Agabin. Mestizo Chap. 7- Conquest & Penetration: Birth of the Mestizo Historical BG -02/15/1898 – USS Maine exploded, killing many, while docked at the Havan Harbor. Because of this— Theodore Roosevelt (undersec of Navy) – blamed it on the dirty treachery of the Spaniards(published in newspapers, but later, a research team concluded that the explosion was caused by a spontaneous fire in a coal bunker aboard the ship). -Roosevelt, in cooperation with Capt. Alfred Thayer & Henry Cabot Lodge (the three were called the ‘triumvirate’) – manipulated Pres. William Mckinley into declaring war with Spain. WHY? (1)assist the Cuban rebels to win independence (2)occupy the Phils. & crush the newly-born Phil. Republic in the process. ->also aided by 2 American publishers— William Randolph Hearst & Joseph Pulitzer – used their papers to goad the American nation into war. -Queen Maria Cristina of Spain sought conciliation, because she knew they would lose—but for America: -‘Remember the Maine/To hell w/ Spain!’ -April 1898 – war broke out -05/01/1898 – Admiral Dewey proceeded to the Phils., & defeated the Spanish fleet after 2 hrs. -Mckinley: Should I take or leave the Phils.? (he was very indecisive, even in waging war) -Reasons for pro-annexation: (1)Phils. As a springboard for Commerce in Asia (2)Phils as a field ripe for evangelical endeavour (3)Advantage of projecting sea power in the Pacific -Reason for Mckinley: ‘To educate the Filipinos, & uplift & Christianize them, as our fellow men for whom Christ died.’ -Leaders of USA: It’s America’s ‘Manifest Destiny’ to expand westward. -10/26/1898 – Mckinley instructed negotiators in Paris that he wanted the whole Phils, not just crucial parts of it. -12/10/1898 – Treaty of Paris – granted: (1)independence to Cuba Enad (2)Made the Phils, Guam, & Puerto Rico possessions. ->legitimized American occupation in the Phils. ->marriage contract bet. Civil law & common law system—union of convenience -Phils became unincorporated territory & a military gov’t., headed by Major General Wesley Merritt (a veteran of the Indian Wars) -Feb. 1899 – Phil-American War ->responsibility for governance transferred— from State Department to War Department, headed by Elihu Root (lawyer) -Root: America would civilize the natives accdg. to the constitutional standards of the US Constitution— justifies expansionist policy of US as regards to the Phils. -Taft Commission: majority of natives are ignorant, superstitious & credulous. -US v. Dorr – Issue: WON the US Constitution followed the American flag Ruling of Phil. SC: Not all rights listed in the US Constitution followed the flag into the Phils—not the right to bear arms, at a time when the Americans were pacifying Filipino freedom fighters; nor the right to trial by jury. -Illustrados – key to Taft’s policy of attraction; realized that majority of Filipinos looked upon the elite for leadership & inspiration. -Illustrados relished their role as ‘little brown brothers’. WHY? Political power & property rights would be safeguarded under the US Constitution. -Partido Federalista – formed by the Illustrados to lay foundations of eventual statehood in the American Union. -1901 – Task of crafting legislation for the Phils was given to Senator Spooner (saw the Phils as a bitter fruit of war), authored the— -Spooner Amendment – created the principal organ of administration—the Philippine Commission. -Military gov’t. ended, civil gov’t. instituted—chose William Howard Taft (federal judge) as head of the 2nd Phil. Commission. Constitutionalism & Common Law Comes to the Philippines -Mckinley to Taft: Impose upon Phil gov’t. the inviolable rule—no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property w/o due process of law. ->carried with it all the case law laid down by US SC. -US SC had jurisdiction over all judgments of Phil. SC in cases in w/c the Organic Law, or any statute, treaty, title, or privilege of the US was involved. WHY? So that transplanted constitutional rights would be developed along the lines laid out in the US. -US administrators relied upon the Federal SC to protect their interests in the colony—the court demonstrated that it was not beyond politics in the use of judicial review to protect interests. -Insular cases – Protection of the Constitution could not be automatically extended to the colonies. WHY? For the protection of the economic centurions’ sectoral business participation & trade expansion. ->US Agricultural products were protected from competition by