Yu Cong Eng vs. Trinidad; February 6, 1925
Facts: The petitioners are Chinese merchants claiming to represent themselves and all other persons similarly situated and affected, particularly 12,000 Chinese merchants. The respondents are the Collector of Internal Revenue, the Fiscal of the City of Manila, and Judge Pedro Concepcion of First Instance of Manila.
On March 2, 1923, the agents age nts of the Bureau of Internal Re venue, inspected the books of account of the Chinese merchant Yu Cong Eng. Upon finding that said books were not kept in accordance with their understanding of the provisions of Act No. 2972, they t ook possession of the merchant's books and referred the matter to the city fiscal of Manila for appropriate action. The city fiscal, considering that Yu Cong Eng had committed a violation of the law, on March 7, 1923, caused an information to be filed, subscribed, and sworn to before Judge of First Instance Concepcion, thereby giving rise to criminal case No. 25551 of the CFI of Manila. This information alleged that the accused merchant had kept his books of account "only in Chinese, instead of keeping or causing them to be kept in English, Spanish, or any local dialect, thus renderi ng it difficult for the agents and authorized representatives of the Government of the Philippine I slands and of the City of Manila, to examine and inspect the aforementioned books of account, thereby preventing and hindering the investigation and determination of all the amount that said accused was, is, or will be under obligation to pay for licenses, permits, and taxes." A warrant of arrest w as issued by the Judge of First I nstance before whom the information was filed, and in compliance therewith, the accused merchant, now become the instant petitioner, was arrested. Petitioner Yu Cong Eng argued that he nei ther reads, writes, nor understands the English or Spanish language or any local dialect. Issue: The validity/constitutionality of Act No. 2972 of the Philippine Legislature, popularly known as the Chinese Bookkeeping Law. Held: No. 2972: AN ACT TO PROVIDE IN WHAT LANGUAGE ACCOUNT BOOKS SHALL BE KEPT, AND TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR ITS VIOLATION. SEC. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, company, partnership partnership or corporation engaged in commerce, industry or any other activity for the purpose of profit in the Philippine Islands, in accordance with existing law, to keep its account books in any language other than English, Spanish or any local dialect.
The law is attacked by the petitioners as in vi olation of treaty and constitutional rights of Chinese merchants, domiciled in the Philippine Islands. It is contended, that the law is unreasonable and oppressive in nature, and repugnant to the provisions of the Fourtee nth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and of the c orresponding provisions of the Jones Law, the Act of C ongress of August 29, 1916, guaranteeing to all persons the equal protection of the laws. The law is defended by the city fiscal of Manila as a proper and reasonable exercise of the police power of the Philippine Government, and of its power of taxation. The BIR likewise argued that due to the unintelligibility of the books of
Chinese merchants, because of the language in which the same was written, the public treasury was being defrauded annually in several millions of pesos, and that in order to protect the Government it is necessary to uphold Act No. 2972. The Court held that Act No. 2972 is a fiscal measure. It should be so construed if possible as to effectuate legislative intent, as collected from the occasion for the law, the circumstance under which it was enacted, the mischief to be remedied, and the policy which dictated its passage. It should be so construed if possible as to avoid conflict with the constitution, although such construction may not be the most obvious or natural one. Giving, therefore, to the law a meaning which will carry out the main governmental purpose and which will permit us to sanction its constitutionality, i t seeks to prohibi t not nal it y from mak in g entr ie s i n the books of only the Chi nese but all merchants of whatever nat io n for taxat io n purposes i n any other language than ei ther the account or forms subj ect to i nspect io lect, although permi tt in g all merchants to execute thei r Engl is h or Spani sh language or a local d ia l transact io ns or operat io ns i n any language or d ia lect they may prefer, and although commerc ia g them to keep such other books of account as thei r personal conveni ence may d ic tate and i n permi tt in a language whi ch w il l come most easi ly to them. The Court construed Act No. 2972 as me aning that any person, company, partnership, or corporation, engaged in commerce, industry, or any other activity for the purpose of profit in the Philippine I slands, shall keep its account books, consisting of sales books and other records and returns required for taxation purposes by regulations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, in effect when this action was begun, in English, Spanish, or a local dialect. Agreeable to such construction, the Court held Act No. 2972 valid and constitutional.
