The Philippines: Past and Present Volume II Part 48

Upon all officers and employees of the United States, both civil and military, should be impressed a sense of the duty to observe not merely the material but the personal and social rights of the people of the islands, and to treat them with the same courtesy and respect for their personal dignity which the people of the United States are accustomed to require from each other.

The articles of capitulation of the city of Manila on the 13th of August, 1898, concluded with these words:

"This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious worship, its educational establishments, and its private property of all descriptions, are placed under the special safeguard of the faith and honour of the American army."

I believe that this pledge has been faithfully kept. As high and sacred an obligation rests upon the Government of the United States to give protection for property and life, civil and religious freedom, and wise, firm and unselfish guidance in the paths of peace and prosperity to all the people of the Philippine Islands. I charge this commission to labour for the full performance of this obligation which concerns the honour and conscience of their country, in the firm hope that through their labours all the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands may come to look back with grat.i.tude to the day when G.o.d gave victory to American arms at Manila and set their land under the sovereignty and the protection of the people of the United States.

William McKinley.

THE PAST AND PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF THE COURTS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS [217]

During the last years of Spanish sovereignty the courts in the Philippine Islands consisted of superior courts, which were the audiencia territorial de Manila, the audiencia de lo criminal de Cebu, and the audiencia de lo criminal de Vigan; the courts of first instance, and justice of the peace courts.

The audiencia territorial de Manila exercised jurisdiction in civil matters over the entire Philippine archipelago; in criminal matters it exercised jurisdiction over the central and southern provinces of Luzon and over the islands of Catanduanes, Mindoro, Burias, Masbate and Ticao.

Its legal personnel consisted of a president of the court; two presidents of branches, one of the civil, and the other of the criminal; nine justices (magistrados); four a.s.sociate justices (magistrados suplentes); one fiscal; one lieutenant-fiscal, and three fiscal attorneys; five secretaries and four law clerks who were a.s.sistant secretaries.

The audiencia de lo criminal of Vigan and that of Cebu had only criminal jurisdiction, the former over the northern part of Luzon and the Batanes Islands and the latter over the Visayan Islands and Mindanao. Each of these courts had a president, two justices, two a.s.sociate justices, one fiscal, one lieutenant-fiscal, a secretary and one law clerk who was a.s.sistant secretary.

There was at least one court of first instance in each province. In some, like Batangas, Ambos Camarines, Samar, Leyte, Cebu and Negros, there were two. In Iloilo there were three and in Manila four. These courts were divided into three cla.s.ses designated as follows: de entrada; de ascenso; and de termino.

Subject to the jurisdiction of the audiencia territorial de Manila, there were eight jusgados de termino; five jusgados de ascenso, and fourteen jusgados de entrada. Under the criminal jurisdiction of the audiencia territorial of Vigan there were three jusgados de termino, one jusgado de ascenso and sixteen jusgados de entrada. Under the audiencia territorial of Cebu there were two jusgados de termino and thirty jusgados de ascenso.

In each court of first instance there was a prosecuting attorney (promotor fiscal). In each pueblo there was a justice of the peace subject in his criminal and civil jurisdiction to the judge of first instance of the province. In criminal matters the justice of the peace courts as well as the courts of first instance were subject to the audiencia territorial of Manila.

At the present time the courts of justice of the islands consist of a supreme court, courts of first instance and justice of the peace courts.

The supreme court, which is composed of one chief justice and six a.s.sociate justices, has civil and criminal jurisdiction over all the islands.

In each province there is a court of first instance. Several such courts are usually united to const.i.tute a judicial district, but this does not hold for the court of first instance of the city of Manila, which is presided over by three judges, each in his own court room, nor for the court of first instance of Iloilo, which const.i.tutes a district by itself. The remaining courts are divided between seventeen districts.

The courts of the thirteenth and fourteenth districts have concurrent jurisdiction over all actions arising within the district of Lanao of the Moro province, but the court first acquiring jurisdiction in any cause has exclusive jurisdiction in the same.

