CASE DIGEST: US vs Look Chow, 18 Phil 573

Case Title: US vs Look Chow, 18 Phil 573

Subject Matter: Applicability of the provisions of Art 2 of the Revised Penal Code

Facts:

Between 11 and 12 o'clock a.m. in August 19, 1909, the Port of Cebu and internal revenue agent of Cebu, respectively, went aboard the steamship Erroll to inspect and search its cargo, and found two sacks containing opium. The defendant stated freely and voluntarily that he had bought these sacks of opium in Hong Kong with the intention of selling them as contraband in Mexico or Vera Cruz, and that as his hold had already been searched several times for opium he ordered two other chinamen to keep the sack. All the evidence found properly constitutes corpus delicti.

It was established that the steamship Erroll was of English nationality, that it came from Hong Kong, and that it was bound for Mexico, via the call ports in Manila and Cebu.

Issue:

Whether or not courts of local state can exercise its jurisdiction over foreign vessels stationed in its port.

Held:

Yes. The Philippine courts have jurisdiction over the matter. The mere possession of a thing of prohibited use in these Islands, aboard a foreign vessel in transit, in any of their ports, does not, as a general rule, constitute a crime triable by the courts of this country, on account of such vessel being considered as an extension of its own nationality. However, the same rule does not apply when the article, whose use is prohibited within the Philippines, in the present case, a can of opium, is landed from the vessel upon the Philippine soil, thus committing an open violation of the penal law in force at the place of the commission of the crime. Only the court established in the said place itself has competent jurisdiction, in the absence of an agreement under an international treaty.