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[No. 45987. May 5, 1939]

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff and appellee, vs.

CAYAT, defendant and appellant.

1. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; GUARANTY OF EQUAL

PROTECTION OF THE LAWS; LEGISLATION BASED ON
REASONABLE CLASSIFICATION.—It is an established
principle of constitutional law that the guaranty of the equal
protection of the laws is not violated by a legislation based on
reasonable classification. And the classification, to be reasonable,
(!) must rest on substantial distinctions; (2) must be germane to the
purposes of the law; (3) must not be limited to existing conditions
only; and (4) must apply equally to all members of the same class.

2. ID.; ID.; ID.; NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES.—Act No. 1639 satisfies

these requirements. The classification rests on real or substantial,
not merely imaginary or whimsical, distinctions. It is not based
upon "accident of birth or parentage" but upon the degree of
civilization and culture. The term "non-Christian tribes" re

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People vs. Cayat

fers, .not to religious belief, but, in a way, to the geographical area,

and, more directly, to natives of the Philippines of a low grade of
civilization, usually living in tribal relationship apart from settled
communities.

8. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.—This distinction is unquestionably reasonable,

for the Act was intended to meet the peculiar conditions existing in
the non-Christian tribes. The exceptional cases of certain members
thereof who at present have reached a position of cultural equality
with their Christian brothers, cannot affect the reasonableness of
the classification thus established.

4. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.—That the classification is germane to the

purposes of law cannot be doubted. The prohibition "to buy,
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receive, have in his possession, or drink any ardent spirits, ale, beer,
wine, or intoxicating liquors of any kind, other than the socalled
native wines and liquors which the members of such tribes have
been accustomed themselves to make prior to the passage of this
Act," is unquestionably designed to insure peace and order in and
among the non-Christian tribes. It has been the sad experience of
the past, as the observations of the lower court disclose, that the
free use of highly intoxicating liquors by the non-Christian tribes
have often resulted in lawlessness and crimes thereby hampering
the efforts of the government to raise their standard of life and
civilization.

5. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.—The law is not limited in its application to

conditions existing at the time of its enactment. It is intended to
apply for all times as long as those conditions exist. The Act was
not predicated upon the assumption that the nonChristians are
"impermeable to any civilizing influence." On the contrary, the
Legislature understood that the civilization of a people is a slow
process and that hand in hand with it must go measures of
protection and security.

6. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.—That the Act applies equally to all members of
the class is evident from a perusal thereof. That it may be unfair in
its operation against a certain number of non-Christians by reason
of their degree of culture, is not an argument against the equality of
its application.

7. ID.; ID. ; ID. ; ID.; DUE PROCESS OF LAW.—To constitute due

process of law, notice and bearing are not always necessary. This
rule is especially true where much must be left to the discretion of
the administrative officials in applying a law to particular cases.
Due process of law means simply: (1) that there shall be a law
prescribed in harmony with the general powers of the legislative
department of the government; (2) that it shall be reasonable in its
operation; (3) that it shall be enforced according to the regular
methods of procedure prescribed; and (4) that

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People vs. Cayat

it shall be applicable alike to all citizens of the state or to all of a

class.

8. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; POLICE POWER OF THE STATE.—Neither is

the Act an improper exercise of the police power of the state. It has
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been said that the police power is the most insistent and least
limitable of all the powers of the government. It has been aptly
described as a power coextensive with self-protection and
constitutes the law of overruling necessity. Any measure intended
to promote the health, peace, morals, education and good order of
the people or to increase the industries of -the state, develop its
resources and add to its wealth and prosperity, is a legitimate
exercise of the police power, and unless shown to be whimsical or
capricious as to unduly interfere with the rights of an individual,
the same must be upheld.

9. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.—Act No. 1639 is designed to promote peace
and order in the non-Christian tribes so as to remove all obstacles
to their moral and intellectual growth and, eventually, to hasten
their equalization and unification with the rest of their Christian
brothers. Its ultimate purpose can be no other than to unify the
Filipino people with a view to a greater Philippines. The law, then,
does not seek to mark the non-Christian tribes as "an inferior or less
capable race." On the contrary, all measures thus far adopted in the
promotion of the public policy towards them rest upon a
recognition of their inherent right to equality in the enjoyment of
those privileges now enjoyed by their Christian brothers. But as
there can be no true equality before the law, if there is, in fact, no
equality in education, the government has endeavored, by
appropriate measures, to raise their culture and civilization and
secure for them the benefits of their progress, with the ultimate end
in view of placing them with their Christian brothers on the basis of
true equality.

10. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; PRINCIPLE OF "SALUS POPULI

SUPREMA EST LEX.—In the constitutional scheme of our
government, this court can go no farther than to inquire whether the
Legislature had the power to enact the law. If the power exists, and
we hold it does exist, the wisdom of the policy adopted, and the
adequacy under existing conditions of the measures enacted to
forward it, are matters which this court has no authority to pass
upon. And, if in the application of the law, the educated. non-
Christians shall incidentally suffer, the justification still exists in
the all-comprehending principle of salus populi suprema est lex.

11. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INTERESTS.
—When the public safety or the public morals require the
discontinuance

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VOL. 68, MAY 5, 1939 15

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People vs. Cayat

of a certain practice by a certain class of persons, the hand of the

Legislature cannot be stayed from providing for its discontinuance
by any incidental inconvenience which some members of the class
may suffer. The private interests of such members must yield to the
paramount interests of the nation (Cf. Boston Beer Co. vs. Mass.,
97 U. S., 25; 24 Law. ed., 989).

APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of First Instance of Baguio.

Carlos, J.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Sinai Hamada y Cariño for appellant.
Solicitor-General Tuason for appellee.

MORAN, J.:

Prosecuted for violation of Act No. 1639 (secs. 2 and 3), the
accused, Cayat, a native of Baguio, Benguet, Mountain Province,
was sentenced by the justice of the peace court of Baguio to pay a
fine of five pesos (P5) or suffer subsidiary imprisonment in case of
insolvency. On appeal to the Court of First Instance, the following
information was filed against him:

"That on or about the 25th day of January, 1937, in the City of Baguio,
Commonwealth of the Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this court,
the above-named accused, Cayat, being a member of the non-Christian
tribes, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and illegally receive, acquire,
and have in his possession and under his control or custody, one bottle of A-
1-1 gin, an intoxicating liquor, other than the so-called native wines and
liquors which the members of such tribes have been accustomed themselves
to make prior to the passage of Act No. 1639."

Accused interposed a demurrer which was overruled. At the trial, he

admitted all the facts alleged in the information, but pleaded not
guilty to the charge for the reasons adduced in his demurrer and
submitted the case on the pleadings. The trial court found him guilty
of the crime charged and sentenced him to pay a fine of fifty pesos
(P50) or suffer subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency. The
case is now before this court on appeal. Sections 2 and 3 of Act No.
1639 read:

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People vs. Cayat

"SEC. 2. It shall be unlawful for any native of the Philippine Islands who is
a member of a non-Christian tribe within the meaning of Act Numbered
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Thirteen hundred and ninety-seven, to buy, receive, have in his possession,

or drink any ardent spirits, ale, beer, wine, or intoxicating liquors of any
kind, other than the so-called native wines and liquors which the members
of such tribes have been accustomed themselves to make prior to the
passage of this Act, except as provided in section one hereof; and it shall be
the duty of any police officer or other duly authorized agent of the Insular or
any provincial, municipal or township government to seize and forthwith
destroy any such liquors found unlawfully in the possession of any member
of a non-Christian tribe.
"SEC. 3. Any person violating the provisions of section one or section
two of this Act shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable for each
offense by a fine of not exceeding two hundred pesos or by imprisonment
for a term not exceeding six months, in the discretion of the court."

The accused challenges the constitutionality of the Act on the

following grounds:

(1) That it is discriminatory and denies the equal protection of

the laws;
(2) That it is violative of the due process clause of the
Constitution; and
(3) That it is an improper exercise of the police power of the
state.

Counsel for the appellant holds out his brief as the "brief for the
non-Christian tribes." It is said that as these less civilized elements
of the Filipino population are "jealous of their rights in a
democracy," any attempt to treat them with discrimination or "mark
them as inferior or less capable race and less entitled" will meet with
their instant challenge. As the constitutionality of the Act here
involved is questioned for purposes thus mentioned, it becomes
imperative to examine and resolve the issues raised in the light of
the policy of the government towards the nonChristian tribes
adopted and consistently followed from the

