G.R. No. 2781. September 28, 1905

The defendants demur to the application filed in this cause on the
ground that the facts set out therein do not constitute a cause of
action.

The plaintiff avers that the defendants, on or about the 31st day of
October, 1904, revoked his license as chief engineer on Philippine
coastwise vessels, and unlawfully refused and continue to refuse to
permit him to secure employment as chief engineer on such vessels.

Act No. 780 of the Philippine Commission prescribes the conditions
under which licenses for engineers on coastwise vessels may be granted,
and section 7 of that act is as follows:

“On and after August first, nineteen hundred and
three, every applicant for license as master, mate, patron, or engineer
of a Philippine coastwise vessel shall be a citizen of the United
States or of the Philippine Islands: Provided, however, That
any citizen or subject of any other country who may be acting as
master, mate, patron, or engineer of any Philippine coastwise vessel at
the time of the passage of this act may, upon application to the
Insular Collector of Customs, be granted a certificate of service which
shall authorize him to continue to act in the Philippine coastwise
trade as such master, mate, patron, or engineer, as the case may be,
upon his making proper showing to the board hereinbefore created,
either by the presentation of a properly authenticated license from
some other recognized maritime country satisfactory to the board, or by
such other evidence of competency and good character as the board in
its discretion may deem sufficient: And provided further,
That he shall have seen at least two years’ service in the coastwise
trade of these Islands under the American flag and that he shall take
the following oath:

” ‘I hereby solemnly
swear that I acknowledge the sovereignty and authority of the United
States in the Philippine Islands, and of the government constituted by
the United States herein, and that while in the Islands I will support
and maintain the same, and that I will not at any time hereafter while
in these Islands or while serving under this license at any place aid,
abet, or incite resistance to the authority of the United States or of
the government established by the United States in these Islands, and
that I take this oath voluntarily, without any mental reservation
whatsoever. So help me God.’”

The facts set up in the complaint affirmatively establish that the
complainant is not a citizen of the United States or of the Philippine
Islands, and it does not affirmatively appear that he has seen two
years’ service in the coastwise trade of these Islands under the
American flag, nor that he has made a proper showing to the board
created by said act, either by the presentation of a properly
authenticated license from some other recognized maritime country
satisfactory to the board or such other evidence of competency and good
character as the board, in its discretion, deemed sufficient.

The demurrer should be, and is hereby, sustained, and unless the
complaint is amended within ten days from receipt of notice of this
decision, the complaint will be dismissed. So ordered.

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