William Howard Taft

“ Some general observations were made by the Supreme Court with reference to the necessity of maintaining the independence of the judiciary, and expressions of opinion that this independence should be preserved strictly, as it should be with respect to judges of superior court jurisdiction. It has always been recognized that justices of the peace, even in our system, are of less importance in the judiciary and must be made to conform to greater regulation than the judges of higher courts. ”

“ It is to be borne in mind that we are dealing with the Philippine Legislature, which has full power to make legislative provision for the appointment of justices of the peace, to provide for their duties, for the payment of their salaries, for their removal, their suspension, their jurisdiction and the changes in their jurisdiction, and to vest in the Governor-General, as the executive, the exercise of the powers it thus creates or indeed to abolish justices of the peace and substitute some other system. ”

“ Section 229 provides that if at any time the judge of first instance has reason to believe that a justice of the peace is not performing his duties properly, or if complaints are made which, if true, would indicate that the justice in unfit for office, he shall make such investigation of the same as the circumstances may seem to him to warrant, and may, for good cause, repriman the justice, or may recommend to the Governor-General his removal from office, or his removal and disqualification from holding office and may suspend him from office pending action by the Governor-General. ”