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People vs. Cayat

Spanish times to the present, more often with sacrifice and

tribulation but always with conscience and humanity.
As early as 1551, the Spanish Government had assumed an
unvarying solicitous attitude towards these inhabitants, and in the
different laws of the Indies, their concentration in so-called
"reducciones" (communities) had been persistently attempted with
the end in view of according them the "spiritual and temporal
benefits" of civilized life. Throughout the Spanish regime, it had
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been regarded by the Spanish Government as a sacred "duty to

conscience and humanity" to civilize these less fortunate people
living "in the obscurity of ignorance" and to accord them the "moral
and material advantages" of community life and the "protection and
vigilance afforded them by the same laws." (Decree of the
Governor-General of the Philippines, Jan. 14, 1887.) This policy had
not been deflected from during the American period. President
McKinley in his instructions to the Philippine Commission 'of April
7, 1900, said:

"In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the Islands, the Commission should
adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting the tribes of our
North American Indians to maintain their tribal organization and
government, and under which many of those tribes are now living in peace
and contentment, surrounded by civilization to which they are unable or
unwilling to conform. Such tribal government should, however, be subjected
to wise and firm regulation; and, without undue or petty interference,
constant and active effort should be exercised to prevent barbarous practices
and introduce civilized customs."

Since then and up to the present, the government has been constantly
vexed with the problem of determining ''those practicable means of
bringing about their advancement in civilization and material
prosperity." (See, Act No. 253.) "Placed in an alternative of either
letting them alone or guiding them in the path of civilization," the
present government "has chosen to adopt the latter measure as one
more in accord with humanity and with the national conscience."
(Memorandum of Secretary of the Interior,

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quoted in Rubi vs. Provincial Board of Mindoro, 39 Phil., 660, 714.)

To this end, their homes and firesides have been brought, in contact
with civilized communities through a network of highways and
communications; the benefits of public education have to them been
extended; and more lately, even the right of suffrage. And to
complement this policy of attraction and assimilation, the
Legislature has passed Act No. 1639 undoubtedly to secure for them
the blessings of peace and harmony; to facilitate, and not to mar,
their rapid and steady march to civilization and culture. It is,
therefore, in this light that the Act must be understood and applied.
It is an established principle of constitutional law that the
guaranty of the equal protection of the laws is not violated by a
legislation based on reasonable classification. And the classification,
to be reasonable, (1) must rest on substantial distinctions; (2) must

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be germane to the purposes of the law; (3) must not be limited to

existing conditions only; and (4) must apply equally to all members
of the same class. (Borgnis vs. Falk Co., 133 N. W., 209; Lindsley
vs. Natural Carbonic Gas Co., 220 U. S., 61; 55 Law. ed., 369; Rubi
vs. Provincial Board of Mindoro, 39 Phil., 660; People and
Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation vs. Vera and Cu
Unjieng, 37 Off. Gaz., 187.)
Act No. 1639 satisfies these requirements. The classification rests
on real or substantial, not merely imaginary or whimsical,
distinctions. It is not based upon "accident of birth or parentage," as
counsel for the appellant asserts, but upon the degree of civilization
and culture. "The term 'non-Christian tribes' refers, not to religious
belief, but, in a way, to the geographical area, and, more directly, to
natives of the Philippine Islands of a low grade of civilization,
usually living in tribal relationship apart from settled communities."
(Rubi vs. Provincial Board of Mindoro, supra.) This distinction is
unquestionably reasonable, for the Act was intended to meet the
peculiar conditions existing in the non-Christian tribes. The
exceptional cases of certain members thereof who at present have
reached a position of cultural equality with their Christian brothers,

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People vs. Cayat

cannot affect the reasonableness of the classification thus

established.
That it is germane to the purposes of law cannot be doubted. The
prohibition "to buy, receive, have in his possession, or drink any
ardent spirits, ale, beer, wine, or intoxicating liquors of any kind,
other than the so-called native wines and liquors which the members
of such tribes have been accustomed themselves to make prior to the
passage of this Act," is unquestionably designed to insure peace and
order in and among the non-Christian tribes. It has been the sad
experience of the past, as the observations of the lower court
disclose, that the free use of highly intoxicating liquors by the non-
Christian tribes have often resulted in lawlessness and crimes,
thereby hampering the efforts of the government to raise their
standard of life and civilization.
The law is not limited in its application to conditions existing at
the time of its enactment. It is intended to apply for all times as long
as those conditions exist. The Act was not predicated, as counsel for
appellant asserts, upon the assumption that the non-Christians are
"impermeable to any civilizing influence." On the contrary, the
Legislature understood that the civilization of a people is a slow
process and that hand in hand with it must go measures of protection
and security.
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Finally, that the Act applies equally to all members of the class is
evident from a perusal thereof. That it may be unfair in its operation
against a certain number of nonChristians by reason of their degree
of culture, is not an argument against the equality of its application.
Appellant contends that that provision of the law empowering
any police officer or other duly authorized agent of the government
to seize and forthwith destroy any prohibited liquors found
unlawfully in the possession of any member of the non-Christian
tribes is violative of the due process of law provided in the
Constitution. But this provision is not involved in the case at bar.
Besides, to constitute due process of law, notice and hearing are not
always necessary. This rule is especially true where much must

