Central Capiz v. Ramirez G.R. No. 16197. March 12, 1920 FACT!
The petitioner alleges and respondent admits that on or about July 1, 1919, the latter contracted with the petitioner to supply to it for a term of thirty years all sugar sug ar can canee pro produc duced ed upo uponn her plan plantat tation ion.. Sai Said d con contra tract ct was rec recor orded ded in the Registry of Property. In the interim the the eecution of said contract, !ct "o. #$%& of the Philippine 'egislature, (nown as the )Public 'and !ct,) became effecti*e. The respondent, while admitting said contract and her obligation thereunder to eecute a deed pursuant thereto, bases her refusal so to do upon the fact that more than +1 per cent of the capital stoc( of the petitioner petitioner is held and owned by persons who are not citiens of the Philippine P hilippine Islands or of the -nited States. "#$!
1/ 0hether or not R! #$%& applies to agricultural lands held in pri*ate ownership. #/ 0hether or not complies with the constitutional reuirement )That no bill which may be enacted into law shall embrace more than one sub2ect, and that sub2ect shall be epressed in the title of the bill.) %$&'!
1/ "o. It is held that !ct "o. #$%& was intended to apply to and regulate the sale, publi blicc lan lands ds onl leas le asee an and d ot othe herr di disp spos osit itio ionn of pu only. y. The title of th thee !c !ct, t, al alwa ways ys indicati*e of legislati*e intent, reads3 )an !ct to amend and compile the laws landss of the pu publi blicc dom domain ain , and for other purposes4. Said act, by relating relat ing to land epress pro*isions of Sections &, 5, +% and 165, does not apply to lands pri*ately owned by the go*ernment. The !ct nowhere contains any direct or epress pro*ision applying its terms to pri*ately owned lands. The court holds, therefore, that the purpose of the 'egislature in adopting !ct "o. #$%& was and is to limit its application to lands of the public domain , and that lands held in pri*ate ownership are not included therein and are not affected in any manner whatsoe*er. #/ "o. The ob2ects of the constitutional reuirement under Section 7 of the Jones 'aw are first , to pre*ent hodge8podge or log8rolling legislation second , to pre*ent surprise or fraud upon the legislature by means of pro*isions in bills of which the titles ga*e no information, and which might therefore be o*erloo(ed and carelessly and uni unint ntent ention ionally ally ado adopte pted d and , third , to fa fair irly ly ap appr pris isee th thee pe peop ople le of th thee sub2ects of legislation that are being considered, in order that they may ha*e
opportunity of being heard thereon by petition or otherwise if they shall so desire.: ;ooley:s ;onstitutional 'imitations, p. 1&7./ This constitutional reuirement is mandatory and not directory. In the said !ct, the words )and for other purposes) contained in its title, must be treated as non8eistent, held to be without force or effect whatsoe*er and ha*e been altogether discarded in construing the !ct. That the use of the words )other purposes,) can no longer be of any a*ail as they epress nothing and amount to nothing as a compliance with this constitutional reuirement. The phrase epresses no specific purpose and imports indefinitely something different from that which precedes it in the title.
