THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, plaintiff-appellant, vs. WONG CHENG (alias WONG CHUN), defendant-appellee. ; G.R. No. L-18924 , October 19, 1922

TOPIC: Territoriality and Extra-territoriality


GIST: Chen smoked opium, which is prohibited by Opium Law, while aboard a merchant vessel anchored within the Philippine territorial sea. A case was filed but his demurrer was sustained for lack of jurisdiction. It was appealed to be revoked. SC ruled that possession of opium within the territorial sea is not prohibited but usage is for it is a disturbance to public order. 


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FACTS:

1. Wong Chen is accused of having illegally smoked opium, aboard the merchant vessel Changsa of English nationality while the said vessel was anchored in  Manila Bay two and a half miles from the shores of the city.

2. The lower court dismissed the case based on Chen's demurrer alleging lack of jurisdiction.

3. Attorney-general appealed to revoke CFI Manila's decision sustaining Wong Chen's demurrer.


ISSUE:

Whether the courts of the Philippines have jurisdiction over crimes, like the one herein involved, committed aboard merchant vessels anchored in our jurisdiction waters. 


RULING:

YES. Philippine courts have jurisdiction. The are 2 fundamental rules on this matter in connection with International Law. 1st is the French rule and 2nd is the English rule which states that crimes perpetrated under such circumstances are in general triable in the courts of the country within the territory they were committed.  The 2nd rule is to be followed in this case since the Philippines is a territory of the US (in 1922); the theories and jurisprudence prevailing in the US are authority in the Philippines.

As held in previous US precedents, offenses or crimes committed aboard a ship within territorial waters are subject to the country's jurisdiction since it would be prejudicial to society when merchant vessels that enter for the purposes of trade did not owe temporary and local allegiance and are not subjected to the country's jurisdiction. (The Schooner Exchange vs. M'Faddon and Others (7 Cranch [U. S.], 116) 

Also, a disorder which disturbs only the peace of the ship or those on board are to be dealt with exclusively by the sovereignty of the home of the ship, but those which disturb the public peace may be suppressed, and, if need be, the offenders punished by the proper authorities of the local jurisdiction. Determination of jurisdiction may not be always easy and will always depend on the case's circumstances.

Opium Law primarily seeks to protect from the Philippine inhabitants from the opium usage's disastrous effect. Thus, mere possession of Opium aboard a foreign ship in transit without being used in our territory is not considered a disturbance in the public order.

However, smoking opium within our territorial limits, even though aboard a foreign merchant ship, is certainly a breach of the public order here established, because it causes such drug to produce its harmful effects within our territory.

In the case at bar, Wong Chen smoked the Opium aboard the ship while within the Philippine territory. Thus, the appeal is revoked and the cause order remanded to court of origin for further proceedings.


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ADDITIONAL INFO:

French rule -  crimes committed aboard a foreign merchant vessels  should not be prosecuted in the courts of the country within whose territorial jurisdiction they were committed unless their commission affects the peace and security of the territory

English rule - based on the territorial principle and followed in the United States, according to which, crimes perpetrated under such circumstances are in general triable in the courts of the country within the territory they were committed. 


Attorney-General aptly observes: 

. . . The idea of a person smoking opium securely on board a foreign vessel at anchor in the port of Manila in open defiance of the local authorities, who are impotent to lay hands on him, is simply subversive of public order. It requires no unusual stretch of the imagination to conceive that a foreign ship may come into the port of Manila and allow or solicit Chinese residents to smoke opium on board. 

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