UNITED STATES v ONG SIU HONG (Ram) ISSUE: WoN the act of forcing a prohibited drug from the
forcing a prohibited drug from the person of an accused is
August 3, 1917 | Malcolm, J. | Prohibition only covers oral examination
PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE: THE UNITED STATES
DEFENDANT-APPELLANT: ONG SIU HONG
SUMMARY: The counsel of Ong Siu Hong is questioning that his client was
compelled to be a withness against himself because he was forced to discharge the
morphine from his mouth. The issue in this case is WoN this act is equivalent to the
prohibition stated in Section 17, Article III? NO.
DOCTRINE: The main purpose of Section 17, Article III is to prohibit
testimonial compulsion by oral examination in order to extort unwilling
confessions from prisoners implicating them in the commission of a crime.
FACTS:
1. Counsel of Ong Siu Hong raises the constitutional question that the accused
was compelled to be a witness against himself because he was forced to
discharge the morphine from his mouth.
equivalent to being compelled as a witness against himself / prohibition stated in
Section 17, Article III? NO.
RULING: Following the practice of this court in cases of this character, the
judgment of the lower court is modified by imposing the minimum penalty provided
by law, i. e., three months imprisonment and a fine of P300 or, in case of insolvency,
to suffer subsidiary imprisonment, with costs.
RATIO:
1. Forcing an accused to discharge morphine from his mouth is not compelling
him to be a witness against himself.
2. It would be a forced construction of the paragraph of the Philippine Bill of
Rights in question to hold that any article, substance, or thing taken from a
person accused of crime could not be given in evidence.
3. The main purpose of this constitutional provision is to prohibit testimonial
compulsion by oral examination in order to extort unwilling confessions
from prisoners implicating them in the commission of a crime.
4. Not considered as self incriminating under Sec. 17
a. Force a prohibited drug from the person
b. Putting in evidence papers and other articles taken from the room
of an accused in his absence
c. Taking a substance from the body of the accused to be used in
proving his guilt