GR L 10622; (October, 1916)

EN BANC

G.R. No. L-10622 October 12, 1916

ENGRACIO LAURENCIO, plaintiff-appellant,

vs.
THE INSULAR COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, defendant-appellee.

Williams, Ferrier & SyCip for appellant.
Attorney-General Avanceña for appellee.

JOHNSON, J.:

The question presented by this appeal is whether or not the plaintiff and appellant is a citizen of the Philippine Islands and entitled to enter therein, or a Chinese subject and not entitled to enter the Philippine Islands. The board of special inquiry found that he was a Chinese subject, that he did not present the “section six certificate” required by law for the admission of Chinese into territory of the United States, and refused him the right to land.

From that decision an appeal was taken to the Collector of Customs and by him affirmed. Later, on the 29th of August 1914, a petition for the writ of habeas corpus was presented in the Court of First Instance, in which it was alleged that the plaintiff was being illegally detained by the Collector of Customs and that he was a citizen of the Philippine Islands. Said petition was duly answered by the Attorney-General representing the Collector of Customs.

After a careful consideration of the issues presented, in relation with the record made by the department of customs, the Honorable George R. Harvey, judge, in a very carefully prepared opinion, reached the conclusion that the department of customs had not abused its power, authority, or discretion in denying the petitioner the right to enter territory of the United States, dismissed the petition for the writ of habeas corpus, and remanded him to the custody of the Insular collector of Customs for deportation, with costs.

It appears from an examination of the record that on or about the 11th of June, 1914, the petitioner arrived at the port of Manila on the steamship Linan and applied for admission into the Philippine Islands as a native-born Filipino. The question as to his right to enter was referred to a board of special inquiry, which, after an examination of the defendant, together with the witnesses which he presented, found that he was a full-blooded Chinaman,

An appeal from the decision of the said board was duly taken to the Collector of Customs who affirmed said decision. Later a rehearing was granted upon the request of the plaintiff. At the close of the second hearing the board of special inquiry again reached the conclusion that the plaintiff was a full-blooded Chinaman and denied to him the right to enter the Philippine Islands. Another appeal was taken to the Collector of Customs and the second decision of the board of special inquiry was also affirmed.

Later a petition for the writ of habeas corpus was presented in the Court of First Instance and after a full hearing a decision was rendered, as above indicated, denying the petitioner the right to enter the Philippine Islands upon the ground that he was not a citizen, but a full-blooded Chinaman.

A petition for a rehearing in the Court of First Instance was granted, and the petitioner was permitted to present additional proof of his citizenship. After hearing the additional proof, the lower court found that it was merely cumulative and did not affect the conclusion theretofore reached.

From the decision of the lower court ordering the plaintiff and appellant deported he appealed to this court and made eleven assignments of error.

None of said assignments of error present new questions. All of the questions raised by the appellant have heretofore been decided by this court. The perennial discussion in the briefs of Chinese cases appealed to this court, with regard to the legality of boards of special inquiry, again appears in the brief of the appellant. That question has been decided against the contention of the appellant in numerous decisions of this court. And not only by this court, but its conclusions have been affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. (Chieng Ah Sui vs. Collector of Customs, 22 Phil. Rep., 361; 229 U. S., 139.) In view of the numerous decisions of this court upon that question, and the fact the our conclusions have been affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States, we deem it unnecessary to discuss that question again. lawphil.net

The second question raised by the appellant relates to the failure of the immigration authorities to take into consideration the evidence presented to it. The personal appearance of the petitioner constituted the most convincing proof, in the mind of the board, that he was a full-blooded Chinaman and not a native-born Filipino. He was a man of twenty-seven years of age; his personal appearance, in the opinion of the board, outweighed all the other evidence adduced during the hearing. It has been decided in numerous cases that the department of customs may take into consideration the personal appearance of alien Chinese immigrants seeking admission into territory of the United States, for the purpose of determining whether they are aliens or not, and their finding upon that question will not be disturbed by the courts unless it is clearly proven that there was an unmistakable abuse of power, authority, or discretion. (Go Paw vs. Collector of Customs, 33 Phil. Rep., 278; Leong Guen vs. Collector of Customs, 31 Phil. Rep., 417; Sing Jing Talento vs. Collector of Customs, 32 Phil. Rep., 82; Que Quay vs. Collector of Customs, 33 Phil. Rep., 128; Yam Ka lim vs. Collector of Customs, 30 Phil. Rep., 46; Valdezco Sy Chiok vs. Collector of Customs, 33 Phil. Rep., 406; Gñilo vs. Collector of Customs, 32 Phil. Rep., 100.)

In the other assignments of error the appellant contends that the department of customs has no jurisdiction to pass upon the question of the right of aliens to enter territory of the United States, who claim to be citizens thereof. The appellant contends that the question of citizenship must be tried and determined by the courts. That question has been decided in numerous cases against the contention of the appellant. (U. S. vs. Ju Toy, 198 U. S., 253; U. S. vs. Chin Yow, 208 U. S., 8; and the cases above cited.) Of course, if a person seeking admission into territory of the United States shows that he is in fact a citizen, there would be an abuse of authority on the part of the department of customs to deny him that right. (Ang Eng Chong vs. Collector of Customs, 23 Phil. Rep., 614; U. S. vs. Go-Siaco, 12 Phil. Rep., 490; Muñoz vs. Collector of Customs, 20 Phil. Rep., 494; U. S. vs. Yu Kiao, 20 Phil. Rep., 307; U. S. vs. Gue Liem, 176 U. S., 459; Ngo-Ti vs. Shuster, 7 Phil. Rep., 355.)

The error assigned by the appellant that the lower court did not examine the record of the testimony taken by the department of customs and the evidence introduced before it and render a decision thereon, but instead, contented itself with the finding that there was no abuse of authority on the part of the immigration officials, is not based upon fact, for the reason that the Honorable George R. Harvey, in his carefully prepared opinion, did, in fact, discuss all of the important question presented to him.

After a careful examination of the record brought to this court, we are persuaded that no error was committed by the lower court. Its judgment, therefore, is hereby affirmed, with costs. So ordered.

Torres, Carson, Moreland, Trent and Araullo, JJ., concur.

Batas Pinas