EN BANC
G.R. No. L-45892 July 13, 1938
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,
vs.
TRANQUILINO LAGMAN, defendant-appellant.
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G.R. No. L-45893 July 13, 1938
THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, plaintiff-appellee,
vs.
PRIMITIVO DE SOSA, defendant-appellant.
Severino P. Izon for appellants.
Office of the Solicitor-General Tuason for appellee.
AVANCEÑA, J.:
In these two cases (G.R. Nos. L-45892 and 45893), the appellants Tranquilino and Primitivo de Sosa are charged with a violation of
section 60 of Commonwealth Act No. 1, known as the National Defense Law. It is alleged that these two appellants, being Filipinos and
having reached the age of twenty years in 1936, willfully and unlawfully refused to register in the military service between the 1st and
7th of April of said year, notwithstanding the fact that they had been required to do so. The evidence shows that these two appellants
were duly notified by the corresponding authorities to appear before the Acceptance Board in order to register for military service in
accordance with law, and that the said appellants, in spite of these notices, had not registered up to the date of the filing of the
information.
The appellants do not deny these facts, but they allege in defense that they have not registered in the military service because
Primitivo de Sosa is fatherless and has a mother and a brother eight years old to support, and Tranquilino Lagman also has a father to
support, has no military learnings, and does not wish to kill or be killed.
Each of these appellants was sentenced by the Court of First Instance to one month and one day of imprisonment, with the costs.
In this instance, the validity of the National Defense Law, under which the accused were sentenced, is impugned on the ground that it
is unconstitutional. Section 2, Article II of the Constitution of the Philippines provides as follows:
SEC. 2. The defense of the state is a prime duty of government, and in the fulfillment of this duty all citizens may be required
by law to render personal military or civil service.
The National Defense Law, in so far as it establishes compulsory military service, does not go against this constitutional provision but
is, on the contrary, in faithful compliance therewith. The duty of the Government to defend the State cannot be performed except
through an army. To leave the organization of an army to the will of the citizens would be to make this duty of the Government
excusable should there be no sufficient men who volunteer to enlist therein. 1ªvvphïl.nët
In the United States the courts have held in a series of decisions that the compulsory military service adopted by reason of the civil war
and the world war does not violate the Constitution, because the power to establish it is derived from that granted to Congress to
declare war and to organize and maintain an army. This is so because the right of the Government to require compulsory military
service is a consequence of its duty to defend the State and is reciprocal with its duty to defend the life, liberty, and property of the
citizen. In the case of Jacobson vs. Massachusetts (197 U.S., 11; 25 Sup. Ct. Rep., 385), it was said that, without violating the
Constitution, a person may be compelled by force, if need be, against his will, against his pecuniary interests, and even against his
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religious or political convictions, to take his place in the ranks of the army of his country, and risk the chance of being shot down in its
defense. In the case of United States vs. Olson (253 Fed., 233), it was also said that this is not deprivation of property without due
process of law, because, in its just sense, there is no right of property to an office or employment.
The circumstance that these decisions refer to laws enacted by reason on the actual existence of war does not make our case any
different, inasmuch as, in the last analysis, what justifies compulsory military service is the defense of the State, whether actual or
whether in preparation to make it more effective, in case of need. The circumstance that the appellants have dependent families to
support does not excuse them from their duty to present themselves before the Acceptance Board because, if such circumstance
exists, they can ask for determent in complying with their duty and, at all events, they can obtain the proper pecuniary allowance to
attend to these family responsibilities (secs. 65 and 69 of Commonwealth Act No. 1).
The appealed judgment rendered in these two cases is affirmed, with the costs to the appellants. So ordered.
Villa-Real, Imperial, Diaz, Laurel and Concepcion, JJ., concur.
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