CASE DIGEST: People of the Philippines v. Wong Cheng

 

People of the Philippines v. Wong Cheng

G.R. No. L-18924 | Oct. 19, 1922

 

FACTS:

Wong Cheng was accused of illegally smoking opium aboard the English merchant vessel – Changsa, while said anchored in Manila Bay, 2 ½ miles from the shore. Wong Cheng filed a demurrer before the CFI of Manila alleging lack of jurisdiction.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the courts of the Philippines have jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard merchant vessels anchored in our jurisdictional waters

RULING:

Note that the case happened when the Philippines was still a territory of the US, thus the theories and jurisprudence prevailing in the US on this matter are authority in the Philippines. As a general rule therefore, crimes committed aboard merchant vessels while in the territorial waters of another country are triable in that country unless they merely affect things within the vessel. The ship being anchored within 3 miles from the shore of the state’s territorial waters subjects the ship and its crew to the jurisdiction of our territorial sovereign. Smoking opium is prohibited by our Opium Law, which is a special law. When the act is prohibited by special law, doing the prohibited act itself is the crime because it is considered that the act is injurious to public welfare. Smoking opium therefore does not merely affect the things within the vessel but is a breach of public order.