LEGAL ETHICS REVIEWER 4.

Constitution
Vanessa M. Velasco JD 1-C
5. Treatises and publications
Present Basis of the Philippine Legal System: Code of Professional
Topic Page
Legal Ethics Chapter I – Lawyer and 1 Responsibility.
Society BAR vs. BENCH
BAR – Refers to the whole body of attorneys and body of judges.
a. Abraham (Genesis 18:16-32, 8
the Holy Bible) BENCH – denotes the whole body of counselors, collectively the members of
b. St. Thomas More 8
the legal profession.
c. Abraham Lincoln (Case vs. 11
Snow Brothers) Practice of Law – any activity, in or out of court which requires the
d. Mahatma Gandhi 17 application of law, legal procedure, knowledge, training and experience. To
e. Jose W. Diokno 20
What are the requirement for 26 engage in the practice of law is to give notice or render any kind of service,
admission to the practice of law which or devise or service requires the use in any degree of legal knowledge
In re Cunanan, 94 Phil. 534 (1954) 30
Renato Cayetano vs. Christian 50 or skill (Cayetano v. Monsod, 201 SCRA 210).
Monsod, et al, G.R. No. 100113 Attorney-at-law/Counsel-at-law/Attorney/Counsel/
(1991)
In The Matter Of The Admission To 69 Abogado/Boceros: that class of persons who are licensed officers of the
The Bar And Oath-Taking Of courts, empowered to appear prosecute and defend and upon whom peculiar
Successful Bar Applicant Al C.
duties, responsibilities, and liabilities are developed by law as a
Argosino, Bar Matter No. 712, July
13, 1995 consequence (Cui v. Cui, 120 Phil. 729).
Consolidated case of Villareal vs. 71
Attorney in fact – an agent whose authority is strictly limited by the
People G.R. No. 151258, People vs.
CA, G.R. No. 154954, Dizon vs. instrument appointing him, though he may do things not mentioned in his
People G.R. No. 155101, and Villa vs.
appointment necessary to the performance of the duties specifically required
Escalona, G.R. Nos. 178057 and
178080, Feb. 1, 2012 of him by the power of attorney appointing him, such authority being
necessarily implied. He is not necessarily a lawyer.

Legal Ethics Chapter I – Lawyer and Society Counsel de Oficio – a counsel, appointed or assigned by the court, from
among members of the Bar in good standing who, by reason of their
LEGAL ETHICS – is a branch of moral science, which treats of the duties experience and ability, may adequately defend the accused.
which an attorney owes to the court, to the client, to his colleagues in the Note: In localities where members of the Bar are not available, the court may
profession and to the public as embodied in the Constitution, Rules of Court, appoint any person, resident of the province and good repute for probity and
the Code of Professional Responsibility, Canons of Professional Ethics, ability, to defend the accused. Sec. 7, Rule 116, Rules of Court.
jurisprudence, moral laws and special laws. Attorney ad hoc – a person named and appointed by the court to defend an
Original Bases of Legal Ethics: absentee defendant in the suit in which the appointment is made (Bienvenu
1. Canons of Professional Ethics v. Factor’s of Traders Insurance Cp., 33 La.Ann.209)
2. Supreme court Decisions Attorney of Record – one who has filed a notice of appearance and who
3. Statistics hence is formally mentioned in court records as the official attorney of the

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party. Person whom the client has named as his agent upon whom service of  The 8 members act as examiners for the 8 bar subjects with one
papers may be made. subject assigned to each.

(Reynolds v. Reynolds, Cal.2d580).  The Bar Confidant acts as a sort of liason officer between the court

Of Counsel – to distinguish them from attorneys of record, associate and the Bar Chairman on the other hand, and the individual members
of the committee on the other. He is at the same time a deputy clerk
attorneys are referred to as “of counsel” (5 Am. Jur. 261).
of court.
Lead Counsel – The counsel on their side of a litigated action who is charged
 Admission of examinees is always subject to the final approval of the
with the principal management and direction of a party’s case.
court.
House Counsel – Lawyer who acts as attorney for business though carried
Practice of Law
as an employee of that business and not as an independent lawyer.
The practice of law is a privilege granted only to those who possess the
Bar Association – an association of members of the legal profession.
STRICT INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL QUALIFICATIONS required of lawyers
Advocate – The general and popular name for a lawyer who pleads on behalf
who are instruments in the effective and efficient administration of justice.
of someone else.
(In Re: Argosino, 1997).
Barrister (England) – a person entitled to practice law as an advocate or
Requirements for admission to the Bar:
counsel in superior court.
1. citizen of the Philippines
Proctor (England) – Formerly, an attorney in the admiralty and ecclesiastical
2. at least 21 years old
courts whose duties and business correspond to those of an attorney at law 3. of good moral character
or solicitor in Chancery. 4. Philippine resident
Titulo de Abogado – it means not mere possession of the academic degree 5. Production before the supreme court satisfactory evidence of:
of Bachelor of Laws but membership in the Bar after due admission thereto, 1. good moral character
qualifying one for the practice of law. 2. no charges against him, involving moral turpitude, have been
Admission to the Practice of Law filed or are pending in any court in the Philippines.
The Supreme Court has the power to control and regulate the practice of Requirement of Good Moral Character: a continuing requirement; good
law. Thus, the Constitution, under Article VIII, Sec. 5 (5) provides: moral character is not only a condition precedent for admission to the legal
Sec. 5. The Supreme Court shall have the following powers: profession, but it must also remain intact in order to maintain one’s good
(5) Promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional standing in that exclusive and honored fraternity. (Tapucar vs. Tapucar,
rights, pleading, practice and procedure in all courts, the admission to the 1998)
practice of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance to the under Academic Requirements for Candidates:
privileged. 1. a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences (pre-law course)

The Supreme Court acts through a Bar Examination Committee in the 2. a completed course in:
1. civil law
Exercise of his judicial function to admit candidates to the legal profession.
2. commercial law
The Bar Examination Committee:
3. remedial law
 Composed of (1) member of the Supreme Court who acts as Chairman
4. public international law
and eight (8) members of the bar.
5. private international law

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 6. political law 4. President, Vice-President, members of the cabinet, their deputies and
7. labor and social legislation assistants (Art. VIII Sec. 15, 1987 Constitution).
8. medial jurisprudence 5. Members of the Constitutional Commission (Art IX-A, Sec. 2, 1987
9. taxation Constitution)
10. legal ethics 6. Ombudsman and his deputies (Art. IX, Sec. 8 (2nd par), 1987
Non-lawyers who may be authorized to appear in court: Constitution)
1. Cases before the MTC: Party to the litigation, in person OR through 7. All governors, city and municipal mayors (R.A. No. 7160, Sec. 90).
an agent or friend or appointed by him for that purpose (Sec. 34, Rule 8. Those prohibited by special law
138, RRC) Public Officials with Restrictions in the Practice of Law:
2. Before any other court: Party to the litigation, in person (Ibid.) 1. 1. No Senator as member of the House of Representative may
3. Criminal case before the MTC in a locality where a duly licensed personally appear as counsel before any court of justice as before the
member of the Bar is not available: the judge may appoint a non- Electoral Tribunals, as quasi-judicial and other administration
lawyer who is: bodies (Art. VI, Sec. 14, 1987 Constitution).
1. resident of the province 2. Under the Local Government Code (RA 7160, Sec. 91)Sanggunian
2. of good repute for probity and ability to aid the accused in his members may practice their professions provided that if they are
defense (Rule 116, Sec. 7, RRC). members of the Bar, they shall not:
4. Legal Aid Program – A senior law student, who is enrolled in a 1. appear as counsel before any court in any civil case wherein a
recognized law school’s clinical education program approved by the local government unit or any office, agency, or instrumentality
supreme Court may appear before any court without compensation, to of the government is the adverse party;
represent indigent clients, accepted by the Legal Clinic of the law 2. appear as counsel in any criminal case wherein an officer or
school. The student shall be under the direct supervision and control of employee of the national or local government is accused of an
an IBP member duly accredited by the law school. offense committed in relation to his office;
5. Under the Labor code, non-lawyers may appear before the NLRC or 3. collect any fee for their appearance in administrative
any Labor Arbiter, if proceedings involving the local government unit of which he is
1. they represent themselves, or if an official;
2. they represent their organization or members thereof (Art 222, 4. use property and personnel of the government except when the
PO 442, as amended). Sanggunian member concerned is defending the interest of the
6. Under the Cadastral Act, a non-lawyer can represent a claimant before government.
the Cadastral Court (Act no. 2259, Sec. 9). 3. Under RA 910, Sec. 1, as amended, a retired justice or judge receiving
Public Officials who cannot engage in the private practice of Law in the pension from the government, cannot act as counsel in any civil case
Philippines: in which the Government, or any of its subdivision or agencies is the
1. Judges and other officials as employees of the Supreme Court (Rule adverse party or in a criminal case wherein an officer or employee of
148, Sec. 35, RRC). the Government is accused of an offense in relation to his office.
2. Officials and employees of the OSG (Ibid.) Attorney’s Oath:
3. Government prosecutors (People v. Villanueva, 14 SCRA 109). “I, __________________, do solemnly swear that I will maintain
allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines; I will support its constitution and

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obey the laws as well as the legal orders of the duly constituted authorities connection with his client’s business except from him or with his
therein; I will do no falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in court; I will knowledge and approval;

not willingly nor wittingly promote or sue any groundless, false or unlawful 6. to abstain from all offensive personality and to advance no fact
prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless
suit, or give aid nor consent to the same; I will delay no man for money or
required by the justice of the cause with which he is charged;
malice, and will conduct myself as a lawyer according to the best of my
7. not to encourage either the commencement or the continuance of an
knowledge and discretion, with all good fidelity as well to the court as to my
action or proceeding, or delay any man’s cause for any corrupt motive
clients; and I impose upon myself this voluntary obligations without any
or interest;
mental reservation or purpose of evasion. So help me God.” (Form 28, RRC)
8. never to reject, for any consideration personal to himself, the cause of
Nature of Lawyer’s Oath
the defenseless or oppressed;
 The lawyer’s oath is not mere facile words, drift and hollow, but a
9. in the defense of a person accused of a crime, by all fair and honorable
sacred trust that must be upheld and kept inviolable. (Sebastian vs.
means, regardless of his personal opinion as to the guilt of the
Calis, 1999)
accused, to present every defense that the law permits, to the end that
 It is NOT a mere ceremony or formality for practicing law. Every lawyer
no person may be deprived of life or liberty, but by due process of law.
should at all times weigh his actions according to the sworn promises
Rule 1.01 – A lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or
he made when taking the lawyer’s oath. (In Re: Argosino, 1997, In Re:
deceitful conduct.
Arthur M. Cuevas, 1998).
 Conviction for crimes involving moral turpitude – a number of lawyers
Code of Professional Responsibility
have been suspended or disbarred for conviction of crimes involving
Chapter 1:
moral turpitude such as:
Lawyer and Society 1. estafa
CANON 1 – A lawyer shall uphold the constitution, obey the laws of the land 2. bribery
and promote respect for law and for legal processes 3. murder
 Duties of Attorneys: 4. seduction
1. to maintain allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and to 5. abduction
support the Constitution and obey the laws of the Philippines; 6. smuggling
2. to observe and maintain the respect due to the courts of justice and 7. falsification of public documents
judicial officers;  Morality as understood in law – This is a human standard based on
3. to counsel or maintain such actions or proceedings only as appear to natural moral law which is embodied in man’s conscience and which
him as just, and such defenses only as he believes to be honestly guides him to do good and avoid evil.
debatable under the laws;  Moral Turpitude: any thing that is done contrary to justice, honesty,
4. to employ, for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to him, modesty or good morals.
such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and never  Immoral Conduct: that conduct which is willful, flagrant, or
seek to mislead the judge or any judicial officer by an artifice or false shameless and which shows a moral indifference to the opinion of the
statement of fact or law; good and respectable members of the community (Arciga vs. Maniwag,
5. to maintain inviolate the confidence, and at every peril to himself, to 106 SCRA 591).
preserve the secrets of his client, and to accept no compensation in

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  Grossly Immoral Conduct: One that is so corrupt and false as to  Ambulance Chasing – Act of chasing victims of accidents for the
constitute a criminal act or so unprincipled or disgraceful as to be purpose of talking to the said victims (or relatives) and offering his
reprehensible to a high degree; it is a WILLFUL, FLAGRANT or legal services for the filing of a case against the person(s) who caused
SHAMELESS ACT which shows a MORAL INDIFFERENCE to the the accident(s).
opinion of respectable members of the community. (Narag vs. Narag, CANON 2 – A lawyer shall make his legal services available in an efficient and
1998) convenient manner compatible with the independence, integrity and
effectiveness of the profession.
Rule 1.02 – A lawyer shall not counsel or abet activities aimed at defiance of
the law or at lessening confidence in the legal system. Rule 2.01 – A lawyer shall not reject, except for valid reasons, the cause

Rule 1.03 – A lawyer shall not, for any corrupt motive or interest, of the defenseless or oppressed.

encourage any suit or proceeding or delay any man’s cause. Rule 2.02 – In such a case, even if a lawyer does not accept a case, he

Rule 1.04 – A lawyer shall encourage his clients to avoid, end or settle shall not refuse to render legal advise to the person concerned if only to

the controversy if it will admit of a fair settlement. the extent necessary to safeguard latter’s rights.
 If a lawyer finds that his client’s cause is defenseless, it is his Rule 2.03 – a lawyer shall not do or permit to be done any act designed
burden/duty to advise the latter to acquiesce and submit, rather than primarily to solicit legal business.
traverse the incontrovertible.  Primary characteristics which distinguish the legal profession from
 It is unprofessional for a lawyer to volunteer advice to bring a lawsuit, business;
except in rare cases where the blood, relationship or trust makes it his 1. duty of service, of which the emolument is a by product, and in which
duty to do so. one may attain the highest eminence without making such money;
 Temper client’s propensity to litigate. 2. a relation as an ‘officer of court’ to the administration of justice
 Should not be an instigator of controversy but a mediator for concord involving thorough sincerity, integrity and reliability;
and conciliator for compromise. 3. a relation to clients in the highest degree of fiduciary;
 The law violated need not be a penal law. “Moral Turpitude” – 4. a relation to colleagues at the bar characterized by candor, fairness
everything which is done contrary to justice, honesty, modesty or good and unwillingness to resort to current business methods of advertising
morals. and encroachment on their practice or dealing with their clients.
 Give advice tending to impress upon the client and his undertaking  Defenseless – not in the position to defend themselves due to poverty,
exact compliance with the strictest principles of moral law. weakness, ignorance or other similar reasons.
 Until a statute shall have been construed and interpreted by  Oppressed – victims of acts of cruelty, unlawful exaction, domination
competent adjudication, he is free and is entitled to advise as to its or excessive use of authority.
validity and as to what he conscientiously believes to be its just Rule on Advertisements
meaning and extent.  General Rule: No advertisements allowed. The most worthy and
 A lawyer has the obligation not to encourage suits. This is so as to effective advertisement possible is the establishment of a well-merited
prevent barratry and ambulance chasing. reputation for professional capacity and fidelity to trust.
 Barratry – offense of frequently exciting and stirring up quarrels and
suits, either at law or otherwise; Lawyer’s act of fomenting suits Lawyers may not advertise their services or expertise nor should not resort to
among individuals and offering his legal services to one of them. indirect advertisements for professional employment, such as furnishing or
inspiring newspaper comments, or procuring his photograph to be published

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in connection with causes in which the lawyer has been engaged or Rule 3.01 – A lawyer shall not use or permit the use of any false,
concerning the manner of their conduct, the magnitude of the interest fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, undignified, self-auditory or unfair
involved, the importance of the lawyer’s position, and all other self-laudation. statement or claim regarding his qualifications or legal services.
 Violation of Rule 3.01 is unethical, whether done by him personally or
 Exceptions/ Permissible advertisements: through another with his permission.
1. Reputable law lists, in a manner consistent with the standards of Rule 3.02 – In the choice of a firm name, no false, misleading, or
conduct imposed by the canons, of brief biographical and informative
assumed name shall be used. The continued use of the name of a
data, are allowed.
deceased partner is permissible provided that the firm indicates in all
2. Ordinary simple professional Card. It may contain only a statement of
its communication that said partner is deceased.
his name, the name of the law firm which he is connected with,
Rule 3.03 – Where a partner accepts public office, he shall withdraw
address, telephone number and the special branch of law practiced.
from the firm and his name shall be dropped from the firm name unless
3. A simple announcement of the opening of a law firm or of changes in
the partnership, associates, firm name or office address, being for the the law allows him to practice law concurrently.

convenience of the profession, is not objectionable. Rule 3.04 – A lawyer shall not pay or give anything of value to
4. Advertisements or simple announcement of the existence of a lawyer representatives of the mass media in anticipation of, or in return for,
or his law firm posted anywhere it is proper such as his place of publicity to attract legal business.
business or residence except courtrooms and government buildings.  It is unethical to use the name of a foreign firm.
5. Advertisements or announcement in any legal publication, including  Death of a partner does not extinguish attorney-client relationship
books, journals, and legal magazines. with the law firm.
Rule 2.04 – A lawyer shall not charge rates lower than those customarily  Negligence of a member in the law firm is negligence of the firm.
or prescribed, unless circumstances so warrant. CANON 4 – A lawyer shall participate in the improvement of the legal
 A lawyer cannot delay the approval of a compromise agreement system by initiating or supporting efforts in law reform and in the
entered into between parties, just because his attorney’s fees were not administration of justice.
provided for in the agreement.  Examples: Presenting position papers or resolutions for the
 Rule: A lawyer cannot compromise the case without client’s consent introduction of pertinent bills in congress; Petitions with the Supreme
(special authority). Exception: Lawyer has exclusive management of Court for the amendment of the Rules of Court.
the procedural aspect of the litigation (e.g. Submission for decision on CANON 5 – A lawyer shall keep abreast of legal developments,
the evidence so far presented. But in case where lawyer is confronted participate in continuing legal education programs, support efforts to
with an emergency and prompt/urgent action is necessary to protect achieve high standards in law schools as well as in the practical training
clients interest and there’s no opportunity for consultation, the lawyer
of students and assist in disseminating information regarding the law
may compromise.
and jurisprudence.
 Rule: Refrain from charging rates lower than the customary rates.
Valid Justification: relatives, co-lawyers, too poor
CANON 3 – A lawyer in making known is legal services shall use only
true, honest, fair dignified and objective information or statement of Objectives of integration of the Bar
facts.  To elevate the standards of the legal profession

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  To improve the administration of justice Rule 6.03 – A lawyer shall not, after leaving government service, accept
 To enable the Bar to discharge its responsibility more effectively. engagements or employment in connection with any matter in which he
The three-fold obligation of a lawyer had intervened while in said service.
 First, he owes it to himself to continue improving his knowledge of the  Various ways a government lawyer leaves government service:
laws; 1. retirement
 Second, he owes it to his profession to take an active interest in the 2. resignation
maintenance of high standards of legal education; 3. expiration of the term of office
 Third, he owes it to the lay public to make the law a part of their social 4. dismissal
consciousness. 5. abandonment
CANON 6 – These canons shall apply to lawyers in government service in  Q: What are the pertinent statutory provisions regarding this
the discharge of their official tasks. Rule?
 Public Officials – include elective and appointive officials and
employees, permanent or temporary, whether in the career or non- A: Sec. 3 (d) RA 3019 as amended and Sec. 7 (b), RA 6713
career service, including military and police personnel, whether or not
they receive compensation, regardless of amount. (Sec. 3 (b), RA 6713). Sec 3. Corrupt practice of Public Officers. In addition to acts or omission of
 The law requires the observance of the following norms of conduct by public officers already penalized by existing law, the following shall constitute
every public official in the discharge and execution of their official corrupt practice of any public officer and are hereby declared to be unlawful:
duties:
1. commitment to public interest (d) accepting or having any member of his family accept employment in a
2. professionalism private enterprise which has pending official business with him during the
3. justness and sincerity pendency thereof or within one year after termination.
4. political neutrality
5. responsiveness to the public Section 7 (b) of RA 6713 prohibits officials from doing any of the following
6. nationalism and patriotism acts:
7. commitment to democracy
8. simple living (Sec. 4, RA 6713) 1. own, control, manage or accept employment as officer, employee,
consultant, counsel, broker, agent, trustee or nominee in any private
Rule 6.01 – The primary duty of a lawyer engaged in public prosecution
enterprise regulated, supervised or licensed by their office unless
is not to convict but to see that justice is done. The suppression of facts
expressly allowed by law.
or the concealment of witnesses capable of establishing the innocence
of the accused is highly reprehensible and is cause of disciplinary
These prohibitions shall continue to apply for a period of one (1) year after
action.
resignation, retirement, or separation from public office, except in the case of
Rule 6.02 – A lawyer in the government service shall not use his public
subparagraph (b) (2) above, but the professional concerned cannot practice
position to promote or advance his private interest, nor allow the latter
his profession in connection with any matter before the office he used to be
to interfere with his public duties.
with, in which case the one year prohibition shall likewise apply.

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  Lawyers in the government service are prohibited to engage in the and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the
Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
private practice of their profession unless authorized by the
constitution or law, provided that such practice will not conflict or 26 And the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will
tend to conflict with their official functions. spare the entire city for their sake.”
 Misconduct in office as a public official may be a ground for
27 Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to
disciplinary action (if of such character as to affect his qualification as my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose there are only
lawyer or to show moral delinquency). forty-five righteous people rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city
 Should recommend the acquittal of the accused whose conviction is for lack of five?”
on appeal, IF he finds no legal basis to sustain the conviction.
And the LORD said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people
 Includes restriction is representing conflicting interest (e.g. Accepting there.”
engagements vs. former employer, PNB)
 The OSG is not authorized to represent a public official at any state of 29 Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only
forty?”
a criminal case.
Reference: Legal Ethics Reviewer And the LORD replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”
https://lawphilreviewer.wordpress.com/tag/legal-ethics-chapter-i-lawyer-
and-society/ 30 “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—
suppose only thirty righteous people are found?”
1) Abraham (Genesis 18:16-32, the Holy Bible)
And the LORD replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.”
Genesis 18:16-32 New Living Translation (NLT)
31 Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me
Abraham Intercedes for Sodom continue—suppose there are only twenty?”

16 Then the men got up from their meal and looked out toward Sodom. As And the LORD replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
they left, Abraham went with them to send them on their way.
32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one
17 “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” the LORD asked. 18 “For more time. Suppose only ten are found there?”
Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations
of the earth will be blessed through him. 19 I have singled him out so that he And the LORD replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the LORD by doing
what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised.” 2) St. Thomas More

20 So the LORD told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Thomas More was born in London on February 7, 1478. His father, Sir John
Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. 21 I am going down to see if their More, was a lawyer and judge who rose to prominence during the reign of
actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.” Edward IV. His connections and wealth would help his son, Thomas, rise in
station as a young man. Thomas' mother was Agnes Graunger, the first wife
22 The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the LORD remained of John More. John would have four wives during his life, but they each died,
with Abraham. 23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you sweep away leaving John as a widower. Thomas had two brothers and three sisters, but
both the righteous and the wicked? 24 Suppose you find fifty righteous three of his siblings died within a year of their birth. Such tragedies were
people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for common in England during this time. It is likely that Thomas was positively
their sakes? 25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the influenced from a young age by his mother and siblings. He also attended St.
righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous Anthony's School, which was said to be one of the best schools in London at

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that time. In 1490, he became a household page to John Morton, the More also honed his skills as a theologian and a writer. Among his most
Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of England. Archbishop famous works is "Utopia," about a fictional, idealistic island society. The work
Morton was a Renaissance man and inspired Thomas to pursue his own is widely regarded as part satire, part social commentary, part suggestion.
education. Utopia is considered one of the greatest works of the late Renaissance and
was widely read during the Enlightenment period. It remains well by scholars
Thomas More entered Oxford in 1492, where he would learn Latin, Greek read today.
and prepare for his future studies. In 1494, he left Oxford to become a lawyer
and he trained in London until 1502 when he was finally approved to begin From 1517 on, Henry VIII took a liking to Thomas More, and gave him posts
practice. of ever increasing responsibility. In 1521, he was knighted and made Under-
Treasurer of the Exchequer.
Almost as soon as More became a lawyer, he found himself contemplating
another path in life. For two years, between 1503 and 1504, More lived next The King's trust in More grew with time and More was soon made Chancellor
to a Carthusian monastery and he found himself called to follow their of the Duchy of Lancaster, which gave him authority over the northern
lifestyle of simple piety. He often joined their spiritual exercises. portion of England on behalf of Henry.

By 1504, More had decided to remain in the secular world, and stood for More became Lord Chancellor in 1529.
election to Parliament. But he did not forget the pious monks who inspired
his practice of the faith. More was immediately effective, working with speed and precision that is
admired today. He was likely one of Henry VIII's most effective servants, and
Thomas More married his first wife, Jane Colt in 1505. They would have four was fiercely loyal to the king.
children together before her death in 1511. Their marriage was reportedly
happy and Thomas often tutored her in music and literature. During his tenure as Lord Chancellor, More prosecuted those accused of
heresy and worked tirelessly to defend the Catholic faith in England. This
After Jane's death in 1511, Thomas quickly remarried to Alice Harpur was an arduous, but achievable task as long as he enjoyed Henry's favor.
Middleton, who was a wealthy widow. Alice was not particularly attractive, However, in 1530, as Henry worked to obtain an annulment from his wife,
and her temperament was less docile than Jane's. The wedding took place Catherine, Moore refused to sign a letter to the Pope, requesting an
less than a month after Jane's passing and was poorly received by his annulment. This was More's first time crossing Henry.
friends.
The relationship between More and Henry became strained again when
It was rumored that Thomas married her because he wanted a stepmother seeking to isolate More, Henry purged many of the clergy who supported the
for his four children, and she was a woman of wealth and means. It is Pope. It became clear to all that Henry was prepared to break away from the
believed the pair knew each other for some time prior to their marriage. They Church in Rome, something More knew he could not condone.
would have no children together. Thomas accepted Alice's daughter from her
previous marriage as his own. In 1532, More found himself unable to work for Henry VIII, whom he felt had
lost his way as a Catholic. Faced with the prospect of being compelled to
Thomas was considered a doting father, and he often wrote letters to his actively support Henry's schism with the Church, More offered his
children when he was away on work. He also insisted that his daughters resignation, citing failing health. Henry accepted it, although he was
receive the same education as his son. His daughters were well known for unhappy with what he viewed as flagging loyalty.
their academic accomplishments.
In 1533, More refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boylen, who was now
In 1504, More was elected to Parliament to represent the region of Great the Queen of England. More instead wrote a letter of congratulations. The
Yarmouth, and in 1510 rose to represent London. During his service to the letter, as opposed to his direct presence offended Henry greatly. The king
people of London, he earned a reputation as being honest and effective. He viewed More's absence as an insult to his new queen and an undermining of
became a Privy Counselor in 1514. his authority as head of the church and state.

9|Page
Henry then had charges trumped up against More, but More's own integrity More's decapitated body was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula at
protected him. In the first instance, he was accused of accepting bribes, but the Tower of London, in an unmarked grave. His head was put on display,
there was simply no evidence that could be obtained or manufactured. He but his daughter Margaret possibly bribed someone to take it down. The
was then accused of conspiracy against the king, because he allegedly skull may be in the vault of a church in Canterbury.
consulted with a nun who prophesied against Henry and his wife, Anne.
However, More was able to produce a letter in which he specifically Thomas More has been widely remembered as a man of tremendous
instructed the nun, Elizabeth Barton, not to interfere with politics. integrity, and he has since been described as a martyr and canonized a saint.

