⚫ so provided therein. In other words, unless, in a law passed by the Congress of the United States, a provision is contained stating that that law applies to the Philippines, it does not, as a general rule, apply. of Manila, the author of the Malolos Constitution One exception to this rule is the case of those laws which are of inherent force everywhere under the American flag. They are laws which, because of their own nature, must necessarily apply to the Philippines. An instance of this is the law regarding the property of the Army of the United States. Although the law did not contain any provision stating that it was effective in the Philippines, common sense would dictate that it would apply to the American Army wherever it happened to be. But the distinction is so clear in this case that it is simply an exception which proves the rule. 84. Acts of the Philippine Commission and Legislature. By virtue of the legislative power of the Congress of the United States, it has made some Acts of the Philippine Commission and Legislature organic. For instance, in the early years of American occupation, the part of the Act of the Philippine Commission (No. 136) which conferred jurisdiction on our superior courts was subsequently approved and ratified by the Congress. This made these sections of the law as if Congress itself had passed them, and hence they became an organic law, which cannot be changed by the Philippine Legislature. 85. Scope of the Power of Congress. The United States Supreme Court has used many emphatic words denoting the extent of the power of the Congress in legislating for the Philippines. The high tribunal has referred to the power of Congress as a "general," "plenary," "sovereign," "discretionary," and "supreme" power. In other words, since the Insular Cases decided that the American Constitution did not follow the flag to the Philippines, and since only a few portions of that Constitution became effective in the Philippines, then, we can conclude that the American Congress has almost absolute power to pass any law for the Philippine Islands. The Congress can wipe out the government established here and abolish most, if not all, the constitutional guarantees that we enjoy. Of course such a thing would not likely be done, for the Congress has always shown an anxious regard for the welfare of the Filipino people. 86./ The So-called Philippine Constitution. Summa ་ rizing what we have been discussing, the organic law of the Philippines can be found in: (1) Those provisions of the United States Constitution of universal application as the Thirteenth Amendment, which operates in the Philippines; (2) those treaties between the United States and foreign powers, particularly those that refer to the Philippines, as the Treaty of Paris; (3) those orders of the President and those Resolutions and Acts of Congress which have been formally and expressly extended to the Philippines; (4) these Acts of the Philippine Commission and Legislature which the United States statutes have made organic laws; these Acts of Congress of universal application as certain provisions concerning the United States Army which have inherent effect in the Philippines. All these make up the present Philippine Constitution. 87. Three Most Important Organic Laws. The most important of the organic laws are the instructions of the President to the second Philippine Commission, the Philippine Bill or the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, and the Jones Law or the Act of Congress of August 29, 1916. We discussed the first in Section 62. We shall now discuss the other two. The Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, was, for many years, the most important of our organic laws. This law, however, did not create a new government for the Philippines. It simply ratified the orders of the President and continued the government here established, with the exception that an Assembly was promised in the future. The general outlines of the local government as framed by the President, and by the Military Governor and the Commission, were confirmed. A bill of rights was extended, containing the fundamentals of American constitutional law. The other sections of the Act were devoted to general subjects, like commerce, the sale and lease of public lands, the utilization of the forests, the granting of mining claims, the floating of municipal bonds, and the securing of franchises. The Act of Congress of August 29, 1916, is more like a constitution than any other law passed for the Philippines. There should be four parts to a constitution, according to James Bryce, the English authority on government. The territorial limits of the country should be defined, a frame of |