The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912Blount, James H. (James Henderson)
History
The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912
Blount, James H. (James Henderson)
Philippines -- History -- 1898-1946; Philippines -- Politics and government -- 1898-1935
and such outlying barrios thus furnish to the ladrones or outlaws
their sources of food supply, and it is not possible with the
available police forces constantly to provide protection to
such barrios--
there being all the time "available police forces," in the shape
of regular troops, amply able to handle these unsettled conditions,
which were the inevitable aftermath of lawlessness consequent on five
or six years of guerrilla warfare--
it shall be within the power of the Governor-General, upon
resolution of the Philippine Commission, to authorize the
provincial governor to order that the residents of such outlying
barrios be temporarily brought--
observe the length of time this may last is not limited--
within stated proximity to the poblacion, or larger barrios, of
the municipality, there to remain until the necessity for such
order ceases to exist.
To house and ration the reconcentrados, the following provision is
made by the statute we are considering:
During such temporary residence, it shall be the duty of the
provincial board, out of provincial funds, to furnish such
sustenance and shelter as may be needed to prevent suffering
among the residents of the barrios thus withdrawn.
The act also provides that during the course of the reconcentration,
where the province does not happen to have the necessary ready
cash, it may apply to the Commission, in distant Manila, for an
appropriation to meet the emergency. What is to be done with those
who starve during the temporary deficit, it does not say. If you
must have reconcentration, to leave it to such agencies as the above,
with the native police and constabulary as understudies, in lieu of
availing yourself of the superb equipment of the American army, with
all its facilities for handling great masses of people, as they did,
for instance, after the San Francisco fire, is like preferring the
Mulligan Guards to the Cold-stream Guards. Furthermore, there is no
escape from the logic of the fact that reconcentration is essentially
a war measure. The difference between what is lawful in war and what
is lawful in peace is not a technical one. In war the innocent must
often suffer with the guilty. In peace the theory at least is that
only the guilty suffer. Hence it is that our Constitution is so
jealous that in time of peace no man's life, liberty, or property,
shall be taken from him without "due process of law," a provision
which becomes inoperative in war times, being superseded by martial
law. I know that the early question, "Does the Constitution follow
the flag?" was answered by the Supreme Court of the United States in
the negative as to the Philippines. But the Act of Congress of July
1, 1902, under which we were governing the Philippines in 1903,
and still govern them, known as the Philippine Government Act,
extended to the Islands all the provisions of the Bill of Rights of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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