of free parking spaces in malls,
filed a case to compel said business concerns to discontinue their practice of collecting parking fees.
The mall owners and operators oppose, saying that this is an invalid taking of their property, thus a
violation of due process. The Solicitor General justifies it, however, claiming that it is a valid exercise
of police power. Could the mall owners and operators be validly compelled to provide free
parking to their customers? (10%)