On April 13, 1534, More was ordered to take an oath, acknowledging the Pope Leo XIII beatified More in 1886, and he was canonized by Pope Pius XI
legitimicies of Anne's position as queen, of Henry's self-granted annulment on May 19, 1935.
from Catherine, and the superior position of the King as head of the church.
More accepted Henry's marriage to Anne, but refused to acknowledge Henry His feast day is June 22.
as head of the church, or his annulment from Catherine. This led to his
He is the patron saint of adopted children lawyers, civil servants, politicians,
arrest and imprisonment. He was locked away in the Tower of London.
and difficult marriages.
He faced trial on July 1 and was convicted by a court that included Anne
The Legal Profession and the Monastery
Boylen's own father, brother and uncle, hardly an impartial jury. Still, More
had one thing going for him. He could not break the law of which he was Around 1494, his father, a prominent attorney, brought More back to London
accused if he remained silent. However, he had no defense against treachery, to study common law. And in February 1496, More was admitted to Lincoln's
and several dubious witnesses were able to contrive a story that he had Inn, one of England's four legal societies, to prepare for admission to the bar,
spoken words that had the same effect as treason. and in 1501 he became a full member of the profession. More managed to
keep up with his literary and spiritual interests while practicing law, and he
Despite a brilliant defense of himself and persuasive testimony, grounded in
read devotedly from both Holy Scripture and the classics.
truth and fact, More was convicted in fifteen minutes. The court sentenced
him to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, which was the traditional Also around this time, More became close friends with Erasmus during the
punishment for treason. latter's first visit to England. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship and
professional relationship, and the pair worked on Latin translations of
Henry was pleased with the outcome, although likely upset that one of his
Lucian's works during Erasmus' second visit. On Erasmus' third visit, in
favorite advisers refused, even upon pain of death, to sanction his annulment
1509, he stayed in More's home and wrote Praise of Folly, dedicating it to
and break from Rome. Henry was a Machiavellian king and while he may
More.
have regretted the loss of More, he was more intent upon retaining his
authority. More was, meanwhile, torn between a life of civil service and a monastic
calling, and he made the decision to work toward becoming a monk. To that
As a final act of mercy, Henry commuted More's punishment to mere
end, in 1503, he moved to a monastery outside the London city limits and
decapitation.
subjected himself to the discipline of the Carthusians, taking part of the
More ascended the scaffold on July 6, 1535, joking to his executioners to monastic life as much as his legal career would allow. The prayer, fasting and
help him up the scaffold, but that he would see himself down. He then made partaking in penance would stay with him for the rest of his life (as would the
a final statement, proclaiming that he was "the king's good servant, but practice of wearing a hair shirt), but his sense of duty to serve his country
God's first." overcame his desire for monasticism, and he entered Parliament in 1504. He
also was married for the first time around this time, either in 1504 or early
Following his death, it was revealed that More wore a hair shirt, a garment the following year.
destined to be itchy, and worn to as a sign of atonement and repentance. It
became obvious to all that he was a man of deep piety, asceticism, voluntary More is thought to have written History of King Richard III (in Latin and in
self discipline, and penitence. English) between 1513 and 1518. The work is considered the first
masterpiece of English historiography (the study of history, or the study of a

10 | P a g e
particular historical subject), and, despite remaining unfinished, influenced associates. Robert C. Winthrop, a scholarly and conservative man,
subsequent historians, including William Shakespeare. representing the intelligence of Boston, says, when writing thirty-four years
thereafter: "I recall vividly the impressions I then formed, both of his ability
'Utopia' and amiability. We were old whigs together, and agreed entirely upon all
questions of public interest. I could not always concur in the policy of the
In 1516, More published Utopia, a work of fiction primarily depicting a pagan party which made him President, but I never lost my personal regard for him.
For shrewdness and sagacity, and keen practical sense, he has had no
and communist island on which social and political customs are entirely
superior in our day and generation."[1]
governed by reason. The description of the island of Utopia comes from a
mysterious traveler to support his position that communism is the only cure The vice-president of the Confederacy, Alexander H. Stephens, writing
for the egoism found in both private and public life—a direct jab at Christian seventeen years after Lincoln's death, and recalling their service together in
Congress, from 1847 to 1849, says:
Europe, which was seen by More as divided by self-interest and greed.
"I knew Mr. Lincoln well and intimately, and we were both ardent supporters
Utopia covered such far-reaching topics as theories of punishment, state- of General Taylor for President in 1848. Mr. Lincoln, Toombs, Preston, myself
controlled education, multi-religion societies, divorce, euthanasia and and others, formed the first Congressional Taylor club, known as 'The Young
women's rights, and the resulting display of learning and skill established Indians,' and organized the Taylor movement, which resulted in his
nomination..."
More as a foremost humanist. Utopia also became the forerunner of a new
literary genre: the utopian romance.
"Mr. Lincoln was careful as to his manners, awkward in his speech, but was
possessed of a very strong. clear, vigorous mind."
https://www.biography.com/scholar/thomas-more (Biography.com Editors)
"He always attracted and riveted the attention of the House when he spoke.
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=324 (Catholic Online)
His manner of speech as well as thought was original. He had no model. He
was a man of strong convictions, and what Carlyle would have called an
3) Abraham Lincoln (Case vs. Snow Brothers) earnest man. He abounded in anecdote. He illustrated everything he was
talking about by an anecdote, always exceedingly apt and pointed, and
In December, 1847, Lincoln took his seat in Congress (the 30th) the only socially he always kept his company in a roar of laughter."[2]
whig member from Illinois. His great rival, Douglas, had already run a
brilliant career in the House, and now for the first time had become a From the time they parted as members of the Taylor Club, until the Hampton
member of the United States Senate. These two had met at Vandalia, and in Roads Conference in 1865, of which hereafter, these two remarkable men did
the Illinois Legislature had always been rivals, and each was now the not again meet.
acknowledged leader of his party. The democratic party had, since the year Lincoln took a more prominent part in the debates than is usual for new
1836, been strongly in the majority, and Douglas in his state, more than any members. On the 8th of January, 1848, writing to his young partner,
other man, directed and controlled it. Among Lincoln's colleagues in Herndon, he says: "By way of experiment, and of getting 'the hang of the
Congress from Illinois, were John Wentworth, John A. McClernand and house,' I made a little speech two or three days ago on a post-office question
William A. Richardson. This Congress had among its members many very of no general interest." (He was second on the Committee of Post-offices and
distinguished men. Among them were ex-President John Quincy Adams; Post Roads.) "I find speaking here and elsewhere almost the same thing. I
George Ashman, who presided over the convention which nominated Lincoln was about as badly scared, and no more than when I speak in court." Writing
for President; Caleb B. Smith, a member of his cabinet; John G. Palfrey, the to his partner again soon after, he gave the young gentleman some very good
historian of New England; Robert C. Winthrop, speaker; Jacob Collamer, advice. "The way for a young man to rise," said he, "is to improve himself
postmaster-general; Andrew Johnson, elected Vice-President with Lincoln on every way he can, never suspecting anybody wishes to hinder him. Allow me
his second election; Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the to assure you that suspicions and jealousy never did help any man in any
Confederacy; besides Toombs, Rhett, Cobb, and other prominent leaders in station." And it may be truthfully added, as will hereafter appear, that no
the rebellion. man was ever more free from these faults than Lincoln.
In the Senate were Daniel Webster, John P. Hale, John A. Dix, Simon On the 12th of January, 1848, he made an able and elaborate speech on the
Cameron, Lewis Cass, Thomas H. Benton, John J. Crittenden, Mason and Mexican war, which established his reputation in Congress as an able
Hunter from Virginia, John C. Calhoun, and Jefferson Davis. Lincoln entered debater. Douglas, long afterwards, in their joint debate at Ottawa, charged
Congress as the leader of the whig party in Illinois, and with the reputation of him with taking the side of the enemy against his own country in this
being an able and effective popular speaker. It is curious to learn the Mexican war. To which Lincoln replied: "I was an old whig, and whenever the
impression which this prairie orator, with no college culture, made upon his democratic party tried to get me to vote that the war had been righteously

11 | P a g e
begun by the President, I would not do it. But when they asked money, or administration might be brought back to the policy of prohibiting it in the
land warrants, or anything to pay the soldiers, I gave the same vote that territories.
Douglas did."[3]
The most important and significant act of Lincoln at this Congress, was the
He had offered resolutions calling on the President, Mr. Polk, for a statement introduction by him into the House, of a bill to abolish slavery in the District
of facts respecting the beginning of this war, and speaking to these of Columbia. The bill provided that no person from without the District
resolutions said: should be held to slavery within it, and that no person born thereafter within
the District should be held to slavery. It provided for the gradual
"Let him answer, fully, fairly, and candidly. Let him remember he sits where
emancipation of all the slaves in the District, with compensation to their
Washington sat, and so remembering let him answer as Washington would
masters, and that the act should be submitted to a vote of the people of the
answer..."
District. He prepared the bill with reference to the condition of public
sentiment at that time, and what was possible to be accomplished. The bill
"But if the President," he said, "trusting to escape scrutiny by fixing the
represents what he hoped he could carry through Congress, and into a law,
public gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military glory, that attractive
rather than his own abstract ideas of justice and right. He believed, as he
rainbow that rises in showers of blood, that serpent's eye that charms to
had declared many times, and emphatically in his protest to the resolutions
destroy, plunged into it (the war) and was swept on and on till disappointed
in the Illinois Legislature, that slavery was "unjust to the slave, impolitic to
in the ease with which Mexico might be enslaved, be now finds himself he
the nation," and he meant to do all in his power to restrict and get rid of it.
knows not where."
Even this bill, mild as it was, would not be tolerated by the slave states, and
On the 27th of July, after he had, as a delegate from Illinois, aided to
their opposition was so decided and unanimous that he was not able even to
nominate General Taylor for President, Lincoln made what is called a
bring it to a vote. He also at about this time voted against paying for slaves
campaign speech to promote his election against Cass, the democratic
lost by officers in the Seminole war. His term as member of Congress expired
candidate. For that purpose the speech was very effective. It is full of satire,
March 4, 1849, and he was not a candidate for re-election.
sarcasm, and wit; some of it rather coarse, but it was designed to reach and
influence a class of voters by whom coarse and keen illustrations would be He sought an appointment as Commissioner of the General Land Office from
appreciated. The following extract will exhibit its characteristics: President Taylor, but, to the surprise of his friends, it was given to Justin
Butterfield, a distinguished lawyer from Chicago. The offices of secretary and
"But in my hurry I was very near closing on the subject of military coat-tails
governor of Oregon Territory were offered to him, but both declined. When it
before I was done with it. There is one entire article of the sort I have not
is remembered how very active and influential he had been in securing the
discussed yet; I mean the military tail you democrats are now engaged in
nomination and election of Taylor, the failure of the administration to appoint
dovetailing on to the great Michigander. Yes sir, all his biographers (and they
him to the office which his friends asked, is strange, and it was a great
are legion) have him in hand, tying him to a military tail, like so many
disappointment. He did not hesitate to decline the appointment to Oregon,
mischievous boys tying a dog to a bladder of beans. True, the material they
conscious, perhaps, that there was a great work for him to do on this side of
have is very limited, but they drive at it might and main. He invaded Canada
the Rocky Mountains.
without resistance, and he outvaded it without pursuit. As he did both under
orders, I suppose there was to him credit in neither of them; but they are After he became President, the member of Congress representing the Chicago
made to constitute a large part of the tail. He was volunteer aid to General district, in behalf of a son of Mr. Butterfield, asked for an appointment in the
Harrison on the day of the battle of the Thames, and as you said in 1840 that army. When the application was presented, the President paused, and after a
Harrison was picking whortleberries, two miles off, while the battle was moment's silence, said: "Mr. Justin Butterfield once obtained an appointment
fought, I suppose it is a just conclusion with you to say Cass was aiding I very much wanted, and in which my friends believed I could have been
Harrison to pick whortleberries. This is about all, except the mooted question useful, and to which they thought I was fairly entitled, and I have hardly ever
of the broken sword. Some authors say he broke it; some say he threw it felt so bad at any failure in my life, but I am glad of an opportunity of doing a
away, and some others, who ought to know, say nothing about it. Perhaps it service to his son." And he made an order for his commission. He then spoke
would be a fair historical compromise to say, if he did not break it, he did not of the offer made to him of the governorship of Oregon. To which the reply
do anything else with it." was made: "How fortunate that you declined. If you had gone to Oregon, you
might have come back as senator, but you would never have been President."
Lincoln entered into this presidential canvass very zealously. Writing to
"Yes, you are probably right," said he, and then with a musing, dreamy look,
Herndon to get up clubs and get the young men to join, he says: "Let every
he added: "I have all my life been a fatalist. What is to be will be, or rather, I
one play the part he can play the best. Some can speak, some sing, and all
have found all my life as Hamlet says:
can hallo!" He went to New York and New England, speaking often and
earnestly for Taylor. Returning, he spoke with great effect in Illinois and 'There's a divinity that shapes our ends
other parts of the West during the canvass. General Taylor's election inspired Rough-hew them how we will.'"
hopes that the extension of slavery might be stopped, and that the

12 | P a g e
Mrs. Lincoln was not with him much of the time while he was in Congress. of the Mississippi valley, and exhibiting its most peculiar characteristics in
Robert Todd, their eldest son, was born on the 1st day of August, 1843; the the mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and in Illinois. He would
second, Edward Baker, on the 10th of March, 1846; the third, William have been instantly recognized as a western man, and his stature, figure,
Wallace, on December 21st, 1850; and the fourth, Thomas, on April 4th, dress, manner, voice, and accent indicated that he was from the Northwest.
1853. The mother was too busily engaged with family cares and maternal In manner he was cordial, frank, and friendly, and, although not without
duties while her husband was at Washington, to leave home for any dignity, he put every one perfectly at ease. The first impression a stranger
considerable time. His term having expired, and he having failed to obtain meeting him or hearing him speak would receive, was that of a kind, sincere
the office his friends sought for him, he left the capital for his prairie home, and genuinely good man, of perfect truthfulness and integrity. He was one of
not to return until he went back, amidst the throes and convulsions of the those men whom everybody liked at first sight. If he spoke, before many
rebellion, clothed with the fearful responsibilities of the Executive. While at words were uttered, the hearer would be impressed with his clear, direct
Washington as member of Congress, did any dim, mysterious vision of the good sense, his simple, homely, short Anglo-Saxon words, by his wonderful
future dawn upon his mind? Did he sometimes dream of the White House, of wit and humor.
the Presidency, of emancipation? Did the prophecy of the Voudou negress
Attention has already been called to the great number of short and simple
ever recur to him? Whatever his dreams, he returned to Illinois to devote
words in his writings and speeches. Lincoln was, upon the whole, the
himself, with zeal and energy, to the practice of the law.
strongest jury lawyer in the state. He had the ability to perceive with almost
Before entering upon the history of the slavery conflict, let us pause and intuitive quickness the decisive point in the case. In the examination and
consider Mr. Lincoln as a lawyer, advocate, and orator. From his retirement cross-examination of a witness he had no equal. He could compel a witness
from Congress in 1849, until the great Lincoln and Douglas debate in 1858, to tell the truth when he meant to lie, and if a witness lied he rarely escaped
and, indeed, until his nomination for the Presidency in 1860, he was engaged exposure under Lincoln's cross-examination. He could always make a jury
in the laborious and successful practice of his profession. He rode the circuit, laugh, and often weep, at his pleasure. His legal arguments addressed to the
attended the terms of the Supreme Court of the state and United States judges were always clear, vigorous, and logical, seeking to convince rather by
circuit and district courts, and was frequently called on special retainers to the application of principle than by the citation of cases. A stranger going
other states. He had a very large, and it might have been a very lucrative into court when he was trying a cause would, after a few moments, find
practice, but his fees were, as his brethren of the bar declared, ridiculously himself on Lincoln's side, and wishing him success. He seemed to magnetize
small. He lived simply, comfortably, and respectably, with neither expensive every one. He was so straightforward, so direct, so candid, that every
tastes nor habits. His wants were few and simple. He occupied a small, spectator was impressed with the idea that he was seeking only truth and
unostentatious house in Springfield, and was in the habit of entertaining, in justice. He excelled in the statement of his case. However complicated, he
a very simple way, his friends and his brethren of the bar, during the terms would disentangle it, and present the real issue in so simple and clear a way
of the Court and the sessions of the Legislature. Mrs. Lincoln often that all could understand. Indeed, his statement often rendered argument
entertained small numbers of friends at dinner, and somewhat larger unnecessary, and frequently the court would stop him and say: "If that is the
numbers at evening parties. In his modest and simple home, everything was case, Brother Lincoln, we will hear the other side." His illustrations were
orderly and refined, and there was always on the part of both Mr. and Mrs. often quaint and homely, but always apt and clear, and often decisive. He
Lincoln, a cordial, hearty, western welcome, which put every guest perfectly always met his opponent's case fairly and squarely, and never intentionally
at ease. Her table was famed for the excellence of its rare Kentucky dishes, misstated law or evidence.[4]
and in season was loaded with venison, wild turkeys, prairie chickens,
Out of a multitude of causes a few are cited for illustration. One of the most
quails, and other game, which in those early days was abundant. Yet it was
interesting cases in which Lincoln was engaged early in his professional life,
the genial manner and ever kind welcome of the hostess, and the wit and
grew out of the sale of a negro girl named Nancy. It was the case of
humor, anecdote, and unrivalled conversation of the host, which formed the
Bailey vs. Cromwell, argued and decided at the December term of the
chief attraction, and made a dinner at Lincoln's cottage an event to be
Supreme Court of Illinois, 1841.[5]
remembered.
Lincoln's income from his profession was from $2,000 to $3,000 per annum. The girl was alleged to have been held as an indentured servant or slave, and
had been sold by Cromwell to Bailey, and a promissory note taken in
His property at this time consisted of his house and lot in Springfield, a lot in
payment. Suit was brought in the Tazewell Circuit Court to recover the
the town of Lincoln, which had been given to him, and 160 acres of wild land
amount of the note, and judgment was recovered. The case was taken to the
in Iowa, which he had received for his services in the Black Hawk war. He
Supreme Court, and Mr. Lincoln made an elaborate argument in favor of
owned a few law and miscellaneous books. All his property may have been of
reversing the judgment. Judge Logan represented the opposite side. Lincoln
the value of $10,000 or $12,000.
contended, among other positions, that the girl was free by virtue of the
When he returned from Washington in 1849, he would have been instantly ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery in the Northwestern Territory, of
recognized in any court room in the United States, as being a very tall which Illinois was a part, as well as by the constitution of the state, which
specimen of that type of long, large-boned men produced in the northern part prohibited slavery. He insisted that, as it appeared from the record that the

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consideration of the note was the sale of a human being in a free state, the the note was given for." The jury without leaving their seats gave a verdict for
note was void; that a human being in a free state could not be the subject of old farmer Case.[7]
sale. The court, the opinion given by Judge Breese, reversed the judgment.
One of the great triumphs of Lincoln at the bar was won in the trial of
The argument by Lincoln, a very brief and imperfect statement of which is
William D. Armstrong, indicted with one Norris, for murder. The crime had
given in the report, was most interesting, and the question of slavery under
been committed in Mason County, near a camp-meeting. Norris was
the constitution, the ordinance of 1787, and the law of nations, was very
convicted and sent to the state prison. Armstrong took a change of venue to
carefully considered. He was then thirty-two years of age, and it is probable
Cass County, on the ground that the prejudices of the people in Mason
that in preparing the argument of this case he gave the subject of slavery and
County were so strong against him that he could not have a trial. He was the
the legal questions connected with it a more full and elaborate investigation
son of Jack Armstrong, who had been so kind to Lincoln in early life. Jack
than ever before.[6]
was dead, but Hannah, who when Lincoln was roughing it at New Salem, had
The suit of Case vs. Snow, tried at the spring term of tne Tazewell Circuit been so motherly; who had made his shirts, and mended his well worn
Court, illustrates both Mr. Lincoln's love of justice and his adroitness in clothes; who, when Lincoln was depressed and gloomy, had in her rude and
managing an ordinary case. He had brought an action in behalf of an old motherly way tried to cheer him; she now came to him and begged that he
man named Case, against the Snow boys, to recover the amount of a note would save her son from the gallows. She had watched his rise to distinction
given them in payment for what was known as a "prairie team." This consists with pride and exultation. In a certain way she looked upon him as her boy,
of a breaking plow and two or three yoke of oxen, making up a team strong and she believed in him. Lincoln, and Lincoln only, as she thought, could
enough to break up the strong, tough, thick turf of the prairie. The save Bill from disgrace and death; he could do anything. She went to
defendants, the Snow boys, appeared by their counsel and plead that they Springfield, and begged him to come and save her son. He at once relieved
were infants, or minors, when the note was given. On the trial Lincoln her by promising to do all he could.
produced the note, and it was admitted that it was given for the oxen and
The trial came on at Beardstown, in the spring of 1858. The evidence against
plow. The defendants then offered to prove that they were under twenty-one
Bill was very strong. Indeed, the case for the defence looked hopeless. Several
years of age when they signed the note. "Yes," said Lincoln, "I guess that is
witnesses swore positively to his guilt. The strongest evidence was that of a
true and we will admit it."
man who swore that at eleven o'clock at night he saw Armstrong strike the
"Is there a count in the declaration for oxen and plow, sold and delivered?" deceased on the head. That the moon was shining brightly and was nearly
inquired Judge Treat, the presiding judge. full, and that its position in the sky was just about that of the sun at ten
o'clock in the morning, and that by it he saw Armstrong give the mortal blow.
"Yes," said Lincoln, "and I have only two or three questions to ask of the
This was fatal, unless the effect could be broken by contradiction or
witness." This witness had been called to prove the age of the Snow boys.
impeachment. Lincoln quietly looked up an almanac, and found that, at the
"Where is that prairie team now?" said Lincoln. time this, the principal witness, declared the moon to have been shining with
full light, there was no moon at all. There were some contradictory statements
"On the farm of the Snow boys." made by other witnesses, but on the whole the case seemed almost hopeless.
"Have you seen anyone breaking prairie with it lately?" Mr. Lincoln made the closing argument. "At first," says Mr. Walker, one of the
counsel associated with him, "he spoke slowly and carefully, reviewed the
"Yes," replied the witness, "the Snow boys were breaking up with it last testimony, and pointed out its contradictions, discrepancies, and
week." impossibilities. When he had thus prepared the way, he called for the
"How old are the boys now?" almanac, and showed that, at the hour at which the principal witness swore
he had seen, by the light of the full moon, the mortal blow given, there was
"One is a little over twenty-one, and the other near twenty-three." no moon at all."[8]
"That is all," said Mr. Lincoln. This was the climax of the argument, and of course utterly disposed of the
principal witness. But it was Lincoln's eloquence which saved Bill Armstrong.
"Gentlemen," said Lincoln to the jury, "these boys never would have tried to
His closing appeal must have been irresistible. His associate says: "The last
cheat old farmer Case out of these oxen and that plow, but for the advice of
fifteen minutes of his speech was as eloquent as I ever heard... The jury sat
counsel. It was bad advice, bad in morals and bad in law. The law never
as if entranced, and when he was through, found relief in a gush of tears."
sanctions cheating, and a lawyer must be very smart indeed to twist it so
One of the prosecuting attorneys says: "He took the jury by storm... There
that it will seem to do so. The judge will tell you what your own sense of
were tears in Lincoln's eyes while he spoke, but they were genuine... I have
justice has already told you, that these Snow boys, if they were mean enough
said an hundred times that it was Lincoln's speech that saved that criminal
to plead the baby act, when they came to be men should have taken the oxen
from the gallows." He pictured to the jury the old Armstrong home, the log
and plow back. They can not go back on their contract, and also keep what
cabin at New Salem; the aged mother, her locks silvered with time, was
sitting by his side, as he spoke; all the associations of those early days came

14 | P a g e
thronging up, his own feelings were thoroughly roused, and when he was seemed at times like one inspired. He would begin in a diffident and awkward
once thus roused, his personal magnetism was well nigh irresistible. None manner, but, as he became absorbed in his subject, then there would come
but men of the strongest will could stand against his appeals. The jury in that wonderful transformation, of which so many have spoken. Self-
this case knew and loved Lincoln, and they could not resist him. He told the consciousness, diffidence, and awkwardness disappeared. His attitude
anxious mother: "Your son will be cleared before sundown." When Lincoln became dignified, his figure seemed to expand, his features were illuminated,
closed, and while the state's attorney was attempting to reply, she left the his eyes blazed with excitement, and his action became bold and
court room and "went down to Thompson's pasture," where, all alone, she commanding. Then his voice and everything about him became electric, his
remained awaiting the result. Her anxiety may be imagined, but before the cadence changed with every feeling, and his whole audience became
sun went down that day, Lincoln's messenger brought to her the joyful completely magnetized. Every sentence called forth a responsive emotion. To
tidings: "Bill is free. Your son is cleared." For all of this Lincoln would accept see Lincoln, on such great occasions, on an open prairie, the central figure of
nothing but thanks. ten thousand people, every sound but that of his voice hushed to perfect
silence, every eye bent upon him, every ear open, eager to catch each word,
There was a latent power in him, which when roused was literally
his voice clear and powerful, and of a key that could be distinctly heard by all
overwhelming. There were times, when fired by great injustice, fraud, or
the vast multitude; to hear him on such occasions, speaking on the great
wrong, when his denunciation was so crushing that the object of it would be
themes of liberty and slavery, was to hear Demosthenes thundering against
driven from the court room. A story is current around Springfield, that on
Philip; it was like hearing Patrick Henry plead for American liberty.
one occasion his reply to an outrageous attack by a man named Thomas,
was so severe, that Thomas was completely broken down, and ran out of the https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Life_of_Abraham_Lincoln_(Arnold)/Chap
court room, weeping with rage and mortification. ter_V (The Life of Abraham Lincoln Isaac N. Arnold)/Chapter V)
The only instance known of his taking a fee regarded as large, was his charge
of five thousand dollars to the Illinois Central Railroad, for very important CASS v SNOW & SNOW: LINCOLN PERFORMS A SURGICAL CROSS-
services in the Supreme Court. This great corporation, extending with its EXAMINATION
road bed and branches, more than seven hundred miles in the state, was
party in a case involving questions of difficulty; in this case Lincoln appeared Among the legends that grew up after Lincoln’s death, there is a
and obtained a decision of vast pecuniary importance to the road. His story of Lincoln persuading a jury to ignore the law in a case which he
friends, knowing his custom of charging small fees, insisted that in this case, handled in 1847. According to the traditional story, an elderly gentleman
and against a client so abundantly able to pay, his charge should be liberal, named either Cass sold a “prairie team” to two brothers named Snow. A
and bear some relation to the great service he had rendered.
prairie team consisted of a heavy duty plow for breaking never-before
In 1855 he was retained by Many, in the great patent case of cultivated prairie land and a team of oxen to pull it. The Snow brothers
McCormick vs. Many, involving the question of the infringement of the signed a note for the team, which they refused to pay when it came due. Cass
McCormick reaping machine patents. It was argued at Cincinnati, before hired Lincoln to sue on the note. The lawyers defending the Snows interposed
Justice McLean, of the Supreme Court of the United States. Lincoln was
a plea of infancy and thus the issue was joined. At the trial it was readily
associated with Edwin M. Stanton, afterwards his Secretary of War, and
George Harding, of Philadelphia. On the side of McCormick were William H. admitted that the brothers signed the note, but the defense called a witness
Seward, Reverdy Johnson, and Edward N. Dickinson.[9] to testify that they were both under the age of 21.

The last case Mr. Lincoln ever tried, was that of Jones vs. Johnson, in April Stymied and enraged by the hyper-technical defense that the
and May, 1860, in the United States Circuit Court, at Chicago. The case
brothers’ crooked lawyers had interposed, Lincoln supposedly gave a rousing
involved the title to land of very great value, the accretion on the shores of
Lake Michigan. During the trial, Judge Drummond and all the counsel on final argument which convinced the jury to ignore the law and find for the
both sides, including Mr. Lincoln, dined together at the house of the author. plaintiff in spite of the fact that the boys were not legally obligated to pay the
Douglas and Lincoln were at the time both candidates for the nomination for note. Lincoln accomplished this feat by putting the brothers’ lawyer on trial.
President. There were active and ardent political friends of each at the table, Lincoln’s argument to the jury went something like this:
and when the sentiment was proposed, "May Illinois furnish the next
President," it was drunk with enthusiasm by the friends of both Lincoln and Gentlemen of the jury: are you willing to allow these boys to begin life
Douglas. with this shame and disgrace attached to their characters? If you are, I am
Was Lincoln, then, an orator? Yes, at times as great as the greatest of not. The best judge of human nature that ever wrote has left these immortal
orators. He was always simple, earnest, and entirely sincere. At times he rose words for all of us to ponder:
to the very highest eloquence--on rare occasions when greatly moved. When
carried away by some great theme, with some vast audience before him, he "Who steals my purse steals trash;‘tis something,nothing

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"‘Twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands; after coming of age. They owed Cass the money for goods sold and delivered,
but they did not owe money on the note they executed when still under 21.
"But he that filches from me my good name,
Treat saw that the case would rise and fall on how Lincoln had
"Robs me of that which not enriches him, worded the complaint. Common law pleading was very strict. If Lincoln had
filed a one count complaint simply alleging money owed on the note, Judge
"And makes me poor indeed." Treat would be required to direct a verdict for the defense. If, however, he
had included a second count for goods sold and delivered, he could collect
These poor innocent boys would never have attempted this low
the price of the prairie team notwithstanding his inability to collect on the
villainy had it not been for the advice of these men [their lawyers]. It was bad
note.
advice in morals and in law. The law never sanctions cheating, and a lawyer
must be very smart indeed to twist the law so that it will sanction fraud. When the defense witness finished testifying on direct examination
Treat asked Lincoln “Is there a count in the declaration [complaint] for oxen
After finishing a scathing rebuke of the boys unscrupulous lawyers
and plow sold and delivered?”
Lincoln concluded by saying “And now, gentlemen, you have it in your power
to set these boys right before the world.” The jury was allegedly so moved by Lincoln, ever the careful pleader, replied “Yes, and I have only two or
Lincoln’s tongue lashing of his opposing counsel that they returned a verdict three questions to ask the witness.” On cross-examination Lincoln then
for the plaintiff without leaving their seats; and the brothers were so proceeded to prove that the brothers still had the prairie team:
repentant that they willingly paid the purchase price. It is a pretty story of
how the saintly Lincoln achieved substantial justice, defeated the efforts of Q: Where is the prairie team now?
unethical shysters, and set two wayward children on the path to an
honorable life by persuading the jury to ignore the law, but there is likely A: On the farm of the Snow boys.
little truth in it.
Q: Have you seen anyone breaking prairie with it lately?
What really happened, however, demonstrates that Lincoln was not
only a surgical cross-examiner but also a careful pleader. A: Yes. The Snow boys were breaking up with it last week.

Mr. Cass did sell a prairie team to the Snow brothers; they were Q: How old are the boys now?
under age at the time they signed the note promising to pay for the team;
Lincoln did file suit on Cass’s behalf; and the brothers’ attorneys interposed A: One is a little over twenty-one, and the other is near twenty-three.
the defense of infancy to defeat Cass’s claim for payment of the note. Cass,
So we see that Lincoln won his case through careful pleading and a
however, had patiently allowed the Snow brothers ample time to pay the note
surgical cross-examination; not by using his considerable oratorical skill to
and only filed suit after going for two years without being paid. All the
convince the jury to ignore the law. We can see that the heart and soul of
defense had to do to defeat the claim on the note was to produce a witness
Lincoln’s final speech did not come when he allegedly castigated the defense
who could testify that the Snows were under 21 when they signed the note.
lawyers, but when he said:
As the defense witness testified on direct examination, the presiding
The judge will tell you what your own sense of justice has already
judge, Samuel H. Treat Jr., immediately saw the flaw in the defense. At the
told you—that if those boys were mean enough to plead the baby act when
time of the trial the brothers were undoubtedly over 21 and fully responsible
they came to be men, they at least ought to have taken the oxen and plow
for debts incurred as adults. If they still had Cass’s prairie team, and they
back to Mr. Cass. They ought to know that they cannot go back on their
had not paid for it, they could be compelled to pay the purchase price. A
contract and also keep what the note was given for.
legally binding contract consists of an offer and an acceptance. Cass offered
to sell the team for a set price when the boys were under age. They may not The supposed tongue-lashing of the Snow boys’ lawyers is more
have been able to accept the team at the time they took possession, but they likely legend than fact. In the unlikely event that Lincoln said anything
made a legally binding acceptance of Cass’s offer when they kept the oxen

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unkind about the opposing lawyers, he must have said it with his tongue in a valid ticket. Witnessing the racial bias experienced by his countrymen
his cheek. served as a catalyst for his later activism, and he attempted to fight
segregation at all levels. He founded a political movement, known as the
It is plain that the lawyers defending the Snows did not persuade two Natal Indian Congress, and developed his theoretical belief in non-violent
innocent boys to make use of a sleazy dodge to evade payment. The Snows civil protest into a tangible political stance, when he opposed the
were deadbeats. They had refused to pay the bill for the oxen for two years introduction of registration for all Indians, within South Africa, via non-
before they got sued; and they certainly didn’t hire or consult their lawyers cooperation with the relevant civic authorities.
until they got sued. Lincoln knew as well as anyone that the lawyers
interposed a valid legal defense when they pled the “baby act;” and he knew On his return to India in 1916, Gandhi developed his practice of non-
that defense lawyers are ethically required to use every lawful means to violent civic disobedience still further, raising awareness of oppressive
defend their clients. practices in Bihar, in 1918, which saw the local populace oppressed by their
largely British masters. He also encouraged oppressed villagers to improve
4) Mahatma Gandhi their own circumstances, leading peaceful strikes and protests. His fame
spread, and he became widely referred to as ‘Mahatma’ or ‘Great Soul’.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more commonly known as ‘Mahatma’
(meaning ‘Great Soul’) was born in Porbandar, Gujarat, in North West India, As his fame spread, so his political influence increased: by 1921 he was
on 2nd October 1869, into a Hindu Modh family. His father was the Chief leading the Indian National Congress, and reorganising the party’s
Minister of Porbandar, and his mother’s religious devotion meant that his constitution around the principle of ‘Swaraj’, or complete political
upbringing was infused with the Jain pacifist teachings of mutual tolerance, independence from the British. He also instigated a boycott of British goods
non-injury to living beings and vegetarianism. and institutions, and his encouragement of mass civil disobedience led to his
arrest, on 10th March 1922, and trial on sedition charges, for which he
Born into a privileged caste, Gandhi was fortunate to receive a served 2 years, of a 6-year prison sentence.
comprehensive education, but proved a mediocre student. In May 1883, aged
13, Gandhi was married to Kasturba Makhanji, a girl also aged 13, through The Indian National Congress began to splinter during his incarceration,
the arrangement of their respective parents, as is customary in India. and he remained largely out of the public eye following his release from
Following his entry into Samaldas College, at the University of Bombay, she prison in February 1924, returning four years later, in 1928, to campaign for
bore him the first of four sons, in 1888. Gandhi was unhappy at college, the granting of ‘dominion status’ to India by the British. When the British
following his parent’s wishes to take the bar, and when he was offered the introduced a tax on salt in 1930, he famously led a 250-mile march to the
opportunity of furthering his studies overseas, at University College London, sea to collect his own salt. Recognising his political influence nationally, the
aged 18, he accepted with alacrity, starting there in September 1888. British authorities were forced to negotiate various settlements with Gandhi
over the following years, which resulted in the alleviation of poverty, granted
Determined to adhere to Hindu principles, which included vegetarianism status to the ‘untouchables’, enshrined rights for women, and led inexorably
as well as alcohol and sexual abstinence, he found London restrictive to Gandhi’s goal of ‘Swaraj’: political independence from Britain.
initially, but once he had found kindred spirits he flourished, and pursued
the philosophical study of religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Gandhi suffered six known assassination attempts during the course of
Buddhism and others, having professed no particular interest in religion up his life. The first attempt came on 25th June 1934, when he was in Pune
until then. Following admission to the English Bar, and his return to India, delivering a speech, together with his wife, Kasturba. Travelling in a
he found work difficult to come by and, in 1893, accepted a year’s contract to motorcade of two cars, they were in the second car, which was delayed by the
work for an Indian firm in Natal, South Africa. appearance of a train at a railway level crossing, causing the two vehicles to
separate.
Although not yet enshrined in law, the system of ‘apartheid’ was very
much in evidence in South Africa at the turn of the 20th century. Despite When the first vehicle arrived at the speech venue, a bomb was thrown at
arriving on a year’s contract, Gandhi spent the next 21 years living in South the car, which exploded and injured several people. No investigations were
Africa, and railed against the injustice of racial segregation. On one occasion carried out at the time, and no arrests were made, although many attribute
he was thrown from a first class train carriage, despite being in possession of the attack to Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fundamentalist implacably opposed

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to Gandhi’s non-violent acceptance and tolerance of all religions, which he was Gandhi himself. He was not injured in the accident. At a prayer meeting
felt compromised the supremacy of the Hindu religion. Godse was the person after the event Gandhi is quoted as saying:
responsible for the eventual assassination of Gandhi in January 1948, 14
years later. “I have not hurt anybody nor do I consider anybody to be my enemy, I
can’t understand why there are so many attempts on my life. Yesterday’s
During the first years of the Second World War, Gandhi’s mission to attempt on my life has failed. I will not die just yet; I aim to live till the age of
achieve independence from Britain reached its zenith: he saw no reason why 125.”
Indians should fight for British sovereignty, in other parts of the world, when
they were subjugated at home, which led to the worst instances of civil Sadly, he had only eighteen months to live.
uprising under his direction, through his ‘Quit India’ movement. As a result,
he was arrested on 9th August 1942, and held for two years at the Aga Khan Placed under increasing pressure, by his political contemporaries, to
Palace in Pune. In February 1944, 3 months before his release, his wife accept Partition as the only way to avoid civil war in India, Gandhi
Kasturbai died in the same prison. reluctantly concurred with its political necessity, and India celebrated its
Independence Day on 15th August 1947. Keenly recognising the need for
May 1944, the time of his release from prison, saw the second attempt political unity, Gandhi spent the next few months working tirelessly for
made on his life, this time certainly led by Nathuram Godse, although the Hindu-Muslim peace, fearing the build-up of animosity between the two
attempt was fairly half-hearted. When word reached Godse that Gandhi was fledgling states, showing remarkable prescience, given the turbulence of their
staying in a hill station near Pune, recovering from his prison ordeal, he relationship over the following half-century.
organised a group of like-minded individuals who descended on the area, and
mounted a vocal anti-Gandhi protest. When invited to speak to Gandhi, Unfortunately, his efforts to unite the opposing forces proved his
Godse declined, but he attended a prayer meeting later that day, where he undoing. He championed the paying of restitution to Pakistan for lost
rushed towards Gandhi, brandishing a dagger and shouting anti-Gandhi territories, as outlined in the Partition agreement, which parties in India,
slogans. He was overpowered swiftly by fellow worshippers, and came fearing that Pakistan would use the payment as a means to build a war
nowhere near achieving his goal. Godse was not prosecuted at the time. arsenal, had opposed. He began a fast in support of the payment, which
Hindu radicals, Nathuram Godse among them, viewed as traitorous. When
Four months later, in September 1944, Godse led a group of Hindu the political effect of his fast secured the payment to Pakistan, it secured
activist demonstrators who accosted Gandhi at a train station, on his return with it the fifth attempt on his life.
from political talks. Godse was again found to be in possession of a dagger
that, although not drawn, was assumed to be the means by which he would On 20th January a gang of seven Hindu radicals, which included
again seek to assassinate Gandhi. It was officially regarded as the third Nathuram Godse, gained access to Birla House, in Delhi, a venue at which
assassination attempt, by the commission set up to investigate Gandhi’s Gandhi was due to give an address. One of the men, Madanla Pahwa,
death in 1948. managed to gain access to the speaker’s podium, and planted a bomb,
encased in a cotton ball, on the wall behind the podium. The plan was to
The British plan to partition what had been British-ruled India, into explode the bomb during the speech, causing pandemonium, which would
Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, was vehemently opposed by Gandhi, who give two other gang members, Digambar Bagde and Shankar Kishtaiyya, an
foresaw the problems that would result from the split. Nevertheless, the opportunity to shoot Gandhi, and escape in the ensuing chaos. The bomb
Congress Party ignored his concerns, and accepted the partition proposals exploded prematurely, before the conference was underway, and Madanla
put forward by the British. Pahwa was captured, while the others, including Godse, managed to escape.