There are four judges at large, without territorial jurisdiction of their own, any one of whom may be a.s.signed by the secretary of finance and justice to act in any district. He then has the same jurisdiction as its judge. The services of judges at large are necessary when the judge of any district is absent, or has vacated his position, or when the business of a court requires the aid of an a.s.sistant judge.

There further exists the court of land registration, with one judge and five auxiliary judges. It has exclusive jurisdiction over all applications for the registration of t.i.tle to land or buildings or an interest therein. It also has jurisdiction to confirm the t.i.tles of persons who under the Spanish regime acquired imperfect t.i.tles to public lands, provided that such persons fulfill the requirements of law for their perfection.

There is now a justice of the peace court in each munic.i.p.ality and by resolution of the Philippine Commission there have been created justice of the peace courts in townships and other centres of population which have not been organized either as townships or munic.i.p.alities.

In the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Mindoro, Palawan, Agusan and in the Mountain province, all of which are organized under the special provincial government act, the provincial governor, the provincial secretary, the provincial treasurer, the provincial supervisor [218]

and the deputy clerk of the court of first instance are justices of the peace ex officio with jurisdiction throughout their respective provinces.

In the Moro province, which is divided into five districts, called Jolo, Zamboanga, Lanao, Cotabato and Davao, there are tribal ward courts which consider and decide minor civil and criminal actions in which the parties in interest, or any of them, are Moros or members of other non-Christian tribes. These tribal ward courts have with regard to these actions the same jurisdiction as is vested by law in justice of the peace courts, but the legislative council of the Moro province may in its discretion vest in such courts jurisdiction in other actions, civil or criminal but not capital, which is at present vested in courts of first instance. In each district the governor and secretary are justices of tribal ward courts and there are as many auxiliary justices as may be needed. The sentences of the tribal ward courts, from which no appeal is taken to the court of first instance, may be modified or remitted by the provincial governor after a review of the case.

In addition to these tribal ward courts there exist justice of the peace courts in each munic.i.p.ality and the governor-general may with the advice and approval of the commission appoint justices of the peace for towns or places in the Moro province which have not been organized into munic.i.p.alities or which, although included within the limits of an organized munic.i.p.ality, are distant from or have no convenient means of access to centres of population. The jurisdiction of the justices of the peace for the munic.i.p.alities in which such towns or places are situated, and of the justices of the peace appointed for such towns or places, are concurrent over cases arising within the munic.i.p.ality. The several justices of the peace in any district of the Moro province exercise concurrent jurisdiction over cases arising within the district but without the limits of an organized munic.i.p.ality, but the justice of the peace first acquiring jurisdiction over any case has exclusive jurisdiction over it. The justices of the peace in the Moro province have no jurisdiction to try civil and criminal actions in which original jurisdiction is vested in tribal ward courts.

Under the present organization there exists a bureau of justice with the following legal personnel: attorney-general, solicitor-general, a.s.sistant attorney-general, and eleven a.s.sistant attorneys. There is a provincial fiscal in each province with the exception of the Moro province, in which there are an attorney and an a.s.sistant attorney. The city of Manila has, besides the city attorney and a.s.sistant attorney, a prosecuting attorney with four a.s.sistants.

Under the Spanish legislation, justices of the peace had jurisdiction to try civil actions where the value of the thing in litigation did not exceed five hundred pesetas ($50), and actions for unlawful detainer where the action was based on one of the following grounds. The completion of the term stipulated in the contract; the expiration of the time within which notice had to be given for the conclusion of the contract, in accordance with law; the stipulations made or the general custom in each pueblo; and the failure to pay the price stipulated, provided that in neither of these three cases the object of the action was dispossession of a mercantile or manufacturing establishment, or of a rural property the annual rental whereof exceeded two thousand five hundred pesetas ($250). They also had jurisdiction to try faltas, which are criminal offences penalized with a fine not exceeding five hundred pesetas ($50) or with aresto menor, which is imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, and to conduct the preliminary proceedings in crimes the jurisdiction over which was vested in the courts of first instance. Judges of first instance had original jurisdiction in all civil actions except those in which original jurisdiction was vested in justices of the peace and in actions for crime (delitos). The sentences of judges of first instance could be carried in appeal to the audiencia territorial of Manila, and in the majority of cases the supreme court of Spain could be pet.i.tioned for the ca.s.sation of the sentences of the said audiencia territorial. The judges of first instance also had appellate jurisdiction in cases of appeal against the decisions rendered by justices of the peace in actions in which the latter had original jurisdiction. All the sentences of the courts of first instance in criminal cases, regardless of whether they were sentences of conviction or of acquittal, had to be submitted for review to the proper audiencia, the decision of the former not being final without the approval of the latter. From the decisions of the audiencia appeal lay in all cases to the supreme court of Spain.

