Supreme Court of the Philippines

“ The trial began in the afternoon of January 3. On January 16 petitions for writs of habeas corpus and prohibition were filed in the Supreme Court of the Philippines. They were denied January 23 without argument. ”

“ The territorial form of government has frequently been regarded by American statesmen as a temporary condition to be followed at a comparatively early date by statehood. But after more than a century of development, territorial government, as shaped by Congress and as defined by the Supreme Court, shows itself so flexible and advantageous that there is no reason why it should not be regarded as a permanent and final form. Whether it will long prevail in the Philippines, depends very largely upon the political development and ultimate desires of the Filipino people themselves. ”

“ No less than the Supreme Court has recognized the existence of a rebellion in the country, when it said in its historic decision concerning my suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus: “we entertain ... no doubts about the existence of a sizeable group of men who have publicly risen in arms to overthrow the government and have thus been and still are engaged in rebellion against the government of the Philippines.” ”

“ The Philippines are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States government, with complete power of legislation in Congress over them, and when the interpretation of a Philippine statute comes before us for review, we may, if there be need therefor, re-examine it for ourselves as the court of last resort on such a question. It is very true that with respect to questions turning on questions of local law, or those properly affected by custom inherited from the centuries of Spanish control, we defer much to the judgment of the Philippine or Porto Rican courts. ”

“ Now, with respect to this, I shall be less than candid if I did not acknowledge that our full obligation to the Filipino people under the mandate of the constitution under Sections 5 and 6 of the Transitory Provisions has yet to be fulfilled. The executive and legislative branches are responsible, as a single force for national development, for the formulation of a sustained legislative program to complete as soon as possible our remaining tasks. Now, the power of amending the Rules of Court of our judiciary is initially in the hands of the Supreme Court. ”

“ So that the question is narrowed further to the inquiry whether the Philippine government cannot do what unquestionably Congress might.
As Congress is not prevented by the Constitution, the Philippine government cannot be prevented by the Philippine Bill of Rights alone. ”

“ For this case the practical question is, Must Congress, in establishing a system for trial of crimes and offenses committed in the Philippine Islands, carry to their people by proper affirmative legislation a system of trial by jury?
If the treaty-making power could incorporate territory into the United States without congressional action, it is apparent that the treaty with Spain, ceding the Philippines to the United States [30 Stat. at L. 1759] , carefully refrained from so doing ”

“ Whatever may have been the Spanish law, this is a principle so deep seated in our system that we should regard it as carried into the Philippines by implication as soon as we established courts in those islands. ”

“ He is entitled to registration if his claim of ownership can be maintained.
We come, then, to the question on which the case was decided below,-namely, whether the plaintiff owns the land. The position of the government, shortly stated, is that Spain assumed, asserted, and had title to all the land in the Philippines except so far as it saw fit to permit private titles to be acquired; that there was no prescription against the Crown, and that, if there was, a decree of June 25, 1880, required registration within a limited time to make the title good ”

“ The Bill of Rights for the Philippines, giving the accused the right to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, does not fasten forever upon those islands the inability of the seventeenth century common law to understand stand or accept a pleading that did not exclude every misinterpretation capable of occurring to intelligence fired with a desire to pervert. ”

“ I appeal, therefore, to every Filipino to give the Government his loyal support so that tranquillity may reign supreme in our beloved land.
Our Constitution established an independent judiciary by providing for security of tenure and compensation of judges. But independence is not the only objective of a good judicialy. Equally, if not more important, is its integrity which will depend upon the judicious selection of its members. The administration of justice cannot be expected to rise higher than the moral and intellectual standards of the men who dispense it. ”