1. STATUTES; SECTION 2145 OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF 1917; VALIDITY; CONSTRUCTION; HISTORY. — Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 reads as follows: "With the prior approval of the Department Head, the provincial governor of any province in which non-Christian inhabitants are found is authorized, when such a course is deemed necessary in the interest of law and order, to direct such inhabitants to take up their habitation on sites on unoccupied public lands to be selected by him and approved by the provincial board." Beginning with Act No. 387, Sections 68-71, having reference to the Province of Nueva Vizcaya, Acts Nos. 411, 422, 445, 500, 547, 548, 549, 550, 579, 753, 855, 1113, 1145, 1268, 1306 were enacted for the province of Abra, Antique, Bataan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Lepanto-Bontoc, Mindoro, Misamis, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Paragua (Palawan), Tarlac, Tayabas, and Zambales. Act No. 547 referred especially to the Manguianes. All of these special laws with the exception of Act No. 1306 were repealed by Acts Nos. 1396 and 1397. The last named Act incorporated and embodied the provisions in general language. In turn, Act No. 1397 was repealed by the Administrative Code of 1916. The last Administrative Code retains the provision which originated in Act No. 387, enacted in 1202, in Section 2145 herein quoted.

2. ID.; ID.; ID; ID.; GOVERNMENT POLICY. — These different laws denote an anxious regard for the welfare of the non-Christian inhabitants of the Philippines and a settled and consistent practice with reference to the method to be followed for their advancement.

3. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — Every really new question that comes before the courts is in the last analysis determined by the application of public policy as a ratio decidendi. In balancing conflicting solutions that one is perceived to tip the scales which the court believes will best promote the public welfare in its probable operation as a general rule or principle.

4 ID.; ID.; ID.; "NON-CHRISTIAN;" HISTORY. — A skeleton history of the attitude assumed towards the backward inhabitants of the Islands both before and after the acquisition of the Philippines by the United States is set forth in the opinion. The most important of the laws of the Indies having reference to the subject are compiled in Book 6, Title 3. A clear exposition of the purposes of the Spanish government in its efforts to improve the conditions of such inhabitants by concentrating them in "reducciones" is found in the Decree of the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands of January 14, 1881. Ever since the acquisition of the Philippine Islands by the United States, the question as to the best method for dealing with the primitive inhabitants has been a perplexing one. Organic and statutory law has given the subject consideration.

5. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; DEFINED. — "Non-Christian" is an awkward and unsatisfactory expression. Legislative, judicial, and executive authority has held that the term "non-Christian" should not be given a literal meaning or a religious signification, but that it was intended to relate to degree of civilization. This has been the uniform construction of executive officials who have been called upon to interpret and enforce the law. The term "non-Christian" refers not to religious belief, but in a way to geographical area, and more directly to natives of the Philippine Islands of a low grade of civilization.

6. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; THE "MANGUIANES" — The name "Manguian" signifies savage, mountaineer, pagan, negro. The Manguianes are very low in culture.

7. ID.; ID.; ID.; AMERICAN INDIAN POLICY. — From the beginning of the United States, and even before, the Indians have been treated as "in a state of pupilage." The recognized relation between the Government of the United States and the Indians may be described as that of guardian and ward. It is for the Congress to determine when and how the guardianship shall be terminated. The Indians are always subject to the plenary authority of the United States.

8. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — With reference to the laws affecting the Indians, it has been held that it is not within the power of the courts to overrule the judgment of Congress. For very good reason, the subject has always been deemed political in nature, not subject to the jurisdiction of the judicial department of the Government.

9. ID.; ID.; CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; DELEGATION OF LEGISLATIVE POWER. — The maxim of constitutional law forbidding the delegation of legislative power should be zealously protected.

10. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — The true distinction, therefore, is between the delegation of power to make the law, which necessarily involves a discretion as to what it shall be, and conferring authority or discretion as to its execution, to be exercised under and in pursuance of the law. The first cannot be done; to the latter no valid objection can be made." (Cincinnati, W. & Z. R. Co. v. Comrs. Clinton County [1852], 1 Ohio St., 88.)

11. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — The legislature may make decisions of executive departments or subordinate officials thereof, to whom it has committed the execution of certain acts, final on questions of fact. The growing tendency in the decisions is to give prominence to the "necessity," of the case.

12. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — An exception to the general rule, sanctioned by immemorial practice, permits the central legislative body to delegate legislative powers to local authorities.

13. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 is not an unlawful delegation of legislative power by the Philippine Legislature to provincial officials and a department head. ]

14. ID.; ID.; ID.; RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION. — Since the term "non-Christian" is here construed to refer to natives of the Philippine Islands of a low grade of civilization, Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 does not discriminate between individuals on account of religious differences and is therefore not invalid.

15. ID.; ID.; ID.; CIVIL LIBERTY. — Various conceptions of civil liberty are quoted in the opinion. Civil liberty may be said to mean that measure of freedom which may be enjoyed in a civilized community, consistently with the peaceful enjoyment of like freedom in others. Liberty includes the right of the citizen to be free to use his faculties in all lawful ways; to live and work where he will; to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any avocation, and for that purpose, to enter into all contracts which may be proper, necessary, and essential to his carrying out these purposes to a successful conclusion.

16. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — "Liberty" as understood in democracies is not license; it is "liberty regulated by law." "Whenever and wherever the natural rights of citizen would, if exercised without restraint, deprive other citizens of rights which are also and equally natural, such assumed rights must yield to the regulation of law.

17. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — The authority conferred upon executive officials by Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 does not unduly interfere with the liberty of the citizen when the degree of civilization of the Manguianes is considered.

18. ID; ID.; ID.; DUE PROCESS OF LAW; EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS. — "Due process of law" is defined and analyzed in the opinion. The pledge that no person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws is not infringed by a statute which is applicable to all of a class.

19. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — Due process of law and the equal protection of the laws are not violated by Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 since there exists a law; the law seems to be reasonable; it is enforced according to regular methods of procedure; and it applies to all of a class.

20. ID.; ID.; ID.; SLAVERY AND INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE. — Slavery and involuntary servitude, together with their corollary, peonage, all denote "a condition of enforced, compulsory service of one to another."cralaw virtua1aw library

21. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. Confinement in reservations in accordance with Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 does not constitute slavery and involuntary servitude.

22. ID.; ID.; ID.; THE POLICE POWER. — The police power of the State is a power coextensive with self-protection, and is not inaptly termed the "law of overruling necessity."cralaw virtua1aw library

23. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — The Government of the Philippine Islands has both on reason and authority the right to exercise the sovereign police power in the promotion of the general welfare and the public interest.

24. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — The doctrines of laissez faire and of unrestricted freedom of the individual, as axioms of economics and political theory, are of the past. The modern period has shown a widespread belief in the amplest possible demonstration of governmental activity.

25. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — Considered purely as an exercise of the police power, the courts cannot fairly say that the Legislature has exceeded its rightful authority in enacting Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917.

26. ID.; ID.; ID.; STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION; LEGISLATIVE INTENTION. — The fundamental objective of governmental policy is to establish friendly relations with the so-called non-Christians, and to promote their educational, agricultural, industrial, and economic development and advancement in civilization.

27. ID.; ID; ID.; ID.; ID. — In so far as the Manguianes themselves are concerned, the purposes of the Government are to gather together the children for educational purposes, and to improve the health and morals — is in fine, to begin the process of civilization.

28. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID. — In so far as the relation of the Manguianes to the State is concerned, the purposes of the Legislature in enacting the law, and of the executive branch in enforcing it, are to protect the settlers in Mindoro and to develop the resources of that great Island.

29. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; PRESUMPTION. — Most cautiously should the power of this court to overrule the judgment of the Philippine Legislature, a coordinate branch, be exercised. The whole tendency of the best considered cases is toward non-interference on the part of the courts whenever political ideas are the moving consideration.

30. ID.; ID.; ID. — Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 is constitutional.

Per CARSON, J., concurring:chanrob1es virtual 1aw library

31. STATUTES; "NON-CHRISTIAN;" DEFINED. — The words "non-Christian" have a clear, definite and well settled signification when used in the Philippine statute-book as a descriptive adjective applied to "tribes," "peoples" or "inhabitants," dwelling in more or less remote districts and provinces throughout the Islands.

32. ID.; ID.; ID.; TESTS. — The tests for the determination of the fact that an individual or tribe is, or is not of the "low grade of civilization" denoted by the words "non-Christian" are, and throughout the period of American occupation always have been, "the mode of life, the degree of advancement in civilization, and connection or lack of connection with some civilized community."cralaw virtua1aw library

33. ID.; ID.; STANDARD OF CIVILIZATION OF INHABITANTS NOT NON-CHRISTIAN. — The legislative and administrative history of the Philippine Islands clearly discloses that the standard of civilization to which a specific tribe must be found to have advanced, to justify its removal from the class embraced within the descriptive term "non-Christian," as that term is used in the Philippine statute-book, is that degree of civilization which results in a mode of life within the tribe, such that it is feasible and practicable to extend to, and enforce upon its membership the general laws and regulations, administrative, legislative and judicial, which control the conduct of the admittedly civilized inhabitants of the Islands; a mode of life, furthermore, which does not find expression in tribal customs or practices which tend to brutalize or debauch the members of the tribe indulging in such customs or practices, or to expose to loss or peril the lives or property of those who may be brought in contact with the members of the tribe.