It naturally followed that legal proceedings were interminable, and one of the worst things which could befall an individual or a corporation in the Spanish days was to become involved in a lawsuit. It is an unpleasant thing to say, but the plain truth is that the character of the judges in not a few instances left much to be desired.

Contrast with the endless complications of the above arrangement the simplicity of that which prevails to-day. Justices of the peace have exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil actions arising in their munic.i.p.alities which are not exclusively cognizable by the courts of first instance, when the value of the subject-matter or amount of the demand does not exceed $100, exclusive of interest and costs; and where such value or demand exceeds $100, but is less than $300, the justices of the peace have jurisdiction concurrent with the courts of first instance. They also have original jurisdiction in forcible entry and detainer proceedings. They have no jurisdiction to adjudicate questions of t.i.tle to real estate or any interest therein, or in civil actions in which the subject of litigation is not capable of pecuniary estimation, except in forcible entry and detainer cases, or in those which involve the legality of any tax, impost, or a.s.sessment, or in actions involving admiralty or marine jurisdiction, or in matters of probate, the appointment of guardians, trustees, or receivers, or in actions for annulment of marriage. Justices of the peace, except in the city of Manila, have original jurisdiction to try persons charged with misdemeanors, offences and infractions of munic.i.p.al ordinances, arising within the munic.i.p.ality, in which the penalty provided by law does not exceed six months imprisonment or a fine of $100, or both such imprisonment and fine. In the city of Manila the justice of the peace does not have this jurisdiction; there it is left to a munic.i.p.al judge, who has jurisdiction to try all the infractions of ordinances and has a more ample jurisdiction to try misdemeanors and crimes against the general laws of the islands. Justices of the peace, except in the city of Manila, also have jurisdiction to conduct preliminary proceedings in all crimes and misdemeanors supposed to have been committed within their munic.i.p.alities and cognizable by the courts of first instance.

The jurisdiction of courts of first instance is of two kinds, original and appellate. Courts of first instance have original jurisdiction: in all civil actions in which the subject of litigation is not capable of pecuniary estimation; in all civil actions which involve the t.i.tle to or possession of real property, or any interest therein, or the legality of any tax, impost, or a.s.sessment, except actions of forcible entry into or detainer of lands or buildings; in all cases in which the demand, exclusive of the interest or the value of the property in controversy, amounts to $100 or more; in all actions in admiralty or maritime jurisdiction, irrespective of the value of the property in controversy and the amount of the demand; in all matters of probate, both of testate and intestate estates, appointment of guardians, trustees, and receivers, in all actions for annulment of marriage, and in all such special cases and proceedings as are not otherwise provided for; in all criminal cases in which a penalty of more than six months imprisonment or a fine exceeding $100 may be imposed; in all crimes and offences committed on the high seas or beyond the jurisdiction of any country, or within any of the navigable waters of the Philippine Islands, on board a ship or water craft of any kind registered or licensed in the Philippine Islands in accordance with the laws thereof. This jurisdiction may be exercised by the court of first instance in any province into which the ship or water craft upon which the crime or offence was committed may come after the commission thereof, but the court first lawfully taking cognizance thereof has jurisdiction of the same to the exclusion of all other courts in the Philippine Islands. Lastly, courts of first instance have power to issue writs of injunction, mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto, and habeas corpus in their respective provinces and districts, in the manner provided in the code of civil procedure. Courts of first instance have appellate jurisdiction over all causes arising in justices' and other inferior courts in their respective provinces.