The fourth attempt on Gandhi’s life took the form of a planned train Pahwa admitted the plot under interrogation, but Delhi police were
derailment. On 29th June 1946, a train called the ‘Gandhi Special’, carrying unable to confirm the participation and whereabouts of Godse, although they
him and his entourage, was derailed near Bombay, by means of boulders, did try to ascertain his whereabouts through the Bombay police.
which had been piled up on the tracks. Since the train was the only one
scheduled at that time, it seems likely that the intended target of derailment

18 | P a g e
 After the failed attempt at Birla House, Nathuram Godse and another 1.Gandhiji went to South Africa in April 1893 and stayed for a whole
of the seven, Narayan Apte, returned to Pune, via Bombay, where they year in Pretoria in connection with the case of Sheth Dada Abdulla who was
purchased a Beretta automatic pistol, before returning once more to Delhi. involved in a civil suit with his near relative Sheth Tyeb Haji Khan
Mahammad who also stayed in Pretoria. The year's stay in Pretoria proved to
On 30th January 1948, whilst Gandhi was on his way to a prayer be a most valuable experience in Gandhiji's life. Here it was that he had
meeting at Birla House in Delhi, Nathuram Godse managed to get close opportunities of learning public work and acquired some measure of his
enough to him in the crowd to be able to shoot him three times in the chest, capacity for it. Here it was that the religious spirit within him became a living
at point-blank range. Gandhi’s dying words were claimed to be “Hé Rām”, force. It was here too that he acquired a true knowledge of legal practice and
which translates as “Oh God”, although some witnesses claim he spoke no learnt the things that a junior barrister learns in a senior barrister's chamber
words at all. and also gained confidence that he would not after all fail as a lawyer. It was
likewise here that he learnt the secret of success as a lawyer.
When news of Gandhi’s death reached the various strongholds of
Hindu radicalism, in Pune and other areas throughout India, there was
reputedly celebration in the streets. Sweets were distributed publicly, as at a
festival. The rest of the world was horrified by the death of a man nominated Dada Abdulla's was no small or ordinary case. The suit which he had
five times for the Nobel Peace Prize. filed against Tyeb Sheth who was his near relative claiming £ 40,000/- arose
out of business transactions and was full of intricacies of accounts. The
Godse, who had made no attempt to flee following the assassination, claim was based partly on promissory notes and partly on the specific
and his co-conspirator, Narayan Apte, were both imprisoned until their trial performance of promise to deliver promissory notes. The defence was that the
on 8th November 1949. They were convicted of Gandhi’s killing, and both promissory notes had been fraudulently obtained and lacked sufficient
were executed, a week later, at Ambala Jail, on 15th November 1949. The consideration3.
supposed architect of the plot, a Hindu extremist named Vinayak Damodar
Savarkar, was acquitted due to lack of evidence. There were numerous points of fact and law in this intricate case and
both sides had engaged the best attorneys and counsel.4
Gandhi was cremated as per Hindu custom, and his ashes are
interred at the Aga Khan’s palace in Pune, the site of his incarceration in The preparation of the plaintiffs case involved much patient industry
1942, and the place his wife had also died. and close study of facts. Furthermore it needed clear thinking and judgment.

Gandhi's memorial bears the epigraph “Hé Rām” (“Oh God”) although Gandhiji took the keenest interest in the case and threw himself
there is no conclusive proof that he uttered these words before death. heart, and soul into it.6 He gained the complete confidence of both the
parties and persuaded them to submit the suit to an arbitrator of their choice
Although Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, instead of continuing with expensive, prolonged, and bitter litigation. The
he never received it. In the year of his death, 1948, the Prize was not arbitrator ruled in Dada Abdulla Sheth's favour, and awarded him £37,000/-
awarded, the stated reason being that “there was no suitable living and costs. It was however impossible for Tyeb Sheth to pay down the whole
candidate” that year. of the awarded amount. Gandhiji then managed to persuade Dada Abdulla to
let Tyeb Sheth pay him the money in moderate instalments spread over a
Gandhi's life and teachings have inspired many liberationists of the long period of years, rather than ruin him by insisting on an immediate
20th Century, including Dr. Martin Luther King in the United States, Nelson settlement.7 Gandhiji was overjoyed at the success of his first case in South
Mandela and Steve Biko in South Africa, and Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar. Africa and concluded that the whole duty of an advocate was not to exploit
legal and adversary advantages but to promote compromise and
His birthday, 2nd October, is celebrated as a National Holiday in
reconciliation.
India every year.
2. It was Dada Abdulla's case which enabled Gandhiji to realize early
https://www.history.co.uk/biographies/mahatma-gandhi
in his career the paramount importance of facts. As he observes in his
THE LAW AND THE LAWYERS

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autobiography "facts mean truth and once we adhere to truth, the law comes 5. Practice as a lawyer, however, was and always remained for
to our aid naturally". Gandhiji a subordinate occupation. A considerable part of his time during
active practice was devoted to public service which was almost a passion
Facts according to Gandhiji constituted three-fourths of the law and with him. As his Satyagraha campaigns against the South African
if we took care of the facts of a case the law would take care of itself. As a Government for its racial and discriminatory policies, based on colour
result of this realization of the paramount importance of facts in Dada prejudice, against Indians and Negroes, gathered momentum and spread
Abdulla's case, Gandhiji was never known afterwards to brush aside or slur throughout the length and breadth of South Africa, the compulsion of
over a fact however inconvenient or prejudicial it might seem. Strict political events made it increasingly difficult for him to attend to the needs of
adherence to this principle enabled him more than once in a crisis to find a his clients. Besides he also felt that in the Satyagraha struggle, only devoted
way out of what to all intents and purposes looked like an impenetrable ring Satyagrahis could be relied upon, since in no circumstances would they
of steel.10 From this and several similar experiences Gandhiji learnt to surrender to temptation or to fear of the consequences. Furthermore, as his
regard law not as an intellectual legerdemain to make black appear white views about truth and non-violence crystallized and matured, he came to the
and white black, but as "codified ethics". The profession of law became to conclusion that to earn one's livelihood from a profession, which finally made
him the means to enthrone justice, not "entangle justice" in the net of law. an appeal to the policeman or the jailer to enforce the decrees of the courts,
and thus derived its ultimate sanction from physical force, was a denial of
3. From 1893 till 1913 Gandhiji practised in South Africa. Early in Ahimsa.24 Accordingly, in 1910 Gandhiji entirely abandoned the practice of
his practice he realized that "the true function of a lawyer was to unite law and henceforth devoted his entire time and energy to the service of the
parties riven asunder". "This lesson", he writes, "was so indelibly burnt into community. Thereafter, in the remaining years of his earthly sojourn,
me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a whether in South Africa or in India, Gandhiji, as a Satyagrahi, was very often
lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of engaged in breaking laws rather than in expounding or interpreting them in
cases." the courts of the land. It may here be recalled that when, after his
imprisonment in 1922, during his first civil disobedience movement in India,
4. If there was one characteristic more than another that stamped
he was disbarred by his Inn, he would not apply thereafter for reinstatement,
Gandhi as a man amongst men, it was his extraordinary love of truth. The
as he regarded himself as a farmer and a handicraftsman, who had
Mahatma was an ardent and inveterate votary of truth. Truth, like
renounced the profession of law deliberately many years before in South
nonviolence, was the first article of his faith and the last article of his creed.
Africa.
It was therefore no wonder that in his practice of the law, he maintained the
highest traditions of the profession and did not swerve by a hair's breadth https://www.mkgandhi.org/law_lawyers/introduction.htm (Sunit B. Kher)
from the path of rectitude and integrity. He was always valiant for truth, bold
in asserting it in scorn of all consequence, and never sold the truth to serve 5) Jose W. Diokno
the interests of his clients. He never forgot "that if he was the advocate of an
individual, and retained and remunerated, often inadequately, for his Jose W. Diokno: The Scholar-Warrior by Jose Dalisay, Jr.
valuable services, yet he had a prior and perpetual retainer on behalf of truth May 23, 2011 at 11:04 PM
and justice." It may truly be said of him that he practised law without BY JOSE DALISAY, JR.
compromising truth. As he observes, "My principle was put to the test many To young Filipinos for whom EDSA 1 and the martial-law
a time in South Africa. Often I knew that my opponents had tutored their dictatorship are now vague if not vanished memories, the name of Jose
witnesses, and if I only encouraged my client or his witnesses to lie, we could Wright Diokno—“Pepe” to his friends and contemporaries—may be a distant
win the case. But I always resisted the temptation.... In my heart of hearts I echo. It is a name often spoken in the same breath as Ninoy Aquino, Tanny
always wished that I should win only if my client's case was right. ... I Tañada, Chino Roces, Jovy Salonga, Gasty Ortigas, and a few other battle-
warned every new client at the outset that he should not expect me to take scarred fighters for freedom, but the association, while uplifting for all, tends
up a false case or to coach the witnesses, with the result that I built up such to blur the individual in favor of the group, as these unselfish gentlemen
a reputation that no false cases used to come to me. Indeed some of my would have preferred.
clients would keep their clean cases for me, and take the doubtful ones
elsewhere." But every hero is individually formed in the crucible of struggle,
every heroic act individually chosen. Each hero emerges like a pearl in an

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oyster from the womb of resistance, their brightest and strongest qualities coincidence, would also have ten children). As the son of a general who went
rising to the surface, the hardened accretions of personal values tested in the on to fight the Americans, Ramon Diokno—despite the irony of marrying a
arena of public issues. mestiza—loathed the United States and forbade the speaking of English in
his home. Thus Pepe grew up speaking Spanish, and learned English only
For a man such as Pepe Diokno—champion of human rights, from a tutor, as part of his schooling.
nationalism, and Philippine sovereignty—heroism was never something to be
actively sought by an illustrious few. It was, rather, a collective virtue Ramon Diokno had been an active lawyer and political figure, serving
immanent in the people, a people awakened to their rights, opportunities, as a councilor in Batangas and later as a campaign manager for and counsel
and civic responsibilities. It was a hero who led a consistent life of thinking to President Manuel L. Quezon before serving in the Senate and the Supreme
the right ideas and doing the right things—a life which, by its very nature, Court. Not surprisingly, he wanted his son Jose to take up law as well; a
and despite its search for quietude in a roiling universe, would inevitably half-brother of Pepe’s had also finished law, but died young. The boy resisted
court danger and alarm. and, after graduating as valedictorian of his high school class in De La Salle
College in 1937, he studied commerce instead. Thanks to repeated
Diokno’s was such a life, that of a lover of books who enjoyed acceleration, he graduated at the tender age of 17 also from La Salle, summa
nothing more than to lie prone in his library, devouring tome after tome of cum laude. He took the CPA board examinations—for which he had to secure
fiction, education, and legal philosophy, and yet who could not and did not special dispensation, since he was too young—and topped them with a rating
refuse to march in the streets or argue in court as an impassioned of 81.18 percent.
combatant for his most cherished principles.
Self-taught CPA, bar-topnotcher
Unlike some of his contemporaries, Diokno was never flashy, never
sought attention except to pursue or prove a point. He came from a At this point, he could no longer ignore his father’s suasions, and he
conservative, fairly privileged background, but eschewed flamboyance; he enrolled in law at the University of Sto. Tomas. He had wanted to go to the
was very well educated and literate in several languages, but forsook University of the Philippines and would later send his own children there,
bombast for substance. He had a wry sense of humor—demonstrated by a but his conservative Catholic parents would have none of it. As it happened,
possibly apocryphal story about his deadpan reaction to his reported after just a year of study, the Second World War broke out. Pepe’s father told
dourness (“You know me—Diokno, no joke.”)—but he preferred to laugh at him to use the time to read, and picked out the books for him to plow
the jokes of others. He was, at one time, a Secretary of Justice and then a through. Pepe’s passion for learning manifested itself immediately; after
Senator of the Republic—but he campaigned alone, traveled without reading a couple of books, he went to the old man and asked to be tested,
bodyguards, and never kept or fired a gun in his political life. When he died, but the old man—as Maris Diokno recalls her father’s story—told him, “You
it was in the company of those he held dearest—his family, and his books. either know it or you don’t. Just read.”

Family background He continued reading, and when the war was over he took the bar
exams in 1944 under a special dispensation from the Court, since he had
Many of those books came from the library of his father Ramon, never completed his law degree. Again Pepe Diokno topped them with a
himself a lawyer who rose to be become a senator and later a Justice of the rating of 95.3 percent—along with Jovito Salonga, who had gone the full
Supreme Court. Ramon’s father, in turn, was the son of a revolutionary route. At this time, his father took ill and asked him to take over the firm.
general, Ananias Diokno, who had liberated much of Panay from the
Spaniards in 1898. The Dioknos hailed from Taal, Batangas, but Pepe was One of his first important cases, as it turned out, involved defending
born in Manila on Feb. 26, 1922, to Ramon and his wife Leonor Wright, an his father. Ramon Diokno ran for the Senate in the first postwar government
American mestiza. (When Pepe’s daughter Maris took this subject up with in 1946, and won, but he objected to parity rights for American
him and asked him if his lineage therefore made him one-fourth or one- businessmen—a nationalist stance supported by Jesus Lava, Luis Taruc,
eighth American, Pepe huffed and said, “One hundred percent Filipino!”) and the communist-affiliated Democratic Alliance in the Lower House. To
punish Ramon, his enemies filed a case of election fraud against him. Pepe
It was a large family; Ramon had married Leonor after the death of rose to his father’s defense, and eventually they won the case, but only at the
his first wife, and there were ten children in the brood (Pepe himself, by end of the term in 1949. The father-and-son team must have made quite an

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impression; Lorenzo Tañada would later recall the young Pepe assisting his In any event the union did not last long; in March 1962, Sec. Diokno
father in court, the both of them blessed with phenomenally photographic ordered a raid on a firm owned by American businessman Harry S. Stonehill,
memories. (After winning his case, Ramon Diokno was then appointed to the who was suspected of tax evasion and bribery, among other crimes. Stonehill
Supreme Court, and died in Baguio during one of the tribunal’s summer reputedly bragged about having big-name politicians in his pocket—but Jose
sessions.) W. Diokno was not one of them. The arrest and the subsequent corruption
scandal resulted in an embarrassed Macapagal having to fire several Cabinet
Young lawyer members—including, inexplicably, Sec. Diokno, who had found the temerity
to arrest Stonehill. “He simply received a letter from the President, accepting
In the meanwhile Pepe’s life took another happy turn. He had met a a resignation he never submitted,” Maris recalls.
pretty Bulakeña named Carmen Reyes Icasiano at a party; they had come
with their respective dates. But Pepe and Nena soon fell in love, and they Diokno received death threats because of the Stonehill case; the
were married in 1949, after a two-year courtship. All in all, they would have family had to move important papers from one hiding place to another, and
ten children: Carmen Leonor, Jose Ramon, Maria de la Paz, Maria Serena, Mayor Lacson assigned them a “driver,” a big, dark plainclothesman from the
Maria Teresa, Maria Socorro, Jose Miguel, Jose Manuel, Maria Victoria, and Manila Police Department.
Martin Jose. The last, Pepe and Nena took in as a two-week old infant in
1967. Senator

Pepe Diokno the young lawyer found corporate law remunerative but In 1963, Pepe Diokno was invited by the Nacionalistas to run for the
boring. He took on some corporate cases, but what he really enjoyed was Senate, and he agreed. He won, and would serve two terms: from 1963 to
litigation, the presentation of evidence. Again the passion showed in his 1969, and from 1969 until the declaration of martial law in 1972.
eloquence; when he argued a case before the Supreme Court, other lawyers
flocked to watch him and to listen to him argue fluently in both English and For the growing Diokno family, it was a happy interlude. The girls
Spanish. came to his office after school and played in the anteroom until it was time to
go. It was a family that prayed the rosary every night, led by Pepe himself.
One of Pepe’s clients and closest friends was Manila Mayor Arsenio Family outings usually meant piling up in the big black car for a trip to the
Lacson, a powerful politician who was poised to run for the presidency. PECO bookstore, where they would stay all day, poring over books. Whenever
Diokno had successfully defended the outspoken Lacson against a libel Pepe and Nena went abroad, the children got more boxes of books, such as
charge, stemming from Lacson’s acerbic attacks on his radio program; those by Enid Blyton. (The only exception, Maris says, was a brother of
Lacson also wrote a column for a newspaper that Pepe edited. Maris Diokno Pepe’s who had aged with a child’s mind, and for him Pepe always had a toy.)
remembers how close the mayor became to the family, who were then living
in a house in Parañaque, near the Baclaran church. Lacson used to go the Pepe himself loved novels about cowboys and Indians, devouring
house at six in the morning and cook breakfast for everyone before waking them while lying flat on his stomach. After lunch and his afternoon siesta, he
them up. listened to Tony Falcon, Agent X-44; he also loved kung fu movies. He was
generous with money, but he never kept money in his pockets; he gave
Secretary of Justice everything to Nena. So he often found himself strapped for cash, and Nena
would have to run after him before leaving the house to make sure his wallet
In 1961, Diokno was appointed Justice Secretary by President had something in it.
Diosdado Macapagal. It was a political anomaly, because Macapagal was a
Liberal Party stalwart while Diokno was a lifelong Nacionalista. But At work in the Senate, Diokno quickly established himself as a
Macapagal had asked the capable Lacson—despite Lacson’s also being a nationalist and reformer. But he also pushed to promote Philippine
Nacionalista—to help run his presidential campaign, and Lacson had agreed business—on fair terms. The activist-writer Ed Garcia reports that: “On the
only on condition that Diokno be appointed to head Justice if Macapagal floor of the Senate, he did not hesitate to articulate his thoughts on economic
won. And so it happened. self-reliance and self-determination in the face of the continued stay of
foreign military bases which, he argued, justified foreign intervention in
Philippine affairs.

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 “As lawmaker, he successfully fought the oil companies and And so it happened that when Marcos declared martial law on Sept.
masterminded the signing into law of the Oil Industry Commission Bill. He is 21, 1972, Pepe Diokno was among those first enemies of the State arrested
the acknowledged ‘father’ of the Board of Investments and author of the by the military in the early morning hours of September 23.
Investment Incentives Act. He also authored Joint Resolution No. 2, which
set the policies for economic development and social progress, and co- They had just prayed the novena, and the young Dioknos were
authored the Export Incentives Act and the Revised Election Law, among planning to step out for a movie with their friends, but their parents forbade
others. For his performance as legislator, Pepe Diokno was cited Outstanding them because of the bombings that had been going on. Just then five or six
Senator by the Free Press for four successive years beginning 1967.” (Garcia, carloads of armed soldiers arrived to “invite” Sen. Diokno to join them. They
57) had no warrant, and had cut the Dioknos’ phone line. To avoid any more
trouble for his family, Diokno changed from his pajamas and went with the
Nationalist soldiers to Camp Crame, accompanied by his young son Mike. He was later
moved to Fort Bonifacio, there to join the likes of Ninoy Aquino, Chino Roces,
It was typical of Diokno to mince no words in propounding his Teddy Locsin Sr., Voltaire Garcia, Nap Rama, Jose Mari Velez, and his other
principles. In a speech before an American audience in 1968— comrades in the civil liberties movement. The country had been plunged into
delivered in a bastion of gentility called the Westchester Country the maw of martial law, realizing his worst expectations.
Club—he launched into a comprehensive and well-measured but
clearly critical speech explaining Philippine economic nationalism. Solitary confinement
The Philippines, Diokno said, had a dream: “It is the dream to join
the modern world without sacrificing democracy to dictatorship, as The close-knit Dioknos were devastated by his arrest and
others are doing; not at the expense of the poor—who have paid the imprisonment, especially when he was transferred, along with Ninoy Aquino,
price elsewhere—but of those who reaped the benefits of colonialism to solitary confinement in Laur, Nueva Ecija. “We didn’t know where he had
and therefore can afford the cost of modernization. Philippine gone,” Maris remembers. “One day the military just came and dropped off his
nationalism is determined to achieve this dream. It knows it must belongings, including his underwear, except his papers, which the military
restructure the Philippine economy and Philippine society to do so. It kept.”
knows it will be difficult and painful. All it asks of your people and
your government is your understanding and, if you deem it Laur brought together two of the keenest minds of the resistance to
worthwhile, your help to make the process faster, less painful.; and if the dictatorship: Diokno and Ninoy Aquino, ten years his junior, equally
you do not deem it worthwhile, to leave us alone. impassioned but much more voluble. “Ninoy looked up to Pepe as a kind of
older brother,” Maris says. “Ninoy was a raconteur, with lots of stories. Dad
“Let us do it as we believe it must be done, not as you would do it in was quiet and enjoyed listening and laughing along.” Unlike Ninoy, Pepe’s
our place. Let us make our mistakes, not suffer yours…. With your help or fight with Marcos never had a personal element; he had never had a face-to-
despite your hindrance, Philippine nationalism will do the job. No one else face confrontation with Marcos, and never would.
can.” (Manalang, 102)
Solitary confinement would both strain and strengthen the spirit of
“When he finished,” his editor would note, “there was no applause.” the two men. Nena Diokno herself was a strong, intelligent woman. “Your
mother is really strong and she kept me going,” Pepe would later tell Maris.
Martial Law Pepe Diokno forbade his family to cry in the presence of the guards. “Don’t
give the military the pleasure of seeing you in pain,” he told his children. The
By the early ‘70s the political climate was darkening, and Pepe only exception was his aunt Paz Wilson, the sister of his mother (who had
Diokno was beginning to sense an alarming shift in the wind, toward already died by then), who had virtually raised him. She often cried during
authoritarianism. When Marcos suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas her visits. Pepe’s solitary imprisonment at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva
corpus, Diokno resigned from the Nacionalista Party in protest, and took to Ecija (with Ninoy in a separate cell) was a painful moment for the family.
the streets with the other members of the Movement of Concerned Citizens Upon seeing their faces as the Diokno family left the visiting area, Cory
for Civil Liberties (MCCCL). He had cast his lot with the resistance. Aquino and her children prepared themselves for the worst. It was rare to see
the Dioknos in tears.

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The whole family—even Paz, who was in her 90s—had to submit to a strip “And so law in the land died. I grieve for it but I do not despair over
search when they came to visit him, and again when they stepped out. The it. I know, with a certainty no argument can turn, no wind can shake, that
family endured the discomfort and the humiliation to spend precious time from its dust will rise a new and better law: more just, more human, and
with him. more humane. When that will happen, I know not. That it will happen, I
know.” (Manalang, 76)
Release from detention
Against the regime’s reasoning that authoritarianism was needed to
Back in Fort Bonifacio, they brought him books—in French and Spanish, so spur development, he argued:
no one could censor them, as they did the English texts; Pepe and Nena also
spoke in Spanish, or one of the children would play the guitar and the rest “Development is not just providing people with adequate food,
would sing to drown out their parents’ voices. The family brought in food; he clothing, and shelter; many prisons do as much. Development is also people
brought out coffee for Nena. When allowed to spend the day in his cell, deciding what food, clothing, and shelter are adequate, and how they are to
usually on a Sunday, they would lay out a mat on the grass and all lie there, be provided. Authoritarianism does not let people decide; its basic premise is
next to each other. Whenever his roses bloomed he would say his release was that people do not know how to decide. So it promotes repression, not
nearing; the children harvested peanuts and weeded his tiny garden. development, repression that prevents meaningful change, and preserves the
structure of power and privilege.” (Manalang, 42)
Once, while he was still in prison, Nena brought him disastrous news: the
building that housed his library on M. H. del Pilar had been burned in a Conversely, as Ed Garcia observed, “(Diokno) did not confine his
suspicious fire. He had known that library so well that he could ask for a defense of human rights merely to victims of civil and political rights
book and specify from memory which shelf it was on. Thankfully, unknown violations but extended his efforts to promote economic, social, and cultural
to him and with uncanny intuition, Nena had earlier moved most of his rights as well.” (Garcia, 66-67)
books to the house, where they lay in topsy-turvy heaps—but safely.
“Ka Pepe” was often approached for legal help by members of the
On Sept. 11, 1974—Ferdinand Marcos’s 57th birthday, and almost two years Communist Party, and he gave help freely; more than once they asked him to
since he was picked up—Pepe Diokno was released from prison. He had join and even lead them, but he consistently declined. In a speech before the
never been charged with anything. Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference of the Philippines in April 1985, he
argued forcefully and cogently for the legalization of the Communist Party,
Free Legal Assistance Group maintaining that “It is unjust to prosecute a person for his political beliefs.”
(Manalang, 53) But he refused to believe in the necessity of armed struggle.
Sharpened and toughened by his imprisonment, Diokno plunged, to provide “There were not very many among those who suffered during the long period
legal help to political detainees and other martial-law victims—and long of martial law who believed that the dictatorship could be overthrown
before other prominent lawyers and organizations took up the cause of without resort to arms,” Garcia notes. “What singled Pepe Diokno out was
human rights—he set up the Free Legal Assistance Group. His concerns soon that he not only believed it was possible to do so but that more than
expanded to other causes and constituencies, including tribal groups anything else he worked relentlessly to build an active resistance of citizens
threatened by exploitation and military atrocities, peasants, social workers, that was necessary to make it happen.” (Garcia, 67)
and other activists. He worked with Sister Mariani Dimaranan in Task Force
Detainees, which had been set up by the Association of Major Religious People Power
Superiors of the Philippines to protect the rights of martial law victims and to
document cases of torture, summary execution, and disappearances. To this end, in March 1983, he co-founded KAAKBAY (the Movement
for Philippine Sovereignty and Democracy). It took on issues such as
He had no fear of being arrested again, and went around and outside elections, the US military bases, and other nationalist concerns. As
the country to speak against tyranny and abuse in the Philippines. But his immersed as he had long been in the struggle for human rights and civil
was no message of gloom and doom; he could see beyond the immediate liberties, the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in August 1983 further spurred
horizon into a new dawning of freedom. In one of his most oft-quoted his involvement in a broadening network of resistance groups, including the
speeches, he said:

24 | P a g e
Justice for Aquino, Justice for All (JAJA) movement, and the Kongreso ng He lived for four more months. They had brought him down to lie
Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL). among his books, which was where he died, in peace and free of pain, at 2:40
am on Feb. 27, 1987. He had just turned 65.
When the inevitable happened and EDSA 1 erupted in February
1986, Pepe—ever the thinking man—was initially doubtful. “He refused to go Disease had ravaged his body, and creeping blindness had stilled his
when this happened in EDSA,” says Maris. “There was a feeling that this was writing, but he was lucid to the last. The children remember him at his
a military attempt to save their necks and the people were simply being used hopeful, fighting, smiling best, dreaming of justice on earth, and justice in
to cover that action.” time. In 1981, in a speech on “The Filipino Concept of Justice,” Jose W.
Diokno took that dream in his hands and said:
Even when he later agreed to serve the Aquino government as
chairman of the Presidential Committee on Human Rights and chairman of “Are these standards impossible to meet? If you mean meet
the government panel in charge of negotiations with rebel forces, he never completely and immediately, they are. But only yesterday in world time, it
forgot the need for vigilance, reminding his countrymen that: “Above all, we was thought impossible to land on the moon. And not too long ago,
can strengthen the President by pointing out what she is doing that is wrong. Aristotle—one of the wisest of men—justified slavery as natural and listed
I think we weaken her if we support everything she does even when we do torture as a source of evidence. So standards thought too high today may
not agree with that she is doing. Yes-men are not compatible with well turn out to be too low tomorrow. But whether they do so or not is not
democracy. People expect our President and public officials to make really important. What Nikos Kazantsakis said of freedom can be said of
mistakes—but of course, to correct them as soon as they are convinced that justice: the superior virtue is not to receive justice, it is to fight relentlessly
they have erred. How can they know they have erred, if we do not tell them for it—to struggle for justice in time, yet under the aspect of eternity.”
so?” (162) (Manalang, 31)

As he had feared, the fairy-tale unity of what Maris (as Dr. Ma. Upon Diokno’s death, President Aquino declared a period of national
Serena Diokno, the professor of history) would describe as “someone who mourning, and in 2004, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued an order
was for agrarian reform sitting next to someone who would refuse to give up declaring a national day of remembrance on his 17th death anniversary.
their land sitting next to someone who simply wanted US nuclear weapons Some lawmakers sponsored a bill to rename Taft Avenue to Diokno Avenue.
and the bases out, next to someone who said we need the Americans” soon None of those encomiums resonate more than Pepe Diokno’s own words and
unraveled. These contradictions and tensions tragically exploded in what the strength of his faith in a better future. When he observed a young woman
would be known as the “Mendiola Massacre” of Jan. 22, 1987, during which cradling her husband who had been horribly tortured, he saw not despair
15 peacefully protesting farmers were shot dead by government troops but hope:
practically at the doorsteps of the Palace. In deep disgust and even greater
sadness, Jose W. Diokno resigned from his two positions. “It was the only “As I looked at the couple, I saw in them the face of every Filipino;
time we saw him near tears,” Maris says. and I knew then that martial law could crush our bodies; it could break our
minds; but it could not conquer our spirit. It may silence our voice and seel
Death and legacy our eyes; but it cannot kill our hope nor obliterate our vision. We will
struggle on, no matter how long it takes or what it costs, until we establish a
By then—even much earlier—Diokno was facing his own death. In just community of free men and women in our land, deciding together,
1984, he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He had smoked all his adult working and striving together, but also singing and dancing, laughing and
life, as did Nena. In October 1986, they took him to Manila Doctors Hospital living together. That is the ultimate lesson.” (Manalang, 45)
for a blood transfusion; things looked very bleak at that point, and when
Maris asked the doctor how much time they had left with him, he told her “a Sources
matter of days.” But Pepe himself thought otherwise; “I know I’m dying,” he
said, “but not just yet.” He had the transfusion stopped and asked to be Diokno, Ma. Serena. Personal interview. 13 December 2005.
brought home; he didn’t want to die in the hospital. Garcia, Ed. “Jose W. Diokno: A Man of Uncommon Valor.” Six Modern
Filipino Heroes. Ed. Asuncion David Maramba. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing,
1993.

