the comfort room, also called the "quiet room" or "time-out room" or "the oval

office", is a room that provides sanctuary from stress, and/or can be a place for
persons to experience feelings within acceptable boundaries.

T H U R S D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 0 , 2 0 0 9
Co Kim Chan v. Valdez Tan Keh 75 Phil 113 Nov. 16, 1945
Facts of the case:
Co Kim Chan had a pending civil case, initiated during the Japanese
occupation, with the Court of First Instance of Manila. After the Liberation of
the Manila and the American occupation, Judge Arsenio Dizon refused to
continue hearings on the case, saying that a proclamation issued by General
Douglas MacArthur had invalidated and nullified all judicial proceedings and
judgments of the courts of the Philippines and, without an enabling law, lower
courts have no jurisdiction to take cognizance of and continue judicial
proceedings pending in the courts of the defunct Republic of the Philippines
(the Philippine government under the Japanese).
Issues:
1. Whether or not judicial proceedings and decisions made during the Japanese
occupation were valid and remained valid even after the American occupation;
2. Whether or not the October 23, 1944 proclamation MacArthur issued in
which he declared that all laws, regulations and processes of any other
government in the Philippines than that of the said Commonwealth are null and
void and without legal effect in areas of the Philippines free of enemy
occupation and control invalidated all judgments and judicial acts and
proceedings of the courts;
3. And whether or not if they were not invalidated by MacArthurs
proclamation, those courts could continue hearing the cases pending before
them.

Ratio:
Political and international law recognizes that all acts and proceedings of a de
facto government are good and valid. The Philippine Executive Commission and
the Republic of the Philippines under the Japanese occupation may be
considered de facto governments, supported by the military force and deriving
their authority from the laws of war.
Municipal laws and private laws, however, usually remain in force unless
suspended or changed by the conqueror. Civil obedience is expected even
during war, for the existence of a state of insurrection and war did not loosen
the bonds of society, or do away with civil government or the regular
administration of the laws. And if they were not valid, then it would not have
been necessary for MacArthur to come out with a proclamation abrogating
them.
The second question, the court said, hinges on the interpretation of the phrase
processes of any other government and whether or not he intended it to
annul all other judgments and judicial proceedings of courts during the
Japanese military occupation.
IF, according to international law, non-political judgments and judicial
proceedings of de facto governments are valid and remain valid even after the
occupied territory has been liberated, then it could not have been MacArthurs
intention to refer to judicial processes, which would be in violation of
international law.
A well-known rule of statutory construction is: A statute ought never to be
construed to violate the law of nations if any other possible construction
remains.
Another is that where great inconvenience will result from a particular
construction, or great mischief done, such construction is to be avoided, or the

court ought to presume that such construction was not intended by the makers
of the law, unless required by clear and unequivocal words.
Annulling judgments of courts made during the Japanese occupation would clog
the dockets and violate international law, therefore what MacArthur said
should not be construed to mean that judicial proceedings are included in the
phrase processes of any other governments.
In the case of US vs Reiter, the court said that if such laws and institutions are
continued in use by the occupant, they become his and derive their force from
him. The laws and courts of the Philippines did not become, by being continued
as required by the law of nations, laws and courts of Japan.
It is a legal maxim that, excepting of a political nature, law once established
continues until changed by some competent legislative power. IT IS NOT
CHANGED MERELY BY CHANGE OF SOVEREIGNTY. Until, of course, the new
sovereign by legislative act creates a change.
Therefore, even assuming that Japan legally acquired sovereignty over the
Philippines, and the laws and courts of the Philippines had become courts of
Japan, as the said courts and laws creating and conferring jurisdiction upon
them have continued in force until now, it follows that the same courts may
continue exercising the same jurisdiction over cases pending therein before the
restoration of the Commonwealth Government, until abolished or the laws
creating and conferring jurisdiction upon them are repealed by the said
government.
DECISION:
Writ of mandamus issued to the judge of the Court of First Instance of Manila,
ordering him to take cognizance of and continue to final judgment the
proceedings in civil case no. 3012.
Summary of ratio:

1. International law says the acts of a de facto government are valid and civil
laws continue even during occupation unless repealed.
2. MacArthur annulled proceedings of other governments, but this cannot be
applied on judicial proceedings because such a construction would violate the
law of nations.
3. Since the laws remain valid, the court must continue hearing the case
pending before it.
***3 kinds of de facto government: one established through rebellion (govt gets
possession and control through force or the voice of the majority and maintains
itself against the will of the rightful government) through occupation
(established and maintained by military forces who invade and occupy a
territory of the enemy in the course of war; denoted as a government of
paramount force) through insurrection (established as an independent
government by the inhabitants of a country who rise in insurrection against the
parent state)
digest copied from: http://danabatnag.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/co-kim-chan-vvaldez-tan-keh/
P O S T E D B Y T H E C O M F O R T R O O M AT 8 : 1 2 AM

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