The supreme court of the Philippine Islands has original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, habeas corpus, and quo warranto in the cases and in the manner prescribed in the code of civil procedure, and to hear and determine the controversies thus brought before it, and in other cases provided by law.

The supreme court of the United States, according to the Philippine bill, has jurisdiction to review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm the final judgments and decrees of the supreme court of the Philippine Islands in all actions, cases, causes, and proceedings pending therein in which the const.i.tution or any statute, treaty, t.i.tle, right or privilege of the United States is involved, or in causes in which the value in controversy exceeds $25,000.

Probably not more than ten Filipinos held judicial or fiscal positions, except that of justice of the peace, under Spanish rule. To-day, three of the seven justices of the supreme court, ten of the twenty judges of districts, two of the four judges at large, and three of the six judges of the court of land registration are Filipinos. In the bureau of justice the attorney-general and seven a.s.sistant attorneys are Filipinos. All of the provincial fiscals are Filipinos with the exception of the fiscal of the Moro province and the prosecuting attorney and the city attorney of Manila. All of the justices of the peace except those who serve ex officio are Filipinos, and the secretary of finance and justice is a Filipino as well.

Under the Spanish regime justices of the peace did not receive salaries, nor was there any appropriation for the payment of necessary clerical a.s.sistance, for office supplies, or for rental of their court rooms. The fees which the law allowed them to charge were their only compensation. These were fifty cents for each civil case tried and twenty-five cents when no trial was held on account of failure to appear on the part of either the plaintiff or defendant or of both.

In criminal cases the fees were seventy-five cents for each case tried, but they could be collected only if the defendant was adjudged to pay the costs and was solvent.

The compensation of justices of the peace was in practice limited to the paltry fees in civil cases, which in many munic.i.p.alities amounted to almost nothing owing to the small number of such cases tried. Justices of the peace were burdened with orders from the courts of first instance for the service of process, and for this no compensation was given them.

The only appropriations for office, personnel and supplies of the courts of first instance were the following: two Chinese interpreters and sixteen bailiffs, drawing a yearly salary of $48 for the four courts at Manila; interpreters drawing the following ridiculous salaries: $48 per annum in some courts, $36 in others and in still others $24; amanuenses whose salaries in some courts were $48 and in others $36 per annum, while in yet other courts there was no amount appropriated for their salaries. No appropriation was made for clerks, officers, messengers or bailiffs of the courts, for necessary office supplies or for court-houses. The clerks of courts had to pay all subordinate employees. They also had to pay for the building of a court-house out of the money collected as fees from litigants, and in many instances they were compelled to pay for the dwelling place of the judge, who ordinarily lived in the court-house.

The salaries of judicial officers and fiscals were also very meager. The prosecuting attorney of a court de entrada was paid $750 per annum; the judge of a court of first instance de entrada, the prosecuting attorney de ascenso, and the secretaries of the audiencia de lo criminal, all of whom had the same rank, drew salaries of $937.50 per annum. The judge of first instance de ascenso, the prosecuting attorney de termino and the secretaries of the audiencia territorial de Manila were paid $1125 per annum. The judges of courts of first instance de termino and the attorneys of the audiencia territorial of Manila and the a.s.sistant attorneys of the audiencias de lo criminal of Vigan and Cebu drew a salary of $1375 per annum. The a.s.sistant fiscal of the audiencia territorial of Manila and the justices of the audiencias de lo criminal of Vigan and Cebu, $1750. The justices of the audiencia territorial of Manila and the presidents and fiscals of the audiencias de lo criminal of Vigan and Cebu received $2125 per annum. The president of the audiencia territorial of Manila and the presidents of the departments of said court and its fiscal received $25 per annum. The president of the audiencia territorial of Manila had an additional allowance of $750, and the presidents of the departments and fiscal of said court had $250 each for entertainment expenses.

