Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-11427 August 23, 1916
VY LION LIN, petitioner-appellee,
vs.
THE INSULAR COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, respondent-appellant.
Attorney-General Avanceña for appellant.
Williams, Ferrier and SyCip for appellee.
JOHNSON, J.:
The only question presented by this appeal is whether or not adult Chinese aliens who have never been in territory of the United States may enter the Philippine Islands without the "section six certificate."
On the 19th of November, 1915, two Chinamen, Soon Shing and Who Chan Ton, arrived at the port of Manila on the steamship Tenyo Maru, from Japan, and asked permission to enter the Philippine Islands. Their right to enter was denied. They were taken before a board of special inquiry, which board, after hearing their respective declarations, found that they were Chinese persons, subjects of the Republic of China, coming of the Philippine Islands from Japan; that they did not present the "section six certificate" as is required by law for the admission of Chinese aliens into territory of the United States. They were each informed formed of the decision of the board of special inquiry and each appealed to the Collector of Customs who affirmed the decision of the board of special inquiry on the 23d of November, 1915.
On the same day (the 23d of November, 1915), a petition for the writ of habeas corpus was presented in the Court of First Instance of the city of Manila by the plaintiff herein. Said petition was duly answered by the Attorney-General. Upon a consideration of the petition, the answer or return of the Attorney-General, and the record made by the department of customs, the Honorable Simplicio del Rosario, judge, reached the conclusion that the said two Chinamen should be permitted to enter the Philippine Islands without the "section six certificate." From that judgment the Attorney-General appealed to this court.
In this court the Attorney-General makes several assignments of error, the most important of which and the one upon which the appeal in the present case must be decided is that the lower court committed an error in finding that the "section six certificate" is not necessary for the admission of Chinese persons of the privileged class.
From the record it appears that the two said Chinamen were subjects of China; that by reason of some difficulty with the Chinese Government they escaped from China to Japan and from there came to Manila; that they were newspaper men; that they could not return to China because of some fear which they entertained concerning the action which their own Government might take against them. The lower court believed that they belonged to the "privileged class;" that they were entitled to the "section six certificate;" that it was impossible for them to obtain said certificate from their own Government, because they were unable to return to their own country for that purpose. The theory of the lower court was based upon the fact that the two Chinamen belonged to a class who might, under other conditions, have obtained the "section six certificate" from the proper authorities of the Chinese Government.
But few questions relating to the right of Chinese aliens to enter territory of the United States are better settled and supported by a larger number of decisions, not only by the department of customs but by the courts themselves, than the one which provides that no Chinese alien, be he merchant, teacher, student, on tourist, has a right to enter territory of the United States without the "section six certificate." The only exception to that rule is the case of a wife or the minor children of a resident Chinese in territory of the United States.
While the other assignments of error presented by the Attorney-General present questions of great interest, we deem it unnecessary to discuss them at this time for the reason that the assignment which we have discussed is sufficient to sold the question before us, to wit, whether or not the two Chinamen have a right to enter the Philippine Islands without the "section six certificate." The other assignments of error relate to the procedure. They will be discussed when their discussion is important for the decision of a case in which they may be presented.
For all of the foregoing reasons, we are of the opinion, and so hold, that the judgment of the lower court should be and is hereby revoked, and that it is hereby ordered and decreed that the plaintiffs and appellees be returned to the Collector of Customs to the end that the order of deportation heretofore dictated by him may be carried into effect, and without any finding as to costs it is so ordered.
Torres, Trent, and Araullo, JJ., concur.
Moreland, J., concurs in the result.
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