USA College of Law

Case Name Smith, Bell and Company vs. Joaquin Natividad (1919)
Topic Features of a Corporation
Case No. |
G.R. No. 15574           September 17, 1919
Date
Ponente J. Malcolm
SMITH, BELL & COMPANY (LTD.), petitioner,
Petitioner

Respondent JOAQUIN NATIVIDAD, Collector of Customs of the port of Cebu, respondent.

Doctrine

RELEVANT FACTS
 Smith, Bell and Co. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of
the Philippine Islands. A Majority of its stockholders are British subjects.
 It is the owner of a motor vessel known as the Bato built for it in the Philippine
Islands in 1916, of more than 15 tons gross The Bato was brought to Cebu in
the present year for the purpose of transporting plaintiff’s merchandise
between ports in the islands.
 Application was made at Cebu, the home port of the vessel, to the collector of
customs for a certificate of Philippine registry.
 The collector refused to issue the certificate, giving as his reason that all the
stockholders of Smith, Bell and Co. were not citizens either of the US or of the
Philippine Islands.

ISSUE: WON the government of the Philippines, through its legislature, can deny
the registry of vessel in its coastwise trade to corporations having alien
stockholders.
RULING:
Yes. The limitation of domestic ownership for purposes of obtaining a certificate of
Philippine registry in the coastwise trade to citizens of the Philippine Islands, and
to citizens of the US, does not violate the provisions on due process of law and of
the equal protection of the laws.

DISPOSITIVE PORTION
The petition for a writ of mandamus is denied, with costs against the petitioner. So
ordered.
 USA College of Law

100 words
Facts:
SmithBell is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Philippines.
Majority of its stockholders are British citizens. The corporation owns “The Bato” a
motor vessel that transports plaintiff’s merchandise between ports in the islands. An
application was made at Cebu to the Collector of Customs for a certificate of
Philippine registry, but the collector refused to issue the certificate because all the
stockholders of SmithBell were not citizens of either US or Philippines.

Issue: WON the Philippines can deny registry of a vessel to corporations having alien
stockholders.

Ruling: Yes. The limitation of domestic ownership for purposes of obtaining a

certificate of Philippine registry in the coastwise trade to citizens of the Philippine
Islands, and to citizens of the US, does not violate the provisions on due process of
law and of the equal protection of the laws.