On  the 19th of October, 1909,  on the steamship Rubi, Santiago Va of the age of 18 years, Matilde  Vano, a girl of the  age of 15  years, Celestina Vano, a  girl of the age of  10 years, arrived at the  port  of Manila and requested permission to  enter the Philippine  Islands.   It i admitted that these three persons  were born in  the Philippine Islands were brother and sisters  and  the legitimate children of the same father mother.

The board of  special inquiry found  that Matilde Vaño and Celestina Vaño had a right  to  enter the Philippine Islands.   Upon the application of said Santiago Vaño, the board found that he was a Chinese person and was therefore not  entitled to  enter  the  Philippine  Islands. From tha decision Santiago Vaño appealed  to the Collector of Customs, where the decision of the board of special inquiry refusing  him permission to land the Philippine Islands was affirmed.

Later Santiago Vaño presented a petition for the  writ of habeas corpus t the Court of  First Instance of the city of Manila,  which was  denied an was ordered  to be remanded to the custody  of the  Collector of Customs in order that the judgment of the  Collector ordering his deportation mig carried into effect.

From that decision of the Court of First Instance Santiago Vaño appealed this court.

It is claimed  on the  part of the  appellant that he was born  in the city of  Cebu, Philippine Islands, on  the 11th of October, 1892, and has lived in Islands ever  since his birth, except for a  period of about six months, his father,  by reason of ill health, visited China, taking him and his t mentioned above, with him; that his father died  in China from said infirmity that he and his two sisters,  immediately after the death of his father, returned to the  Philippine Islands on the steamship Rubi, on or about the 19th of October,  1909;  that his mother was Filipina woman and had died some years before his father took him and his two sisters  to China; that he had an older brother in the  Philippine Is the Province of Cebu, who was to look after him and his two sisters; that only relatives  which  he has are residents of the Philippine Islands; the father and mother were residents of the Philippine Islands at the time of American occupation and had been for many years theretofore; that at the time he accompanied his father and sisters to China it was with the  express intention of returning to the  Philippine Islands.

He  presents several recommendations, one signed by Mr. Gilbert, supervision teacher of Dumanhug of the Province of Cebu,  in  which he is recommended very highly  as  a student,  together with the statement that he  had bee a student in the American schools of the Philippine Islands for a period five years and had made very  rapid progress.  He also  presents a certificate  from the  division superintendent of schools of  the Province Cebu, in which it is stated that he was a student and had completed the course of study  for  the  fourth  grade.  He presents also letters of recommendation from the  municipal president of the municipality of Malabuyog of the Province of Cebu, as well as a certificate of residence issued by the Insular collector of customs of the port of Cebu.

There  can be no question about the  identity of Santiago Vaño. The foregoing facts are not denied.  The only question presented to this court under the facts found in the record is whether or  not  he is a  citizen and entitled  to remain  in,  the Philippine Islands, even though he is Chinese  descent.   That question  has been decided by this court in  the affirmative in the cases of U. S.  vs. Go  Siaco (12 Phil. Rep., 4 Muñoz vs.  the Collector of Customs (20  Phil. Rep., 494); Roa vs. The Collector  of Customs (page 315, ante).

It having been  decided that Santiago Vaño was a citizen of the Philippine Islands, by  virtue of his birth and  residence, the Chinese Exclusion La not apply to him and an  abuse of  authority was  committed by the executive department of the Government when he was excluded in the manner above indicated,  and  therefore the courts had a right to  take jurisdiction of the cause  by the  means of an application for the writ of habeas corpus  and to examine into and  revise the finding of that department of the Government.  The Chinese Exclusion Law can not be invoked for the purpose of keeping out  of the Philippine Islands actual bona fide citizen said Islands.  It is  an abuse  of authority on the part  of the Insular of Customs  to apply said Exclusion  Law to bona fide  citizens  of the Philippine Islands.  (Go Kiam vs. The Collector of Customs, R. G. No. 709^[1]; Ang Eng Chong vs.  The Collector of Customs, R. G. No. 7096 ^[2] ; Loo Bun Hian  vs. The Collector of Customs, R.  G. No. 7074.^[3] )

For the foregoing reasons the judgment of the Court of First Instance affirming  the  decision  of the  Collector of Customs is hereby reversed it is ordered and decreed that the  said Santiago  Vaño  be  permitted to enter the Philippine Islands.  Without any finding as to costs.

Arellano, C. J., Torres and Mapa, JJ., concur.

Carson, and Trent, JJ., concur in the  result.
 
 

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^[1]  Not published; November  20, 1912.
^[2] Page 614, post
^[3] Not published;  December 12, 1912.