Admin Law; Power of the President toReorganize Administrative Structure (2003)No VI - The President abolished the Office of the Presidential Spokesman in Malacanang Palace and a long-standing Bureau under the Department of Interior and Local Governments.The employees of both offices assailed the action of the President for being an encroachment of legislative powers and thereby void. Was the contention of the employees correct? Explain.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:The contention of the employees is not correct.As held in Buklod ng Kawaning EHB v. Zamora.360 SCRA 718 [2001], Section 31, Book III of the Administrative Code of 1987 has delegated to the President continuing authority to reorganize the administrative structure of theOffice of the President to achieve simplicity, economy and efficiency. Since this includes the power to abolish offices, the President can abolish the Office of the Presidential Spokesman, provided it is done in good faith.The President can also abolish the Bureau in the Department of Interior and LocalGovernments, provided it is done in good faith because the President has been granted continuing authority to reorganize the administrative structure of the National Government to effect economy and promote efficiency, and the powers include the abolition of government offices. (Presidential Decree No. 1416, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1772; Larin v. The Executive Secretary. 280 SCRA 713 [1997]).

Admin Law; Meaning of “Government of thePhilippines” (1997)No. 3: Are government-owned or controlled corporations within the scope and meaning of the "Government of the Philippines"?

SUGGESTED ANSWER:Section 2 of the Introductory Provision of the Administrative Code of 1987 defines the government of the Philippines as the corporate governmental entity through which the functions of government are exercised throughout the Philippines, including, same as the contrary appears from the context, the various arms through which political authority is made effective in the Philippines, whether pertaining to the autonomous regions, the provincial, city, municipal or barangay subdivisions or other forms of local government.

Government owned or controlled corporation are within the scope and meaning of the Government of the Philippines if they are performing governmental or political functions.

Law-Making; Abolish; Destroy (2008)

No.XIV. In 1963, Congress passed a law creating a government-owned corporation named Manila War Memorial Commission (MWMC), with the primary function of overseeing the construction of a massive memorial in the heart of Manila to commemorate victims of the 1945 Battle of Manila.

The MWMC charter provided an initial appropriation of P1,000,000 empowered the corporation to raise funds in its own name, and set aside a parcel of land in Malate for the memorial site. The charter set the corporate life of MWMC at 50 years with a proviso that Congress may not abolish MWMC until after the completion of the memorial. Forty-five (45) years later, the memorial was only 1/3 complete, and the memorial site itself had long been

overrun by squatters. Congress enacted a law abolishing the MWMC and requiring that the funds raised by it be remitted to the National Treasury. The MWMC challenged the validity of the law arguing that under its charter its mandate is to complete the memorial no matter how long it takes. Decide with reasons. (6%).

SUGGESTED ANSWER: The law abolishing the MWMC is valid. Within the plenary powers of the Congress, it can create as well as destroy what is created after determination its purpose could no longer be attained by subsequent circumstances. The power to create also carries with it the power to destroy so long as it was done in good faith and consistent with the purpose of promoting the general welfare.