25 | P a g e
Jose W. Diokno. Filipinos in History. 24 November 2005 6) What are the requirement for admission to the practice of
Jose W. Diokno. 23 November 2005 law
Manalang, Priscila S., ed. A Nation for Our Children: Selected Writings of
Jose W. Diokno. Quezon City: Jose W. Diokno Foundation, Inc., 1987. RULE 138
Ramon Diokno. 23 November 2005 .
Attorneys and Admission to Bar
Famous quotes
 "No cause is more worthy than the cause of human rights... they are Section 1. Who may practice law. — Any person heretofore duly admitted as
what makes a man human. Deny them and you deny man's a member of the bar, or hereafter admitted as such in accordance with the
humanity." provisions of this rule, and who is in good and regular standing, is entitled to
 "There is one dream that we all Filipinos share: that our children practice law.
may have a better life than we have had. To make this country, our
country, a nation for our children." Section 2. Requirements for all applicants for admission to the bar. — Every
applicant for admission as a member of the bar must be a citizen of the
 "Law in the land died. I grieve for it but I do not despair over it. I
Philippines, at least twenty-one years of age, of good moral character, and
know, with a certainty no argument can turn, no wind can shake, resident of the Philippines; and must produce before the Supreme Court
that from its dust will rise a new and better law: more just, more satisfactory evidence of good moral character, and that no charges against
human, and more humane. When that will happen, I know not. That him, involving moral turpitude, have been filed or are pending in any court in
it will happen, I know." the Philippines.
 "We are one nation with one future, a future that will be as bright or
as dark as we remain united or divided." Section 3. Requirements for lawyers who are citizens of the United States of
America. — Citizens of the United States of America who, before July 4,
 "Authoritarianism does not let people decide; its basic premise is that
1946, were duly licensed members of the Philippine Bar, in active practice in
people do not know how to decide. It promotes repression that the courts of the Philippines and in good and regular standing as such may,
prevents meaningful change, and preserves the structure of power upon satisfactory proof of those facts before the Supreme Court, be allowed
and privilege." to continue such practice after taking the following oath of office:
 "Yes-men are not compatible with democracy. We can strengthen our
leaders by pointing out what they are doing that is wrong." I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., having been permitted to
continue in the practice of law in the Philippines, do solemnly swear
 "The point is not to make a perfect world, just a better one – and that
that I recognize the supreme authority of the Republic of the
is difficult enough." Philippines; I will support its Constitution and obey the laws as well
 "Do not forget: We Filipinos are the first Asian people who revolted as the legal orders of the duly constituted authorities therein; I will
against a western imperial power, Spain; the first who adopted a do no falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in court; I will not
democratic republican constitution in Asia, the Malolos Constitution; wittingly or willingly promote or sue any groundless, false or
the first to fight the first major war of the twentieth century against unlawful suit, nor give aid nor consent to the same; I will delay no
man for money or malice, and will conduct myself as a lawyer
another western imperial power, the United States of America. There
according to the best of may knowledge and discretion with all good
is no insurmountable barrier that could stop us from becoming what fidelity as well as to the courts as to my clients; and I impose upon
we want to be." myself this voluntary obligation without any mental reservation or
 "All of us are Filipinos not only because we are brothers in blood, but purpose of evasion. So help me God.
because we are all brothers in tears; not because we all share the
same land, but because we share the same dream." Section 4. Requirements for applicants from other jurisdictions. — Applicants
 "Reality is often much more beautiful than anything that we can for admission who, being Filipino citizens, are enrolled attorneys in good
standing in the Supreme Court of the United States or in any circuit court of
conceive of. If we can release the creative energy of our people, then
appeals or district court therein, or in the highest court of any State or
we will have a nation full of hope and full of joy, full of life and full of Territory of the United States, and who can show by satisfactory certificates
love — a nation that may not be a nation for our children but which that they have practiced at least five years in any of said courts, that such
will be a nation of our children." practice began before July 4, 1946, and that they have never been suspended

26 | P a g e
or disbarred, may, in the discretion of the Court, be admitted without Public Officers); International Law (Private and Public); Taxation; Remedial
examination. Law (Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence); Legal Ethics and
Practical Exercises (in Pleadings and Conveyancing).
Section 5. Additional requirements for other applicants. — All applicants for
admission other than those referred to in the two preceding section shall, Section 10. Bar examination, by questions and answers, and in writing. —
before being admitted to the examination, satisfactorily show that they have Persons taking the examination shall not bring papers, books or notes into
regularly studied law for four years, and successfully completed all the examination rooms. The questions shall be the same for all examinees
prescribed courses, in a law school or university, officially approved and and a copy thereof, in English or Spanish, shall be given to each examinee.
recognized by the Secretary of Education. The affidavit of the candidate, Examinees shall answer the questions personally without help from anyone.
accompanied by a certificate from the university or school of law, shall be
filed as evidence of such facts, and further evidence may be required by the Upon verified application made by an examinee stating that his penmanship
court. is so poor that it will be difficult to read his answers without much loss of
time., the Supreme Court may allow such examinee to use a typewriter in
No applicant shall be admitted to the bar examinations unless he has answering the questions. Only noiseless typewriters shall be allowed to be
satisfactorily completed the following courses in a law school or university used.
duly recognized by the government: civil law, commercial law, remedial law,
criminal law, public and private international law, political law, labor and The committee of bar examiner shall take such precautions as are necessary
social legislation, medical jurisprudence, taxation and legal ethics. to prevent the substitution of papers or commission of other frauds.
Examinees shall not place their names on the examination papers. No oral
Section 6. Pre-Law. — No applicant for admission to the bar examination examination shall be given.
shall be admitted unless he presents a certificate that he has satisfied the
Secretary of Education that, before he began the study of law, he had Section 11. Annual examination. — Examinations for admission to the bar of
pursued and satisfactorily completed in an authorized and recognized the Philippines shall take place annually in the City of Manila. They shall be
university or college, requiring for admission thereto the completion of a four- held in four days to be disignated by the chairman of the committee on bar
year high school course, the course of study prescribed therein for a examiners. The subjects shall be distributed as follows: First day: Political
bachelor's degree in arts or sciences with any of the following subjects as and International Law (morning) and Labor and Social Legislation
major or field of concentration: political science, logic, english, spanish, (afternoon); Second day: Civil Law (morning) and Taxation (afternoon); Third
history and economics. day: Mercantile Law (morning) and Criminal Law (afternoon); Fourth day:
Remedial Law (morning) and legal Ethics and Practical Exercises (afternoon).
Section 7. Time for filing proof of qualifications. — All applicants for
admission shall file with the clerk of the Supreme Court the evidence Section 12. Committee of examiners. — Examinations shall be conducted by
required by section 2 of this rule at least fifteen (15) days before the a committee of bar examiners to be appointed by the Supreme Court. This
beginning of the examination. If not embraced within section 3 and 4 of this committee shall be composed of a Justice of the Supreme Court, who shall
rule they shall also file within the same period the affidavit and certificate act as chairman, and who shall be designated by the court to serve for one
required by section 5, and if embraced within sections 3 and 4 they shall year, and eight members of the bar of the Philippines, who shall hold office
exhibit a license evidencing the fact of their admission to practice, for a period of one year. The names of the members of this committee shall
satisfactory evidence that the same has not been revoked, and certificates as be published in each volume of the official reports.
to their professional standing. Applicants shall also file at the same time
their own affidavits as to their age, residence, and citizenship.
Section 13. Disciplinary measures. — No candidate shall endeavor to
influence any member of the committee, and during examination the
Section 8. Notice of Applications. — Notice of applications for admission shall candidates shall not communicate with each other nor shall they give or
be published by the clerk of the Supreme Court in newspapers published in receive any assistance. The candidate who violates this provisions, or any
Pilipino, English and Spanish, for at least ten (10) days before the beginning other provision of this rule, shall be barred from the examination, and the
of the examination. same to count as a failure against him, and further disciplinary action,
including permanent disqualification, may be taken in the discretion of the
Section 9. Examination; subjects. — Applicants, not otherwise provided for in court.
sections 3 and 4 of this rule, shall be subjected to examinations in the
following subjects: Civil Law; Labor and Social Legislation; Mercantile Law;
Criminal Law; Political Law (Constitutional Law, Public Corporations, and

27 | P a g e
Section 14. Passing average. — In order that a candidate may be deemed to (b) To observe and maintain the respect due to the courts of justice
have passed his examinations successfully, he must have obtained a general and judicial officers;
average of 75 per cent in all subjects, without falling below 50 per cent in any
subjects. In determining the average, the subjects in the examination shall (c) To counsel or maintain such actions or proceedings only as
be given the following relative weights: Civil Law, 15 per cent; Labor and appear to him to be just, and such defenses only as he believes to be
Social Legislation, 10 per cent; Mercantile Law, 15 per cent; Criminal Law; 10 honestly debatable under the law.
per cent: Political and International Law, 15 per cent; Taxation, 10 per cent;
Remedial Law, 20 per cent; Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises, 5 per cent.
(d) To employ, for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to
him, such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and
Section 15. Report of the committee; filing of examination papers. — Not later never seek to mislead the judge or any judicial officer by an artifice
than February 15th after the examination, or as soon thereafter as may be or false statement of fact or law;
practicable, the committee shall file its report on the result of such
examination. The examination papers and notes of the committee shall be
filed with the clerk and may there be examined by the parties in interest, (e) To maintain inviolate the confidence, and at every peril to himself,
after the court has approved the report. to preserve the secrets of his client, and to accept no compensation
in connection with his client's business except from him or with his
knowledge and approval;
Section 16. Failing candidates to take review course. — Candidates who
have failed the bar examinations for three times shall be disqualified from
taking another examination unless they show the satisfaction of the court (f) To abstain from all offensive personality and to advance no fact
that they have enrolled in and passed regular fourth year review classes as prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless
well as attended a pre-bar review course in a recognized law school. required by the justice of the cause with which he is charged;

The professors of the individual review subjects attended by the candidates (g) Not to encourage either the commencement or the continuance of
under this rule shall certify under oath that the candidates have regularly an action or proceeding, or delay any man's cause, from any corrupt
attended classes and passed the subjects under the same conditions as motive or interest;
ordinary students and the ratings obtained by them in the particular subject.
(h) Never to reject, for any consideration personal to himself, the
Section 17. Admission and oath of successful applicants. — An applicant cause of the defenseless or oppressed;
who has passed the required examination, or has been otherwise found to be
entitled to admission to the bar, shall take and subscribe before the Supreme (i) In the defense of a person accused of crime, by all fair and
Court the corresponding oath of office. honorable means, regardless of his personal opinion as to the guilt of
the accused, to present every defense that the law permits, to the
Section 18. Certificate. — The supreme Court shall thereupon admit the end that no person may be deprived of life or liberty, but by due
applicant as a member of the bar for all the courts of the Philippines, and process of law.
shall direct an order to be entered to that effect upon its records, and that a
certificate of such record be given to him by the clerk of court, which Section 21. Authority of attorney to appear. — an attorney is presumed to be
certificate shall be his authority to practice. properly authorized to represent any cause in which he appears, and no
written power of attorney is required to authorize him to appear in court for
Section 19. Attorney's roll. — The clerk of the Supreme Court shall kept a his client, but the presiding judge may, on motion of either party and on
roll of all attorneys admitted to practice, which roll shall be signed by the reasonable grounds therefor being shown, require any attorney who assumes
person admitted when he receives his certificate. the right to appear in a case to produce or prove the authority under which
he appears, and to disclose, whenever pertinent to any issue, the name of the
person who employed him, and may thereupon make such order as justice
Section 20. Duties of attorneys. — It is the duty of an attorney: requires. An attorneys wilfully appear in court for a person without being
employed, unless by leave of the court, may be punished for contempt as an
(a) To maintain allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines and to officer of the court who has misbehaved in his official transactions.
support the Constitution and obey the laws of the Philippines.
Section 22. Attorney who appears in lower court presumed to represent client
on appeal. — An attorney who appears de parte in a case before a lower court

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shall be presumed to continue representing his client on appeal, unless he gross misconduct in such office, grossly immoral conduct, or by reason of his
files a formal petition withdrawing his appearance in the appellate court. conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, or for any violation of the
oath which he is required to take before the admission to practice, or for a
Section 23. Authority of attorneys to bind clients. — Attorneys have authority wilfull disobedience of any lawful order of a superior court, or for corruptly or
to bind their clients in any case by any agreement in relation thereto made in willful appearing as an attorney for a party to a case without authority so to
writing, and in taking appeals, and in all matters of ordinary judicial do. The practice of soliciting cases at law for the purpose of gain, either
procedure. But they cannot, without special authority, compromise their personally or through paid agents or brokers, constitutes malpractice.
client's litigation, or receive anything in discharge of a client's claim but the
full amount in cash. Section 28. Suspension of attorney by the Court of Appeals or a Court of First
Instance. — The Court of Appeals or a Court of First Instance may suspend
Section 24. Compensation of attorneys; agreement as to fees. — An attorney an attorney from practice for any of the causes named in the last preceding
shall be entitled to have and recover from his client no more than a section, and after such suspension such attorney shall not practice his
reasonable compensation for his services, with a view to the importance of profession until further action of the Supreme Court in the premises.
the subject matter of the controversy, the extent of the services rendered, and
the professional standing of the attorney. No court shall be bound by the Section 29. Upon suspension by the Court of Appeals or Court of First
opinion of attorneys as expert witnesses as to the proper compensation, but Instance, further proceedings in Supreme Court. — Upon such suspension, the
may disregard such testimony and base its conclusion on its own Court of Appeals or the Court of First Instance shall forthwith transmit to the
professional knowledge. A written contract for services shall control the Supreme Court a certified copy of the order of suspension and a full
amount to be paid therefor unless found by the court to be unconscionable statement of the facts upon which the same was based. Upon the receipt of
or unreasonable. such certified copy and statement, the Supreme Court shall make a full
investigation of the facts involved and make such order revoking or extending
Section 25. Unlawful retention of client's funds; contempt. — When an the suspension, or removing the attorney from his office as such, as the facts
attorney unjustly retains in his hands money of his client after it has been warrant.
demanded, he may be punished for contempt as an officer of the Court who
has misbehaved in his official transactions; but proceedings under this Section 30. Attorney to be heard before removal or suspension. — No
section shall not be a bar to a criminal prosecution. attorney shall be removed or suspended from the practice of his profession,
until he has had full opportunity upon reasonable notice to answer the
Section 26. Change of attorneys. — An attorney may retire at any time from charges against him, to produce witnesses in his own behalf, and to be heard
any action or special proceeding, by the written consent of his client filed in by himself or counsel. But if upon reasonable notice he fails to appear and
court. He may also retire at any time from an action or special proceeding, answer the accusation, the court may proceed to determine the matter ex
without the consent of his client, should the court, on notice to the client and parte.
attorney, and on hearing, determine that he ought to be allowed to retire. In
case of substitution, the name of the attorney newly employed shall be Section 31. Attorneys for destitute litigants. — A court may assign an
entered on the docket of the court in place of the former one, and written attorney to render professional aid free of charge to any party in a case, if
notice of the change shall be given to the advance party. upon investigation it appears that the party is destitute and unable to
employ an attorney, and that the services of counsel are necessary to secure
A client may at any time dismiss his attorney or substitute another in his the ends of justice and to protect the rights of the party. It shall be the duty
place, but if the contract between client and attorney has been reduced to of the attorney so assigned to render the required service, unless he is
writing and the dismissal of the attorney was without justifiable cause, he excused therefrom by the court for sufficient cause shown.
shall be entitled to recover from the client the full compensation stipulated in
the contract. However, the attorney may, in the discretion of the court, Section 32. Compensation for attorneys de oficio. — Subject to availability of
intervene in the case to protect his rights. For the payment of his funds as may be provided by the law the court may, in its discretion, order
compensation the attorney shall have a lien upon all judgments for the an attorney employed as counsel de oficio to be compensates in such sum as
payment of money, and executions issued in pursuance of such judgment, the court may fix in accordance with section 24 of this rule. Whenever such
rendered in the case wherein his services had been retained by the client. compensation is allowed, it shall be not less than thirty pesos (P30) in any
case, nor more than the following amounts: (1) Fifty pesos (P50) in light
Section 27. Attorneys removed or suspended by Supreme Court on what felonies; (2) One hundred pesos (P100) in less grave felonies; (3) Two hundred
grounds. — A member of the bar may be removed or suspended from his pesos (P200) in grave felonies other than capital offenses; (4) Five Hundred
office as attorney by the Supreme Court for any deceit, malpractice, or other pesos (P500) in capital offenses.

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Section 33. Standing in court of person authorized to appear for Government. DIOKNO, J.:
— Any official or other person appointed or designated in accordance with
law to appear for the Government of the Philippines shall have all the rights In recent years few controversial issues have aroused so much public interest
of a duly authorized member of the bar to appear in any case in which said and concern as Republic Act No. 972, popularly known as the "Bar Flunkers'
government has an interest direct or indirect. Act of 1953." Under the Rules of Court governing admission to the bar, "in
order that a candidate (for admission to the Bar) may be deemed to have
Section 34. By whom litigation conducted. — In the court of a justice of the passed his examinations successfully, he must have obtained a general
peace a party may conduct his litigation in person, with the aid of an agent average of 75 per cent in all subjects, without falling below 50 per cent in any
or friend appointed by him for the purpose, or with the aid an attorney. In subject." (Rule 127, sec. 14, Rules of Court). Nevertheless, considering the
any other court, a party may conduct his litigation personally or by aid of an varying difficulties of the different bar examinations held since 1946 and the
attorney, and his appearance must be either personal or by a duly authorized varying degree of strictness with which the examination papers were graded,
member of the bar. this court passed and admitted to the bar those candidates who had
obtained an average of only 72 per cent in 1946, 69 per cent in 1947, 70 per
Section 35. Certain attorneys not to practice. — No judge or other official or cent in 1948, and 74 per cent in 1949. In 1950 to 1953, the 74 per cent was
employee of the superior courts or of the Office of the Solicitor General, shall raised to 75 per cent.
engage in private practice as a member of the bar or give professional advice
to clients. Believing themselves as fully qualified to practice law as those reconsidered
and passed by this court, and feeling conscious of having been discriminated
Section 36. Amicus Curiae. — Experienced and impartial attorneys may be against (See Explanatory Note to R.A. No. 972), unsuccessful candidates who
invited by the Court to appear as amici curiae to help in the disposition of obtained averages of a few percentage lower than those admitted to the Bar
issues submitted to it. agitated in Congress for, and secured in 1951 the passage of Senate Bill No.
12 which, among others, reduced the passing general average in bar
examinations to 70 per cent effective since 1946. The President requested the
Section 37. Attorneys' liens. — An attorney shall have a lien upon the funds, views of this court on the bill. Complying with that request, seven members
documents and papers of his client which have lawfully come into his of the court subscribed to and submitted written comments adverse thereto,
possession and may retain the same until his lawful fees and disbursements and shortly thereafter the President vetoed it. Congress did not override the
have been paid, and may apply such funds to the satisfaction thereof. He veto. Instead, it approved Senate Bill No. 371, embodying substantially the
shall also have a lien to the same extent upon all judgments for the payment provisions of the vetoed bill. Although the members of this court reiterated
of money, and executions issued in pursuance of such judgments, which he their unfavorable views on the matter, the President allowed the bill to
has secured in a litigation of his client, from and after the time when he shall become a law on June 21, 1953 without his signature. The law, which
have the caused a statement of his claim of such lien to be entered upon the incidentally was enacted in an election year, reads in full as follows:
records of the court rendering such judgment, or issuing such execution, and
shall have the caused written notice thereof to be delivered to his client and
to the adverse paty; and he shall have the same right and power over such REPUBLIC ACT NO. 972
judgments and executions as his client would have to enforce his lien and
secure the payment of his just fees and disbursements. AN ACT TO FIX THE PASSING MARKS FOR BAR
EXAMINATIONS FROM NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-
7) In re Cunanan, 94 Phil. 534 (1954) SIX UP TO AND INCLUDING NINETEEN HUNDRED AND
FIFTY-FIVE.

Resolution March 18, 1954

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the Philippines in Congress assembled:
In the Matter of the Petitions for Admission to the Bar of Unsuccessful
Candidates of 1946 to 1953;
SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section fourteen, Rule
ALBINO CUNANAN, ET AL., petitioners.
numbered one hundred twenty-seven of the Rules of Court, any bar
candidate who obtained a general average of seventy per cent in any
Jose M. Aruego, M.H. de Joya, Miguel R. Cornejo, and Antonio Enrile Inton for bar examinations after July fourth, nineteen hundred and forty-six
petitioners. up to the August nineteen hundred and fifty-one bar examinations;
Office of the Solicitor General Juan R. Liwag for respondent. seventy-one per cent in the nineteen hundred and fifty-two bar
examinations; seventy-two per cent in the in the nineteen hundred

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 and fifty-three bar examinations; seventy-three per cent in the 1950 1,316 893 26
nineteen hundred and fifty-four bar examinations; seventy-four per
cent in the nineteen hundred and fifty-five bar examinations without 1951 2,068 879 196
a candidate obtaining a grade below fifty per cent in any subject, 1952 2,738 1,033 426
shall be allowed to take and subscribe the corresponding oath of
1953 2,555 968 284
office as member of the Philippine Bar: Provided, however, That for
the purpose of this Act, any exact one-half or more of a fraction, TOTAL 12,230 5,421 1,168
shall be considered as one and included as part of the next whole
number.
Of the total 1,168 candidates, 92 have passed in subsequent examination,
and only 586 have filed either motions for admission to the bar pursuant to
SEC. 2. Any bar candidate who obtained a grade of seventy-five per said Republic Act, or mere motions for reconsideration.
cent in any subject in any bar examination after July fourth,
nineteen hundred and forty-six shall be deemed to have passed in
(2) In addition, some other 10 unsuccessful candidates are to be benefited by
such subject or subjects and such grade or grades shall be included
section 2 of said Republic Act. These candidates had each taken from two to
in computing the passing general average that said candidate may
five different examinations, but failed to obtain a passing average in any of
obtain in any subsequent examinations that he may take.
them. Consolidating, however, their highest grades in different subjects in
previous examinations, with their latest marks, they would be sufficient to
SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. reach the passing average as provided for by Republic Act No. 972.

Enacted on June 21, 1953, without the Executive approval. (3) The total number of candidates to be benefited by this Republic Acts is
therefore 1,094, of which only 604 have filed petitions. Of these 604
After its approval, many of the unsuccessful postwar candidates filed petitioners, 33 who failed in 1946 to 1951 had individually presented
petitions for admission to the bar invoking its provisions, while others whose motions for reconsideration which were denied, while 125 unsuccessful
motions for the revision of their examination papers were still pending also candidates of 1952, and 56 of 1953, had presented similar motions, which
invoked the aforesaid law as an additional ground for admission. There are are still pending because they could be favorably affected by Republic Act No.
also others who have sought simply the reconsideration of their grades 972, — although as has been already stated, this tribunal finds no sufficient
without, however, invoking the law in question. To avoid injustice to reasons to reconsider their grades
individual petitioners, the court first reviewed the motions for
reconsideration, irrespective of whether or not they had invoked Republic Act UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 972
No. 972. Unfortunately, the court has found no reason to revise their grades.
If they are to be admitted to the bar, it must be pursuant to Republic Act No.
Having been called upon to enforce a law of far-reaching effects on the
972 which, if declared valid, should be applied equally to all concerned
practice of the legal profession and the administration of justice, and because
whether they have filed petitions or not. A complete list of the petitioners,
some doubts have been expressed as to its validity, the court set the hearing
properly classified, affected by this decision, as well as a more detailed
of the afore-mentioned petitions for admission on the sole question of
account of the history of Republic Act No. 972, are appended to this decision
whether or not Republic Act No. 972 is constitutional.
as Annexes I and II. And to realize more readily the effects of the law, the
following statistical data are set forth:
We have been enlightened in the study of this question by the brilliant
assistance of the members of the bar who have amply argued, orally an in
(1) The unsuccessful bar candidates who are to be benefited by section 1 of
writing, on the various aspects in which the question may be gleaned. The
Republic Act No. 972 total 1,168, classified as follows:
valuable studies of Messrs. E. Voltaire Garcia, Vicente J. Francisco, Vicente
Pelaez and Buenaventura Evangelista, in favor of the validity of the law, and
1946 (August) 206 121 18 of the U.P. Women's Lawyers' Circle, the Solicitor General, Messrs. Arturo A.
Alafriz, Enrique M. Fernando, Vicente Abad Santos, Carlos A. Barrios,
1946 (November) 477 228 43
Vicente del Rosario, Juan de Blancaflor, Mamerto V. Gonzales, and Roman
1947 749 340 0 Ozaeta against it, aside from the memoranda of counsel for petitioners,
1948 899 409 11 Messrs. Jose M. Aruego, M.H. de Joya, Miguel R. Cornejo and Antonio Enrile
Inton, and of petitioners Cabrera, Macasaet and Galema themselves, has
1949 1,218 532 164 greatly helped us in this task. The legal researchers of the court have
exhausted almost all Philippine and American jurisprudence on the matter.

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The question has been the object of intense deliberation for a long time by easier had an identical case of similar background been picked out from the
the Tribunal, and finally, after the voting, the preparation of the majority jurisprudence we daily consult. Is there any precedent in the long Anglo-
opinion was assigned to a new member in order to place it as humanly as Saxon legal history, from which has been directly derived the judicial system
possible above all suspicion of prejudice or partiality. established here with its lofty ideals by the Congress of the United States,
and which we have preserved and attempted to improve, or in our
Republic Act No. 972 has for its object, according to its author, to admit to contemporaneous judicial history of more than half a century? From the
the Bar, those candidates who suffered from insufficiency of reading citations of those defending the law, we can not find a case in which the
materials and inadequate preparation. Quoting a portion of the Explanatory validity of a similar law had been sustained, while those against its validity
Note of the proposed bill, its author Honorable Senator Pablo Angeles David cite, among others, the cases of Day (In re Day, 54 NE 646), of Cannon
stated: (State vs. Cannon, 240 NW, 441), the opinion of the Supreme Court of
Massachusetts in 1932 (81 ALR 1061), of Guariña (24 Phil., 37), aside from
the opinion of the President which is expressed in his vote of the original bill
The reason for relaxing the standard 75 per cent passing grade is the and which the postponement of the contested law respects.
tremendous handicap which students during the years immediately
after the Japanese occupation has to overcome such as the
insufficiency of reading materials and the inadequacy of the This law has no precedent in its favor. When similar laws in other countries
preparation of students who took up law soon after the liberation. had been promulgated, the judiciary immediately declared them without
force or effect. It is not within our power to offer a precedent to uphold the
disputed law.
Of the 9,675 candidates who took the examinations from 1946 to 1952,
5,236 passed. And now it is claimed that in addition 604 candidates be
admitted (which in reality total 1,094), because they suffered from To be exact, we ought to state here that we have examined carefully the case
"insufficiency of reading materials" and of "inadequacy of preparation." that has been cited to us as a favorable precedent of the law — that of
Cooper (22 NY, 81), where the Court of Appeals of New York revoked the
decision of the Supreme court of that State, denying the petition of Cooper to
By its declared objective, the law is contrary to public interest because it be admitted to the practice of law under the provisions of a statute
qualifies 1,094 law graduates who confessedly had inadequate preparation concerning the school of law of Columbia College promulgated on April 7,
for the practice of the profession, as was exactly found by this Tribunal in the 1860, which was declared by the Court of Appeals to be consistent with the
aforesaid examinations. The public interest demands of legal profession Constitution of the state of New York.
adequate preparation and efficiency, precisely more so as legal problem
evolved by the times become more difficult. An adequate legal preparation is
one of the vital requisites for the practice of law that should be developed It appears that the Constitution of New York at that time provided:
constantly and maintained firmly. To the legal profession is entrusted the
protection of property, life, honor and civil liberties. To approve officially of They (i.e., the judges) shall not hold any other office of public trust.
those inadequately prepared individuals to dedicate themselves to such a All votes for either of them for any elective office except that of the
delicate mission is to create a serious social danger. Moreover, the statement Court of Appeals, given by the Legislature or the people, shall be
that there was an insufficiency of legal reading materials is grossly void. They shall not exercise any power of appointment to public
exaggerated. There were abundant materials. Decisions of this court alone in office. Any male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, of good moral
mimeographed copies were made available to the public during those years character, and who possesses the requisite qualifications of learning
and private enterprises had also published them in monthly magazines and and ability, shall be entitled to admission to practice in all the courts
annual digests. The Official Gazette had been published continuously. Books of this State. (p. 93).
and magazines published abroad have entered without restriction since
1945. Many law books, some even with revised and enlarged editions have According to the Court of Appeals, the object of the constitutional precept is
been printed locally during those periods. A new set of Philippine Reports as follows:
began to be published since 1946, which continued to be supplemented by
the addition of new volumes. Those are facts of public knowledge.
Attorneys, solicitors, etc., were public officers; the power of
appointing them had previously rested with the judges, and this was
Notwithstanding all these, if the law in question is valid, it has to be the principal appointing power which they possessed. The convention
enforced. was evidently dissatisfied with the manner in which this power had
been exercised, and with the restrictions which the judges had
The question is not new in its fundamental aspect or from the point of view of imposed upon admission to practice before them. The prohibitory
applicable principles, but the resolution of the question would have been clause in the section quoted was aimed directly at this power, and

32 | P a g e
 the insertion of the provision" expecting the admission of attorneys, granting a diploma. The only rational interpretation of which the act
in this particular section of the Constitution, evidently arose from its admits is, that it was intended to make the college diploma
connection with the object of this prohibitory clause. There is competent evidence as to the legal attainments of the applicant, and
nothing indicative of confidence in the courts or of a disposition to nothing else. To this extent alone it operates as a modification of pre-
preserve any portion of their power over this subject, unless the existing statutes, and it is to be read in connection with these
Supreme Court is right in the inference it draws from the use of the statutes and with the Constitution itself in order to determine the
word `admission' in the action referred to. It is urged that the present condition of the law on the subject. (p.89)
admission spoken of must be by the court; that to admit means to
grant leave, and that the power of granting necessarily implies the The Legislature has not taken from the court its jurisdiction over the
power of refusing, and of course the right of determining whether the question of admission, that has simply prescribed what shall be
applicant possesses the requisite qualifications to entitle him to competent evidence in certain cases upon that question. (p.93)
admission.
From the foregoing, the complete inapplicability of the case of Cooper with
These positions may all be conceded, without affecting the validity of that at bar may be clearly seen. Please note only the following distinctions:
the act. (p. 93.)
(1) The law of New York does not require that any candidate of Columbia
Now, with respect to the law of April 7, 1860, the decision seems to indicate College who failed in the bar examinations be admitted to the practice of law.
that it provided that the possession of a diploma of the school of law of
Columbia College conferring the degree of Bachelor of Laws was evidence of
the legal qualifications that the constitution required of applicants for (2) The law of New York according to the very decision of Cooper, has not
admission to the Bar. The decision does not however quote the text of the taken from the court its jurisdiction over the question of admission of
law, which we cannot find in any public or accessible private library in the attorney at law; in effect, it does not decree the admission of any lawyer.
country.
(3) The Constitution of New York at that time and that of the Philippines are
In the case of Cooper, supra, to make the law consistent with the entirely different on the matter of admission of the practice of law.
Constitution of New York, the Court of Appeals said of the object of the law:
In the judicial system from which ours has been evolved, the admission,
The motive for passing the act in question is apparent. Columbia suspension, disbarment and reinstatement of attorneys at law in the practice
College being an institution of established reputation, and having a of the profession and their supervision have been disputably a judicial
law department under the charge of able professors, the students in function and responsibility. Because of this attribute, its continuous and
which department were not only subjected to a formal examination zealous possession and exercise by the judicial power have been
by the law committee of the institution, but to a certain definite demonstrated during more than six centuries, which certainly "constitutes
period of study before being entitled to a diploma of being graduates, the most solid of titles." Even considering the power granted to Congress by
the Legislature evidently, and no doubt justly, considered this our Constitution to repeal, alter supplement the rules promulgated by this
examination, together with the preliminary study required by the act, Court regarding the admission to the practice of law, to our judgment and
as fully equivalent as a test of legal requirements, to the ordinary proposition that the admission, suspension, disbarment and reinstatement of
examination by the court; and as rendering the latter examination, to the attorneys at law is a legislative function, properly belonging to Congress,
which no definite period of preliminary study was essential, is unacceptable. The function requires (1) previously established rules and
unnecessary and burdensome. principles, (2) concrete facts, whether past or present, affecting determinate
individuals. and (3) decision as to whether these facts are governed by the
rules and principles; in effect, a judicial function of the highest degree. And it
The act was obviously passed with reference to the learning and becomes more undisputably judicial, and not legislative, if previous judicial
ability of the applicant, and for the mere purpose of substituting the resolutions on the petitions of these same individuals are attempted to be
examination by the law committee of the college for that of the court. revoked or modified.
It could have had no other object, and hence no greater scope should
be given to its provisions. We cannot suppose that the Legislature
designed entirely to dispense with the plain and explicit We have said that in the judicial system from which ours has been derived,
requirements of the Constitution; and the act contains nothing the act of admitting, suspending, disbarring and reinstating attorneys at law
whatever to indicate an intention that the authorities of the college in the practice of the profession is concededly judicial. A comprehensive and
should inquire as to the age, citizenship, etc., of the students before conscientious study of this matter had been undertaken in the case of