34. ID.; ID.; ID. — So the standard of civilization to which any given number or group of inhabitants of a particular province in these Islands, or any individual member of such a group, must be found to have advanced, in order to remove such group or individual from the class embraced within the statutory description of "non-Christian," is that degree of civilization which would naturally and normally result in the withdrawal by such persons of permanent allegiance or adherence to a "non-Christian" tribe, had they at any time adhered to or maintained allegiance to such a tribe; and which would qualify them whether they reside within or beyond the habitat of a "non-Christian" tribe, not only to maintain a mode of life independent of and apart from that maintained by such tribe, but such a mode of life as would not be inimical to the lives or property or general welfare of the civilized inhabitants of the Islands with whom they are brought in contact.

35. ID.; SECTION 2145 OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF 1917; BASIS; WHEN PROPERLY APPLICABLE. — The power to provide for the issuance of the reconcentration orders contemplated in Section 2145 of the Administrative Code rests upon analogous principles to those upon which the liberty and freedom of action of children and persons of unsound minds is restrained, without consulting their wishes, but for their own good and the general welfare. The power rests upon necessity, that "great master of all things," and is properly exercised only where certain individuals or groups of individuals are found to be of such a low grade of civilization, that their own wishes cannot be permitted to determine their mode of life or place of residence.

In one of the cases which denote a landmark in American Constitutional History (Worcester v. Georgia [1832], 6 Pet., 515), Chief Justice Marshall, the first luminary of American jurisprudence, began his opinion (relating to the status of an Indian) with words which, with a slight change in phraseology, can be made to introduce the present opinion — This cause, in every point of view in which it can be placed, is of the deepest interest. The legislative power of a state, the controlling power of the constitution and laws, the rights, if they have any, the political existence of a people, the personal liberty of a citizen, are all involved in the subject now to be considered. To imitate still further the opinion of the Chief Justice, we adopt his outline and proceed first, to introduce the facts and the issues, next to give a history of the so-called "non-Christians," next to compare the status of the "non-Chritans" with that of the American Indians, and, lastly, to resolve the constitutional questions presented.

I. INTRODUCTION.

This is an application for habeas corpus in favor of Rubi and other Manguianes of the Province of Mindoro. It is alleged that the Manguianes are being illegally deprived of their liberty by the provincial officials of that province. Rubi and his companions are said to be held on the reservation established at Tigbao, Mindoro, against their will, and one Dabalos is said to be held under the custody of the provincial sheriff in the prison at Calapan for having run away from the reservation.

The return of the Solicitor-General alleges:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"1. That on February 1, 1917, the provincial board of Mindoro adopted resolution No. 25 which is as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"‘The provincial governor, Hon. Juan Morente, Jr., presented the following resolution:" ’Whereas several attempts and schemes have been made for the advancement of the non-Christian people of Mindoro, which were all a failure,

"‘Whereas it has been found out and proved that unless some other measure is taken for the Mangyan work of this province, no successful result will be obtained toward educating these people,

"‘Whereas it is deemed necessary to oblige them to live in one place in order to make a permanent settlement,

"‘Whereas the provincial governor of any province in which non-Christian inhabitants are found is authorized, when such a course is deemed necessary in the interest of law and order, to direct such inhabitants to take up their habitation on sites on unoccupied public lands to be selected by him and approved by the provincial board,

"‘Whereas the provincial governor is of the opinion that the sitio of Tigbao on Lake Naujan is a place most convenient for the Mangyanes to live on, Now, therefore be it

"‘Resolved, That under Section 2077 of the Administrative Code, 800 hectares of public land in the sitio of Tigbao on Naujan Lake be selected as a site for the permanent settlement of Mangyanes in Mindoro subject to the approval of the Honorable Secretary of the Interior, and

"‘Resolved further, That Mangyans may only solicit homesteads on this reservation providing that said homestead applications are previously recommended by the provincial governor.’

"2. That said Resolution No. 25 (series 1917) of the provincial board of Mindoro was approved by the Secretary of the Interior of February 21, 1917.