At present, justices of the peace in first, second, third, and fourth cla.s.s munic.i.p.alities receive yearly salaries of $480, $420, $360 and $300, respectively. The justice of the peace of Manila receives $1800. The justices of the peace of Iloilo and Cebu receive $1200 each; those of the provincial capitals of Albay, Ambos Camarines, Batangas, Bulacan, Ilocos Sur, Occidental Negros, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Tayabas, $900 each; those of Cagayan, Capiz, Cavite, Ilocos Norte, Laguna, Rizal, Samar and Sorsogon, $750 each; those of the remaining provincial capitals and of any munic.i.p.alities considered as capitals of provinces organized under the provincial government act, $600 each.

Every munic.i.p.ality is required to provide the justice of the peace with an adequate court room and the necessary office furniture, light, and janitor service. Office supplies, such as stationery, stamps, printed forms, books, etc., are furnished by the bureau of justice and paid for from the appropriation for said bureau.

Clerks and other subordinate employees of the courts of first instance now have regular salaries prescribed by law, and the salaries of judges are sufficient to allow them to live comfortably and with the independence and decorum which befit their official positions. Judges at large and some district judges receive $4500 per annum; other district judges, $5000 per annum; judges in the city of Manila, $5500. The judge of the court of land registration receives $5000 and the a.s.sistant judges are paid $4000 each with promotion to $4500 after two years of service. The chief justice and a.s.sociate justices of the supreme court receive $10,000 each.

THE NON-CHRISTIAN POPULATION

The following table gives the present accepted estimate of the non-Christian population of the provinces as now organized, together with the census estimate:--

-------------------+----------+----------- | | Present Province or | Census | Accepted Sub-province | Estimate | Estimate -------------------+----------+----------- Abra | 14,037 | 14,037 Agusan | ---- | 85,000 Albay | 892 | 892 Amburayan | ---- | 10,191 Ambos Camarines | 5,933 | 5,933 Apayao | ---- | 20,000 Antique | 2,921 | 2,921 Bataan | 1,621 | 1,621 Batanes | ---- | 000 Batangas | 000 | 000 Benguet | 21,828 | 28,449 Bohol | 000 | 000 Bontoc | ---- | 62,000 Bulacan | 415 | 415 Cagayan | 13,414 | 15,000 Capiz | 5,629 | 5,629 Catanduanes | ---- | 000 Cavite | 000 | 000 Cebu | 000 | 000 Ilocos Norte | 2,210 | 2,210 Ilocos Sur | 13,611 | 13,611 Iloilo | 6,383 | 6,383 Ifugao | ---- | 125,000 Isabela | 7,638 | 7,638 Kalinga | ---- | 76,000 La Laguna | 000 | (?) La Union | 10,050 | 000 Lepanto | ---- | 31,194 (Lepanto-Bontoc) | 70,283 | ---- Leyte | 000 | 000 Marinduque | 000 | 000 Masbate | 000 | 000 Mindoro | 7,264 | 15,000 Misamis | 40,210 | 000 Moro Province | 316,664 | 486,316 Negros Occidental | 4,612 | 4,612 Negros Oriental | 16,605 | 16,605 Nueva Ecija | 1,148 | 862 Nueva Vizcaya | 46,515 | 6,000 Palawan | 6,844 | 20,000 Pampanga | 1,098 | 1,098 Pangasinan | 3,386 | 3,386 Rizal | 2,421 | 2,421 Romblon | 000 | 50 Samar | 688 | 1,390 Siquijor | ---- | 000 Sorsogon | 41 | 41 Surigao | 15,814 | (?) Tarlac | 1,594 | 1,594 Tayabas | 2,803 | 2,803 Zambales | 3,168 | 3,168 +----------+----------- Total | 647,740 | 1,071,832 -------------------+----------+-----------

Certain of the items in this table require brief explanation. In it the name of each province or sub-province for which the census estimate has been departed from is italicized.

Agusan. This province did not exist when the census was taken. It has since been carved out of the territory which formerly belonged to Surigao and Misamis. The figures given, based largely on actual enumeration, are approximately correct.