33 | P a g e
State vs. Cannon (1932) 240 NW 441, in which the validity of a legislative reproach to the administration of justice and bring the courts
enactment providing that Cannon be permitted to practice before the courts themselves into disrepute. (p.445)
was discussed. From the text of this decision we quote the following
paragraphs: Through all time courts have exercised a direct and severe
supervision over their bars, at least in the English speaking
This statute presents an assertion of legislative power without countries. (p. 445)
parallel in the history of the English speaking people so far as we
have been able to ascertain. There has been much uncertainty as to After explaining the history of the case, the Court ends thus:
the extent of the power of the Legislature to prescribe the ultimate
qualifications of attorney at law has been expressly committed to the
courts, and the act of admission has always been regarded as a Our conclusion may be epitomized as follows: For more than six
judicial function. This act purports to constitute Mr. Cannon an centuries prior to the adoption of our Constitution, the courts of
attorney at law, and in this respect it stands alone as an assertion of England, concededly subordinate to Parliament since the Revolution
legislative power. (p. 444) of 1688, had exercise the right of determining who should be
admitted to the practice of law, which, as was said in Matter of the
Sergeant's at Law, 6 Bingham's New Cases 235, "constitutes the
Under the Constitution all legislative power is vested in a Senate and most solid of all titles." If the courts and judicial power be regarded
Assembly. (Section 1, art. 4.) In so far as the prescribing of as an entity, the power to determine who should be admitted to
qualifications for admission to the bar are legislative in character, practice law is a constituent element of that entity. It may be difficult
the Legislature is acting within its constitutional authority when it to isolate that element and say with assurance that it is either a part
sets up and prescribes such qualifications. (p. 444) of the inherent power of the court, or an essential element of the
judicial power exercised by the court, but that it is a power belonging
But when the Legislature has prescribed those qualifications which to the judicial entity and made of not only a sovereign institution,
in its judgment will serve the purpose of legitimate legislative but made of it a separate independent, and coordinate branch of the
solicitude, is the power of the court to impose other and further government. They took this institution along with the power
exactions and qualifications foreclosed or exhausted? (p. 444) traditionally exercise to determine who should constitute its attorney
at law. There is no express provision in the Constitution which
Under our Constitution the judicial and legislative departments are indicates an intent that this traditional power of the judicial
distinct, independent, and coordinate branches of the government. department should in any manner be subject to legislative control.
Neither branch enjoys all the powers of sovereignty which properly Perhaps the dominant thought of the framers of our constitution was
belongs to its department. Neither department should so act as to to make the three great departments of government separate and
embarrass the other in the discharge of its respective functions. That independent of one another. The idea that the Legislature might
was the scheme and thought of the people setting upon the form of embarrass the judicial department by prescribing inadequate
government under which we exist. State vs. Hastings, 10 Wis., 525; qualifications for attorneys at law is inconsistent with the dominant
Attorney General ex rel. Bashford vs. Barstow, 4 Wis., 567. (p. 445) purpose of making the judicial independent of the legislative
department, and such a purpose should not be inferred in the
absence of express constitutional provisions. While the legislature
The judicial department of government is responsible for the plane may legislate with respect to the qualifications of attorneys, but is
upon which the administration of justice is maintained. Its incidental merely to its general and unquestioned power to protect
responsibility in this respect is exclusive. By committing a portion of the public interest. When it does legislate a fixing a standard of
the powers of sovereignty to the judicial department of our state qualifications required of attorneys at law in order that public
government, under 42a scheme which it was supposed rendered it interests may be protected, such qualifications do not constitute only
immune from embarrassment or interference by any other a minimum standard and limit the class from which the court must
department of government, the courts cannot escape responsibility make its selection. Such legislative qualifications do not constitute
fir the manner in which the powers of sovereignty thus committed to the ultimate qualifications beyond which the court cannot go in
the judicial department are exercised. (p. 445) fixing additional qualifications deemed necessary by the course of the
proper administration of judicial functions. There is no legislative
The relation at the bar to the courts is a peculiar and intimate power to compel courts to admit to their bars persons deemed by
relationship. The bar is an attache of the courts. The quality of them unfit to exercise the prerogatives of an attorney at law. (p. 450)
justice dispense by the courts depends in no small degree upon the
integrity of its bar. An unfaithful bar may easily bring scandal and

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 Furthermore, it is an unlawful attempt to exercise the power of coordinate department of government. It is an inherent power of
appointment. It is quite likely true that the legislature may exercise such a department of government ultimately to determine the
the power of appointment when it is in pursuance of a legislative qualifications of those to be admitted to practice in its courts, for
functions. However, the authorities are well-nigh unanimous that the assisting in its work, and to protect itself in this respect from the
power to admit attorneys to the practice of law is a judicial function. unfit, those lacking in sufficient learning, and those not possessing
In all of the states, except New Jersey (In re Reisch, 83 N.J. Eq. 82, good moral character. Chief Justice Taney stated succinctly and with
90 A. 12), so far as our investigation reveals, attorneys receive their finality in Ex parte Secombe, 19 How. 9, 13, 15 L. Ed. 565, "It has
formal license to practice law by their admission as members of the been well settled, by the rules and practice of common-law courts,
bar of the court so admitting. Cor. Jur. 572; Ex parte Secombre, 19 that it rests exclusively with the court to determine who is qualified
How. 9,15 L. Ed. 565; Ex parteGarland, 4 Wall. 333, 18 L. Ed. 366; to become one of its officers, as an attorney and counselor, and for
Randall vs. Brigham, 7 Wall. 53, 19 L. Ed. 285; Hanson vs. Grattan, what cause he ought to be removed." (p.727)
48 Kan, 843, 115 P. 646, 34 L.R.A. 519; Danforth vs. Egan, 23 S. D.
43, 119 N.W. 1021, 130 Am. St. Rep. 1030, 20 Ann. Cas. 413. In the case of Day and others who collectively filed a petition to secure
license to practice the legal profession by virtue of a law of state (In re Day,
The power of admitting an attorney to practice having been 54 NE 646), the court said in part:
perpetually exercised by the courts, it having been so generally held
that the act of the court in admitting an attorney to practice is the In the case of Ex parte Garland, 4 Wall, 333, 18 L. Ed. 366, the
judgment of the court, and an attempt as this on the part of the court, holding the test oath for attorneys to be unconstitutional,
Legislature to confer such right upon any one being most exceedingly explained the nature of the attorney's office as follows: "They are
uncommon, it seems clear that the licensing of an attorney is and officers of the court, admitted as such by its order, upon evidence of
always has been a purely judicial function, no matter where the their possessing sufficient legal learning and fair private character. It
power to determine the qualifications may reside. (p. 451) has always been the general practice in this country to obtain this
evidence by an examination of the parties. In this court the fact of
In that same year of 1932, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, in the admission of such officers in the highest court of the states to
answering a consultation of the Senate of that State, 180 NE 725, said: which they, respectively, belong for, three years preceding their
application, is regarded as sufficient evidence of the possession of
It is indispensible to the administration of justice and to the requisite legal learning, and the statement of counsel moving
interpretation of the laws that there be members of the bar of their admission sufficient evidence that their private and professional
sufficient ability, adequate learning and sound moral character. This character is fair. The order of admission is the judgment of the court
arises from the need of enlightened assistance to the honest, and that the parties possess the requisite qualifications as attorneys and
restraining authority over the knavish, litigant. It is highly important, counselors, and are entitled to appear as such and conduct causes
also that the public be protected from incompetent and vicious therein. From its entry the parties become officers of the court, and
practitioners, whose opportunity for doing mischief is wide. It was are responsible to it for professional misconduct. They hold their
said by Cardoz, C.L., in People ex rel. Karlin vs. Culkin, 242 N.Y. office during good behavior, and can only be deprived of it for
456, 470, 471, 162 N.E. 487, 489, 60 A.L.R. 851: "Membership in misconduct ascertained and declared by the judgment of the court
the bar is a privilege burden with conditions." One is admitted to the after opportunity to be heard has been afforded. Ex parte Hoyfron,
bar "for something more than private gain." He becomes an "officer of admission or their exclusion is not the exercise of a mere ministerial
the court", and ,like the court itself, an instrument or agency to power. It is the exercise of judicial power, and has been so held in
advance the end of justice. His cooperation with the court is due numerous cases. It was so held by the court of appeals of New York
"whenever justice would be imperiled if cooperation was withheld." in the matter of the application of Cooper for admission. Re Cooper
Without such attorneys at law the judicial department of government 22 N. Y. 81. "Attorneys and Counselors", said that court, "are not
would be hampered in the performance of its duties. That has been only officers of the court, but officers whose duties relate almost
the history of attorneys under the common law, both in this country exclusively to proceedings of a judicial nature; and hence their
and England. Admission to practice as an attorney at law is almost appointment may, with propriety, be entrusted to the court, and the
without exception conceded to be a judicial function. Petition to that latter, in performing his duty, may very justly considered as engaged
end is filed in courts, as are other proceedings invoking judicial in the exercise of their appropriate judicial functions." (pp. 650-651).
action. Admission to the bar is accomplish and made open and
notorious by a decision of the court entered upon its records. The We quote from other cases, the following pertinent portions:
establishment by the Constitution of the judicial department
conferred authority necessary to the exercise of its powers as a

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 Admission to practice of law is almost without exception conceded That the Constitution has conferred on Congress the power to repeal, alter or
everywhere to be the exercise of a judicial function, and this opinion supplement the rule promulgated by this Tribunal, concerning the admission
need not be burdened with citations in this point. Admission to to the practice of law, is no valid argument. Section 13, article VIII of the
practice have also been held to be the exercise of one of the inherent Constitution provides:
powers of the court. — Re Bruen, 102 Wash. 472, 172 Pac. 906.
Section 13. The Supreme Court shall have the power to promulgate
Admission to the practice of law is the exercise of a judicial function, rules concerning pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, and
and is an inherent power of the court. — A.C. Brydonjack, vs. State the admission to the practice of law. Said rules shall be uniform for
Bar of California, 281 Pac. 1018; See Annotation on Power of all courts of the same grade and shall not diminish, increase or
Legislature respecting admission to bar, 65, A.L. R. 1512. modify substantive rights. The existing laws on pleading, practice
and procedure are hereby repealed as statutes, and are declared
On this matter there is certainly a clear distinction between the functions of Rules of Court, subject to the power of the Supreme Court to alter
the judicial and legislative departments of the government. and modify the same. The Congress shall have the power to repeal,
alter, or supplement the rules concerning pleading, practice, and
procedure, and the admission to the practice of law in the
The distinction between the functions of the legislative and the Philippines. — Constitution of the Philippines, Art. VIII, sec. 13.
judicial departments is that it is the province of the legislature to
establish rules that shall regulate and govern in matters of
transactions occurring subsequent to the legislative action, while the It will be noted that the Constitution has not conferred on Congress and this
judiciary determines rights and obligations with reference to Tribunal equal responsibilities concerning the admission to the practice of
transactions that are past or conditions that exist at the time of the law. the primary power and responsibility which the Constitution recognizes
exercise of judicial power, and the distinction is a vital one and not continue to reside in this Court. Had Congress found that this Court has not
subject to alteration or change either by legislative action or by promulgated any rule on the matter, it would have nothing over which to
judicial decree. exercise the power granted to it. Congress may repeal, alter and supplement
the rules promulgated by this Court, but the authority and responsibility
over the admission, suspension, disbarment and reinstatement of attorneys
The judiciary cannot consent that its province shall be invaded by at law and their supervision remain vested in the Supreme Court. The power
either of the other departments of the government. — 16 C.J.S., to repeal, alter and supplement the rules does not signify nor permit that
Constitutional Law, p. 229. Congress substitute or take the place of this Tribunal in the exercise of its
primary power on the matter. The Constitution does not say nor mean that
If the legislature cannot thus indirectly control the action of the Congress may admit, suspend, disbar or reinstate directly attorneys at law,
courts by requiring of them construction of the law according to its or a determinate group of individuals to the practice of law. Its power is
own views, it is very plain it cannot do so directly, by settling aside limited to repeal, modify or supplement the existing rules on the matter, if
their judgments, compelling them to grant new trials, ordering the according to its judgment the need for a better service of the legal profession
discharge of offenders, or directing what particular steps shall be requires it. But this power does not relieve this Court of its responsibility to
taken in the progress of a judicial inquiry. — Cooley's Constitutional admit, suspend, disbar and reinstate attorneys at law and supervise the
Limitations, 192. practice of the legal profession.

In decreeing the bar candidates who obtained in the bar examinations of Being coordinate and independent branches, the power to promulgate and
1946 to 1952, a general average of 70 per cent without falling below 50 per enforce rules for the admission to the practice of law and the concurrent
cent in any subject, be admitted in mass to the practice of law, the disputed power to repeal, alter and supplement them may and should be exercised
law is not a legislation; it is a judgment — a judgment revoking those with the respect that each owes to the other, giving careful consideration to
promulgated by this Court during the aforecited year affecting the bar the responsibility which the nature of each department requires. These
candidates concerned; and although this Court certainly can revoke these powers have existed together for centuries without diminution on each part;
judgments even now, for justifiable reasons, it is no less certain that only the harmonious delimitation being found in that the legislature may and
this Court, and not the legislative nor executive department, that may be so. should examine if the existing rules on the admission to the Bar respond to
Any attempt on the part of any of these departments would be a clear the demands which public interest requires of a Bar endowed with high
usurpation of its functions, as is the case with the law in question. virtues, culture, training and responsibility. The legislature may, by means of
appeal, amendment or supplemental rules, fill up any deficiency that it may
find, and the judicial power, which has the inherent responsibility for a good
and efficient administration of justice and the supervision of the practice of

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the legal profession, should consider these reforms as the minimum report of the examining board, dated March 23, 1907, shows that he
standards for the elevation of the profession, and see to it that with these received an average of only 71 per cent in the various branches of
reforms the lofty objective that is desired in the exercise of its traditional duty legal learning upon which he was examined, thus falling four points
of admitting, suspending, disbarring and reinstating attorneys at law is short of the required percentage of 75. We would be delinquent in the
realized. They are powers which, exercise within their proper constitutional performance of our duty to the public and to the bar, if, in the face of
limits, are not repugnant, but rather complementary to each other in this affirmative indication of the deficiency of the applicant in the
attaining the establishment of a Bar that would respond to the increasing required qualifications of learning in the law at the time when he
and exacting necessities of the administration of justice. presented his former application for admission to the bar, we should
grant him license to practice law in the courts of these Islands,
The case of Guariña (1913) 24 Phil., 37, illustrates our criterion. Guariña without first satisfying ourselves that despite his failure to pass the
took examination and failed by a few points to obtain the general average. A examination on that occasion, he now "possesses the necessary
recently enacted law provided that one who had been appointed to the qualifications of learning and ability."
position of Fiscal may be admitted to the practice of law without a previous
examination. The Government appointed Guariña and he discharged the But it is contented that under the provisions of the above-cited
duties of Fiscal in a remote province. This tribunal refused to give his license statute the applicant is entitled as of right to be admitted to the bar
without previous examinations. The court said: without taking the prescribed examination "upon motion before the
Supreme Court" accompanied by satisfactory proof that he has held
Relying upon the provisions of section 2 of Act No. 1597, the and now holds the office of provincial fiscal of the Province of
applicant in this case seeks admission to the bar, without taking the Batanes. It is urged that having in mind the object which the
prescribed examination, on the ground that he holds the office of legislator apparently sought to attain in enacting the above-cited
provincial fiscal for the Province of Batanes. amendment to the earlier statute, and in view of the context
generally and especially of the fact that the amendment was inserted
as a proviso in that section of the original Act which specifically
Section 2 of Act No. 1597, enacted February 28, 1907, is as follows: provides for the admission of certain candidates without
examination. It is contented that this mandatory construction is
Sec. 2. Paragraph one of section thirteen of Act Numbered One imperatively required in order to give effect to the apparent intention
Hundred and ninety, entitled "An Act providing a Code of Procedure of the legislator, and to the candidate's claim de jure to have the
in Civil Actions and Special Proceedings in the Philippine Islands," is power exercised.
hereby amended to read as follows:
And after copying article 9 of Act of July 1, 1902 of the Congress of the
1. Those who have been duly licensed under the laws and orders of United States, articles 2, 16 and 17 of Act No. 136, and articles 13 to 16 of
the Islands under the sovereignty of Spain or of the United States Act 190, the Court continued:
and are in good and regular standing as members of the bar of the
Philippine Islands at the time of the adoption of this code; Provided, Manifestly, the jurisdiction thus conferred upon this court by the
That any person who, prior to the passage of this act, or at any time commission and confirmed to it by the Act of Congress would be
thereafter, shall have held, under the authority of the United States, limited and restricted, and in a case such as that under
the position of justice of the Supreme Court, judge of the Court of consideration wholly destroyed, by giving the word "may," as used in
First Instance, or judge or associate judge of the Court of Land the above citation from Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, or of any Act
Registration, of the Philippine Islands, or the position of Attorney of Congress prescribing, defining or limiting the power conferred
General, Solicitor General, Assistant Attorney General, assistant upon the commission is to that extent invalid and void, as
attorney in the office of the Attorney General, prosecuting attorney transcending its rightful limits and authority.
for the City of Manila, city attorney of Manila, assistant city attorney
of Manila, provincial fiscal, attorney for the Moro Province, or
assistant attorney for the Moro Province, may be licensed to practice Speaking on the application of the law to those who were appointed to the
law in the courts of the Philippine Islands without an examination, positions enumerated, and with particular emphasis in the case of Guariña,
upon motion before the Supreme Court and establishing such fact to the Court held:
the satisfaction of said court.
In the various cases wherein applications for the admission to the
The records of this court disclose that on a former occasion this bar under the provisions of this statute have been considered
appellant took, and failed to pass the prescribed examination. The heretofore, we have accepted the fact that such appointments had

37 | P a g e
 been made as satisfactory evidence of the qualifications of the school of law, or to those who had studied in a law office and would pass an
applicant. But in all of those cases we had reason to believe that the examination, or to those who had studied for three years if they commenced
applicants had been practicing attorneys prior to the date of their their studies after the aforementioned date. The Supreme Court declared that
appointment. this law was unconstitutional being, among others, a class legislation. The
Court said:
In the case under consideration, however, it affirmatively appears
that the applicant was not and never had been practicing attorney in This is an application to this court for admission to the bar of this
this or any other jurisdiction prior to the date of his appointment as state by virtue of diplomas from law schools issued to the applicants.
provincial fiscal, and it further affirmatively appears that he was The act of the general assembly passed in 1899, under which the
deficient in the required qualifications at the time when he last application is made, is entitled "An act to amend section 1 of an act
applied for admission to the bar. entitled "An act to revise the law in relation to attorneys and
counselors," approved March 28, 1884, in force July 1, 1874." The
In the light of this affirmative proof of his defieciency on that amendment, so far as it appears in the enacting clause, consists in
occasion, we do not think that his appointment to the office of the addition to the section of the following: "And every application for
provincial fiscal is in itself satisfactory proof if his possession of the a license who shall comply with the rules of the supreme court in
necessary qualifications of learning and ability. We conclude regard to admission to the bar in force at the time such applicant
therefore that this application for license to practice in the courts of commend the study of law, either in a law or office or a law school or
the Philippines, should be denied. college, shall be granted a license under this act notwithstanding any
subsequent changes in said rules". — In re Day et al, 54 N.Y., p. 646.
In view, however, of the fact that when he took the examination he
fell only four points short of the necessary grade to entitle him to a . . . After said provision there is a double proviso, one branch of
license to practice; and in view also of the fact that since that time he which is that up to December 31, 1899, this court shall grant a
has held the responsible office of the governor of the Province of license of admittance to the bar to the holder of every diploma
Sorsogon and presumably gave evidence of such marked ability in regularly issued by any law school regularly organized under the
the performance of the duties of that office that the Chief Executive, laws of this state, whose regular course of law studies is two years,
with the consent and approval of the Philippine Commission, sought and requiring an attendance by the student of at least 36 weeks in
to retain him in the Government service by appointing him to the each of such years, and showing that the student began the study of
office of provincial fiscal, we think we would be justified under the law prior to November 4, 1897, and accompanied with the usual
above-cited provisions of Act No. 1597 in waiving in his case the proofs of good moral character. The other branch of the proviso is
ordinary examination prescribed by general rule, provided he offers that any student who has studied law for two years in a law office, or
satisfactory evidence of his proficiency in a special examination part of such time in a law office, "and part in the aforesaid law
which will be given him by a committee of the court upon his school," and whose course of study began prior to November 4, 1897,
application therefor, without prejudice to his right, if he desires so to shall be admitted upon a satisfactory examination by the examining
do, to present himself at any of the ordinary examinations prescribed board in the branches now required by the rules of this court. If the
by general rule. — (In re Guariña, pp. 48-49.) right to admission exists at all, it is by virtue of the proviso, which, it
is claimed, confers substantial rights and privileges upon the
persons named therein, and establishes rules of legislative creation
It is obvious, therefore, that the ultimate power to grant license for the for their admission to the bar. (p. 647.)
practice of law belongs exclusively to this Court, and the law passed by
Congress on the matter is of permissive character, or as other authorities
say, merely to fix the minimum conditions for the license. Considering the proviso, however, as an enactment, it is clearly a
special legislation, prohibited by the constitution, and invalid as
such. If the legislature had any right to admit attorneys to practice in
The law in question, like those in the case of Day and Cannon, has been the courts and take part in the administration of justice, and could
found also to suffer from the fatal defect of being a class legislation, and that prescribe the character of evidence which should be received by the
if it has intended to make a classification, it is arbitrary and unreasonable. court as conclusive of the requisite learning and ability of persons to
practice law, it could only be done by a general law, persons or
In the case of Day, a law enacted on February 21, 1899 required of the classes of persons. Const. art 4, section 2. The right to practice law
Supreme Court, until December 31 of that year, to grant license for the is a privilege, and a license for that purpose makes the holder an
practice of law to those students who began studying before November 4, officer of the court, and confers upon him the right to appear for
1897, and had studied for two years and presented a diploma issued by a litigants, to argue causes, and to collect fees therefor, and creates

38 | P a g e
certain exemptions, such as from jury services and arrest on civil In the case of Cannon above cited, State vs. Cannon, 240 N.W. 441, where
process while attending court. The law conferring such privileges the legislature attempted by law to reinstate Cannon to the practice of law,
must be general in its operation. No doubt the legislature, in framing the court also held with regards to its aspect of being a class legislation:
an enactment for that purpose, may classify persons so long as the
law establishing classes in general, and has some reasonable relation But the statute is invalid for another reason. If it be granted that the
to the end sought. There must be some difference which furnishes a legislature has power to prescribe ultimately and definitely the
reasonable basis for different one, having no just relation to the qualifications upon which courts must admit and license those
subject of the legislation. Braceville Coal Co. vs. People, 147 Ill. 66, applying as attorneys at law, that power can not be exercised in the
35 N.E. 62; Ritchie vs. People, 155 Ill. 98, 40 N.E. 454; Railroad Co. manner here attempted. That power must be exercised through
vs. Ellis, 165 U.S. 150, 17 Sup. Ct. 255. general laws which will apply to all alike and accord equal
opportunity to all. Speaking of the right of the Legislature to exact
The length of time a physician has practiced, and the skill acquired qualifications of those desiring to pursue chosen callings, Mr. Justice
by experience, may furnish a basis for classification (Williams vs. Field in the case of Dent. vs. West Virginia, 129 U.S. 114, 121, 9 S.
People 121 Ill. 48, II N.E. 881); but the place where such physician Ct. 232, 233, 32 L. Ed. 626, said: "It is undoubtedly the right of
has resided and practiced his profession cannot furnish such basis, every citizen of the United States to follow any lawful calling,
and is an arbitrary discrimination, making an enactment based upon business or profession he may choose, subject only to such
it void (State vs. Pennyeor, 65 N.E. 113, 18 Atl. 878). Here the restrictions as are imposed upon all persons of like age, sex, and
legislature undertakes to say what shall serve as a test of fitness for condition." This right may in many respects be considered as a
the profession of the law, and plainly, any classification must have distinguishing feature of our republican institutions. Here all
some reference to learning, character, or ability to engage in such vocations are all open to every one on like conditions. All may be
practice. The proviso is limited, first, to a class of persons who began pursued as sources of livelihood, some requiring years of study and
the study of law prior to November 4, 1897. This class is subdivided great learning for their successful prosecution. The interest, or, as it
into two classes — First, those presenting diplomas issued by any is sometimes termed, the "estate" acquired in them — that is, the
law school of this state before December 31, 1899; and, second, right to continue their prosecution — is often of great value to the
those who studied law for the period of two years in a law office, or possessors and cannot be arbitrarily taken from them, any more
part of the time in a law school and part in a law office, who are to be than their real or personal property can be thus taken. It is
admitted upon examination in the subjects specified in the present fundamental under our system of government that all similarly
rules of this court, and as to this latter subdivision there seems to be situated and possessing equal qualifications shall enjoy equal
no limit of time for making application for admission. As to both opportunities. Even statutes regulating the practice of medicine,
classes, the conditions of the rules are dispensed with, and as requiring medications to establish the possession on the part of the
between the two different conditions and limits of time are fixed. No application of his proper qualifications before he may be licensed to
course of study is prescribed for the law school, but a diploma practice, have been challenged, and courts have seriously considered
granted upon the completion of any sort of course its managers may whether the exemption from such examinations of those practicing in
prescribe is made all-sufficient. Can there be anything with relation the state at the time of the enactment of the law rendered such law
to the qualifications or fitness of persons to practice law resting upon unconstitutional because of infringement upon this general principle.
the mere date of November 4, 1897, which will furnish a basis of State vs. Thomas Call, 121 N.C. 643, 28 S.E. 517; see, also, The
classification. Plainly not. Those who began the study of law State ex rel. Winkler vs. Rosenberg, 101 Wis. 172, 76 N.W. 345;
November 4th could qualify themselves to practice in two years as State vs. Whitcom, 122 Wis. 110, 99 N.W. 468.
well as those who began on the 3rd. The classes named in the
proviso need spend only two years in study, while those who This law singles out Mr. Cannon and assumes to confer upon him
commenced the next day must spend three years, although they the right to practice law and to constitute him an officer of this Court
would complete two years before the time limit. The one who as a mere matter of legislative grace or favor. It is not material that
commenced on the 3rd. If possessed of a diploma, is to be admitted he had once established his right to practice law and that one time
without examination before December 31, 1899, and without any he possessed the requisite learning and other qualifications to entitle
prescribed course of study, while as to the other the prescribed him to that right. That fact in no matter affect the power of the
course must be pursued, and the diploma is utterly useless. Such Legislature to select from the great body of the public an individual
classification cannot rest upon any natural reason, or bear any just upon whom it would confer its favors.
relation to the subject sought, and none is suggested. The proviso is
for the sole purpose of bestowing privileges upon certain defined
persons. (pp. 647-648.) A statute of the state of Minnesota (Laws 1929, c. 424) commanded
the Supreme Court to admit to the practice of law without

39 | P a g e
 examination, all who had served in the military or naval forces of the from 1946-1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955. Neither is the exclusion of those
United States during the World War and received a honorable who failed before said years under the same conditions justified. The fact
discharge therefrom and who (were disabled therein or thereby that this Court has no record of examinations prior to 1946 does not signify
within the purview of the Act of Congress approved June 7th, 1924, that no one concerned may prove by some other means his right to an equal
known as "World War Veteran's Act, 1924 and whose disability is consideration.
rated at least ten per cent thereunder at the time of the passage of
this Act." This Act was held |unconstitutional on the ground that it To defend the disputed law from being declared unconstitutional on account
clearly violated the quality clauses of the constitution of that state. In of its retroactivity, it is argued that it is curative, and that in such form it is
re Application of George W. Humphrey, 178 Minn. 331, 227 N.W. constitutional. What does Rep. Act 972 intend to cure ? Only from 1946 to
179. 1949 were there cases in which the Tribunal permitted admission to the bar
of candidates who did not obtain the general average of 75 per cent: in 1946
A good summary of a classification constitutionally acceptable is explained in those who obtained only 72 per cent; in the 1947 and those who had 69 per
12 Am. Jur. 151-153 as follows: cent or more; in 1948, 70 per cent and in 1949, 74 per cent; and in 1950 to
1953, those who obtained 74 per cent, which was considered by the Court as
The general rule is well settled by unanimity of the authorities that a equivalent to 75 per cent as prescribed by the Rules, by reason of
classification to be valid must rest upon material differences between circumstances deemed to be sufficiently justifiable. These changes in the
the person included in it and those excluded and, furthermore, must passing averages during those years were all that could be objected to or
be based upon substantial distinctions. As the rule has sometimes criticized. Now, it is desired to undo what had been done — cancel the
avoided the constitutional prohibition, must be founded upon license that was issued to those who did not obtain the prescribed 75 per
pertinent and real differences, as distinguished from irrelevant and cent ? Certainly not. The disputed law clearly does not propose to do so.
artificial ones. Therefore, any law that is made applicable to one Concededly, it approves what has been done by this Tribunal. What Congress
class of citizens only must be based on some substantial difference lamented is that the Court did not consider 69.5 per cent obtained by those
between the situation of that class and other individuals to which it candidates who failed in 1946 to 1952 as sufficient to qualify them to
does not apply and must rest on some reason on which it can be practice law. Hence, it is the lack of will or defect of judgment of the Court
defended. In other words, there must be such a difference between that is being cured, and to complete the cure of this infirmity, the effectivity
the situation and circumstances of all the members of the class and of the disputed law is being extended up to the years 1953, 1954 and 1955,
the situation and circumstances of all other members of the state in increasing each year the general average by one per cent, with the order that
relation to the subjects of the discriminatory legislation as presents a said candidates be admitted to the Bar. This purpose, manifest in the said
just and natural cause for the difference made in their liabilities and law, is the best proof that what the law attempts to amend and correct are
burdens and in their rights and privileges. A law is not general not the rules promulgated, but the will or judgment of the Court, by means of
because it operates on all within a clause unless there is a simply taking its place. This is doing directly what the Tribunal should have
substantial reason why it is made to operate on that class only, and done during those years according to the judgment of Congress. In other
not generally on all. (12 Am. Jur. pp. 151-153.) words, the power exercised was not to repeal, alter or supplement the rules,
which continue in force. What was done was to stop or suspend them. And
this power is not included in what the Constitution has granted to Congress,
Pursuant to the law in question, those who, without a grade below 50 per because it falls within the power to apply the rules. This power corresponds
cent in any subject, have obtained a general average of 69.5 per cent in the to the judiciary, to which such duty been confided.
bar examinations in 1946 to 1951, 70.5 per cent in 1952, 71.5 per cent in
1953, and those will obtain 72.5 per cent in 1954, and 73.5 per cent in 1955,
will be permitted to take and subscribe the corresponding oath of office as Article 2 of the law in question permits partial passing of examinations, at
members of the Bar, notwithstanding that the rules require a minimum indefinite intervals. The grave defect of this system is that it does not take
general average of 75 per cent, which has been invariably followed since into account that the laws and jurisprudence are not stationary, and when a
1950. Is there any motive of the nature indicated by the abovementioned candidate finally receives his certificate, it may happen that the existing laws
authorities, for this classification ? If there is none, and none has been given, and jurisprudence are already different, seriously affecting in this manner
then the classification is fatally defective. his usefulness. The system that the said law prescribes was used in the first
bar examinations of this country, but was abandoned for this and other
disadvantages. In this case, however, the fatal defect is that the article is not
It was indicated that those who failed in 1944, 1941 or the years before, with expressed in the title will have temporary effect only from 1946 to 1955, the
the general average indicated, were not included because the Tribunal has no text of article 2 establishes a permanent system for an indefinite time. This is
record of the unsuccessful candidates of those years. This fact does not contrary to Section 21 (1), article VI of the Constitution, which vitiates and
justify the unexplained classification of unsuccessful candidates by years,

