Assembly Bill 324, entitled “An Act amending certain articles of the Penal Code of the Philippine Islands,” had for its object the reduction of the age of consent of women to the crimes of abduction and seduction.
Scene on a Bird Island.
Assembly Bill 348 provided for the formation of a “poor list,” and regulated “gratuitous medical attendance at public dispensaries and hospitals in the city of Manila and the municipalities, or public hospitals in the provinces.”
One of the great things which the American government has done for the Philippines is to bring medical and surgical service of a high order within the reach of a very large number of poor persons. By the proposed bill free service to Filipinos was limited to those who declared themselves to be paupers. Many of the deserving poor would have preferred to perish miserably rather than make such a declaration. Most of the self-respecting poor of the islands are not paupers. Free service could be rendered to foreigners only on presentation of certificates of poverty from their consuls, usually residing in Manila, which would have worked great hardship on such persons living in remote parts of the islands and in need of immediate attention. Charitable free service furnished by the government was objected to by certain Filipino physicians, who hoped to get paid for attending the persons thus relieved. The practical result of the bill would have been to force the poor to depend on these people, and to pay their charges, which are frequently very exorbitant.
Commission Bills Disapproved by the Assembly
Second Legislature
Commission Bill 55, amending “The Philippine Administrative Act by including vessels within the provisions of Sections 322 and 323 of said Act,” was designed to make vessels responsible for the transportation of contraband cargo, or for smuggling merchandise, in the same degree that attached to vehicles for land transportation, the attorney-general having held that the word “vehicle” used in the existing law could not be construed to include vessels. This measure was important in connection with the suppression of opium smuggling.
Commission Bill 59 amended an act providing for the punishment of perjury “by changing the punishment for perjury and by punishing persons who endeavour to procure or incite other persons to commit perjury.” Its object was to remedy a defect in existing law under which there is no punishment provided for subornation of perjury in official investigations.
Commission Bill 60, “An Act defining habitual criminals and providing additional punishment for the same,” had for its object the breaking up of petty thieving, the records of the Bureau of Prisons showing that one hundred twenty-nine persons had been convicted twice, twenty a third time and one as high as thirty-two times. It would unquestionably have been a very useful measure.