Mohammedan Law in Our Philippine Possessions
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sanctioned by their social system, such the gravest crimes. It was thus hoped, as slavery and polygamy, are abhorred if it could be enforced, to put an end to the inequalities and iniquities of the by ours. The difficulty in this situation is still Moro system. But it struck at a prin further increased by the fact that we cipal source of revenue of the headmen, have assured the Moros in the most and could not be enforced without the solemn way that we would not interfere use of military power, so that offenses in any way with their religious system. continue to be tried by the headmen and Now, the laws, customs and practices of their deputies without any warrant of the people are based so largely upon law. their conception of the religion promul General Bliss, the governor of the gated by the Prophet and interpreted Moro Province, in his report for 19073 by the pandita that it is almost impos recommends that this fact be recog nized and that headmen be invested sible to separate the two. To this re ligion they adhere with fanatical zeal, with limited powers to try cases, and and are ready to fight to the last ex even to dispose of fines in accordance tremity anything that seems to involve with the tribal customs, giving the its power and integrity. convicted party the right of appeal to It was not a great while after we took the tribal ward court. possession of the Islands before it began This latter court was provided for by to be perceived that the Moros presented a legislative act of the Moro Provincial a peculiarly knotty problem. Shortly Government, in October, 1905. A tribal after the Moro Province was organized, court, presided over by a justice, was a careful study was begun of the laws established in each tribal ward, with and customs to see if a code could be limited jurisdiction in cases where at framed in accordance with our ideas of least one of the parties was a nonwhat is humane, reasonable and con Christian. An appeal lay to a court of sistent, and that would be acceptable first instance, and on such appeal, the to people with the inherited ideas and action was to be tried de novo. practices of the Moros. The first step It will be seen that the law as thus taken, as an outcome of this investiga applied deprived headmen of their im tion, was in 1904, when the territory was memorial power to try cases; that no divided into tribal wards, each under effective civil process was provided for the immediate supervision and control the arrest of criminals; that crimes com of a district governor. The latter ap mitted in the Moro country could be pointed in each ward of his district a known to the authorities only if the headman, who in turn appointed depu headmen chose to report them and the ties, the latter to constitute the police criminals could be arrested only if the force of the respective wards. The en headmen chose to act. forcement of the law was left to a certain In the greater part of the Moro coun extent to the discretion of the district try there are no Americans to act as officials. In one respect it ran counter justices, and the native has no notion to all Moro customs in that neither the of the procedure by which our law is headman nor his deputies were em applied or the processes by which it is powered to try the slightest offense, enforced. If a person accused of crime though these same men, under the native •Eighth Annual Report of the Philippine Com system, had always tried and punished mission to the Secretary of War, pt. 1, p. 395.