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annuls article 2 completely; and because it is inseparable from article 1, it is 5. Article 2 of Republic Act No. 972 is not embraced in the title of the law,
obvious that its nullity affect the entire law. contrary to what the Constitution enjoins, and being inseparable from the
provisions of article 1, the entire law is void.
Laws are unconstitutional on the following grounds: first, because they are
not within the legislative powers of Congress to enact, or Congress has 6. Lacking in eight votes to declare the nullity of that part of article 1
exceeded its powers; second, because they create or establish arbitrary referring to the examinations of 1953 to 1955, said part of article 1, insofar
methods or forms that infringe constitutional principles; and third, because as it concerns the examinations in those years, shall continue in force.
their purposes or effects violate the Constitution or its basic principles. As
has already been seen, the contested law suffers from these fatal defects. RESOLUTION

Summarizing, we are of the opinion and hereby declare that Republic Act No. Upon mature deliberation by this Court, after hearing and availing of the
972 is unconstitutional and therefore, void, and without any force nor effect magnificent and impassioned discussion of the contested law by our Chief
for the following reasons, to wit: Justice at the opening and close of the debate among the members of the
Court, and after hearing the judicious observations of two of our beloved
1. Because its declared purpose is to admit 810 candidates who failed in the colleagues who since the beginning have announced their decision not to
bar examinations of 1946-1952, and who, it admits, are certainly take part in voting, we, the eight members of the Court who subscribed to
inadequately prepared to practice law, as was exactly found by this Court in this decision have voted and resolved, and have decided for the Court, and
the aforesaid years. It decrees the admission to the Bar of these candidates, under the authority of the same:
depriving this Tribunal of the opportunity to determine if they are at present
already prepared to become members of the Bar. It obliges the Tribunal to 1. That (a) the portion of article 1 of Republic Act No. 972 referring to the
perform something contrary to reason and in an arbitrary manner. This is a examinations of 1946 to 1952, and (b) all of article 2 of said law are
manifest encroachment on the constitutional responsibility of the Supreme unconstitutional and, therefore, void and without force and effect.
Court.
2. That, for lack of unanimity in the eight Justices, that part of article 1
2. Because it is, in effect, a judgment revoking the resolution of this Court on which refers to the examinations subsequent to the approval of the law, that
the petitions of these 810 candidates, without having examined their is from 1953 to 1955 inclusive, is valid and shall continue to be in force, in
respective examination papers, and although it is admitted that this Tribunal conformity with section 10, article VII of the Constitution.
may reconsider said resolution at any time for justifiable reasons, only this
Court and no other may revise and alter them. In attempting to do it directly
Republic Act No. 972 violated the Constitution. Consequently, (1) all the above-mentioned petitions of the candidates who
failed in the examinations of 1946 to 1952 inclusive are denied, and (2) all
candidates who in the examinations of 1953 obtained a general average of
3. By the disputed law, Congress has exceeded its legislative power to repeal, 71.5 per cent or more, without having a grade below 50 per cent in any
alter and supplement the rules on admission to the Bar. Such additional or subject, are considered as having passed, whether they have filed petitions
amendatory rules are, as they ought to be, intended to regulate acts for admission or not. After this decision has become final, they shall be
subsequent to its promulgation and should tend to improve and elevate the permitted to take and subscribe the corresponding oath of office as members
practice of law, and this Tribunal shall consider these rules as minimum of the Bar on the date or dates that the chief Justice may set. So ordered.
norms towards that end in the admission, suspension, disbarment and
reinstatement of lawyers to the Bar, inasmuch as a good bar assists
immensely in the daily performance of judicial functions and is essential to a Bengzon, Montemayor, Jugo, Labrador, Pablo, Padilla, and Reyes, JJ., concur.
worthy administration of justice. It is therefore the primary and inherent
prerogative of the Supreme Court to render the ultimate decision on who may There are the unsuccessful candidates totaling 604 directly affected by this
be admitted and may continue in the practice of law according to existing resolution. Adding 490 candidates who have not presented any petition, they
rules. reach a total of 1,094.

4. The reason advanced for the pretended classification of candidates, which The Enactment of Republic Act No. 972
the law makes, is contrary to facts which are of general knowledge and does
not justify the admission to the Bar of law students inadequately prepared. As will be observed from Annex I, this Court reduced to 72 per cent the
The pretended classification is arbitrary. It is undoubtedly a class legislation. passing general average in the bar examination of august and November of

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1946; 69 per cent in 1947; 70 per cent in 1948; 74 per cent in 1949; same. The comment was signed by seven Justices while three chose to
maintaining the prescribed 75 per cent since 1950, but raising to 75 per cent refrain from making any and one took no part. With regards to the matter
those who obtained 74 per cent since 1950. This caused the introduction in that interests us, the Court said:
1951, in the Senate of the Philippines of Bill No. 12 which was intended to
amend Sections 5, 9, 12, 14 and 16 of Rule 127 of the Rules of Court, The next amendment is of section 14 of Rule 127. One part of this
concerning the admission of attorneys-at-law to the practice of the amendment provides that if a bar candidate obtains 70 per cent or
profession. The amendments embrace many interesting matters, but those higher in any subject, although failing to pass the examination, he
referring to sections 14 and 16 immediately concern us. The proposed need not be examined in said subject in his next examination. This is
amendment is as follows: a sort of passing the Bar Examination on the installment plan, one
or two or three subjects at a time. The trouble with this proposed
SEC. 14. Passing average. — In order that a candidate may be system is that although it makes it easier and more convenient for
deemed to have passed the examinations successfully, he must have the candidate because he may in an examination prepare himself on
obtained a general average of 70 per cent without falling below 50 only one or two subjects so as to insure passing them, by the time
per cent in any subject. In determining the average, the foregoing that he has passed the last required subjects, which may be several
subjects shall be given the following relative weights: Civil Law, 20 years away from the time that he reviewed and passed the firs
per cent; Land Registration and Mortgages, 5 per cent; Mercantile subjects, he shall have forgotten the principles and theories
Law, 15 per cent; Criminal Law, 10 per cent; Political Law, 10 per contained in those subjects and remembers only those of the one or
cent; International Law, 5 per cent; Remedial Law, 20 per cent; Legal two subjects that he had last reviewed and passed. This is highly
Ethics and Practical Exercises, 5 per cent; Social Legislation, 5 per possible because there is nothing in the law which requires a
cent; Taxation, 5 per cent. Unsuccessful candidates shall not be candidate to continue taking the Bar examinations every year in
required to take another examination in any subject in which they succession. The only condition imposed is that a candidate, on this
have obtained a rating of 70 per cent or higher and such rating shall plan, must pass the examination in no more that three installments;
be taken into account in determining their general average in any but there is no limitation as to the time or number of years
subsequent examinations: Provided, however, That if the candidate intervening between each examination taken. This would defeat the
fails to get a general average of 70 per cent in his third examination, object and the requirements of the law and the Court in admitting
he shall lose the benefit of having already passed some subjects and persons to the practice of law. When a person is so admitted, it is to
shall be required to the examination in all the subjects. be presumed and presupposed that he possesses the knowledge and
proficiency in the law and the knowledge of all law subjects required
SEC. 16. Admission and oath of successful applicants. — Any in bar examinations, so as presently to be able to practice the legal
applicant who has obtained a general average of 70 per cent in all profession and adequately render the legal service required by
subjects without falling below 50 per cent in any examination held prospective clients. But this would not hold true of the candidates
after the 4th day of July, 1946, or who has been otherwise found to who may have obtained a passing grade on any five subjects eight
be entitled to admission to the bar, shall be allowed to take and years ago, another three subjects one year later, and the last two
subscribe before the Supreme Court the corresponding oath of office. subjects the present year. We believe that the present system of
(Arts. 4 and 5, 8, No. 12). requiring a candidate to obtain a passing general average with no
grade in any subject below 50 per cent is more desirable and
satisfactory. It requires one to be all around, and prepared in all
With the bill was an Explanatory Note, the portion pertinent to the matter required legal subjects at the time of admission to the practice of
before us being: law.

It seems to be unfair that unsuccessful candidates at bar xxx xxx xxx

examinations should be compelled to repeat even those subjects
which they have previously passed. This is not the case in any other
government examination. The Rules of Court have therefore been We now come to the last amendment, that of section 16 of Rule 127.
amended in this measure to give a candidate due credit for any This amendment provides that any application who has obtained a
subject which he has previously passed with a rating of 75 per cent general average of 70 per cent in all subjects without failing below 50
or higher." per cent in any subject in any examination held after the 4th day of
July, 1946, shall be allowed to take and subscribe the corresponding
oath of office. In other words, Bar candidates who obtained not less
Senate Bill No. 12 having been approved by Congress on May 3, 1951, the than 70 per cent in any examination since the year 1946 without
President requested the comments of this Tribunal before acting on the failing below 50 per cent in any subject, despite their non-admission

42 | P a g e
 to the Bar by the Supreme Court because they failed to obtain a I am fully in accord with the avowed objection of the bill, namely, to
passing general average in any of those years, will be admitted to the elevate the standard of the legal profession and maintain it on a high
Bar. This provision is not only prospective but retroactive in its level. This is not achieved, however, by admitting to practice
effects. precisely a special class who have failed in the bar examination,
Moreover, the bill contains provisions to which I find serious
We have already stated in our comment on the next preceding fundamental objections.
amendment that we are not exactly in favor of reducing the passing
general average from 75 per cent to 70 per cent to govern even in the Section 5 provides that any applicant who has obtained a general
future. As to the validity of making such reduction retroactive, we average of 70 per cent in all subjects without failing below 50 per
have serious legal doubts. We should not lose sight of the fact that cent in any subject in any examination held after the 4th day of July,
after every bar examinations, the Supreme Court passes the 1946, shall be allowed to take and subscribed the corresponding
corresponding resolution not only admitting to the Bar those who oath of office. This provision constitutes class legislation, benefiting
have obtained a passing general average grade, but also rejecting and as it does specifically one group of persons, namely, the
denying the petitions for reconsideration of those who have failed. unsuccessful candidates in the 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950
The present amendment would have the effect of repudiating, bar examinations.
reversing and revoking the Supreme Court's resolution denying and
rejecting the petitions of those who may have obtained an average of The same provision undertakes to revoke or set aside final
70 per cent or more but less than the general passing average fixed resolutions of the Supreme Court made in accordance with the law
for that year. It is clear that this question involves legal implications, then in force. It should be noted that after every bar examination the
and this phase of the amendment if finally enacted into law might Supreme Court passes the corresponding resolution not only
have to go thru a legal test. As one member of the Court remarked admitting to the Bar those who have obtained a passing general
during the discussion, when a court renders a decision or average but also rejecting and denying the petitions for
promulgate a resolution or order on the basis of and in accordance reconsideration of those who have failed. The provision under
with a certain law or rule then in force, the subsequent amendment consideration would have the effect of revoking the Supreme Court's
or even repeal of said law or rule may not affect the final decision, resolution denying and rejecting the petitions of those who may have
order, or resolution already promulgated, in the sense of revoking or failed to obtain the passing average fixed for that year. Said provision
rendering it void and of no effect. also sets a bad precedent in that the Government would be morally
obliged to grant a similar privilege to those who have failed in the
Another aspect of this question to be considered is the fact that examinations for admission to other professions such as medicine,
members of the bar are officers of the courts, including the Supreme engineering, architecture and certified public accountancy.
Court. When a Bar candidate is admitted to the Bar, the Supreme
Court impliedly regards him as a person fit, competent and qualified Consequently, the bill was returned to the Congress of the Philippines, but it
to be its officer. Conversely, when it refused and denied admission to was not repassed by 2/3 vote of each House as prescribed by section 20,
the Bar to a candidate who in any year since 1946 may have article VI of the Constitution. Instead Bill No. 371 was presented in the
obtained a general average of 70 per cent but less than that required Senate. It reads as follows:
for that year in order to pass, the Supreme Court equally and
impliedly considered and declared that he was not prepared, ready,
competent and qualified to be its officer. The present amendment AN ACT TO FIX THE PASSING MARKS FOR BAR EXAMINATIONS
giving retroactivity to the reduction of the passing general average FROM 1946 UP TO AND INCLUDING 1953
runs counter to all these acts and resolutions of the Supreme Court
and practically and in effect says that a candidate not accepted, and Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
even rejected by the Court to be its officer because he was Philippines in Congress assembled:
unprepared, undeserving and unqualified, nevertheless and in spite
of all, must be admitted and allowed by this Court to serve as its SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 14, Rule 127
officer. We repeat, that this is another important aspect of the of the Rules of Court, any bar candidate who obtained a general
question to be carefully and seriously considered. average of 70 per cent in any bar examinations after July 4, 1946 up
to the August 1951 Bar examinations; 71 per cent in the 1952 bar
The President vetoed the bill on June 16, 1951, stating the following: examinations; 72 per cent in the 1953 bar examinations; 73 per cent
in the 1954 bar examinations; 74 per cent in 1955 bar examinations
without a candidate obtaining a grade below 50 per cent in any

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 subject, shall be allowed to take and subscribe the corresponding The President in vetoing the Bar Bill last year stated among his
oath of office as member of the Philippine Bar; Provided, however, objections that the bill would admit to the practice of law "a special
That 75 per cent passing general average shall be restored in all class who failed in the bar examination". He considered the bill a
succeeding examinations; and Provided, finally, That for the purpose class legislation. This contention, however, is not, in good
of this Act, any exact one-half or more of a fraction, shall be conscience, correct because Congress is merely supplementing what
considered as one and included as part of the next whole number. the Supreme Court have already established as precedent by making
as low as 69 per cent the passing mark of those who took the Bar
SEC. 2. Any bar candidate who obtained a grade of 75 per cent in examination in 1947. These bar candidates for who this bill should
any subject in any bar examination after July 4, 1945 shall be be enacted, considered themselves as having passed the bar
deemed to have passed in such subject or subjects and such grade examination on the strength of the established precedent of our
or grades shall be included in computing the passing general average Supreme Court and were fully aware of the insurmountable
that said candidate may obtain in any subsequent examinations that difficulties and handicaps which they were unavoidably placed. We
he may take. believe that such precedent cannot or could not have been altered,
constitutionally, by the Supreme Court, without giving due
consideration to the rights already accrued or vested in the bar
SEC. 3. This bill shall take effect upon its approval. candidates who took the examination when the precedent was not
yet altered, or in effect, was still enforced and without being
With the following explanatory note: inconsistent with the principles of their previous resolutions.

This is a revised Bar bill to meet the objections of the President and If this bill would be enacted, it shall be considered as a simple
to afford another opportunity to those who feel themselves curative act or corrective statute which Congress has the power to
discriminated by the Supreme Court from 1946 to 1951 when those enact. The requirement of a "valid classification" as against class
who would otherwise have passed the bar examination but were legislation, is very expressed in the following American
arbitrarily not so considered by altering its previous decisions of the Jurisprudence:
passing mark. The Supreme Court has been altering the passing
mark from 69 in 1947 to 74 in 1951. In order to cure the apparent A valid classification must include all who naturally belong to the
arbitrary fixing of passing grades and to give satisfaction to all class, all who possess a common disability, attribute, or
parties concerned, it is proposed in this bill a gradual increase in the classification, and there must be a "natural" and substantial
general averages for passing the bar examinations as follows; For differentiation between those included in the class and those it
1946 to 1951 bar examinations, 70 per cent; for 1952 bar leaves untouched. When a class is accepted by the Court as "natural"
examination, 71 per cent; for 1953 bar examination, 72 per cent; for it cannot be again split and then have the dissevered factions of the
1954 bar examination, 73 percent; and for 1955 bar examination, 74 original unit designated with different rules established for each.
per cent. Thus in 1956 the passing mark will be restored with the (Fountain Park Co. vs. Rensier, 199 Ind. 95, N. E. 465 (1926).
condition that the candidate shall not obtain in any subject a grade
of below 50 per cent. The reason for relaxing the standard 75 per
cent passing grade, is the tremendous handicap which students Another case penned by Justice Cardozo: "Time with its tides brings
during the years immediately after the Japanese occupation has to new conditions which must be cared for by new laws. Sometimes the
overcome such as the insufficiency of reading materials and the new conditions affect the members of a class. If so, the correcting
inadequacy of the preparation of students who took up law soon statute must apply to all alike. Sometimes the condition affect only a
after the liberation. It is believed that by 1956 the preparation of our few. If so, the correcting statute may be as narrow as the mischief.
students as well as the available reading materials will be under The constitution does not prohibit special laws inflexibly and always.
normal conditions, if not improved from those years preceding the It permits them when there are special evils with which the general
last world war. laws are incompetent to cope. The special public purpose will sustain
the special form. . . . The problem in the last analysis is one of
legislative policy, with a wide margin of discretion conceded to the
In this will we eliminated altogether the idea of having our Supreme lawmakers. Only in the case of plain abuse will there be revision by
Court assumed the supervision as well as the administration of the the court. (In Williams vs. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 286
study of law which was objected to by the President in the Bar Bill of U. S. 36, 77 L. Ed. 1015, 53 Sup. Ct. 431). (1932)
1951.

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 This bill has all the earmarks of a corrective statute which always or not to admit. Thus the rules on the holding of examination, the
retroacts to the extent of the care of correction only as in this case qualifications of applicants, the passing grades, etc. are within the scope of
from 1946 when the Supreme Court first deviated from the rule of 75 the legislative power. But the power to determine when a candidate has made
per cent in the Rules of Court. or has not made the required grade is judicial, and lies completely with this
Court.
For the foregoing purposes the approval of this bill is earnestly
recommended. I hold that the act under consideration is an exercise of the judicial function,
and lies beyond the scope of the congressional prerogative of amending the
rules. To say that candidates who obtain a general average of 72 per cent in
(Sgd.) PABLO ANGELES DAVID 1953, 73 per cent in 1954, and 74 per cent in 1955 should be considered as
Senator having passed the examination, is to mean exercise of the privilege and
discretion judged in this Court. It is a mandate to the tribunal to pass
candidates for different years with grades lower than the passing mark. No
Without much debate, the revised bill was passed by Congress as above reasoning is necessary to show that it is an arrogation of the Court's judicial
transcribed. The President again asked the comments of this Court, which authority and discretion. It is furthermore objectionable as discriminatory.
endorsed the following: Why should those taking the examinations in 1953, 1954 and 1955 be
allowed to have the privilege of a lower passing grade, while those taking
Respectfully returned to the Honorable, the Acting Executive earlier or later are not?
Secretary, Manila, with the information that, with respect to Senate
Bill No. 371, the members of the Court are taking the same views I vote that the act in toto be declared unconstitutional, because it is not
they expressed on Senate Bill No. 12 passed by Congress in May, embraced within the rule-making power of Congress, because it is an undue
1951, contained in the first indorsement of the undersigned dated interference with the power of this Court to admit members thereof, and
June 5, 1951, to the Assistant Executive Secretary. because it is discriminatory.

(Sgd.) RICARDO PARAS

The President allowed the period within which the bill should be signed to PARAS, C.J., dissenting:
pass without vetoing it, by virtue of which it became a law on June 21, 1953
(Sec. 20, Art. VI, Constitution) numbered 972 (many times erroneously cited Under section 145 of Rule of Court No. 127, in order that a bar candidate
as No. 974). "may be deemed to have passed his examinations successfully, he must have
obtained a general average of 75 per cent in all subjects, without falling
It may be mentioned in passing that 1953 was an election year, and that below 50 per cent in any subject.' This passing mark has always been
both the President and the author of the Bill were candidates for re-election, adhered to, with certain exception presently to be specified.
together, however, they lost in the polls.
With reference to the bar examinations given in August, 1946, the original
Separate Opinions list of successful candidates included only those who obtained a general
average of 75 per cent or more. Upon motion for reconsideration, however, 12
candidates with general averages ranging from 72 to 73 per cent were raised
LABRADOR, J., concurring and dissenting:
to 75 per cent by resolution of December 18, 1946. In the examinations of
November, 1946 the list first released containing the names of successful
The right to admit members to the Bar is, and has always been, the exclusive candidates covered only those who obtained a general average of 75 per cent
privilege of this Court, because lawyers are members of the Court and only or more; but, upon motion for reconsideration, 19 candidates with a general
this Court should be allowed to determine admission thereto in the interest average of 72 per cent were raised to 75 per cent by resolution of March 31,
of the principle of the separation of powers. The power to admit is judicial in 1947. This would indicate that in the original list of successful candidates
the sense that discretion is used in is exercise. This power should be those having a general average of 73 per cent or more but below 75 per cent
distinguished from the power to promulgate rules which regulate admission. were included. After the original list of 1947 successful bar candidates had
It is only this power (to promulgate amendments to the rules) that is given in been released, and on motion for reconsideration, all candidates with a
the Constitution to the Congress, not the exercise of the discretion to admit general average of 69 per cent were allowed to pass by resolution of July 15,

45 | P a g e
1948. With respect to the bar examinations held in August, 1948, in addition allegation that they have obtained the general averages prescribed therein. In
to the original list of successful bar candidates, all those who obtained a virtue of the resolution of July 6, 1953, this Court held on July 11, 1953 a
general average of 70 per cent or more, irrespective of the grades in any one hearing on said petitions, and members of the bar, especially authorized
subject and irrespective of whether they filed petitions for reconsideration, representatives of bar associations, were invited to argue or submit
were allowed to pass by resolution of April 28, 1949. Thus, for the year 1947 memoranda as amici curiae, the reason alleged for said hearing being that
the Court in effect made 69 per cent as the passing average, and for the year some doubt had "been expressed on the constitutionality of Republic Act No.
1948, 70 per cent; and this amounted, without being noticed perhaps, to an 972 in so far as it affects past bar examinations and the matter" involved "a
amendment of section 14 of Rule 127. new question of public interest."

Numerous flunkers in the bar examinations held subsequent to 1948, whose All discussions in support of the proposition that the power to regulate the
general averages mostly ranged from 69 to 73 per cent, filed motions for admission to the practice of law is inherently judicial, are immaterial,
reconsideration invoking the precedents set by this Court in 1947 and 1948, because the subject is now governed by the Constitution which in Article VII,
but said motions were uniformly denied. section 13, provides as follows:

In the year 1951, the Congress, after public hearings where law deans and The Supreme Court shall have the power to promulgate rules
professors, practising attorneys, presidents of bar associations, and law concerning pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, and the
graduates appeared and argued lengthily pro or con, approved a bill admission to the practice of law. Said rules shall be uniform for all
providing, among others, for the reduction of the passing general average courts of the same grade and shall not diminish, increase or modify
from 75 per cent to 70 per cent, retroactive to any bar examination held after substantive right. The existing laws on pleading, practice, and
July 4, 1946. This bill was vetoed by the President mainly in view of an procedure are hereby repealed as statutes and are declared Rules of
unfavorable comment of Justices Padilla, Tuason, Montemayor, Reyes, Court, subject to the power of the Supreme Court to alter and modify
Bautista and Jugo. In 1953, the Congress passed another bill similar to the the same. The Congress shall have the power to repeal, alter, or
previous bill vetoed by the President, with the important difference that in supplement the rules concerning pleading, practice, and procedure,
the later bill the provisions in the first bill regarding (1) the supervision and and the admission to the practice of law in the Philippines.
regulation by the Supreme Court of the study of law, (2) the inclusion of
Social Legislation and Taxation as new bar subjects, (3) the publication of the Under this constitutional provision, while the Supreme Court has the power
bar examiners before the holding of the examination, and (4) the equal to promulgate rules concerning the admission to the practice of law, the
division among the examiners of all the admission fees paid by bar Congress has the power to repeal, alter or supplement said rules. Little
applicants, were eliminated. This second bill was allowed to become a law, intelligence is necessary to see that the power of the Supreme Court and the
Republic Act No. 972, by the President by merely not signing it within the Congress to regulate the admission to the practice of law is concurrent.
required period; and in doing so the President gave due respect to the will of
the Congress which, speaking for the people, chose to repass the bill first
vetoed by him. The opponents of Republic Act No. 972 argue that this Act, in so far as it
covers bar examinations held prior to its approval, is unconstitutional,
because it sets aside the final resolutions of the Supreme Court refusing to
Under Republic Act No. 972, any bar candidates who obtained a general admit to the practice of law the various petitioners, thereby resulting in a
average of 70 per cent in any examinations after July 4, 1946 up to August legislative encroachment upon the judicial power. In my opinion this view is
1951; 71 per cent in the 1952 bar examinations; 72 per cent in 1953 bar erroneous. In the first place, resolutions on the rejection of bar candidates do
examinations; 73 per cent in the 1954 bar examinations; and 74 per cent in not have the finality of decisions in justiciable cases where the Rules of Court
the 1955 bar examinations, without obtaining a grade below 50 per cent in expressly fix certain periods after which they become executory and
any subject, shall be allowed to pass. Said Act also provides that any bar unalterable. Resolutions on bar matters, specially on motions for
candidate who obtained a grade of 75 per cent in any subject in any reconsiderations filed by flunkers in any give year, are subject to revision by
examination after July 4, 1946, shall be deemed to have passed in such this Court at any time, regardless of the period within which the motion were
subject or subjects and such grade or grades shall be included in computing filed, and this has been the practice heretofore. The obvious reason is that
the passing in any subsequent examinations. bar examinations and admission to the practice of law may be deemed as a
judicial function only because said matters happen to be entrusted, under
Numerous candidates who had taken the bar examinations previous to the the Constitution and our Rules of Court, to the Supreme Court. There is no
approval of Republic Act No. 972 and failed to obtain the necessary passing judicial function involved, in the subject and constitutional sense of the
average, filed with this Court mass or separate petitions, praying that they be word, because bar examinations and the admission to the practice of law,
admitted to the practice of law under and by virtue of said Act, upon the unlike justiciable cases, do not affect opposing litigants. It is no more than

46 | P a g e
the function of other examining boards. In the second place, retroactive laws Supreme Court and the Congress have concurrent power to regulate the
are not prohibited by the Constitution, except only when they would be ex admission to the practice of law, that the latter may validly pass a retroactive
post facto, would impair obligations and contracts or vested rights or would rule fixing the passing general average.
deny due process and equal protection of the law. Republic Act No. 972
certainly is not an ex post facto enactment, does not impair any obligation Republic Act No. 972 cannot be assailed on the ground that it is
and contract or vested rights, and denies to no one the right to due process unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious, since this Court had already adopted
and equal protection of the law. On the other hand, it is a mere curative as passing averages 69 per cent for the 1947 bar examinations and 70 per
statute intended to correct certain obvious inequalities arising from the cent for the 1948 examinations. Anyway, we should not inquire into the
adoption by this Court of different passing general averages in certain years. wisdom of the law, since this is a matter that is addressed to the judgment of
the legislators. This Court in many instances had doubted the propriety of
Neither can it be said that bar candidates prior to July 4, 1946, are being legislative enactments, and yet it has consistently refrained from nullifying
discriminated against, because we no longer have any record of those who them solely on that ground.
might have failed before the war, apart from the circumstance that 75 per
cent had always been the passing mark during said period. It may also be To say that the admission of the bar candidates benefited under Republic Act
that there are no pre-war bar candidates similarly situated as those benefited 972 is against public interest, is to assume that the matter of whether said
by Republic Act No. 972. At any rate, in the matter of classification, the Act is beneficial or harmful to the general public was not considered by the
reasonableness must be determined by the legislative body. It is proper to Congress. As already stated, the Congress held public hearings, and we are
recall that the Congress held public hearings, and we can fairly suppose that bound to assume that the legislators, loyal, as do the members of this Court,
the classification adopted in the Act reflects good legislative judgment derived to their oath of office, had taken all the circumstances into account before
from the facts and circumstances then brought out. passing the Act. On the question of public interest I may observe that the
Congress, representing the people who elected them, should be more
As regards the alleged interference in or encroachment upon the judgment of qualified to make an appraisal. I am inclined to accept Republic Act No. 972
this Court by the Legislative Department, it is sufficient to state that, if there as an expression of the will of the people through their duly elected
is any interference at all, it is one expressly sanctioned by the Constitution. representatives.
Besides, interference in judicial adjudication prohibited by the Constitution
is essentially aimed at protecting rights of litigants that have already been I would, however, not go to the extent of admitting that the Congress, in the
vested or acquired in virtue of decisions of courts, not merely for the empty exercise of its concurrent power to repeal, alter, or supplement the Rules of
purpose of creating appearances of separation and equality among the three Court regarding the admission to the practice of law, may act in an arbitrary
branches of the Government. Republic Act No. 972 has not produced a case or capricious manner, in the same way that this Court may not do so. We are
involving two parties and decided by the Court in favor of one and against the thus left in the situation, incidental to a democracy, where we can and
other. Needless to say, the statute will not affect the previous resolutions should only hope that the right men are put in the right places in our
passing bar candidates who had obtained the general average prescribed by Government.
section 14 of Rule 127. A law would be objectionable and unconstitutional if,
for instance, it would provide that those who have been admitted to the bar
after July 4, 1946, whose general average is below 80 per cent, will not be Wherefore, I hold that Republic Act No. 972 is constitutional and should
allowed to practice law, because said statute would then destroy a right therefore be given effect in its entirety.
already acquired under previous resolutions of this Court, namely, the bar
admission of those whose general averages were from 75 to 79 per cent. Separate Opinions

Without fear of contradiction, I think the Supreme Court, in the exercise of LABRADOR, J., concurring and dissenting:
its rule-making power conferred by the Constitution, may pass a resolution
amending section 14 of Rule 127 by reducing the passing average to 70 per The right to admit members to the Bar is, and has always been, the exclusive
cent, effective several years before the date of the resolution. Indeed, when privilege of this Court, because lawyers are members of the Court and only
this Court on July 15, 1948 allowed to pass all candidates who obtained a this Court should be allowed to determine admission thereto in the interest
general average of 69 per cent or more and on April 28, 1949 those who of the principle of the separation of powers. The power to admit is judicial in
obtained a general average of 70 per cent or more, irrespective of whether the sense that discretion is used in is exercise. This power should be
they filed petitions for reconsideration, it in effect amended section 14 of Rule distinguished from the power to promulgate rules which regulate admission.
127 retroactively, because during the examinations held in August 1947 and It is only this power (to promulgate amendments to the rules) that is given in
August 1948, said section (fixing the general average at 75 per cent) was the Constitution to the Congress, not the exercise of the discretion to admit
supposed to be in force. In stands to reason, if we are to admit that the

47 | P a g e
or not to admit. Thus the rules on the holding of examination, the subject and irrespective of whether they filed petitions for reconsideration,
qualifications of applicants, the passing grades, etc. are within the scope of were allowed to pass by resolution of April 28, 1949. Thus, for the year 1947
the legislative power. But the power to determine when a candidate has made the Court in effect made 69 per cent as the passing average, and for the year
or has not made the required grade is judicial, and lies completely with this 1948, 70 per cent; and this amounted, without being noticed perhaps, to an
Court. amendment of section 14 of Rule 127.

