PHILIPPINE
14
PHILIPPINE
thus expressed in the followinginstructions given them:
"The Commission should bear in mind that the
government thattlie.v are establishing is designed not
for our satisfaction or for the expression of our theo-
retical views, but for the happiness, peace, and pros-
perity of the people of the Philippine Islands, and the
measures adopted should be made to conform to their
customs, their habits, and even their prejudices, to
the fullest extent consistent with the indispensable
requisites of just and effective government." "No
laws shall be made respecting an establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and
that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious pro-
fession and worship without discrimination or prefer-
ence shall for ever be allowed." This was confirmed
by Act of Congress 1 July, 1902, in almost identical
words (section 5). The members of the commission
are appointed by the president, i^nth the consent of
the Senate; their tenure of office is at the pleasure of
the president. There are nine commissioners, one of
whom is the governor-general (the chief executive of
the Philippine Islands), and four are secretaries of the
departments of the Interior, of Commerce and Police,
of Finance and Justice, and of Pubhc Instruction.
Each of these departments is divided into bureaus of
which there are twenty-three in all. Through these
the actual administration of the affairs of the Govern-
ment is carried on.
On 16 Oct., 1907, the Philippine Assembly was in- augurated. The assembh- shares legislative power with the commission over all parts of the islands "not inhabited by JNIoros or other non-Christian tribes". Over the Moros and the non-Christian tribes the com- mission alone has power. The legislative power of the commission and assembly over the Christian tribes is equal. No law may be made without the approval of both houses. If at any session the annual appropria- tion for the support of the Government shall not have been made, an amoimt equal to the last annual appro- priation is considered thereby appropriated for the en- suing year. The members of the assembly are elected by popular vote. The right to this suffrage is extended to all male citizens of the Philippine Islands or of the United States, over twenty-three years of age, who possess at least one of the following qualifications: (1) ability to speak, read, and write English or Span- ish; (2) ownership of real property to the value of S250 or the payment of S15 annually of the estab- lished taxes; (3) holding of municipal office under the Spanish Government in the Philippines. All acts passed by the commission and by the assembly are enacted by authority of the Tnited States Congress, which reserves the power and authority to annul them. The assembly may consist of not less than fifty nor more than a hundred members. Each province is en- titled to one delegate; and if its population is more than 90,000, to an additional member for every extra 90,000 and major fraction thereof. There are at present eighty delegates. INIanila is counted as a province. Thirty-one delegates are from the Visayan Islands, and forty-four from Luzon. The commission and assembly are authorized to send two commis- sioners to the United States to represent the interests of the Philippines at Washington.
American Government: Provincial. — According to their form of government, the islands are divided into three classes: the Christian provinces, the non- Christian provinces, and the Moro provinces. The officers of the Christian province are the governor, the treasurer, the third member of the provincial board, and the fiscal or district attorney. The gover- nor and third member are elected to office; the treas- urer and fiscal are appointed by the governor of the Philippine Islands with the consent of the Commis- sion; the tenure of their office depends upon the governor-general. .\ny provincial officer may be sus- pended or removed from office by the governor-
general for sufficient cause. The provincial governor,
the treasurer, and the third member form the pro-
vincial board, which legislates in a limited waj' for the
province. The non-Christian tribes are under a
governor, secretary, treasurer, supervisor and fiscal.
In some provinces there is also a lieutenant-governor.
These officers are appointed by the governor-general
with the consent of the commission. The Moro
province includes the greater part of Mindanao, the
whole of the Sulu .\rchipelago, and smaller groups of
islands. The inhabitants number 500,000, half of
them Moros; the remainder, with the exception of
some thousand Christians, are wild tribes. The Gov-
ernment of the Moro province is civil-militarj'. It is
divided into five districts, each with its governor and
secretarj-, appointed by the governor of the pro\'incc.
On the legi-slative council of the entire province there
is, besides the governor, a secretary, treasurer, and
attorney. \Miile the governor-general appoints these
officers, the two first named are usually officers of the
United States army detailed for this purpose. The
district officers are also usually detailed from the
army.
Courts of Justice. — There is no trial by jury in the Philippine Islands. There are three classes of courts of justice: justice-of-the-peace courts, courts of first instance, and the supreme court ; a justice of the peace must be at least twenty-three years of age. He is appointed by the governor from a number of indi^-id- uals whose names are presented by a judge of the court of first instance, and by the director of education. Among his powers is that of performing marriage cere- monies. The courts of first instance try appeals from the lower court and cases in which they have original jurisdiction. These judges are appointed by the gov- ernor with the approval of the commission.
Supreme Court. — This court is composed of one chief justice and six associates. Important cases may be appealed from it to the Supreme Court of the United States. The supreme court rarely hears wit- nesses, but examines the written testimony made be- fore the lower court, and listens to arguments of the opposing lawj'ers. The supreme court may not merely reverse or affirm the decision of the lower court, but it may even change the degree and kind of pun- ishment. A defendant, for instance, sentenced to imprisonment for life or for twenty years may, and sometimes does, have his sentence changed on appeal to the supreme court to the death penalty.
Religion. — Before the arrival of the Spaniards the religion of the islands was similar to that of the majority of the Chinese, Japanese, and Malayans. They were worshippers of the souls of their ancestors, of the sun, the moon, the stars, plants, birds, and animals. Among the deities of the Tagalogs were: a blue bird, called Balhala (divinity); the crow, called Maylupa (lord of the earth); the alligator, called Nono (grandfather). They adored in common with other RIalayans the tree Balcte, which they did not dare cut. They had idols in their houses, called anito, and by the \'isayans, diuala. There were anitos of the country who permitted them to pass over it; anitos of the fields who gave fertility to the soil; anitos of the sea who fed the fishes and guarded boats; and anitos to look after the house and newly-born infants. The anitos were supposed to be the souls of their an- cestors. Their story of the origin of the world was that the sky and the water were walking together; a kite came between them, and in order to keep the waters from rising to the sky, placed upon them the islands, the Filipinos' idea of the world. The origin of man came about in the following manner: a piece of bamboo was floating on the water; the water cast it at the feet of a kite; the kite in anger broke the bamboo with its beak; out of one piece came man, and out of the other, woman. The souls of the dead were supposed to feed on rice and tuba (a native
