Ortea Bar Review Practice Test in Special Penal Laws

I.
Dion and Talia were spouses. Dion always came home drunk since he lost his job a couple of
months ago. Talia had gotten used to the verbal abuse from Dion. One night, in addition to the
usual verbal abuse, Dion beat up Talia. The next morning, Dion saw the injury that he had inflicted
upon Talia and promised her that he would stop drinking and never beat her again. However, Dion
did not make good on his promise. Just after one week, he started drinking again. Talia once more
endured the usual verbal abuse. Afraid that he might beat her up again, Talia stabbed Dion with a
kitchen knife while he was passed out from imbibing too much alcohol. Talia was charged with the
crime of parricide.

a) May Talia invoke the defense of Battered Woman Syndrome to free herself from criminal liability?
Explain. (2.5%)

b) Will your answer be the same, assuming that Talia killed Dion after being beaten up after a
second time? Explain. (2.5%) (2015 Bar Exam)

II.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) had intelligence reports about the drug
pushing activities of Rado, but could not arrest him for lack of concrete evidence. SP03 Relio, a
PDEA team leader, approached Emilo and requested him to act as poseur-buyer of shabu and
transact with Rado. Emilo refused, saying that he had completely been rehabilitated and did not
want to have anything to do with drugs anymore. But he was prevailed upon to help when SP03
Relio explained that only he could help capture Rado because he used to be his customer. SP03
Relio then gave Emilo the marked money to be used in buying shabu from Rado. The operation
proceeded. After Emilo handed the marked money to Rado in exchange for the sachets of shabu
weighing 50 grams, and upon receiving the pre-arranged signal from Ernilo, SP03 Relio and his
team members barged in and arrested Rado and Ernilo, who were both charged with violation of
R.A. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

a) What defense, if any, may Ernilo invoke to free himself from criminal liability? Explain. (2.5%)

b) May Rado adopt as his own Ernilo's defense? Explain. (2.5%) (2015 Bar Exam)

III.
City Engr. A, is the city engineer and the Chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC)
of the City of Kawawa. In 2009, the City of Kawawa, through an ordinance,allotted the amount of
P100 million for the construction of a road leading to the poblacion. City Engr. A instead, diverted
the construction of the road leading to his farm. Investigation further showed that he accepted
money in the amount of P10 million each from three (3) contending bidders, who eventually lost in
the bidding.
Audit report likewise showed that service vehicles valued at P2 million could not be accounted for
although reports showed that these were lent to City Engr. As authorized drivers but the same were
never returned. Further, there were funds under City Engr. As custody amounting to P10 million
which were found to be missing and could not be accounted for. In another project, he was
instrumentalin awarding a contract for the construction of a city school building costing P10 million
to a close relative, although the lowest bid was P8 million. Investigation also revealed that City
Engr. A has a net worth of more than P50 million, which was way beyond his legitimate income.
(8%)

(A) If you are the Ombudsman, what charge or charges will you file against City Engr. A?

(B) Suppose the discovered net worth of City Engr. Ais less than P50 million, will your answer still
be the same? (2014 Bar Exam)

IV.
Loko advertised on the internet that he was looking for commercial models for a TV
advertisement. Ganda, a 16-year-old beauty, applied for the project. Loko offered her a contract,
which Ganda signed. She was asked to report to an address which turned out to be a high-end
brothel. Ganda became one of its most featured attraction. What is Lokos liability, if any? What
effect would Gandas minority have on Lokos liability? (4%) (2014 Bar Exam)

V.
Malo, a clerk of court of a trial court, promised the accused in a drug case pending before the
court, that he would convince the judge to acquit him for a consideration of P5 million. The accused
agreed and delivered the money, through his lawyer, to the clerk of court.

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Ortea Bar Review Practice Test in Special Penal Laws

The judge, not knowing of the deal, proceeded to rule on the evidence and convicted the
accused. (4%)

(A) Malo was charged with violation of Section 3(b), Republic Act (R.A.) No. 3019, which prohibits a
public officer from directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present, share percentage or
benefit wherein the public officer, in his official capacity, has to intervene under the law. He was
later charged also with indirect bribery under the Revised Penal Code. Malo claims he can no longer
be charged under the Revised Penal Code for the same act under R.A. 3019. Is he correct?

(B) Malowas charged with estafa under Article 315 because he misrepresented that he had
influence, when he actually had none. Is the charge correct? (2014 Bar Exam)

VI.
Manolo, an avid art collector, was invited to Tonios house. There, Manolo noticed a nice painting
that exactly looked like the painting which he reported was stolen from him some years back.
Manolo confronted Tonio about the painting, but Tonio denied any knowledge, claiming that he
bought the painting legitimately from a friend. Manolo later proved to Tonio that the painting was
indeed the stolen painting. (4%)

(A) What crime/s, if any, may Tonio be charged with?

(B) Manolo decided to take matters into his own hands and, one night, broke into Tonios house by
destroying the wall and taking the painting. What, if any, would be the liability of Manolo? (2014
Bar Exam)

VII.
Roberto bought a Toyota Fortuner from Iigo for P500,000. While driving his newly-bought
car, Roberto met a minor accident that made the examination of his vehicle's Registration
Certificate necessary. When the policeman checked the plate, chassis and motor numbers of the
vehicle against those reflected in the Registration Certificate, he found the chassis and motor
numbers to be different from what the Registration Certificate stated. The Deed of Sale covering the
sale of the Fortuner, signed by Iigo, also bore the same chassis and motor numbers as Roberto's
Registration Certificate. The chassis and motor numbers on the Fortuner were found, upon
verification with the Land Transportation Office, to correspond to a vehicle previously reported as
carnapped.

Roberto claimed that he was in good faith; Iigo sold him a carnapped vehicle and he did not
know that he was buying a carnapped vehicle.

If you were the prosecutor, would you or would you not charge Roberto with a crime? (7%)
(2013 Bar Exam)

VII.
Frank borrowed P1,000,000 from his brother Eric. To pay the loan, Frank issued a post-
dated check to be presented for payment a month after the transaction. Two days before maturity,
Frank called Eric telling him he had insufficient funds and requested that the deposit of the check
be deferred. Nevertheless, Eric deposited the check and it was dishonored. When Frank failed to pay
despite demand, Eric filed a complaint against him for violation of Batas Pambansa Big. 22 (The
Bouncing Checks Law).

Was the charge brought against Frank correct? (7%) (2013 Bar Exam)

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