I hold that the act under consideration is an exercise of the judicial function, Numerous flunkers in the bar examinations held subsequent to 1948, whose
and lies beyond the scope of the congressional prerogative of amending the general averages mostly ranged from 69 to 73 per cent, filed motions for
rules. To say that candidates who obtain a general average of 72 per cent in reconsideration invoking the precedents set by this Court in 1947 and 1948,
1953, 73 per cent in 1954, and 74 per cent in 1955 should be considered as but said motions were uniformly denied.
having passed the examination, is to mean exercise of the privilege and
discretion judged in this Court. It is a mandate to the tribunal to pass In the year 1951, the Congress, after public hearings where law deans and
candidates for different years with grades lower than the passing mark. No professors, practising attorneys, presidents of bar associations, and law
reasoning is necessary to show that it is an arrogation of the Court's judicial graduates appeared and argued lengthily pro or con, approved a bill
authority and discretion. It is furthermore objectionable as discriminatory. providing, among others, for the reduction of the passing general average
Why should those taking the examinations in 1953, 1954 and 1955 be from 75 per cent to 70 per cent, retroactive to any bar examination held after
allowed to have the privilege of a lower passing grade, while those taking July 4, 1946. This bill was vetoed by the President mainly in view of an
earlier or later are not? unfavorable comment of Justices Padilla, Tuason, Montemayor, Reyes,
Bautista and Jugo. In 1953, the Congress passed another bill similar to the
I vote that the act in toto be declared unconstitutional, because it is not previous bill vetoed by the President, with the important difference that in
embraced within the rule-making power of Congress, because it is an undue the later bill the provisions in the first bill regarding (1) the supervision and
interference with the power of this Court to admit members thereof, and regulation by the Supreme Court of the study of law, (2) the inclusion of
because it is discriminatory. Social Legislation and Taxation as new bar subjects, (3) the publication of the
bar examiners before the holding of the examination, and (4) the equal
PARAS, C.J., dissenting: division among the examiners of all the admission fees paid by bar
applicants, were eliminated. This second bill was allowed to become a law,
Republic Act No. 972, by the President by merely not signing it within the
Under section 145 of Rule of Court No. 127, in order that a bar candidate required period; and in doing so the President gave due respect to the will of
"may be deemed to have passed his examinations successfully, he must have the Congress which, speaking for the people, chose to repass the bill first
obtained a general average of 75 per cent in all subjects, without falling vetoed by him.
below 50 per cent in any subject.' This passing mark has always been
adhered to, with certain exception presently to be specified.
Under Republic Act No. 972, any bar candidates who obtained a general
average of 70 per cent in any examinations after July 4, 1946 up to August
With reference to the bar examinations given in August, 1946, the original 1951; 71 per cent in the 1952 bar examinations; 72 per cent in 1953 bar
list of successful candidates included only those who obtained a general examinations; 73 per cent in the 1954 bar examinations; and 74 per cent in
average of 75 per cent or more. Upon motion for reconsideration, however, 12 the 1955 bar examinations, without obtaining a grade below 50 per cent in
candidates with general averages ranging from 72 to 73 per cent were raised any subject, shall be allowed to pass. Said Act also provides that any bar
to 75 per cent by resolution of December 18, 1946. In the examinations of candidate who obtained a grade of 75 per cent in any subject in any
November, 1946 the list first released containing the names of successful examination after July 4, 1946, shall be deemed to have passed in such
candidates covered only those who obtained a general average of 75 per cent subject or subjects and such grade or grades shall be included in computing
or more; but, upon motion for reconsideration, 19 candidates with a general the passing in any subsequent examinations.
average of 72 per cent were raised to 75 per cent by resolution of March 31,
1947. This would indicate that in the original list of successful candidates
those having a general average of 73 per cent or more but below 75 per cent Numerous candidates who had taken the bar examinations previous to the
were included. After the original list of 1947 successful bar candidates had approval of Republic Act No. 972 and failed to obtain the necessary passing
been released, and on motion for reconsideration, all candidates with a average, filed with this Court mass or separate petitions, praying that they be
general average of 69 per cent were allowed to pass by resolution of July 15, admitted to the practice of law under and by virtue of said Act, upon the
1948. With respect to the bar examinations held in August, 1948, in addition allegation that they have obtained the general averages prescribed therein. In
to the original list of successful bar candidates, all those who obtained a virtue of the resolution of July 6, 1953, this Court held on July 11, 1953 a
general average of 70 per cent or more, irrespective of the grades in any one hearing on said petitions, and members of the bar, especially authorized

48 | P a g e
representatives of bar associations, were invited to argue or submit deny due process and equal protection of the law. Republic Act No. 972
memoranda as amici curiae, the reason alleged for said hearing being that certainly is not an ex post facto enactment, does not impair any obligation
some doubt had "been expressed on the constitutionality of Republic Act No. and contract or vested rights, and denies to no one the right to due process
972 in so far as it affects past bar examinations and the matter" involved "a and equal protection of the law. On the other hand, it is a mere curative
new question of public interest." statute intended to correct certain obvious inequalities arising from the
adoption by this Court of different passing general averages in certain years.
All discussions in support of the proposition that the power to regulate the
admission to the practice of law is inherently judicial, are immaterial, Neither can it be said that bar candidates prior to July 4, 1946, are being
because the subject is now governed by the Constitution which in Article VII, discriminated against, because we no longer have any record of those who
section 13, provides as follows: might have failed before the war, apart from the circumstance that 75 per
cent had always been the passing mark during said period. It may also be
The Supreme Court shall have the power to promulgate rules that there are no pre-war bar candidates similarly situated as those benefited
concerning pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, and the by Republic Act No. 972. At any rate, in the matter of classification, the
admission to the practice of law. Said rules shall be uniform for all reasonableness must be determined by the legislative body. It is proper to
courts of the same grade and shall not diminish, increase or modify recall that the Congress held public hearings, and we can fairly suppose that
substantive right. The existing laws on pleading, practice, and the classification adopted in the Act reflects good legislative judgment derived
procedure are hereby repealed as statutes and are declared Rules of from the facts and circumstances then brought out.
Court, subject to the power of the Supreme Court to alter and modify
the same. The Congress shall have the power to repeal, alter, or As regards the alleged interference in or encroachment upon the judgment of
supplement the rules concerning pleading, practice, and procedure, this Court by the Legislative Department, it is sufficient to state that, if there
and the admission to the practice of law in the Philippines. is any interference at all, it is one expressly sanctioned by the Constitution.
Besides, interference in judicial adjudication prohibited by the Constitution
Under this constitutional provision, while the Supreme Court has the power is essentially aimed at protecting rights of litigants that have already been
to promulgate rules concerning the admission to the practice of law, the vested or acquired in virtue of decisions of courts, not merely for the empty
Congress has the power to repeal, alter or supplement said rules. Little purpose of creating appearances of separation and equality among the three
intelligence is necessary to see that the power of the Supreme Court and the branches of the Government. Republic Act No. 972 has not produced a case
Congress to regulate the admission to the practice of law is concurrent. involving two parties and decided by the Court in favor of one and against the
other. Needless to say, the statute will not affect the previous resolutions
passing bar candidates who had obtained the general average prescribed by
The opponents of Republic Act No. 972 argue that this Act, in so far as it section 14 of Rule 127. A law would be objectionable and unconstitutional if,
covers bar examinations held prior to its approval, is unconstitutional, for instance, it would provide that those who have been admitted to the bar
because it sets aside the final resolutions of the Supreme Court refusing to after July 4, 1946, whose general average is below 80 per cent, will not be
admit to the practice of law the various petitioners, thereby resulting in a allowed to practice law, because said statute would then destroy a right
legislative encroachment upon the judicial power. In my opinion this view is already acquired under previous resolutions of this Court, namely, the bar
erroneous. In the first place, resolutions on the rejection of bar candidates do admission of those whose general averages were from 75 to 79 per cent.
not have the finality of decisions in justiciable cases where the Rules of Court
expressly fix certain periods after which they become executory and
unalterable. Resolutions on bar matters, specially on motions for Without fear of contradiction, I think the Supreme Court, in the exercise of
reconsiderations filed by flunkers in any give year, are subject to revision by its rule-making power conferred by the Constitution, may pass a resolution
this Court at any time, regardless of the period within which the motion were amending section 14 of Rule 127 by reducing the passing average to 70 per
filed, and this has been the practice heretofore. The obvious reason is that cent, effective several years before the date of the resolution. Indeed, when
bar examinations and admission to the practice of law may be deemed as a this Court on July 15, 1948 allowed to pass all candidates who obtained a
judicial function only because said matters happen to be entrusted, under general average of 69 per cent or more and on April 28, 1949 those who
the Constitution and our Rules of Court, to the Supreme Court. There is no obtained a general average of 70 per cent or more, irrespective of whether
judicial function involved, in the subject and constitutional sense of the they filed petitions for reconsideration, it in effect amended section 14 of Rule
word, because bar examinations and the admission to the practice of law, 127 retroactively, because during the examinations held in August 1947 and
unlike justiciable cases, do not affect opposing litigants. It is no more than August 1948, said section (fixing the general average at 75 per cent) was
the function of other examining boards. In the second place, retroactive laws supposed to be in force. In stands to reason, if we are to admit that the
are not prohibited by the Constitution, except only when they would be ex Supreme Court and the Congress have concurrent power to regulate the
post facto, would impair obligations and contracts or vested rights or would admission to the practice of law, that the latter may validly pass a retroactive
rule fixing the passing general average.

49 | P a g e
Republic Act No. 972 cannot be assailed on the ground that it is PARAS, J.:
unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious, since this Court had already adopted
as passing averages 69 per cent for the 1947 bar examinations and 70 per We are faced here with a controversy of far-reaching proportions. While
cent for the 1948 examinations. Anyway, we should not inquire into the ostensibly only legal issues are involved, the Court's decision in this case
wisdom of the law, since this is a matter that is addressed to the judgment of would indubitably have a profound effect on the political aspect of our
the legislators. This Court in many instances had doubted the propriety of national existence.
legislative enactments, and yet it has consistently refrained from nullifying
them solely on that ground.
The 1987 Constitution provides in Section 1 (1), Article IX-C:
To say that the admission of the bar candidates benefited under Republic Act
972 is against public interest, is to assume that the matter of whether said There shall be a Commission on Elections composed of a Chairman
Act is beneficial or harmful to the general public was not considered by the and six Commissioners who shall be natural-born citizens of the
Congress. As already stated, the Congress held public hearings, and we are Philippines and, at the time of their appointment, at least thirty-five
bound to assume that the legislators, loyal, as do the members of this Court, years of age, holders of a college degree, and must not have been
to their oath of office, had taken all the circumstances into account before candidates for any elective position in the immediately preceding -
passing the Act. On the question of public interest I may observe that the elections. However, a majority thereof, including the Chairman, shall
Congress, representing the people who elected them, should be more be members of the Philippine Bar who have been engaged in the
qualified to make an appraisal. I am inclined to accept Republic Act No. 972 practice of law for at least ten years. (Emphasis supplied)
as an expression of the will of the people through their duly elected
representatives. The aforequoted provision is patterned after Section l(l), Article XII-C of the
1973 Constitution which similarly provides:
I would, however, not go to the extent of admitting that the Congress, in the
exercise of its concurrent power to repeal, alter, or supplement the Rules of There shall be an independent Commission on Elections composed of a
Court regarding the admission to the practice of law, may act in an arbitrary Chairman and eight Commissioners who shall be natural-born citizens of the
or capricious manner, in the same way that this Court may not do so. We are Philippines and, at the time of their appointment, at least thirty-five years of
thus left in the situation, incidental to a democracy, where we can and age and holders of a college degree. However, a majority thereof, including
should only hope that the right men are put in the right places in our the Chairman, shall be members of the Philippine Bar who have been
Government. engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years.' (Emphasis supplied)

Wherefore, I hold that Republic Act No. 972 is constitutional and should Regrettably, however, there seems to be no jurisprudence as to what
therefore be given effect in its entirety. constitutes practice of law as a legal qualification to an appointive office.

8) Renato Cayetano vs. Christian Monsod, et al, G.R. No. Black defines "practice of law" as:
100113 (1991)
The rendition of services requiring the knowledge and the application
G.R. No. 100113 September 3, 1991 of legal principles and technique to serve the interest of another with
his consent. It is not limited to appearing in court, or advising and
assisting in the conduct of litigation, but embraces the preparation of
RENATO CAYETANO, petitioner,
pleadings, and other papers incident to actions and special
vs.
proceedings, conveyancing, the preparation of legal instruments of
CHRISTIAN MONSOD, HON. JOVITO R. SALONGA, COMMISSION ON all kinds, and the giving of all legal advice to clients. It embraces all
APPOINTMENT, and HON. GUILLERMO CARAGUE, in his capacity as advice to clients and all actions taken for them in matters connected
Secretary of Budget and Management, respondents.
with the law. An attorney engages in the practice of law by
maintaining an office where he is held out to be-an attorney, using a
Renato L. Cayetano for and in his own behalf. letterhead describing himself as an attorney, counseling clients in
legal matters, negotiating with opposing counsel about pending
Sabina E. Acut, Jr. and Mylene Garcia-Albano co-counsel for petitioner. litigation, and fixing and collecting fees for services rendered by his
associate. (Black's Law Dictionary, 3rd ed.)

50 | P a g e
The practice of law is not limited to the conduct of cases in court. (Land Title courts. No valid distinction, so far as concerns the question set forth
Abstract and Trust Co. v. Dworken, 129 Ohio St. 23, 193 N.E. 650) A person in the order, can be drawn between that part of the work of the
is also considered to be in the practice of law when he: lawyer which involves appearance in court and that part which
involves advice and drafting of instruments in his office. It is of
... for valuable consideration engages in the business of advising importance to the welfare of the public that these manifold
person, firms, associations or corporations as to their rights under customary functions be performed by persons possessed of adequate
the law, or appears in a representative capacity as an advocate in learning and skill, of sound moral character, and acting at all times
proceedings pending or prospective, before any court, commissioner, under the heavy trust obligations to clients which rests upon all
referee, board, body, committee, or commission constituted by law or attorneys. (Moran, Comments on the Rules of Court, Vol. 3 [1953 ed.] ,
authorized to settle controversies and there, in such representative p. 665-666, citing In re Opinion of the Justices [Mass.], 194 N.E. 313,
capacity performs any act or acts for the purpose of obtaining or quoted in Rhode Is. Bar Assoc. v. Automobile Service Assoc. [R.I.] 179
defending the rights of their clients under the law. Otherwise stated, A. 139,144). (Emphasis ours)
one who, in a representative capacity, engages in the business of
advising clients as to their rights under the law, or while so engaged The University of the Philippines Law Center in conducting orientation
performs any act or acts either in court or outside of court for that briefing for new lawyers (1974-1975) listed the dimensions of the practice of
purpose, is engaged in the practice of law. (State ex. rel. Mckittrick law in even broader terms as advocacy, counselling and public service.
v..C.S. Dudley and Co., 102 S.W. 2d 895, 340 Mo. 852)
One may be a practicing attorney in following any line of employment
This Court in the case of Philippine Lawyers Association v.Agrava, (105 Phil. in the profession. If what he does exacts knowledge of the law and is
173,176-177) stated: of a kind usual for attorneys engaging in the active practice of their
profession, and he follows some one or more lines of employment
The practice of law is not limited to the conduct of cases or litigation such as this he is a practicing attorney at law within the meaning of
in court; it embraces the preparation of pleadings and other papers the statute. (Barr v. Cardell, 155 NW 312)
incident to actions and special proceedings, the management of such
actions and proceedings on behalf of clients before judges and Practice of law means any activity, in or out of court, which requires the
courts, and in addition, conveying. In general, all advice to clients, application of law, legal procedure, knowledge, training and experience. "To
and all action taken for them in matters connected with the engage in the practice of law is to perform those acts which are
law incorporation services, assessment and condemnation services characteristics of the profession. Generally, to practice law is to give notice or
contemplating an appearance before a judicial body, the foreclosure render any kind of service, which device or service requires the use in any
of a mortgage, enforcement of a creditor's claim in bankruptcy and degree of legal knowledge or skill." (111 ALR 23)
insolvency proceedings, and conducting proceedings in attachment,
and in matters of estate and guardianship have been held to The following records of the 1986 Constitutional Commission show that it
constitute law practice, as do the preparation and drafting of legal has adopted a liberal interpretation of the term "practice of law."
instruments, where the work done involves the determination by the
trained legal mind of the legal effect of facts and conditions. (5 Am. Jr.
p. 262, 263). (Emphasis supplied) MR. FOZ. Before we suspend the session, may I make a
manifestation which I forgot to do during our review of the provisions
on the Commission on Audit. May I be allowed to make a very brief
Practice of law under modem conditions consists in no small part of statement?
work performed outside of any court and having no immediate
relation to proceedings in court. It embraces conveyancing, the giving
of legal advice on a large variety of subjects, and the preparation and THE PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Jamir).
execution of legal instruments covering an extensive field of business
and trust relations and other affairs. Although these transactions The Commissioner will please proceed.
may have no direct connection with court proceedings, they are
always subject to become involved in litigation. They require in many MR. FOZ. This has to do with the qualifications of the members of the
aspects a high degree of legal skill, a wide experience with men and Commission on Audit. Among others, the qualifications provided for by
affairs, and great capacity for adaptation to difficult and complex Section I is that "They must be Members of the Philippine Bar" — I am
situations. These customary functions of an attorney or counselor at quoting from the provision — "who have been engaged in the practice
law bear an intimate relation to the administration of justice by the of law for at least ten years".

51 | P a g e
To avoid any misunderstanding which would result in excluding members of Corollary to this is the term "private practitioner" and which is in many ways
the Bar who are now employed in the COA or Commission on Audit, we synonymous with the word "lawyer." Today, although many lawyers do not
would like to make the clarification that this provision on qualifications engage in private practice, it is still a fact that the majority of lawyers are
regarding members of the Bar does not necessarily refer or involve actual private practitioners. (Gary Munneke, Opportunities in Law Careers [VGM
practice of law outside the COA We have to interpret this to mean that as long Career Horizons: Illinois], [1986], p. 15).
as the lawyers who are employed in the COA are using their legal knowledge
or legal talent in their respective work within COA, then they are qualified to be At this point, it might be helpful to define private practice. The term, as
considered for appointment as members or commissioners, even chairman, of commonly understood, means "an individual or organization engaged in the
the Commission on Audit. business of delivering legal services." (Ibid.). Lawyers who practice alone are
often called "sole practitioners." Groups of lawyers are called "firms." The firm
This has been discussed by the Committee on Constitutional Commissions is usually a partnership and members of the firm are the partners. Some
and Agencies and we deem it important to take it up on the floor so that this firms may be organized as professional corporations and the members called
interpretation may be made available whenever this provision on the shareholders. In either case, the members of the firm are the experienced
qualifications as regards members of the Philippine Bar engaging in the attorneys. In most firms, there are younger or more inexperienced salaried
practice of law for at least ten years is taken up. attorneyscalled "associates." (Ibid.).

MR. OPLE. Will Commissioner Foz yield to just one question. The test that defines law practice by looking to traditional areas of law
practice is essentially tautologous, unhelpful defining the practice of law as
MR. FOZ. Yes, Mr. Presiding Officer. that which lawyers do. (Charles W. Wolfram, Modern Legal Ethics [West
Publishing Co.: Minnesota, 1986], p. 593). The practice of law is defined as
the performance of any acts . . . in or out of court, commonly understood to
MR. OPLE. Is he, in effect, saying that service in the COA by a lawyer be the practice of law. (State Bar Ass'n v. Connecticut Bank & Trust Co., 145
is equivalent to the requirement of a law practice that is set forth in the Conn. 222, 140 A.2d 863, 870 [1958] [quoting Grievance Comm. v. Payne,
Article on the Commission on Audit? 128 Conn. 325, 22 A.2d 623, 626 [1941]). Because lawyers perform almost
every function known in the commercial and governmental realm, such a
MR. FOZ. We must consider the fact that the work of COA, although it definition would obviously be too global to be workable.(Wolfram, op. cit.).
is auditing, will necessarily involve legal work; it will involve legal
work. And, therefore, lawyers who are employed in COA now would The appearance of a lawyer in litigation in behalf of a client is at once the
have the necessary qualifications in accordance with the Provision on most publicly familiar role for lawyers as well as an uncommon role for the
qualifications under our provisions on the Commission on Audit. And, average lawyer. Most lawyers spend little time in courtrooms, and a large
therefore, the answer is yes. percentage spend their entire practice without litigating a case. (Ibid., p.
593). Nonetheless, many lawyers do continue to litigate and the litigating
MR. OPLE. Yes. So that the construction given to this is that this is lawyer's role colors much of both the public image and the self perception of
equivalent to the practice of law. the legal profession. (Ibid.).

MR. FOZ. Yes, Mr. Presiding Officer. In this regard thus, the dominance of litigation in the public mind reflects
history, not reality. (Ibid.). Why is this so? Recall that the late Alexander
MR. OPLE. Thank you. SyCip, a corporate lawyer, once articulated on the importance of a lawyer as
a business counselor in this wise: "Even today, there are still uninformed
laymen whose concept of an attorney is one who principally tries cases before
... ( Emphasis supplied) the courts. The members of the bench and bar and the informed laymen
such as businessmen, know that in most developed societies today,
Section 1(1), Article IX-D of the 1987 Constitution, provides, among others, substantially more legal work is transacted in law offices than in the
that the Chairman and two Commissioners of the Commission on Audit courtrooms. General practitioners of law who do both litigation and non-
(COA) should either be certified public accountants with not less than ten litigation work also know that in most cases they find themselves spending
years of auditing practice, or members of the Philippine Bar who have been more time doing what [is] loosely desccribe[d] as business counseling than in
engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years. (emphasis supplied) trying cases. The business lawyer has been described as the planner, the
diagnostician and the trial lawyer, the surgeon. I[t] need not [be] stress[ed]
that in law, as in medicine, surgery should be avoided where internal

52 | P a g e
medicine can be effective." (Business Star, "Corporate Finance Law," Jan. 11, In a complex legal problem the mass of information to be processed,
1989, p. 4). the sorting and weighing of significant conditional factors, the
appraisal of major trends, the necessity of estimating the
In the course of a working day the average general practitioner wig engage in consequences of given courses of action, and the need for fast
a number of legal tasks, each involving different legal doctrines, legal skills, decision and response in situations of acute danger have prompted
legal processes, legal institutions, clients, and other interested parties. Even the use of sophisticated concepts of information flow theory,
the increasing numbers of lawyers in specialized practice wig usually perform operational analysis, automatic data processing, and electronic
at least some legal services outside their specialty. And even within a narrow computing equipment. Understandably, an improved decisional
specialty such as tax practice, a lawyer will shift from one legal task or role structure must stress the predictive component of the policy-making
such as advice-giving to an importantly different one such as representing a process, wherein a "model", of the decisional context or a segment
client before an administrative agency. (Wolfram, supra, p. 687). thereof is developed to test projected alternative courses of action in
terms of futuristic effects flowing therefrom.
By no means will most of this work involve litigation, unless the lawyer is one
of the relatively rare types — a litigator who specializes in this work to the Although members of the legal profession are regularly engaged in
exclusion of much else. Instead, the work will require the lawyer to have predicting and projecting the trends of the law, the subject of
mastered the full range of traditional lawyer skills of client counselling, corporate finance law has received relatively little organized and
advice-giving, document drafting, and negotiation. And increasingly lawyers formalized attention in the philosophy of advancing corporate legal
find that the new skills of evaluation and mediation are both effective for education. Nonetheless, a cross-disciplinary approach to legal
many clients and a source of employment. (Ibid.). research has become a vital necessity.

Most lawyers will engage in non-litigation legal work or in litigation work that Certainly, the general orientation for productive contributions by
is constrained in very important ways, at least theoretically, so as to remove those trained primarily in the law can be improved through an early
from it some of the salient features of adversarial litigation. Of these special introduction to multi-variable decisional context and the various
roles, the most prominent is that of prosecutor. In some lawyers' work the approaches for handling such problems. Lawyers, particularly with
constraints are imposed both by the nature of the client and by the way in either a master's or doctorate degree in business administration or
which the lawyer is organized into a social unit to perform that work. The management, functioning at the legal policy level of decision-making
most common of these roles are those of corporate practice and government now have some appreciation for the concepts and analytical
legal service. (Ibid.). techniques of other professions which are currently engaged in
similar types of complex decision-making.
In several issues of the Business Star, a business daily, herein below quoted
are emerging trends in corporate law practice, a departure from the Truth to tell, many situations involving corporate finance problems
traditional concept of practice of law. would require the services of an astute attorney because of the
complex legal implications that arise from each and every necessary
step in securing and maintaining the business issue raised.
We are experiencing today what truly may be called a revolutionary (Business Star, "Corporate Finance Law," Jan. 11, 1989, p. 4).
transformation in corporate law practice. Lawyers and other
professional groups, in particular those members participating in
various legal-policy decisional contexts, are finding that In our litigation-prone country, a corporate lawyer is assiduously
understanding the major emerging trends in corporation law is referred to as the "abogado de campanilla." He is the "big-time"
indispensable to intelligent decision-making. lawyer, earning big money and with a clientele composed of the
tycoons and magnates of business and industry.
Constructive adjustment to major corporate problems of today
requires an accurate understanding of the nature and implications of Despite the growing number of corporate lawyers, many people could
the corporate law research function accompanied by an accelerating not explain what it is that a corporate lawyer does. For one, the
rate of information accumulation. The recognition of the need for number of attorneys employed by a single corporation will vary with
such improved corporate legal policy formulation, particularly the size and type of the corporation. Many smaller and some large
"model-making" and "contingency planning," has impressed upon us corporations farm out all their legal problems to private law firms.
the inadequacy of traditional procedures in many decisional Many others have in-house counsel only for certain matters. Other
contexts. corporation have a staff large enough to handle most legal problems
in-house.

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A corporate lawyer, for all intents and purposes, is a lawyer who counsel's management responsibilities; and (3) a devotion to the
handles the legal affairs of a corporation. His areas of concern or organization and management of the legal function itself.
jurisdiction may include, inter alia: corporate legal research, tax laws
research, acting out as corporate secretary (in board meetings), These three subject areas may be thought of as intersecting circles,
appearances in both courts and other adjudicatory agencies with a shared area linking them. Otherwise known as "intersecting
(including the Securities and Exchange Commission), and in other managerial jurisprudence," it forms a unifying theme for the
capacities which require an ability to deal with the law. corporate counsel's total learning.

At any rate, a corporate lawyer may assume responsibilities other Some current advances in behavior and policy sciences affect the
than the legal affairs of the business of the corporation he is counsel's role. For that matter, the corporate lawyer reviews the
representing. These include such matters as determining policy and globalization process, including the resulting strategic repositioning
becoming involved in management. ( Emphasis supplied.) that the firms he provides counsel for are required to make, and the
need to think about a corporation's; strategy at multiple levels. The
In a big company, for example, one may have a feeling of being salience of the nation-state is being reduced as firms deal both with
isolated from the action, or not understanding how one's work global multinational entities and simultaneously with sub-national
actually fits into the work of the orgarnization. This can be governmental units. Firms increasingly collaborate not only with
frustrating to someone who needs to see the results of his work first public entities but with each other — often with those who are
hand. In short, a corporate lawyer is sometimes offered this fortune competitors in other arenas.
to be more closely involved in the running of the business.
Also, the nature of the lawyer's participation in decision-making within
Moreover, a corporate lawyer's services may sometimes be engaged the corporation is rapidly changing. The modem corporate lawyer has
by a multinational corporation (MNC). Some large MNCs provide one gained a new role as a stakeholder — in some cases participating in
of the few opportunities available to corporate lawyers to enter the the organization and operations of governance through participation on
international law field. After all, international law is practiced in a boards and other decision-making roles. Often these new patterns
relatively small number of companies and law firms. Because develop alongside existing legal institutions and laws are perceived
working in a foreign country is perceived by many as glamorous, tills as barriers. These trends are complicated as corporations organize
is an area coveted by corporate lawyers. In most cases, however, the for global operations. ( Emphasis supplied)
overseas jobs go to experienced attorneys while the younger
attorneys do their "international practice" in law libraries. (Business The practising lawyer of today is familiar as well with governmental
Star, "Corporate Law Practice," May 25,1990, p. 4). policies toward the promotion and management of technology. New
collaborative arrangements for promoting specific technologies or
This brings us to the inevitable, i.e., the role of the lawyer in the competitiveness more generally require approaches from industry that
realm of finance. To borrow the lines of Harvard-educated lawyer differ from older, more adversarial relationships and traditional forms
Bruce Wassertein, to wit: "A bad lawyer is one who fails to spot of seeking to influence governmental policies. And there are lessons to
problems, a good lawyer is one who perceives the difficulties, and the be learned from other countries. In
excellent lawyer is one who surmounts them." (Business Star, Europe, Esprit, Eureka and Race are examples of collaborative efforts
"Corporate Finance Law," Jan. 11, 1989, p. 4). between governmental and business Japan's MITI is world famous.
(Emphasis supplied)
Today, the study of corporate law practice direly needs a "shot in the
arm," so to speak. No longer are we talking of the traditional law Following the concept of boundary spanning, the office of the
teaching method of confining the subject study to the Corporation Corporate Counsel comprises a distinct group within the managerial
Code and the Securities Code but an incursion as well into the structure of all kinds of organizations. Effectiveness of both long-
intertwining modern management issues. term and temporary groups within organizations has been found to
be related to indentifiable factors in the group-context interaction
Such corporate legal management issues deal primarily with three (3) such as the groups actively revising their knowledge of the
types of learning: (1) acquisition of insights into current advances environment coordinating work with outsiders, promoting team
which are of particular significance to the corporate counsel; (2) an achievements within the organization. In general, such external
introduction to usable disciplinary skins applicable to a corporate activities are better predictors of team performance than internal
group processes.

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In a crisis situation, the legal managerial capabilities of the corporate Organization and Functioning of the Corporate Counsel's Office. The
lawyer vis-a-vis the managerial mettle of corporations are challenged. general counsel has emerged in the last decade as one of the most
Current research is seeking ways both to anticipate effective vibrant subsets of the legal profession. The corporate counsel hear
managerial procedures and to understand relationships of financial responsibility for key aspects of the firm's strategic issues, including
liability and insurance considerations. (Emphasis supplied) structuring its global operations, managing improved relationships
with an increasingly diversified body of employees, managing
Regarding the skills to apply by the corporate counsel, three factors expanded liability exposure, creating new and varied interactions
are apropos: with public decision-makers, coping internally with more complex
make or by decisions.
First System Dynamics. The field of systems dynamics has been
found an effective tool for new managerial thinking regarding both This whole exercise drives home the thesis that knowing corporate
planning and pressing immediate problems. An understanding of the law is not enough to make one a good general corporate counsel nor
role of feedback loops, inventory levels, and rates of flow, enable to give him a full sense of how the legal system shapes corporate
users to simulate all sorts of systematic problems — physical, activities. And even if the corporate lawyer's aim is not the
economic, managerial, social, and psychological. New programming understand all of the law's effects on corporate activities, he must, at
techniques now make the system dynamics principles more accessible the very least, also gain a working knowledge of the management
to managers — including corporate counsels. (Emphasis supplied) issues if only to be able to grasp not only the basic legal
"constitution' or makeup of the modem corporation. "Business Star",
"The Corporate Counsel," April 10, 1991, p. 4).
Second Decision Analysis. This enables users to make better decisions
involving complexity and uncertainty. In the context of a law
department, it can be used to appraise the settlement value of The challenge for lawyers (both of the bar and the bench) is to have
litigation, aid in negotiation settlement, and minimize the cost and risk more than a passing knowledge of financial law affecting each aspect
involved in managing a portfolio of cases. (Emphasis supplied) of their work. Yet, many would admit to ignorance of vast tracts of
the financial law territory. What transpires next is a dilemma of
professional security: Will the lawyer admit ignorance and risk
Third Modeling for Negotiation Management. Computer-based models opprobrium?; or will he feign understanding and risk exposure?
can be used directly by parties and mediators in all lands of (Business Star, "Corporate Finance law," Jan. 11, 1989, p. 4).
negotiations. All integrated set of such tools provide coherent and
effective negotiation support, including hands-on on instruction in
these techniques. A simulation case of an international joint venture Respondent Christian Monsod was nominated by President Corazon C.
may be used to illustrate the point. Aquino to the position of Chairman of the COMELEC in a letter received by
the Secretariat of the Commission on Appointments on April 25, 1991.
Petitioner opposed the nomination because allegedly Monsod does not
[Be this as it may,] the organization and management of the legal possess the required qualification of having been engaged in the practice of
function, concern three pointed areas of consideration, thus: law for at least ten years.

