GR 7679; (September, 1914) (Digest)

G.R. No. 7679; September 1, 1914
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellant, vs. YU WA (alias YENG WA), defendant-appellee.

FACTS:
The defendant, Yu Wa, a Chinese alien about 38 years old, was arrested and charged in the Court of First Instance of Manila for being found in the Philippine Islands without the certificate of registration required by Act No. 702. It was established that he was in the Philippines when Act No. 702 took effect and had remained continuously since. During the hearing, Yu Wa testified that for the past three years he had been a partner in a business in Manila, and prior to that, he was an employee for about five years. He also claimed he was sick before the close of the registration period provided by the Act. The trial court, giving the defendant the benefit of the doubt, held that the prosecution failed to sufficiently prove that Yu Wa was a laborer required to register at the close of the registration period. Consequently, the court discharged him, ruling that insufficient cause for deportation had been shown. The Government appealed.

ISSUE:
Whether the trial court erred in placing the burden of proof on the Government to show that the defendant was a Chinese laborer subject to registration under Act No. 702, and in discharging him based on his subsequent status as a merchant.

RULING:
Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court.
The Court held that under Section 5 of Act No. 702, every Chinese person found without the required certificate after the expiration of the registration period is presumed to be a Chinese laborer subject to deportation. The burden of proof is by law placed upon the alien to present satisfactory evidence that he was not a member of the class required to register. This burden is determined by the failure to possess the certificate, not by the alien’s status at the time of arrest.
The Court found that Yu Wa, by his own testimony, affirmatively demonstrated he was a Chinese laborer when Act No. 702 took effect and remained such until the close of the registration period. His excuse of sickness was unavailing, as the Act, while extending time for those sick, still mandated deportation for any laborer failing to secure the certificate within two years from the Act’s passage. His subsequent change in status to a merchant did not relieve him of the obligation to register based on his status during the registration period.
The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s judgment and ordered Yu Wa remanded to the custody of the Collector of Customs for deportation.