811B.011/10

The Department of State to the Japanese Embassy74

That portion of the draft constitution for the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands which relates to the conservation [Page 1083] and utilization of the natural resources of the Philippine Islands would appear to be Article XII, of which Section 1 reads as follows:

“All agricultural, timber, and mineral lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, and other natural resources of the Philippines belong to the State, and their disposition, exploitation, development, or utilization shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, subject to any existing right, grant, lease, or concession at the time of the inauguration of the Government established under this Constitution. Natural resources, with the exception of public agricultural land, shall not be alienated, and no license, concession, or lease for the exploitation, development, or utilization of any of the natural resources shall be granted for a period exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for another twenty-five years, except as to water rights for irrigation, war supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the development of water power, in which cases beneficial use may be the measure and the limit of the grant.”

It may be observed that the restrictions and prohibitions which would be imposed by the section above-quoted would be applicable to all persons not citizens of the Philippine Islands. It does not appear therefrom that distinctions would be made between categories of persons not citizens of the Philippine Islands; and if an impression should arise that this portion of the Constitution was drafted with the object of excluding Japanese from developing and exploiting the natural resources of the Philippine Islands, such impression, while unfortunate, could not arise from any just or reasonable cause, for the reason that the disabilities applicable to Japanese nationals would equally be applicable to citizens of the United States and to other non-Philippine nationals.

It will be observed that Section 3 of the Act entitled “To provide for the complete independence of the Philippine Islands, to provide for the adoption of a constitution and a form of government for the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes”75 (copy of which is attached), provides that the draft constitution shall be submitted to the President of the United States, “who shall determine whether or not it conforms with the provisions of this Act”, and that, “If the President finds that the proposed constitution conforms substantially with the provisions of this Act he shall so certify…”76 It would seem clear that it was the purpose of Congress to impose upon the President the duty to make certain that the constitution make adequate provision in regard to certain points that are set forth in Section 2 of the Act. On the other hand, it is not understood that the [Page 1084] Act grants the President the authority to take action looking toward modification of the draft constitution in respect of matters that are not stipulated in the Act above-mentioned.

The Department will, however, endeavor to have the question under discussion brought to the attention of the Philippine authorities.

  1. Handed to the Counselor of the Japanese Embassy by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs on March 21.
  2. Approved March 24, 1934; 48 Stat. 456.
  3. Omission indicated in the original.