U.S. vs GOMEZ
Facts:
In this case,
defendant was found guilty by the trial court with the crime of practicing
medicine without a license, in violation of Section 8, Act 30 of the Philippine
Commission which provides: “The Board of Medical Examiners may refuse to issue
any of the following certificates provided for therein to an individual
convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any offense involving immoral
or dishonorable conduct. In case of such refusal, the reason therefore shall be
stated to the applicant in writing. The Board may also revoke any such
certificate for like cause, or for unprofessional conduct, after due notice to
the person holding the certificate, and a hearing, subject to an appeal to the
Board of Health for the Philippine Islands, the decision of which shall be
final.” Defendant contends that the court erred in declaring the aforementioned
provision are no in conflict with the provisions of the Philippine Bill of 1902
and in which he relies on paragraph 1, section 5 thereof which states: “That no
law shall be enacted in said Islands which shall deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law, or deny to any person therein
the equal protection of the laws.”
Held:
Defendant’s
contention is not meritorious because the Board of Medical Examiners where
given such a responsibility through the exercise of the State’s police power. The state has general power to enact
such laws, in relation to persons, and property within its borders, as may
promote public health, public morals, public safety, and the general prosperity
and welfare of its inhabitants. This power of the state is
generally denominated in its police power. It has been held that the state
cannot be deprived of its right to exercise this power. The police power and
the right to exercise it constitute the very foundation, or at least one of the
cornerstones of the state. For the state to deprive itself or permit it to be deprived
of the right to enact laws to promote general prosperity and welfare of its
inhabitants, and promote public health, public morals, and public safety, would
be to destroy the very purpose and objects of the state. No legislature can
bargain away the public health, public safety, or the public morals. The people
themselves cannot do it, much less their servants. Governments are organized
with a view to preservation of these things. They cannot deprive themselves of
the power to provide for them. (Stone vs.
Mississippi
