Rubi et. al. vs.

The Provincial Board of Mindoro

G.R. No. L-14078 March 7, 1919

FACTS:
This is an application for habeas corpus in favor of Rubi and other Manguianes of the Province
of Mindoro. It is alleged that the Maguianes are being illegally deprived of their liberty by the
provincial officials of that province. Rubi and his companions are said to be held on the
reservation established at Tigbao, Mindoro, against their will, and one Dabalos is said to be held
under the custody of the provincial sheriff in the prison at Calapan for having run away form the
reservation. It thus appears that the provincial governor of Mindoro and the provincial board
thereof directed the Manguianes in question to take up their habitation in Tigbao, selected by
the provincial governor and approved by the provincial board.
The action was taken in accordance with section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917, and
was duly approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
Petitioners, however, challenge the validity of this section of the Administrative Code. This,
therefore, becomes the paramount question which the court is called upon the decide.
ISSUE:
Whether or not Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 is an unlawful delegation of
legislative power by the Philippine Legislature to the provincial official and a department head.
HELD:
No.
That the maxim of Constitutional Law forbidding the delegation of legislative power should be
zealously protected, the Court agrees.
However, an exception to the general rule, sanctioned by immemorial practice, permits the
central legislative body to delegate legislative powers to local authorities. The Philippine
Legislature has here conferred authority upon the Province of Mindoro, to be exercised by the
provincial governor and the provincial board.
Who but the provincial governor and the provincial board, as the official representatives of the
province, are better qualified to judge “when such as course is deemed necessary in the
interest of law and order?” As officials charged with the administration of the province and the
protection of its inhabitants, who but they are better fitted to select sites which have the
conditions most favorable for improving the people who have the misfortune of being in a
backward state?
Section 2145 of the Administrative Code of 1917 is not an unlawful delegation of legislative
power by the Philippine Legislature to provincial official and a department head.