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Analysis of Filene's Basement

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[No. L-7995. May 31, 1957]
LAO H. ICHONG, in his own behalf and in behalf of other
alien residents, corporations and partnerships adversely
affected by Republic Act No. 1180, petitioner, vs. JAIME
HERNANDEZ, Secretary of Finance, and MARCELINO
SARMIENTO, City Treasurer of Manila, respondents.
1156
1156 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED
Ichong, etc., et al. vs. Hernandez, etc., and Sarmiento
1. 1.CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; POLICE POWER; NATURE
AND SCOPE.—Police power is far-reaching in scope, and it
is almost impossible to limit its sweep. It derives its
existence from the very existence of the State itself, and
does not need to be expressed or defined in its scope. It is
said to be co-extensive with self-protection and survival, and
as such it is the most positive and active of all governmental
processes, the most essential, insistent and illimitable.
Especially is it so under a modern democratic framework
where the demands of society and of nations have multiplied
to almost unimaginable proportions; the field and scope of
police power has become almost boundless, just as the fields
of public interest and public welfare have become almost
all-embracing and have transcended human foresight.
1. 2.ID.; GUARANTEES IN SECTION I, ARTICLE III OF
THE CONSTITUTION; UNIVERSALITY OF
APPLICATION.—The constitutional guarantees in Section
I, Article III, of the Constitution, which embody the essence
of individual liberty and freedom in democracies, are not
limited to citizens alone but are admittedly universal in their
application, without regard to any differences of race, of
color, or of nationality (Yiek Wo vs. Hopkins, 30 L. ed.,
220, 226).
1. 3.ID.; LAW DEPRIVATION OF LIFE, LIBERTY OR
PROPERTY; TEST OR STANDARD.—The conflict
between police power and the guarantees of due process and
equal protection of the laws is more apparent than real.
Properly related, the power and the guarantees are supposed
to coexist. The balancing is the essence, or the indispensable
means for the" attainment of legitimate aspirations of any
democratic society. There can be no absolute power,
whoever exercises it, for that would be tyranny. Yet there
can neither be absolute liberty, for that would mean license
and anarchy. So the State can deprive persons of life, liberty
or property, provided there is due process of law; and
persons may be classified into classes and groups, provided
everyone is given the equal protection of the law. The test or
standard, as always, is reason. The police power legislation
must be firmly grounded on public interest and welfare, and
a reasonable relation must exist between purposes and
means. And if disctinction or classification has been made,
there must be a reasonable basis for said distinction.
1. 4.ID.; EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW CLAUSE;
WHEN NOT DEEMED INFRINGED BY LEGISLATION.
—The equal protection of the law clause is against undue
favor and individual or class privilege, as well as hostile
discrimination or the oppression of inequality.
1157
VOL. 101, MAY 81, 1957
Ichong, etc., et al. vs. Hernandez, etc., and Sarmiento
It is not intended to prohibit legislation, which is limited
either in the object to which it is directed or by territory
within which it is to operate. It does not demand absolute

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equality among residents; it merely requires that all persons
shall be treated alike, under like circumstances and
conditions both as to privileges conferred and liabilities
enforced. The equal protection clause is not infringed by
legislation which applies only to those persons falling within
a specified class, if it applies alike to all persons within such
class, and reasonable grounds exist for making a distinction
between those who fall within such class and those who do
not (2 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations, 824-825).
1. 5.ID. ; ID. ; LEGISLATIVE POWER TO MAKE
DISTINCTION AND CLASSIFICATION AMONG
PERSONS; CITIZENSHIP AS GROUND FOR
CLASSIFICATION.—The power of the legislature to make
distinctions and classifications among persons is not
curtailed or denied by the equal protection of the laws
clause. The legislative power admits of a wide scope of
discretion, and a law can be violative of the constitutional
limitation only when the classification is without reasonable
basis. Citizenship is a legal and valid ground for
classification.
1. 6.ID.; ID.; NATIONALIZATION OF RETAIL TRADE;
CLASSIFICATION IN REPUBLIC ACT No. 1180
ACTUAL, REAL AND REASONABLE.—The
classification in the law of retail traders into nationals and
aliens is actual, real and reasonable. All persons of one class
are treated alike, and it cannot be said that the classification
is patently unreasonable and unfounded. Hence, it is the duty
of this Court to declare that the legislature acted within its
legitimate prerogative and it cannot declare that the act
transcends the limits of equal protection established by the
Constitution.
1. 7.ID. ; ID. ; ID. ; ID. ; TEST OF REASONABLENESS.—
The law in question is deemed absolutely necessary to bring
about the desired legislative objective, i.e., to free the
national economy from alien control and dominance. It is
not necessarily unreasonable because it affects private rights
and privileges (II Am. Jur., pp. 1080-1081). The test of
reasonableness of a law is the appropriateness or adequacy
under all circumstances of the means adopted to carry out its
purpose into effect. Judged by this test, the disputed
legislation, which is not merely reasonable but actually
necessary, must be considered not to have infringed the
constitutional limitation of reasonableness.
1. 8.ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; REPUBLIC ACT No. 1180
TOLERANT AND REASONABLE.—A cursory study of
the provisions of the law
1158
1158 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED
Ichong, etc., et al. vs. Hernandez, etc., and Sarmiento
immediately reveals how tolerant and reasonable the
Legislature has been. The law is made prospective and
recognizes the right and privilege of those already engaged
in the occupation to continue therein during the rest of their
lives; and similar recognition of the right to continue is
accorded associations of aliens. The right or privilege is
denied only to persons upon conviction of certain offenses.
1. 9.ID.; ID.; ID.; ATTAINMENT OF LEGISLATIVE
ASPIRATIONS OF A PEOPLE NOT BEYOND THE
LIMITS OF LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY.—If political
independence is a legitimate aspiration of a people, then
economic independence is none of less legitimate. Freedom
and liberty are not real and positive, if the people are subject

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[No. L-7995. May 31, 1957] LAO H. ICHONG, in his own behalf and in behalf of other alien residents, corporations and partnerships adversely affected by Republic Act No. 1180, petitioner, vs. JAIME HERNANDEZ, Secretary of Finance, and MARCELINO SARMIENTO, City Treasurer of Manila, respondents. 1156 1156 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED Ichong, etc., et al. vs. Hernandez, etc., and Sarmiento 1. 1. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; POLICE POWER; NATURE AND SCOPE.-Police power is far-reaching in scope, and it is almost impossible to limit its sweep. It derives its existence from the very existence of the State itself, and does not need to be expressed or defined in its scope. It is said to be co-extensive with self-protection and survival, and as such it is the most positive and active of all governmental processes, the most essential, insistent and illimitable. Especially is it so under a modern democratic framework where the demands of society and of nations have multiplied to almost unimaginable proportions; the field and scope of police power has become almost boundless, just as the fields of public interest and public welfare have become almost all-embracing and have transcended human foresight. 1. 2. ID.; GUARANTEES IN SECTION I, ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION; UNIVERSALITY OF APPLICATION.-The constitutional guarantees in Section I, Article III, of the Constitution, which embody the essence of individual liberty and freedom in democracies, are not limited to citizens alone but are admittedl ...
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