Asaali vs.

Commissioner of Customs, L-24170, 16 December 1969

ISSUE:
WON the Commissioner of Customs acquired jurisdiction over the case so as to declare valid the
seizure of the vessels in question and the cargoes on the high seas beyond the territorial waters of the
Philippines.

HELD: AFFIRMATIVE

It is unquestioned that all vessels seized are of Philippine registry. The Revised Penal Code leaves no
doubt as to its applicability and enforceability not only within the Philippines, its interior waters and
maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction against those committing offense while on a
Philippine ship ...8 The principle of law that sustains the validity of such a provision equally supplies a
firm foundation for the seizure of the five sailing vessels found thereafter to have violated the
applicable provisions of the Revised Administrative Code.9

Moreover, it is a well settled doctrine of International Law that goes back to Chief Justice
Marshall's opinion in Church v. Hubbart,10 an 1804 decision, that a state has the right to protect
itself and its revenues, a right not limited to its own territory but extending to the high
seas. In the language of Chief Justice Marshall: "The authority of a nation within its own territory is
absolute and exclusive. The seizure of a vessel within the range of its cannon by a foreign force is an
invasion of that territory, and is a hostile act which it is its duty to repel. But its power to secure
itself from injury may certainly be exercised beyond the limits of its territory."