Administrative Law, Election Law and Law on Public Corporations - Midterms

This is the Midterm Examination for this semester under Atty. BMGJr. for Administrative Law. it is comparatively easy, especially if someone studied very judiciously, which obviously, I did not. But I am quite sure that I passed the exam. God willing!

I.

(a) Which branch of the government do administrative agencies pertain or belong to? Explain.
(b) Discuss why there is no violation of the principle of separation of powers even though administrative bodies exercise powers of rule making and adjudication.

II.

La Virgen Milagrosa Inc. (LVMI) is in the business of exporting locally sourced virgin coconut oil to the United States and Canada. The coconut oil is packaged in cheap plastic bottle containers imported from China. The Tariff and Customs Code provides that exporters using foreign materials for their products must export the same within a period of one year; otherwise they will be subjected to a special import tax. Due to a succession of typhoons culminating with Typhoon Frank, LVMI’s operations were drastically affected such that it failed to transport its bottled coconut oil to its various’ clients within a year after it imported 100,000 plastic bottles from its Chinese supplier. As a result, the Customs Commissioner imposed a special import tax on LVMI, which the latter paid under protest with an accompanying petition for the Customs Commissioner to grant LVMI a grace period of six months on the ground of force majeure. However, the Customs Commissioner denied the request contending that under the Tariff and Custonis Code, he did not have the power to extend the one-year period for re-exporting foreign materials.

Do you agree with the contention of the Customs Commissioner? Why or why not?

III.

Differentiate a government instrumentality from a government-owned or controlled corporation.

IV.

The Northern Luzon State University (NLSU) received government funding for the construction of a hybrid rice-breeding laboratory building. Instead of holding a public bidding for the project NLSU entered into a negotiated contract with E.E. Santos Construction Co. A group of concerned students and faculty members, calling themselves TSUNAMI (Tortured Studentry United Against Mismanagement), filed a complaint with the RTC against the Board of Regents of NLSU, seeking for the rescission of the negotiated contract and for subjecting the project to a transparent public bidding. The RTC issued a temporary restraining order; however, the NLSU management filed a motion to lift the TRO arguing that under PD 1818, courts are prohibited from issuing temporary restraining orders and/or preliminary injunctions against projects undertaken by government agencies, including chartered institutions.

If you were the judge in, the case, how would you rule?

V.

(a) What arethe requisites of a valid administrative regulation?
(b) Distinguish legislative and interpretative regulations.

VI.

The National Information Technology Board (NITB) was created to regulate the activities of private institutions engaged in providing short-term technical courses on computer programming and other IT subjects. The Board issued a regulation fixing a standard maximum enrollment fee or rate, based on a per-hour computation, that these entities are permitted to collect from their students and/or trainees. An organization of operators of computer schools/internet cafes challenged the said regulation on the ground that the same was issued without the benefit of prior notice and hearing.

Comment on the legality of the regulation issued by the NITB.

VII.

Discuss the essence of administrative due process and state its cardinal rules.

VIII.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) promulgated a circular prescribing that in disputes brought for determination before it, only one preliminary hearing shall be conducted, after which the parties shall be required to submit position papers, affidavits, and other documentary exhibits to substantiate their respective claims or arguments. Smartly Global Corporation questioned the legality of said circular on the following grounds: (a) the NTC is not expressly granted by law to prescribe its own rules of procedure; and (b) the parties are denied due process because they are deprived of the opportunity to confront adverse witnesses and to cross-examine them as provided strictly under the Rules of Court.

Resolve the case.

IX.

Explain the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies and give the exceptions to the rule.

X.

The provincial government of Palawan entered into a memorandum of agreement, which is a contract for the operation of a natural gas plant in Coron, Palawan, with the Industrial Gas Corporation (IGC). However, due to irreconcilable differences, the IGC instituted an action for rescission of said memorandum of agreement before the RTC of Palawan. The RTC dismissed the suit contending that under Republic Act 2334, it is explicitly prqvided that it is the Bureau of Energy Development that has the jurisdiction “to decide all controversies relative to the exploration, exploitation and development of natural gas in the Philippines”.

Is the contention of the RTC correct?