Constitutional Law 2 - page 21

FACTS: Petitioner assailed the constitutionality of Presidential Decree No. 1486 as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1606 which provides that public officers and employees convicted with estafa may only appeal their conviction by certiorari to the Supreme Court, whereas other estafa indictees are given more prospects of reversal of the decision against them as they are entitled to appeal to the Intermediate Appellate Court and the Supreme Court. ISSUE(S): Whether or not PD 1486 as amended by PD 1606 violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. HELD: NO. The constitutional mandate for the creation of a special court to…

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FACTS: Amado Hernandez and several others were accused of the crime of rebellion with multiple murder, arsons and robberies. They were convicted of the crime and sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment. ISSUE(S): Whether or not there is a complex crime of rebellion with murder. HELD: NO. Under the allegations of the amended information, the murders, arsons and robberies described therein are mere ingredients to the crime of rebellion allegedly committed by said defendants as means “necessary” for the perpetration of said offense of rebellion. The crime, therefore, is simple rebellion. Motion for bail is GRANTED.

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FACTS: Petitioners were meted out life terms for the complex crime of rebellion with murder and other crimes. They invoked the ruling in People v Hernandez where the existence of the offense was negated and the accused were sentenced to a penalty of prision mayor. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the Hernandez doctrine applies in the case at bar. HELD: YES. The continued incarceration after the twelve-year period when such is the maximum length of imprisonment in accordance with our controlling doctrine, when others similarly convicted have been freed, is fraught with implications at war with equal protection. That is not…

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FACTS: Petitioner asked the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for the same prime time and the same number of television and radio stations all over the country to be used in its campaign for “NO” votes in the plebiscite for the amendments to the 1973 Constitution proposed by the Batasang Pambansa as that utilized by President Marcos in his nationwide “Pulong-Pulong sa Pangulo” in campaigning for “YES” votes on the proposed constitutional amendments. ISSUE(S): Whether or not COMELEC’s denial of petitioner’s request to be afforded the same privilege as the president was violative of the equal protection clause. HELD: NO. It…

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FACTS: The Interim Batasang Pambansa enacted Batas Blg. 51 providing for local elections on January 30, 1980. The said legislation classified the chartered cities into “highly urbanized” and “component” cities based on the annual income of each city and provided that “the registered voter of a component city may be entitled to vote in the election of the officials of a province of which the city is a component, if its charter provides”, while “voters registered in a high urbanized city shall not participate nor vote in the election of the officials of the province in which the highly urbanized…

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FACTS: The 1978 Election Code (Presidential Decree No. 1269) grants voters the option for straight party or block voting where the vote for a party, group or aggrupation would be counted as a vote for all its candidates. ISSUE(S): Whether or not block voting violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. HELD: NO. The equal protection clause does not forbid all legal classifications. What it proscribes is a classification which is arbitrary and unreasonable. It is not violated by a reasonable classification based upon substantial distinctions, where the classification is germane to the purpose of the law and applies…

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FACTS: Defendant Chinese national was deported to China and was allegedly threatened to be deported again when he came back to the Philippines. He filed for a preliminary injunction prohibiting plaintiffs from deporting him. Said injunction was issued by the Court of First Instance. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the political rights of aliens are protected by due process of law. HELD: NO. The political rights of aliens is not governed by that “due process of law” which governs in dealing with their civil rights. The certificate of admission is a mere license and may be revoked at any time. An…

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FACTS: Patricio Dumlao was the former governor of Nueva Vizcaya. He has already retired from his office and has been receiving retirement benefits therefrom. In 1980, he filed for re-election for the same office. Meanwhile, Batas Pambansa Blg. 52 was enacted, Section 4 of which disqualifies any retired elective provincial, city or municipal official who has received payment of the retirement benefits to which he is entitled under the law and who shall have been 65 years old at the commencement of the term of office to which he seeks to be elected from running for the same elective local…

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FACTS: Appellant was charged with the crime of parricide for the death of his wife. The accused entered a plea of not guilty upon his arraignment and trial on the merits ensued. ISSUE(S): Whether or not the RTC erred in issuing the warrant of arrest without fixing the bail and without stating that evidence of guilt was strong. HELD: NO. The issuance of a warrant of arrest was authorized under paragraph (b), Section 6 of Rule 112. It was not required that since no bail was fixed in the warrant of arrest the court should state that the evidence of…

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