G.R. No. 44610 ; June 30, 1937
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. QUAN KANG, defendant-appellant.

FACTS

The accused-appellant, Quan Kang, was charged with violating Act No. 702 (the Chinese Registration Act) for being found in Mati, Davao, without the required certificate of registration. He initially pleaded guilty to the information, which alleged he was a “Chinese” without a certificate. At trial, the evidence showed he was born in China to Chinese-Filipino parents, came to the Philippines at age six, and after his father’s death, managed and later expanded his father’s sari-sari store business in Manila and Davao. He never engaged in manual labor. His failure to register was due to his belief that, as a merchant and son of Chinese-Filipino parents, he was not obligated to register under the law.

ISSUE

Whether Quan Kang, a Chinese merchant without a certificate of registration, is guilty of violating Act No. 702 , which primarily targets Chinese laborers.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court acquitted Quan Kang. The Court held that the presumption under Section 5 of Act No. 702 —that a Chinese person without a certificate is a Chinese laborer—is a disputable presumption. This presumption was successfully rebutted by satisfactory proof that Quan Kang was a merchant, not a laborer. Since Act No. 702 ’s deportation provisions applied specifically to Chinese laborers, they were not applicable to him. His guilty plea only admitted he was Chinese and without a certificate, not that he was a laborer, as the information did not allege he was a laborer.

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