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be left to the discretion of the administrative officials in applying a

law to particular cases. (McGehee, Due Process of Law, p. 371,
cited with approval in Rubi vs. Provincial Board of Mindoro, supra.)
Due process of law means simply: (1) that there shall be a law
prescribed in harmony with the general powers of the legislative
department of the government; (2) that it shall be reasonable in its
operation; (3) that it shall be enforced according to the regular
methods of procedure prescribed; and (4) that it shall be applicable
alike to all citizens of the state or to all of a class. (U. S. vs. Ling Su
Fan, 10 Phil., 104, affirmed on appeal by the United States Supreme
Court, 218 U. S., 302:54 Law. ed., 1049.) Thus, a person's property
may be seized by the government in payment of taxes without
judicial hearing; or property used in violation of law may be
confiscated (U. S. vs. Surla, 20 Phil., 163, 167), or when the
property constitutes corpus delicti, as in the instant case (Moreno vs.
Ago Chi, 12 Phil., 439, 442).
Neither is the Act an improper exercise of the police power of the
state. It has been said that the police power is the most insistent and
least limitable of all the powers of the government. It has been aptly
described as a power coextensive with self-protection and
constitutes the law of overruling necessity. Any measure intended to
promote the health, peace, morals, education and good order of the
people or to increase the industries of the state, develop its resources
and add to its wealth. and prosperity (Barbier vs. Connolly, 113 U.
S., 27), is a legitimate exercise of the police power, and unless
shown to be whimsical or capricious as to unduly interfere with the
rights of an individual, the same must be upheld.
Act No. 1639, as above stated, is designed to promote peace and
order in the non-Christian tribes so as to remove all obstacles to their
moral and intellectual- growth and, eventually, to hasten their
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equalization and unification with the rest of their Christian brothers.

Its ultimate purpose

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People vs. Cayat

can be no other than to unify the Filipino people with a view to a

greater Philippines,
The law, then, does not seek to mark the non-Christian tribes as
"an inferior or less capable race." On the contrary, all measures thus
far adopted in the promotion of the public policy towards them rest
upon a recognition of their inherent right to equality in the
enjoyment of those privileges now enjoyed by their Christian
brothers. But as there can be no true equality before the law, if there
is, in fact, no equality in education, the government has endeavored,
by appropriate measures, to raise their culture and civilization and
secure for them the benefits of their progress, with the ultimate end
in view of placing them with their Christian brothers on the basis of
true equality. It is indeed gratifying that the non-Christian tribes "far
from retrograding, are definitely asserting themselves in a
competitive world," as appellant's attorney impressively avers, and
that they are "a virile, up-and-coming people eager to take their
place in the world's social scheme." As a matter of fact, there 'are
now lawyers, doctors and other professionals educated in the best
institutions here and in America. Their active participation in the
multifarious welfare activities of community life or in the delicate
duties of government is certainly a source of pride and gratification
to people of the Philippines. But whether conditions have so
changed as to warrant a partial or complete abrogation of the law, is
a matter which rests exclusively within the prerogative of the
National Assembly to determine. In the constitutional scheme of our
government, this court can go no farther than to inquire whether the
Legislature had the power to enact the law. If the power exists, and
we hold it does exist, the wisdom of the policy adopted, and the
adequacy under existing conditions of the measures enacted to
forward it, are matters which this court has no authority to pass
upon. And, if in the application of the law, the educated non-
Christians shall incidentally suffer, the justification still exists in the
all-comprehending principle of salus populi suprema est lex. When
the public

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Raymundo Transportation vs. Public Service Commission

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safety or the public morals require the discontinuance of a certain

practice by a certain class of persons, the hand of the Legislature
cannot be stayed from providing for its discontinuance by any
incidental inconvenience which some members of the class may
suffer. The private interests of such members must yield to the
paramount interests of the nation (Cf. Boston Beer Co. vs. Mass., 97
U. S., 25; 24 Law. ed., 989).
Judgment is affirmed, with costs against appellant.

Avanceña, C. J., Villa-Real, Imperial, Diaz, Laurel, and

Concepcion, JJ., concur.

Judgment affirmed.

____________

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