CONSTI LAW – CASE DIGESTS

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS V.

GREGORIOPERFECTOG. R. No. L – 18463, October 4, 1922Facts:On
September 7, 1920, Gregorio Perfecto published an editorialfor the
newspaper La Nacion, about the loss of documents in theSenate. The
said documents were records of witness testimoniesregarding the
investigation of Oil Companies. The PhilippineSenate deemed the
editorial of Mr. Perfecto to be libellous and indirect violation of Article
256 of the Spanish Penal Code, whichstates, "Any person who, by
word, deed, or writing, shalldefame, abuse, or insult any Minister
of the Crown orother person in authority, while engaged in
theperformance of official duties, or by reason of
suchperformance, provided that the offensive minister orperson,
or the offensive writing be not addressed to him,shall suffer the penalty
of arresto mayor,". Defendant arguedwhether Article 256 is still in
force with the new Americanoccupation. Defendant was found
guilty in the municipal courtand also in the Court of First Instance
of Manila.

Issue:Whether or not Mr. Gregorio Perfecto violated Article 256 of

theSpanish Penal Code;

Whether or not article 256 is in the nature of a municipal law or political

law, and is consistent with the Constitutionand laws of the United States
and the characteristics and institutions of the American
Government.Whether or not Perfecto is guilty of libel

Held:

No. It is a general principle that whenever there is acquisition ofnew

territory, the previous political relations are totally abrogated,although
some laws from the Spanish Penal Code are still used inforce, it was
only done so because of convenience. However, withthe new American
occupation all laws that are inconsistent withthe democratic nature of
the new government are displacedwithout the need for any
declaration.

Article 256 is a law that is monarchical in nature, aiming

toprotect ministers of the crown and persons of authority
asrepresentatives of the king of Spain, upholding said officials
ashigher from the general population and protecting them
fromcontemptuous or dissatisfied statement from the public. It
iscompletely against the nature and the spirit of the
AmericanSystem of Government which states that every man
is asovereign, a ruler and a freeman, and has equal right with
everyother man.

THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS V.

GREGORIOPERFECTOG. R. No. L – 18463, October 4, 1922

Facts:On September 7, 1920, Gregorio Perfecto published an editorialfor

the newspaper La Nacion, about the loss of documents in theSenate. The
said documents were records of witness testimoniesregarding the
investigation of Oil Companies. The PhilippineSenate deemed the
editorial of Mr. Perfecto to be libellous and indirect violation of Article
256 of the Spanish Penal Code, whichstates,"Any person who, by word,
deed, or writing, shall defame,abuse, or insult any Minister of the
Crown or other person inauthority, while engaged in the
performance of official duties, by reason of such performance,
provided that the offensiveminister or person, or the offensive
writing be not addressed tohim, shall suffer the penalty of arresto
mayor,". Defendant arguedwhether Article 256 is still in force
with the new Americanoccupation. Defendant was found guilty
in the municipal courtand also in the Court of First Instance of
Manila. Issue:Whether or not Mr. Gregorio Perfecto violated Article 256
of theSpanish Penal CodeHeld:No. It is a general principle that
whenever there is acquisition ofnew territory, the previous political
relations are totally abrogated,although some laws from the Spanish
Penal Code are stillused in force, it was only done so because
of convenience.However, with the new American occupation all
laws that areinconsistent with the democratic nature of the new
governmentare displaced without the need for any declaration. Article
256 isa law that is monarchical in nature, aiming to protect ministers
ofthe crown and persons of authority as representatives of the kingof
Spain, upholding said officials as higher from the
generalpopulation and protecting them from contemptuous
ordissatisfied statement from the public. It is
completelyagainst the nature and the spirit of the American System
ofGovernment (republican) which states that every man is
asovereign, a ruler and a freeman, and has equal right with everyother
man.The view of the Chief Justice is that the accused should
beacquitted for the reason that the facts alleged in the informationdo
not constitute a violation of article 256 of the Penal
Code.Three members of the court believe that article 256
wasabrogated completely by the change from Spanish to American
sovereignty over the Philippines and is inconsistent
withdemocratic principles of government sovereignty over the
Philippines and is inconsistent with democratic principles of
government.
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