People v. Perfecto, G.R. No.

L-18463, October 4, 1922

Facts:

On September 7, 1920, Mr. Gregorio Perfecto published an article in the newspaper La Nacionregarding
the disappearance of certain documents in the Office of Fernando M. Guerrero, the Secretary of the
Philippine Senate. The article of Mr. Perfecto suggested that the difficulty in finding the perpetrators was
due to an official concealment by the Senate since the missing documents constituted the records of
testimony given by witnesses in the investigation of oil companies. This resulted to a case being filed
against Mr. Perfecto for violation of Article 256 of the Penal Code. He was found guilty by the Municipal
Trial Court and again in the Court of First Instance of Manila. Mr. Perfecto filed an appeal in the Supreme
Court to dismiss the case on the ground that Article 256 was not in force anymore.

Issue: W/N a law be abrogated by the change of Spanish to American Sovereignty over the Philippines.

Held:

Yes, its is a general principle that whenever there is acquisition of new territory, the previous political
relations are totally abrogated, although some laws from the Spanish Penal Code are still used in force, it
was only done so because of convenience. However, with the new American occupation, all laws that are
inconsistent with the democratic nature of the new government are displaced without the need for any
declaration.

Article 256 of the Spanish Penal Code was enacted by the Government of Spain to protect Spanish
officials who were representative of the King. With the change of sovereignty, a new government, and a
new theory of government, was set up in the Philippines. It was no sense a continuation of the old laws.
No longer is there a Minister of the Crown or a person in authority of such exalted position that the citizen
must speak of him only in bated breath.