Phil. Products—high tariffs for Phil products, while US products entered the Phils virtually duty-free. ->also paved the way for the law extending Chinese exclusion laws to the Phils. ->justified denial of American citizenship to Filipinos (Organic Act of 1902: all inhabitants of Phil. Islands shall be deemed to be citizens of Phil. Islands only.) -Judiciary – expected to carry out colonial policy ->influence of American jurisprudence on laws extended to the Phils by Congressional-edict & stare decisis. ->majority of SC mems were American. -Mckinley: Indispensable qualification for all positions of trust & authority – absolute & unconditional loyalty to the US; absolute & unhampered authority & power to remove & punish any officer deviating from that standard. -Filipinos had own notions of law of the land/’due process’ before the coming of the Americans – No person shall be deprived temporarily/permanently of his property or rights, or disturbed n his possession, except by virtue of a judicial sentence. (Malolos Consti) -The almost indiscriminate borrowing from American models—Phil. SC interprets provisions of those laws in line w/ American precedents. Constitutional Law: Hegemony of Police Power -Exigencies of asserting American authority & setting up a civil gov’t—Phil. SC compelled to use common law concepts in public law to assert colonial authority. ->subordinated property rights to police power -SC affirmed supremacy of police power especially where the property involved is invested w/ a social fxn. ->also declared police power rests upon necessity & the right of self-protection -Regulation of shipping & in the imposition of burdens on shipowners—Excessive use of SC of common law doctrines on businesses clothed w/ public interest. ->De Villata v. Stanley: gov’t. may require shipping companies to carry mail free of charge. (4 yrs. Later, reversed by US Court—law was invalid, repugnant to the due process clause) -SC began to veer away from established doctrines of the common law, atleast in constitutional law, & began judicial legislation. Ascendancy of Substantive Due Process in Common Law -Political mood of the ‘20s in the US – affected course of judicial thought. -Change of administration on Washington. -Pres. Harding & Pers. Coolidge: laissez faire as a plan for dynamic action. -Gov. Gen. of the Phils Leonard Wood: ‘Keeping the gov’t out of business in order to encourage private enterprise.’ ->sold to private firms almost all gov’t corps. *Phils at the time was known for its numerous gov’towned dev’t. & marketing corps. -Constitutionalism was incongruous in an idyllic setting of economic underdev’t. ->strongly opposed grant of Phil jurisprudence—country did not have a stable gov’t. (where public & private funds are abundant & readily seek investment at moderate rates of interest) -2nd Phil Commission – charged with the task of setting up a new gov’t. created in the American image. -Colonial gov’t partiality – federal taxes supposed to be paid by US businessmen were not collected. ->vested w/ executive & legislative fxns. -Judiciary: An all-Filipino legislative body might pass laws destructive of property rights. -Grant of legislative powers—influx of borrowed laws & common law doctrines. Enad ->declared unconstitutional an Act & EO regulating the price of rice (private property, as opposed to wheat & flour commandeered by the US gov’t. during WWII) ->declared unconstitutional the Women & Child Labor Law that required employers to give maternity leave pay to women employees (deprived liberty to contract) -Taft as US SC Chief Justice: declared aunconstitutional the Chinese Bookkeeping Act—made unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, industry or any other activity for the purpose/profit to keep its account books in any language other than English, Spanish, or any local dialect. (Yu Cong Eng case) Procedural Law: From Inquisitorial to Adversarial -Codes of Procedure – promulgated as General Orders of the military, ‘to cover omissions of the Spanish legal sys.’ ->GO 68: displaced Siete Partidas provisions on marriage—secured liberty of marriage & civil marriages. -Codes of Civil Procedure – abrogated challenging of judges, civil liability of judges, requiring public trials. Code of Criminal Procedure – abolished inquisitorial procedure, adopted accusatorial system. (2)protect their property titles), but BECAUSE of exigencies of colonial administration. -Temporary expedience required retention customary law of the indigenous Filipinos. of -After pacifying the Filipino revolutionaries—reversed policy of legal pluralism & embarked on a policy of assimilation. ->1905 – US abrogated treaty w/ Sultan of Sulu. 1914 – imposed uniform law that disregarded Muslim Customary Law -Custom Law – it was not a matter of recognition, but the Us’ failure to penetrate the areas inhabited by the ethnic communities (mountains, Muslims could restrict them). ->Western personal law failed to penetrate ancestral domains. -Fear of disturbing land titles owned by Spanish friars & elites—big factor in deciding to protect existing property rights. ->Treaty of Paris provision: the cession of the Phils to US cannot in any respect impair the property/rights w/c by law belong to the peaceful possession of property of all kinds…by ecclesiastical..or any other association. (proposed by the Vatican) -Phil Commission – sole legislative organ of the colonial gov’t, passed 1800 laws from 1900-1907, including: Municipal Code, Provincial Gov’t. Act, Manila Charter, Special Provincial Gov’t. Act, Township Gov’t. Act, Gov’t. Reorganization Act, Civil Service Law, Election Law, Charter of Baguio City, Organic Act for Mindanao & Sulu, Organization of Courts, Code of Civil Procedure. -Taft re-entrenched a feudal oligarchy by catering to the Hispanic elite, enabling them to re-establish & improve upon their privileged position in the Phils, by enlisting them as PARTNERS IN GOV’T. -Example of twists & turns of rules of procedure arising from inquisitorial to accusatorial: admission of illegally obtained evidence—admissibleunconstitutional Criminal Law: Lone Survivor in Public Law Retention of Private Law & Custom Law -Pre-existing privae laws in the Phils were left alone, except for certain aspects thought to be in conflict w/ American notions of democracy & republicanism. ->amendments were instituted w/ respect to marriage law (GO 68 allowing civil marriages), laws governing associations, adoption, absence, & prescription ->WHY? Not because of the political demands/remonstrances of the Spanish (No. of Spaniards who remained were politically negligible, them being members of religious orders who only wanted to: (1)continue their evangelical mission, Enad ->Phil Commission passed a law—Spanish could be the official language of all courts until 1919— modified to include English. -Spanish-imposed penal code was not superseded, but altered. WHY? (1)to render it consistent w/ political & civil rights enumerated in the organic laws; (2)serve the purpose of the new sovereign. ->most of the crimes against the fundamental laws of the state (Book 2, Title 2) had been abrogated/modified. ->Phil Commission passed: (1)Treason, Insurrection, & Sedition Law Act #292 (2)Libel Law Act #277 (3)Law on Perjury Act #1697 (4)Customs Administrative Act #1180 -The basis of the old penal code, the Spanish Penal Code of 1870 (based on the French Penal Code of 1810) belongs to the classical school. ->based on Roman law concept, ‘free will’ = men are rational & calculation beings, who act w/ reference to the principles of pleasure & pain. ->punishment is proportional to: (1)nature; (2)gravity of offense. ->incongruous w/ US’ perception of the indios (poor, childish-minded apes), but consistent w/ US’ policy of ‘civilizing the Filipinos w/ a “Krag” (rifle)’ -Phil SC used DANGEROUS TENDENCY TEST to: (1)determine seditious nature of speech; (2)convict accused persons under the Treason & Sedition Law The Judicial System Follows the Flag -1899, Maj. Gen. Elwell Otis: (1)prescribed municipal elections, so that local officials would cooperate in the pacification campaign; (2)renovated the Judiciary—put native magistrates in TCs, created SC (placed Cayetano Arellano as CJ) -US: common-law principles > existing civil law system: (1)appointing a majority of US judges in Phil SC & in all inferior courts; (2)importation of US statutes -Stare decisis – adopted on colonization (1899) ->Organic Law of Phils: decisions by Phil SC might be reviewed by certiorari by the Federal SC. Statutory Interpretation -On interpretation of provisions of a statute— techniques & guidelines followed in common-law courts are employed. ->concepts on equity (US common-law) Retention of Civil Code Provisions on Persons & Property -Us retained Spanish-imposed CC of 1889 (based on the Code of Napoleon), subject to the principles & institutions recognized in the US constitution. -Title I (Citizenship) – repealed Enad Title II (Status of Natural & Juridical Persons) – modified by Code of