This suit was brought by petitioner against respondents in the Court of First Instance of Manila, for a writ of mandamus commanding respondents to approve and order payment of a gratuity awarded to him by section 7 of the Retirement Gratuity Law (Act 4051, Laws of the Philippines), notwithstanding the veto of that section by the Governor-General. The Court of First Instance, upon respondents' demurrer, dismissed the action. Upon appeal, the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Philippines affirmed that decision, holding that the veto by the Governor-General of section 7 was authorized by section 19 of the Organic Act of August 29, 1916, 39 Stat. 545, 551 (48 U.S.C.A. §§ 1052, 1053). 28 Phil. --. Because of the importance of the question, we granted certiorari. 299 U.S. 526, 57 S.Ct. 29, 81 L.Ed. --.
The Retirement Gratuity Law contains twelve sections. It is entitled, 'An Act to provide for the payment of retirement gratuities to officers and employees of the Insular Government retired from the service as a result of the reorganization or reduction of personnel thereof, including the justices of the peace who must relinquish office in accordance with the provisions of Act numbered Thirty-eight Hundred and Ninety-nine, and for other purposes.'
Section 1 classifies the officers and employees, separated or retired from the service, who shall be entitled to a gratuity, and provides a method for ascertaining the amount. Section 2 accords preferences in the case of certain officers and employees; section 3 fixes the basis for the computation of the gratuity; section 4 allows an officer or employee to choose between the gratuity granted by the act and gratuities conferred by other acts; section 5 provides for succession in respect of unpaid gratuities in case of death; and section 6 authorizes a conditional reappointment of persons separated or retired under the act.
Section 8-passing for the present section 7-abolishes the offices and positions vacated by the separation or retirement of officers and employees, with certain exceptions. Section 9 excepts from the benefits of the act designated officers and employees. Section 10 provides: 'The necessary sum to carry out the purposes of this Act is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated.' Section 11 fixes the effective date of the act; and section 12 provides that, if any provision of the act be disapproved by the Governor-General or be held unconstitutional or invalid by a competent court, none of the other sections or provisions of the act shall be affected thereby.
The Governor-General returned the act with the indorsement, 'Approved, section 7 excepted, February 21, 1933.' Section 7, thus vetoed, reads:
'The Justices of the Peace who must relinquish office during the year nineteen hundred and thirty-three in accordance with the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred and ninety-nine, shall also be entitled to the gratuities provided for in this Act.'
Section 19 of the Organic Act, supra, confers upon the Governor-General the usual and general veto power. That is to say, it authorizes him, if he does not approve a bill or joint resolution passed by both houses of the Legislature, to 'return it with his objections to that house in which it shall have originated'; and it then can become law only if upon reconsideration two-thirds of the members elected to each house shall agree to pass it. This general power requires the veto to include the whole bill. But the section contains an exception, namely:
'The Governor General shall have the power to veto any particular item or items of an appropriation bill, but the veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object.'
This exceptional power, it will be seen, is limited to appropriation bills; any other kind of legislation being controlled by the general rule. And its exercise is restricted to the disapproval of a particular item or particular items of such a bill. The precise question for consideration, therefore, is, Did the bill which became Act 4051 constitute an appropriation bill; and, if so, was section 7, within the meaning of the foregoing provision of the Organic Act, an item of such bill'