[ G.R. No. L-2518. May 28, 1949 ] 83 Phil. 755
[ G.R. No. L-2518. May 28, 1949 ]
DONATO OLIVEROS DE TAN, ON BEHALF OF HER HUSBAND, CHENG SAN (ALIAS FRANCISCO TAN, ALIAS TAN KO), PETITIONER, VS. ENGRACIO FABRE, JESUS BAUTISTA, AND OSCAR ARANETA, BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION, AND ENGRACIO FABRE, COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION, RESPONDENTS. D E C I S I O N
FERIA, J.:
This is a petition for certiorari and habeas corpus filed on September 27, 1948, against the respondents Commissioners of Immigration, who after due investigation, ordered on September 3, 1948, the deportation of a Chinaman by the name of Cheng San alias Francisco Tan, who was deported by virtue of said order to China on September 8, 1948, before the filing of the present petition.
The petitioner alleges that Cheng San alias Francisco Tan was, at the time of the filing of the petition, being illegally detained by teh respondents by virtue of a decision rendered by said respondents under the provisions of section 37 (a), paragraph 8, of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, which is not applicable to an alien who has already entered and is residing in the Philippines, and therefore the respondents have no jurisdiction to detain and order the deportation of said Cheng San alias Francisco Tan.
The person in whose favor the petition for habeas corpus was filed having been already deported to a place out of the Philippines, and being therefore beyond the jurisdiction and control of the respondents at the time of the filing of this petition for habeas corpus, this Court has no jurisdiction or power to compel the respondents to produce the body of said person and order the latter’s release. The ruling of this court in the case of Villavicencio vs. Lucban, 39 Phil., 778, quoted by the petitioner is not applicable to the present case, because the persons in whose behalf the petition was filed in that case were within the Philippines and the respondent had it in his power to obey the order of the court, which is not the case in the present instance.
Besides, the jurisdiction of the respondents to order the deportation of an undesirable alien from the Philippines under section 37 (a) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, has been upheld by this Court in its decision in the case of Lao Tang Bun vs. Fabre (81 Phil., 682) which is squarely applicable to the present case.
Wherefore, the petition is denied with costs against the petitioner. So ordered.
Moran, C. J., Ozaeta, Paras, Pablo, Bengzon, Tuason, Montemayor, and Reyes, JJ., concur.