SECTION 1.

THE LEGISLATIVE POWER SHALL BE VESTED IN THE CONGRESS OF THE

PHILIPPINES WHICH SHALL CONSIST OF A SENATE AND A HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT RESERVED TO THE PEOPLE BY
THE PROVISION ON INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM.

RUBI VS. PROVINCIAL BOARD OF MINDORO (39 PHIL. 660)

FACTS:

The case is an application for habeas corpus in favor Rubi and other Manguianes of the Province of
Mindoro. It was alleged that the Manguianes are being illegally deprived of their liberty by the provincial
officials of that province. The petitioners were said to be held on the reservation established at Tigbao,
Mindoro and one Dabalos is said to be under the custody of the provincial sheriff in the prison of Calapan
for having run away from the reservation.

In a resolution adopted by the provincial board of Mindoro it was stated that several attempts and
schemes have been made for the advancement of the non-Christian people of Mindoro which were all a
failure, and that unless other measure is taken for the Mangyan work of the province, no successful
result will be obtained toward educating those people, and that it is deemed necessary to oblige them to
live in one place, designated in Tigbao, in the interest of law and order .. It was also provided that any
mangyan who shall refuse to comply with the order shall be imprisoned upon conviction. The said
resolution has been duly approved by the Secretary of Interior and subsequently, the provincial governor
approved of the same pursuant to Administrative Order of 1917, enacted by the legislature, ordering the
non-Christians to take up their habitation on the site provided and their failure to abide shall be a ground
for imprisonment. Petitioner Rubi and those living in his rancheria have not fixed their dwellings within the
reservation of Tigbao and are liable in accordance with Sec. 2759 of Act 2711. The provincial governor
and the provincial board directed the Manguianes in question to take up their habitation in Tigbao.
Petitioner however, challenges the validity of the said Administrative Code. It shall be noted that that the
substance of the law in question is not new to Philippine law. Antecedent laws make use of the term non-
Christians with reference to uncivilized elements of the islands.

The court made a long enumeration of antecedent laws before and after the acquisition of the United
States of the Philippine Islands. These laws denote an anxious regard for the welfare of the non Christian
inhabitants of the Philippines and settled and consistent practice with reference to the method to be
followed for their advancement.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the petitioners were unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of their liberty.
Whether or not Sec 2145 of Administrative Oreder of 1917 is valid.

HELD:

The SC ruled that the Petitioners were not unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of their liberlty. More so,
Sec. 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 is constitutional.

RATIO:

***Constitutional Issues***

Delegation of Legislative Power.

Petitioner contends that the order of the governor, directing the Maguianes to habitate themselves in
Tigabo, is an undue delegation of legislative power.
The maxim of constitutional law forbidding the delegation of legislative power should be zealously
protected. Judge Ranney in the case of Ohio stressed that: The true distinction therefore is between the
delegation of power to make the law which necessarily involveds a discretion as to what it shall be, and
conferring an authority or discretion as to its execution, to be exercised under and pursuance of the law.
The first cannot be delegated; the latter no objection can be made. As held in Wayman vs. Southard,
Discretion may be committed by the legislature to an executive department or official. In the case at hand,
the Legislature merely conferred upon the provincial governor, with the approval of the provincial board,
and the Department Head, discretionary authority as to the execution of the law and such discretion is
indeed necessary. Furthermore, an exception to the general rule, sanctioned by immemorial practice,
permits the central legislative to delegate powers to local authority. As officials charged with the
administration of the province and the protection of its inhabitants, they are better fitted to select sites
which are favorable for improving the people who have misfortunes of being backward in the society.

Religious Discrimination

The words non-Christian have a clear, definite and well settled signification when used in the Philippines
statute books as a descriptive adjective applied to tribes, people, or inhabitants dwelling in more or less
remote districts and provinces throughout the islands. It denotes low grade of civilization of the individuals
included in the class to which they apply.

Liberty: Due Process of Law; Equal Protection Clause

Liberty includes the right of the citizen to be free to use his faculties in all lawful ways; to live and work
where he will; to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any avocation, an for that purpose to
enter into contracts which may be proper, necessary and essential to his carrying out these purposes to a
successful conclusion. Liberty as understood in democracies is liberty regulated by law. Whenever and
wherever the natural rights of citizens would, if exercised without restraint, deprive other citizens of rights
which are also and equally natural, such as assumed rights must yield to the regulation of law. The
authority conferred upon executive officials by the law in question does not unduly interfere with the
liberty of the citizen when the degree of civilization of the Manguianes is considered.

Due process of law and equal protection clause are not violated by the law in question. There exist a law
wich is reasonable; it is enforced according to regular methods of procedure; and it applies to all
members of the same class.

Slavery and Involuntary Servitude

Slavery and Involuntary Servitude denote a condition of enforced, compulsory service of one to another.
Confinement in the reservations in accordance with the said Administrative Code of 1917 does not
constitute slavery and involuntary servitude.

Police Power

The police power of the State is a power coextensive with self preservation. The Philippines has both on
reason and authority the right to exercise the sovereign police power in the promotion of the general
welfare and the public interest. Sec. 2145 of the Administrative Order of 1917 is a pure exercise of police
power and the court cannot declare that the Legislature has exceeded its rightful authority in enacting the
said law.

Legislative Intent

The fundamental objective of government policy is to establish friendly relations with the so-called non-
Christians and to promote their educational, agricultural, industrial, and economic development and
advancement in civilization. In so far as the Manguianes themselves are concerned, the purposes of bthe
Government are to gather together the children for educational purposes, and to improve the health and
moralsto begin the process of civilization. In so far as the relation of the Manguianes to the Stae is
concerned, the purposes of the Legislature in enacting the law, and of the executive branch in enforcing
it, are to protect the settlers in Mindoro and to develop the resources of the great Island.