"3. That on December 4, 1917, the provincial governor of Mindoro issued Executive Order No. 2 which says:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"‘Whereas the provincial board, by Resolution No. 25, current series, has selected a site in the sitio of Tigbao on Naujan Lake for the permanent settlement of Mangyanes in Mindoro.

"‘Whereas said resolution has been duly approved by the Honorable, the Secretary of the Interior, on February 21, 1917.

"‘Now, therefore, I, Juan Morente, Jr., provincial governor of Mindoro, pursuant to the provisions of Section 2145 of the Revised Administrative Code, do hereby direct that all the Mangyans in the vicinities of the townships of Naujan and Pola and the Mangyans east of the Baco River including those in the districts of Dulangan and Rubi’s place in Calapan, to take up their habitation on the site of Tigbao, Naujan Lake, not later than December 31, 1917.

"‘Any Mangyan who shall refuse to comply with this order shall upon conviction be imprisoned not exceeding sixty days, in accordance with section 2759 of the revised Administrative Code.’

"4. That the resolution of the provincial board of Mindoro copied in paragraph 1 and the executive order of the governor of the same province copied in paragraph 3, were necessary measures for the protection of the Mangyanes of Mindoro as well as the protection of public forests in which they roam, and to introduce civilized customs among them.

"5. That Rubi and those living in his rancheria have not fixed their dwellings within the reservation of Tigbao and are liable to be punished in accordance with section 2759 of Act No. 2711.

"6. That the undersigned has no information that Doroteo Dabalos is being detained by the sheriff of Mindoro but if he is so detained it must be by virtue of the provisions of articles Nos. 2145 and 2759 of Act No. 2711." It thus appears that the provincial governor of Mindoro and the provincial board thereof directed the Manguianes in question to take up their habitation in Tigbao, a site on the shore of Lake Naujan, selected by the provincial governor and approved by the provincial board. The action was taken in accordance with Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917, and was duly approved by the Secretary of the Interior as required by said action. Petitioners, however, challenge the validity of this section of the Administrative Code. This, therefore, becomes the paramount question which the court is called upon to decide.

Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"SEC. 2145. Establishment of non-Christians upon sites selected by provincial governor. — With the prior approval of the Department Head, the provincial governor of any province in which non-Christian inhabitants are found is authorized, when such a course is deemed necessary in the interest of law and order, to direct such inhabitants to take up their habitation on sites on unoccupied public lands to be selected by him and approved by the provincial board." In connection with the above-quoted provision, there should be noted Section 2759 of the same Code, which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"SEC. 2759. Refusal of a non-Chritian to take up appointed habitation. — Any non-Christian who shall refuse to comply with the directions lawfully given by a provincial governor, pursuant to section two thousand one hundred and forty-five of this Code, to take up habitation upon a site designated by said governor shall upon conviction be imprisoned for a period not exceeding sixty days."cralaw virtua1aw library

The substance of what is now found in said Section 2145 is not new to Philippine law. The genealogical tree of this section, if we may be permitted to use such terminology, would read: Section 2077, Administrative Code of 1916; Section 62, Act No. 1397; Section 2 of various special provincial laws, notably of Act No. 547, specifically relating to the Manguianes; Section 69, Act No. 387.

Section 2145 and its antecedent laws make use of the term "non-Christians." This word, as will later be disclosed, is also found in varying forms in other laws of the Philippine Islands. In order to put the phrase in its proper category, and in order to understand the policy of the Government of the Philippine Islands with reference to the uncivilized elements of the Islands, it is well first of all to set down a skeleton history of the attitude assumed by the authorities towards these "non-Christians," with particular regard for the legislation on the subject.

II. HISTORY.

A. BEFORE ACQUISITION OF THE PHILIPPINES BY THE UNITED STATES.

The most important of the laws of the Indies having reference to the subject at hand are compiled in Book VI, Title III, in the following language:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"LAW I.

"The Emperor Charles and the Prince, the governor, at Cigales, on March 21,1551. Philip II at Toledo, on February 19, 1560. In the forest of Segovia on September 13, 1565. In the Escorial on November 10, 1568. Ordinance 149 of the poblaciones of 1573. In San Lorenzo, on May 20. 1578.

"THAT THE ’INDIOS’ BE REDUCED INTO ’POBLACIONES’(COMMUNITIES).

"In order that the indios may be instructed in the Sacred Catholic Faith and the evangelical law, and in order that they may forget the blunders of their ancient rites and ceremonies to the end that they may live in harmony and in a civilized manner, it has always been endeavored, with great care and special attention, to use all the means most convenient to the attainment o