Civil Procedure & the Corporation Law Title IV (Marriage) – modified by Gen. Merritt in the form of GO 68 Title V (Paternity & Filiation); Title VII (Parental Authority); Title VIII (Absence); Title IX (Guardianship); Title X (Family Council); Title XI (Emancipation on Majority Age) ->Repealed/modified by Code of Civil Procedure Book 2 & 3 on law of property: concepts of property, ownership, possession, usufruct, wills, inheritance, intestate succession, & executors – slightly modified by Code of Civil Procedure Book 4: laws on partition, obligations, contracts, purchase & sale, lease, labor, carriers, partnership, agency, loan, deposit, bailments, insurance, gambling, arbitration, pledge, mortgage, preference of credit & prescription – repealed/modified by Code of Civ. Prod. -Most significant changes on rovisions on all core activities of a business civilization – property, obligations, contracts, business orgs., credit transactions, transportation, banking & insurance. -The law had to follow the dominant ideology of the colonizer—US principles & institutions. ->Interest in land. Spain: political importance US: economic (sugar estates, mining interests, Luzon trading w/ China) -1912, Phil. Society (composed of US bankers, businessmen, etc.) – lobbied to block moves for independence of the colony. -Land laws had to be modified from civilian roots. WHY? To be more consistent w/ the ruling ideas of a business civilization. ->Civilian classification (1)movables (2)immovables of property: Anglo-American system: (1)property rights in land (2)property rights in movables ->alsorecognizes difference bet. Property & subject matter of property (foundation for exchange, sale or alienation of such) -US: intended to create a Filipino society in their own image, with Americans as ruling elite. HOW? (1)improved the economy; (2)constructed the infrastructure of a modern civilization; (3)expanded the markets; (4)exploited natural resources of the islands; (5)stimulated initiatives; private enterprise through gov’t. (6)evolved patterns of trade & commerce that retarded economic dev’t. of the islands; (7)monopolized importations & opening u exportations to the mother country (through Payne-Aldrich Act of 1909, Underwood-Simmons Act of 1913) ->concept of trusts – family trusts ->principle of promissory extoppel – fused to the concept of ‘causa’ in contracts Commercial Law -Commerical Law of any country is always reshaped by the ideology of the dominant economy. -Phil. Commission, and later, Phil. Nat’l. Assembly, borrowed wholesale American laws on: corporations; negotiable instruments; securities, insurance, banking, transportation, trademarks & copyright; unfair competition; chattel mortgage; insolvency & bankruptcy; bulk sales. -The following Acts superseded the Code of Commerce of Spain & other existing mercantile laws: ~Corporation Law 1459 ->created a dependent economy lorded over by the Americans, w/ the ilustrados & mestizos as the ‘little brown brothers’ (ruling class cultivated by Taft) ~Bankruptcy Act 1956 Obligations & Contracts ~Warehouse Receipts Law 2137 -Notable common-law doctrines accepted & blended into the civil law sys.: field of tort of proximate cause; negligence & contributory negligence; last clear chance; vicarious liability; sovereign immunity; moral damages; loss of profits; speculative profits; mitigation of damages ~Public Utilities Act C.A. 146 -Principles of estoppels are adopted insofar as they are not in conflict w/ other codes. ~Irrigation Act 2153 -Follow common-law rule: Equity will not aid a plaintiff whose unexcused delay, if the suit were allowed, would be prejudicial to the defendant. -Contracts: SC held that American law’s ‘consideration’ & civil law’s ‘causa’ have equivalent effects. ->’consideration’ is narrower, consist in some benefit to the promissory or in some detriment to the promisee; ‘causa’ is the essential reason of the contract -1950 CC – adopted the rule on ‘discharge by breach’ in contracts, especially in sales of goods. -Example of hybridization: concept of a judicious pater familias (Roman law) & common-law concept of the reasonable man. ->Code of Civ Prod (1902) modifying some concepts in the civil law of succession – ‘heir’ ->concepts of surety & guaranty – Spanish code, incorporated under ‘fianza’ ->forced heirship & free testation Enad ~Negotiable Instruments Act 2031 ~Insurance Law 2427 ~Usury Law 2655 ~Salvage Law 2616 ->foundation of a capitalist economy that forms the core of a business civilization.