Preventive Lawyering. Planning by lawyers requires special skills that On June 5, 1991, the Commission on Appointments confirmed the
comprise a major part of the general counsel's responsibilities. They nomination of Monsod as Chairman of the COMELEC. On June 18, 1991, he
differ from those of remedial law. Preventive lawyering is concerned took his oath of office. On the same day, he assumed office as Chairman of
with minimizing the risks of legal trouble and maximizing legal rights the COMELEC.
for such legal entities at that time when transactional or similar facts
are being considered and made.
Challenging the validity of the confirmation by the Commission on
Appointments of Monsod's nomination, petitioner as a citizen and taxpayer,
Managerial Jurisprudence. This is the framework within which are filed the instant petition for certiorari and Prohibition praying that said
undertaken those activities of the firm to which legal consequences confirmation and the consequent appointment of Monsod as Chairman of the
attach. It needs to be directly supportive of this nation's evolving Commission on Elections be declared null and void.
economic and organizational fabric as firms change to stay
competitive in a global, interdependent environment. The practice
and theory of "law" is not adequate today to facilitate the Atty. Christian Monsod is a member of the Philippine Bar, having passed the
relationships needed in trying to make a global economy work. bar examinations of 1960 with a grade of 86-55%. He has been a dues paying
member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines since its inception in 1972-

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73. He has also been paying his professional license fees as lawyer for more representation; (3) conditions of closing; (4) covenants; and (5) events
than ten years. (p. 124, Rollo) of default. (Ibid., p. 13).

After graduating from the College of Law (U.P.) and having hurdled the In the same vein, lawyers play an important role in any debt
bar, Atty. Monsod worked in the law office of his father. During his stint in restructuring program. For aside from performing the tasks of
the World Bank Group (1963-1970), Monsod worked as an operations officer legislative drafting and legal advising, they score national
for about two years in Costa Rica and Panama, which involved getting development policies as key factors in maintaining their countries'
acquainted with the laws of member-countries negotiating loans and sovereignty. (Condensed from the work paper, entitled "Wanted:
coordinating legal, economic, and project work of the Bank. Upon returning to Development Lawyers for Developing Nations," submitted by L.
the Philippines in 1970, he worked with the Meralco Group, served as chief Michael Hager, regional legal adviser of the United States Agency for
executive officer of an investment bank and subsequently of a business International Development, during the Session on Law for the
conglomerate, and since 1986, has rendered services to various companies as Development of Nations at the Abidjan World Conference in Ivory
a legal and economic consultant or chief executive officer. As former Secretary- Coast, sponsored by the World Peace Through Law Center on August
General (1986) and National Chairman (1987) of NAMFREL. Monsod's work 26-31, 1973). ( Emphasis supplied)
involved being knowledgeable in election law. He appeared for NAMFREL in its
accreditation hearings before the Comelec. In the field of advocacy, Monsod, in Loan concessions and compromises, perhaps even more so than
his personal capacity and as former Co-Chairman of the Bishops purely renegotiation policies, demand expertise in the law of contracts,
Businessmen's Conference for Human Development, has worked with the in legislation and agreement drafting and in renegotiation.
under privileged sectors, such as the farmer and urban poor groups, in Necessarily, a sovereign lawyer may work with an international
initiating, lobbying for and engaging in affirmative action for the agrarian business specialist or an economist in the formulation of a model
reform law and lately the urban land reform bill. Monsod also made use of his loan agreement. Debt restructuring contract agreements contain
legal knowledge as a member of the Davide Commission, a quast judicial such a mixture of technical language that they should be carefully
body, which conducted numerous hearings (1990) and as a member of the drafted and signed only with the advise of competent counsel in
Constitutional Commission (1986-1987), and Chairman of its Committee on conjunction with the guidance of adequate technical support
Accountability of Public Officers, for which he was cited by the President of the personnel. (See International Law Aspects of the Philippine External
Commission, Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma for "innumerable amendments to Debts, an unpublished dissertation, U.S.T. Graduate School of Law,
reconcile government functions with individual freedoms and public 1987, p. 321). ( Emphasis supplied)
accountability and the party-list system for the House of Representative. (pp.
128-129 Rollo) ( Emphasis supplied)
A critical aspect of sovereign debt restructuring/contract
construction is the set of terms and conditions which determines the
Just a word about the work of a negotiating team of which Atty. Monsod used contractual remedies for a failure to perform one or more elements of
to be a member. the contract. A good agreement must not only define the
responsibilities of both parties, but must also state the recourse
In a loan agreement, for instance, a negotiating panel acts as a team, open to either party when the other fails to discharge an obligation.
and which is adequately constituted to meet the various For a compleat debt restructuring represents a devotion to that
contingencies that arise during a negotiation. Besides top officials of principle which in the ultimate analysis is sine qua non for foreign
the Borrower concerned, there are the legal officer (such as the legal loan agreements-an adherence to the rule of law in domestic and
counsel), the finance manager, and an operations officer (such as an international affairs of whose kind U.S. Supreme Court Justice
official involved in negotiating the contracts) who comprise the Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. once said: "They carry no banners, they
members of the team. (Guillermo V. Soliven, "Loan Negotiating beat no drums; but where they are, men learn that bustle and bush
Strategies for Developing Country Borrowers," Staff Paper No. 2, are not the equal of quiet genius and serene mastery." (See Ricardo
Central Bank of the Philippines, Manila, 1982, p. 11). (Emphasis J. Romulo, "The Role of Lawyers in Foreign Investments," Integrated
supplied) Bar of the Philippine Journal, Vol. 15, Nos. 3 and 4, Third and
Fourth Quarters, 1977, p. 265).
After a fashion, the loan agreement is like a country's Constitution; it
lays down the law as far as the loan transaction is concerned. Thus, Interpreted in the light of the various definitions of the term Practice of law".
the meat of any Loan Agreement can be compartmentalized into five particularly the modern concept of law practice, and taking into consideration
(5) fundamental parts: (1) business terms; (2) borrower's the liberal construction intended by the framers of the Constitution, Atty.
Monsod's past work experiences as a lawyer-economist, a lawyer-manager, a

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lawyer-entrepreneur of industry, a lawyer-negotiator of contracts, and a The Chairman and the Commisioners shall be appointed by the
lawyer-legislator of both the rich and the poor — verily more than satisfy the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments for a
constitutional requirement — that he has been engaged in the practice of law term of seven years without reappointment. Of those first appointed,
for at least ten years. three Members shall hold office for seven years, two Members for five
years, and the last Members for three years, without reappointment.
Besides in the leading case of Luego v. Civil Service Commission, 143 SCRA Appointment to any vacancy shall be only for the unexpired term of
327, the Court said: the predecessor. In no case shall any Member be appointed or
designated in a temporary or acting capacity.
Appointment is an essentially discretionary power and must be
performed by the officer in which it is vested according to his best Anent Justice Teodoro Padilla's separate opinion, suffice it to say
lights, the only condition being that the appointee should possess that his definition of the practice of law is the traditional or
the qualifications required by law. If he does, then the appointment stereotyped notion of law practice, as distinguished from the modern
cannot be faulted on the ground that there are others better qualified concept of the practice of law, which modern connotation is exactly
who should have been preferred. This is a political question involving what was intended by the eminent framers of the 1987
considerations of wisdom which only the appointing authority can Constitution. Moreover, Justice Padilla's definition would require
decide. (emphasis supplied) generally a habitual law practice, perhaps practised two or three
times a week and would outlaw say, law practice once or twice a year
for ten consecutive years. Clearly, this is far from the constitutional
No less emphatic was the Court in the case of (Central Bank v. Civil Service intent.
Commission, 171 SCRA 744) where it stated:
Upon the other hand, the separate opinion of Justice Isagani Cruz states that
It is well-settled that when the appointee is qualified, as in this case, in my written opinion, I made use of a definition of law practice which really
and all the other legal requirements are satisfied, the Commission means nothing because the definition says that law practice " . . . is what
has no alternative but to attest to the appointment in accordance people ordinarily mean by the practice of law." True I cited the definition but
with the Civil Service Law. The Commission has no authority to only by way of sarcasm as evident from my statement that the definition of
revoke an appointment on the ground that another person is more law practice by "traditional areas of law practice is essentially tautologous" or
qualified for a particular position. It also has no authority to direct defining a phrase by means of the phrase itself that is being defined.
the appointment of a substitute of its choice. To do so would be an
encroachment on the discretion vested upon the appointing authority.
An appointment is essentially within the discretionary power of Justice Cruz goes on to say in substance that since the law covers almost all
whomsoever it is vested, subject to the only condition that the situations, most individuals, in making use of the law, or in advising others
appointee should possess the qualifications required by law. ( on what the law means, are actually practicing law. In that sense, perhaps,
Emphasis supplied) but we should not lose sight of the fact that Mr. Monsod is a lawyer, a
member of the Philippine Bar, who has been practising law for over ten years.
This is different from the acts of persons practising law, without first
The appointing process in a regular appointment as in the case at bar, becoming lawyers.
consists of four (4) stages: (1) nomination; (2) confirmation by the
Commission on Appointments; (3) issuance of a commission (in the
Philippines, upon submission by the Commission on Appointments of its Justice Cruz also says that the Supreme Court can even disqualify an elected
certificate of confirmation, the President issues the permanent appointment; President of the Philippines, say, on the ground that he lacks one or more
and (4) acceptance e.g., oath-taking, posting of bond, etc. . . . (Lacson v. qualifications. This matter, I greatly doubt. For one thing, how can an action
Romero, No. L-3081, October 14, 1949; Gonzales, Law on Public Officers, p. or petition be brought against the President? And even assuming that he is
200) indeed disqualified, how can the action be entertained since he is the
incumbent President?
The power of the Commission on Appointments to give its consent to the
nomination of Monsod as Chairman of the Commission on Elections is We now proceed:
mandated by Section 1(2) Sub-Article C, Article IX of the Constitution which
provides: The Commission on the basis of evidence submitted doling the public
hearings on Monsod's confirmation, implicitly determined that he possessed
the necessary qualifications as required by law. The judgment rendered by
the Commission in the exercise of such an acknowledged power is beyond

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judicial interference except only upon a clear showing of a grave abuse of SO ORDERED.
discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. (Art. VIII, Sec. 1
Constitution). Thus, only where such grave abuse of discretion is clearly Separate Opinions
shown shall the Court interfere with the Commission's judgment. In the
instant case, there is no occasion for the exercise of the Court's corrective
power, since no abuse, much less a grave abuse of discretion, that would NARVASA, J., concurring:
amount to lack or excess of jurisdiction and would warrant the issuance of
the writs prayed, for has been clearly shown. I concur with the decision of the majority written by Mr. Justice Paras, albeit
only in the result; it does not appear to me that there has been an adequate
Additionally, consider the following: showing that the challenged determination by the Commission on
Appointments-that the appointment of respondent Monsod as Chairman of
the Commission on Elections should, on the basis of his stated qualifications
(1) If the Commission on Appointments rejects a nominee by the and after due assessment thereof, be confirmed-was attended by error so
President, may the Supreme Court reverse the Commission, and gross as to amount to grave abuse of discretion and consequently merits
thus in effect confirm the appointment? Clearly, the answer is in the nullification by this Court in accordance with the second paragraph of
negative. Section 1, Article VIII of the Constitution. I therefore vote to DENY the
petition.
(2) In the same vein, may the Court reject the nominee, whom the
Commission has confirmed? The answer is likewise clear. PADILLA, J., dissenting:

(3) If the United States Senate (which is the confirming body in the The records of this case will show that when the Court first deliberated on
U.S. Congress) decides to confirm a Presidential nominee, it would be the Petition at bar, I voted not only to require the respondents to comment on
incredible that the U.S. Supreme Court would still reverse the U.S. the Petition, but I was the sole vote for the issuance of a temporary
Senate. restraining order to enjoin respondent Monsod from assuming the position of
COMELEC Chairman, while the Court deliberated on his constitutional
Finally, one significant legal maxim is: qualification for the office. My purpose in voting for a TRO was to prevent the
inconvenience and even embarrassment to all parties concerned were the
We must interpret not by the letter that killeth, but by the spirit that Court to finally decide for respondent Monsod's disqualification. Moreover, a
giveth life. reading of the Petition then in relation to established jurisprudence already
showed prima facie that respondent Monsod did not possess the needed
qualification, that is, he had not engaged in the practice of law for at least
Take this hypothetical case of Samson and Delilah. Once, the procurator of ten (10) years prior to his appointment as COMELEC Chairman.
Judea asked Delilah (who was Samson's beloved) for help in capturing
Samson. Delilah agreed on condition that —
After considering carefully respondent Monsod's comment, I am even more
convinced that the constitutional requirement of "practice of law for at least
No blade shall touch his skin; ten (10) years" has not been met.

No blood shall flow from his veins. The procedural barriers interposed by respondents deserve scant
consideration because, ultimately, the core issue to be resolved in this
When Samson (his long hair cut by Delilah) was captured, the procurator petition is the proper construal of the constitutional provision requiring a
placed an iron rod burning white-hot two or three inches away from in front majority of the membership of COMELEC, including the Chairman thereof to
of Samson's eyes. This blinded the man. Upon hearing of what had happened "have been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten (10) years." (Art.
to her beloved, Delilah was beside herself with anger, and fuming with IX(C), Section 1(1), 1987 Constitution). Questions involving the construction
righteous fury, accused the procurator of reneging on his word. The of constitutional provisions are best left to judicial resolution. As declared
procurator calmly replied: "Did any blade touch his skin? Did any blood flow in Angara v. Electoral Commission, (63 Phil. 139) "upon the judicial
from his veins?" The procurator was clearly relying on the letter, not the department is thrown the solemn and inescapable obligation of interpreting
spirit of the agreement. the Constitution and defining constitutional boundaries."

In view of the foregoing, this petition is hereby DISMISSED.

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The Constitution has imposed clear and specific standards for a COMELEC In other words, it is a habitual exercise (People v. Villanueva, 14
Chairman. Among these are that he must have been "engaged in the practice SCRA 109 citing State v. Cotner, 127, p. 1, 87 Kan, 864).
of law for at least ten (10) years." It is the bounden duty of this Court to
ensure that such standard is met and complied with. 2. Compensation. Practice of law implies that one must have
presented himself to be in the active and continued practice of the
What constitutes practice of law? As commonly understood, "practice" refers legal profession and that his professional services are available to the
to the actual performance or application of knowledge as distinguished public for compensation, as a service of his livelihood or in
from mere possession of knowledge; it connotes consideration of his said services. (People v. Villanueva, supra).
an active, habitual, repeated or customary action.1 To "practice" law, or any Hence, charging for services such as preparation of documents
profession for that matter, means, to exercise or pursue an employment or involving the use of legal knowledge and skill is within the term
profession actively, habitually, repeatedly or customarily. "practice of law" (Ernani Paño, Bar Reviewer in Legal and Judicial
Ethics, 1988 ed., p. 8 citing People v. People's Stockyards State
Therefore, a doctor of medicine who is employed and is habitually performing Bank, 176 N.B. 901) and, one who renders an opinion as to the
the tasks of a nursing aide, cannot be said to be in the "practice of medicine." proper interpretation of a statute, and receives pay for it, is to that
A certified public accountant who works as a clerk, cannot be said to practice extent, practicing law (Martin, supra, p. 806 citing Mendelaun v.
his profession as an accountant. In the same way, a lawyer who is employed Gilbert and Barket Mfg. Co., 290 N.Y.S. 462) If compensation is
as a business executive or a corporate manager, other than as head or expected, all advice to clients and all action taken for them in
attorney of a Legal Department of a corporation or a governmental agency, matters connected with the law; are practicing law. (Elwood Fitchette
cannot be said to be in the practice of law. et al., v. Arthur C. Taylor, 94A-L.R. 356-359)

As aptly held by this Court in the case of People vs. Villanueva:2 3. Application of law legal principle practice or procedure which calls
for legal knowledge, training and experience is within the term
"practice of law". (Martin supra)
Practice is more than an isolated appearance for it consists in frequent
or customary actions, a succession of acts of the same kind. In other
words, it is frequent habitual exercise (State vs- Cotner, 127, p. 1, 87 4. Attorney-client relationship. Engaging in the practice of law
Kan. 864, 42 LRA, M.S. 768). Practice of law to fall within the presupposes the existence of lawyer-client relationship. Hence, where
prohibition of statute has been interpreted as customarily or a lawyer undertakes an activity which requires knowledge of law but
habitually holding one's self out to the public as a lawyer and involves no attorney-client relationship, such as teaching law or
demanding payment for such services (State vs. Bryan, 4 S.E. 522, writing law books or articles, he cannot be said to be engaged in the
98 N.C. 644,647.) ... (emphasis supplied). practice of his profession or a lawyer (Agpalo, Legal Ethics, 1989 ed.,
p. 30).3
It is worth mentioning that the respondent Commission on Appointments in
a Memorandum it prepared, enumerated several factors determinative of The above-enumerated factors would, I believe, be useful aids in determining
whether a particular activity constitutes "practice of law." It states: whether or not respondent Monsod meets the constitutional qualification of
practice of law for at least ten (10) years at the time of his appointment as
COMELEC Chairman.
1. Habituality. The term "practice of law" implies customarily or
habitually holding one's self out to the public as a lawyer (People vs.
Villanueva, 14 SCRA 109 citing State v. Boyen, 4 S.E. 522, 98 N.C. The following relevant questions may be asked:
644) such as when one sends a circular announcing the
establishment of a law office for the general practice of law (U.S. v. 1. Did respondent Monsod perform any of the tasks which are peculiar to the
Ney Bosque, 8 Phil. 146), or when one takes the oath of office as a practice of law?
lawyer before a notary public, and files a manifestation with the
Supreme Court informing it of his intention to practice law in all 2. Did respondent perform such tasks customarily or habitually?
courts in the country (People v. De Luna, 102 Phil. 968).
3. Assuming that he performed any of such tasks habitually, did he do so
Practice is more than an isolated appearance for it consists in HABITUALLY FOR AT LEAST TEN (10) YEARS prior to his appointment as
frequent or customary action, a succession of acts of the same kind. COMELEC Chairman?

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Given the employment or job history of respondent Monsod as appears from Even the President of the Philippines may be declared ineligible by this Court
the records, I am persuaded that if ever he did perform any of the tasks in an appropriate proceeding notwithstanding that he has been found
which constitute the practice of law, he did not do so HABITUALLY for at least acceptable by no less than the enfranchised citizenry. The reason is that
ten (10) years prior to his appointment as COMELEC Chairman. what we would be examining is not the wisdom of his election but whether or
not he was qualified to be elected in the first place.
While it may be granted that he performed tasks and activities which could
be latitudinarianly considered activities peculiar to the practice of law, like Coming now to the qualifications of the private respondent, I fear that
the drafting of legal documents and the rendering of legal opinion or advice, the ponencia may have been too sweeping in its definition of the phrase
such were isolated transactions or activities which do not qualify his past "practice of law" as to render the qualification practically toothless. From the
endeavors as "practice of law." To become engaged in the practice of law, numerous activities accepted as embraced in the term, I have the
there must be a continuity, or a succession of acts. As observed by the uncomfortable feeling that one does not even have to be a lawyer to be
Solicitor General in People vs. Villanueva:4 engaged in the practice of law as long as his activities involve the application
of some law, however peripherally. The stock broker and the insurance
Essentially, the word private practice of law implies that one must adjuster and the realtor could come under the definition as they deal with or
have presented himself to be in the activeand continued practice of give advice on matters that are likely "to become involved in litigation."
the legal profession and that his professional services are available to
the public for a compensation, as a source of his livelihood or in The lawyer is considered engaged in the practice of law even if his main
consideration of his said services. occupation is another business and he interprets and applies some law only
as an incident of such business. That covers every company organized under
ACCORDINGLY, my vote is to GRANT the petition and to declare respondent the Corporation Code and regulated by the SEC under P.D. 902-A.
Monsod as not qualified for the position of COMELEC Chairman for not Considering the ramifications of the modern society, there is hardly any
having engaged in the practice of law for at least ten (10) years prior to his activity that is not affected by some law or government regulation the
appointment to such position. businessman must know about and observe. In fact, again going by the
definition, a lawyer does not even have to be part of a business concern to be
considered a practitioner. He can be so deemed when, on his own, he rents a
CRUZ, J., dissenting: house or buys a car or consults a doctor as these acts involve his knowledge
and application of the laws regulating such transactions. If he operates a
I am sincerely impressed by the ponencia of my brother Paras but find I must public utility vehicle as his main source of livelihood, he would still be
dissent just the same. There are certain points on which I must differ with deemed engaged in the practice of law because he must obey the Public
him while of course respecting hisviewpoint. Service Act and the rules and regulations of the Energy Regulatory Board.

To begin with, I do not think we are inhibited from examining the The ponencia quotes an American decision defining the practice of law as the
qualifications of the respondent simply because his nomination has been "performance of any acts ... in or out of court, commonly understood to be
confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. In my view, this is not a the practice of law," which tells us absolutely nothing. The decision goes on
political question that we are barred from resolving. Determination of the to say that "because lawyers perform almost every function known in the
appointee's credentials is made on the basis of the established facts, not the commercial and governmental realm, such a definition would obviously be
discretion of that body. Even if it were, the exercise of that discretion would too global to be workable."
still be subject to our review.
The effect of the definition given in the ponencia is to consider virtually every
In Luego, which is cited in the ponencia, what was involved was the lawyer to be engaged in the practice of law even if he does not earn his living,
discretion of the appointing authority to choosebetween two claimants to the or at least part of it, as a lawyer. It is enough that his activities are
same office who both possessed the required qualifications. It was that kind incidentally (even if only remotely) connected with some law, ordinance, or
of discretion that we said could not be reviewed. regulation. The possible exception is the lawyer whose income is derived from
teaching ballroom dancing or escorting wrinkled ladies with pubescent
If a person elected by no less than the sovereign people may be ousted by pretensions.
this Court for lack of the required qualifications, I see no reason why we
cannot disqualified an appointee simply because he has passed the The respondent's credentials are impressive, to be sure, but they do not
Commission on Appointments. persuade me that he has been engaged in the practice of law for ten years as
required by the Constitution. It is conceded that he has been engaged in

60 | P a g e
business and finance, in which areas he has distinguished himself, but as an A person may have passed the bar examinations. But if he has not dedicated
executive and economist and not as a practicing lawyer. The plain fact is that his life to the law, if he has not engaged in an activity where membership in
he has occupied the various positions listed in his resume by virtue of his the bar is a requirement I fail to see how he can claim to have been engaged
experience and prestige as a businessman and not as an attorney-at-law in the practice of law.
whose principal attention is focused on the law. Even if it be argued that he
was acting as a lawyer when he lobbied in Congress for agrarian and urban Engaging in the practice of law is a qualification not only for COMELEC
reform, served in the NAMFREL and the Constitutional Commission (together chairman but also for appointment to the Supreme Court and all lower
with non-lawyers like farmers and priests) and was a member of the Davide courts. What kind of Judges or Justices will we have if there main
Commission, he has not proved that his activities in these capacities occupation is selling real estate, managing a business corporation, serving in
extended over the prescribed 10-year period of actual practice of the law. He fact-finding committee, working in media, or operating a farm with no active
is doubtless eminently qualified for many other positions worthy of his involvement in the law, whether in Government or private practice, except
abundant talents but not as Chairman of the Commission on Elections. that in one joyful moment in the distant past, they happened to pass the bar
examinations?
I have much admiration for respondent Monsod, no less than for Mr. Justice
Paras, but I must regretfully vote to grant the petition. The Constitution uses the phrase "engaged in the practice of law for at least
ten years." The deliberate choice of words shows that the practice envisioned
GUTIERREZ, JR., J., dissenting: is active and regular, not isolated, occasional, accidental, intermittent,
incidental, seasonal, or extemporaneous. To be "engaged" in an activity for
When this petition was filed, there was hope that engaging in the practice of ten years requires committed participation in something which is the result
law as a qualification for public office would be settled one way or another in of one's decisive choice. It means that one is occupied and involved in the
fairly definitive terms. Unfortunately, this was not the result. enterprise; one is obliged or pledged to carry it out with intent and attention
during the ten-year period.
Of the fourteen (14) member Court, 5 are of the view that Mr. Christian
Monsod engaged in the practice of law (with one of these 5 leaving his vote I agree with the petitioner that based on the bio-data submitted by
behind while on official leave but not expressing his clear stand on the respondent Monsod to the Commission on Appointments, the latter has not
matter); 4 categorically stating that he did not practice law; 2 voting in the been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years. In fact, if appears
result because there was no error so gross as to amount to grave abuse of that Mr. Monsod has never practiced law except for an alleged one year
discretion; one of official leave with no instructions left behind on how he period after passing the bar examinations when he worked in his father's law
viewed the issue; and 2 not taking part in the deliberations and the decision. firm. Even then his law practice must have been extremely limited because
he was also working for M.A. and Ph. D. degrees in Economics at the
University of Pennsylvania during that period. How could he practice law in
There are two key factors that make our task difficult. First is our reviewing the United States while not a member of the Bar there?
the work of a constitutional Commission on Appointments whose duty is
precisely to look into the qualifications of persons appointed to high office.
Even if the Commission errs, we have no power to set aside error. We can The professional life of the respondent follows:
look only into grave abuse of discretion or whimsically and arbitrariness. 1.15.1. Respondent Monsod's activities since his passing the Bar
Second is our belief that Mr. Monsod possesses superior qualifications in examinations in 1961 consist of the following:
terms of executive ability, proficiency in management, educational 1. 1961-1963: M.A. in Economics (Ph. D. candidate), University of
background, experience in international banking and finance, and instant Pennsylvania
recognition by the public. His integrity and competence are not questioned by 2. 1963-1970: World Bank Group — Economist, Industry
the petitioner. What is before us is compliance with a specific requirement Department; Operations, Latin American Department; Division Chief,
written into the Constitution. South Asia and Middle East, International Finance Corporation
3. 1970-1973: Meralco Group — Executive of various companies, i.e.,
Meralco Securities Corporation, Philippine Petroleum Corporation,
Inspite of my high regard for Mr. Monsod, I cannot shirk my constitutional Philippine Electric Corporation
duty. He has never engaged in the practice of law for even one year. He is a 4. 1973-1976: Yujuico Group — President, Fil-Capital Development
member of the bar but to say that he has practiced law is stretching the term Corporation and affiliated companies
beyond rational limits. 5. 1976-1978: Finaciera Manila — Chief Executive Officer
6. 1978-1986: Guevent Group of Companies — Chief Executive
Officer

61 | P a g e
 7. 1986-1987: Philippine Constitutional Commission — Member The Constitution requires having been "engaged in the practice of law for at
8. 1989-1991: The Fact-Finding Commission on the December 1989 least ten years." It is not satisfied with having been "a member of the
Coup Attempt — Member Philippine bar for at least ten years."
9. Presently: Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of
the following companies: Some American courts have defined the practice of law, as follows:
a. ACE Container Philippines, Inc.
b. Dataprep, Philippines
c. Philippine SUNsystems Products, Inc. The practice of law involves not only appearance in court in
d. Semirara Coal Corporation connection with litigation but also services rendered out of court,
e. CBL Timber Corporation and it includes the giving of advice or the rendering of any services
Member of the Board of the Following: requiring the use of legal skill or knowledge, such as preparing a will,
a. Engineering Construction Corporation of the Philippines contract or other instrument, the legal effect of which, under the
b. First Philippine Energy Corporation facts and conditions involved, must be carefully determined. People
c. First Philippine Holdings Corporation ex rel. Chicago Bar Ass'n v. Tinkoff, 399 Ill. 282, 77 N.E.2d
d. First Philippine Industrial Corporation 693; People ex rel. Illinois State Bar Ass'n v. People's Stock Yards
e. Graphic Atelier State Bank, 344 Ill. 462,176 N.E. 901, and cases cited.
f. Manila Electric Company
g. Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc. It would be difficult, if not impossible to lay down a formula or
h. Philippine Electric Corporation definition of what constitutes the practice of law. "Practicing law" has
i. Tarlac Reforestation and Environment Enterprises been defined as "Practicing as an attorney or counselor at law
j. Tolong Aquaculture Corporation according to the laws and customs of our courts, is the giving of
k. Visayan Aquaculture Corporation advice or rendition of any sort of service by any person, firm or
l. Guimaras Aquaculture Corporation (Rollo, pp. 21-22) corporation when the giving of such advice or rendition of such
service requires the use of any degree of legal knowledge or skill."
There is nothing in the above bio-data which even remotely indicates that Without adopting that definition, we referred to it as being
respondent Monsod has given the lawenough attention or a certain degree of substantially correct in People ex rel. Illinois State Bar Ass'n v.
commitment and participation as would support in all sincerity and candor People's Stock Yards State Bank, 344 Ill. 462,176 N.E. 901. (People v.
the claim of having engaged in its practice for at least ten years. Instead of Schafer, 87 N.E. 2d 773, 776)
working as a lawyer, he has lawyers working for him. Instead of giving
receiving that legal advice of legal services, he was the oneadvice and those For one's actions to come within the purview of practice of law they should
services as an executive but not as a lawyer. not only be activities peculiar to the work of a lawyer, they should also be
performed, habitually, frequently or customarily, to wit:
The deliberations before the Commission on Appointments show an effort to
equate "engaged in the practice of law" with the use of legal knowledge in Respondent's answers to questions propounded to him were rather
various fields of endeavor such as commerce, industry, civic work, blue evasive. He was asked whether or not he ever prepared contracts for
ribbon investigations, agrarian reform, etc. where such knowledge would be the parties in real-estate transactions where he was not the
helpful. procuring agent. He answered: "Very seldom." In answer to the
question as to how many times he had prepared contracts for the
I regret that I cannot join in playing fast and loose with a term, which even parties during the twenty-one years of his business, he said: "I have
an ordinary layman accepts as having a familiar and customary well-defined no Idea." When asked if it would be more than half a dozen times his
meaning. Every resident of this country who has reached the age of answer was I suppose. Asked if he did not recall making the
discernment has to know, follow, or apply the law at various times in his life. statement to several parties that he had prepared contracts in a large
Legal knowledge is useful if not necessary for the business executive, number of instances, he answered: "I don't recall exactly what was
legislator, mayor, barangay captain, teacher, policeman, farmer, fisherman, said." When asked if he did not remember saying that he had made a
market vendor, and student to name only a few. And yet, can these people practice of preparing deeds, mortgages and contracts and charging a
honestly assert that as such, they are engaged in the practice of law? fee to the parties therefor in instances where he was not the broker
in the deal, he answered: "Well, I don't believe so, that is not a
practice." Pressed further for an answer as to his practice in
preparing contracts and deeds for parties where he was not the

62 | P a g e
 broker, he finally answered: "I have done about everything that is on l. Habituality. The term 'practice of law' implies customarilyor
the books as far as real estate is concerned." habitually holding one's self out to the public as a lawyer (People v.
Villanueva, 14 SCRA 109 citing State v. Bryan, 4 S.E. 522, 98 N.C.
Respondent takes the position that because he is a real-estate broker 644) such as when one sends a circular announcing the
he has a lawful right to do any legal work in connection with real- establishment of a law office for the general practice of law (U.S. v.
estate transactions, especially in drawing of real-estate contracts, Noy Bosque, 8 Phil. 146), or when one takes the oath of office as a
deeds, mortgages, notes and the like. There is no doubt but that he lawyer before a notary public, and files a manifestation with the
has engaged in these practices over the years and has charged for Supreme Court informing it of his intention to practice law in all
his services in that connection. ... (People v. Schafer, 87 N.E. 2d 773) courts in the country (People v. De Luna, 102 Phil. 968).

... An attorney, in the most general sense, is a person designated or Practice is more than an isolated appearance, for it consists in
employed by another to act in his stead; an agent; more especially, frequent or customary action, a succession of acts of the same kind.
one of a class of persons authorized to appear and act for suitors or In other words, it is a habitual exercise (People v. Villanueva, 14
defendants in legal proceedings. Strictly, these professional persons SCRA 1 09 citing State v. Cotner, 1 27, p. 1, 87 Kan, 864)." (Rollo, p.
are attorneys at law, and non-professional agents are properly styled 115)
"attorney's in fact;" but the single word is much used as meaning an
attorney at law. A person may be an attorney in facto for another, While the career as a businessman of respondent Monsod may have profited
without being an attorney at law. Abb. Law Dict. "Attorney." A public from his legal knowledge, the use of such legal knowledge is incidental and
attorney, or attorney at law, says Webster, is an officer of a court of consists of isolated activities which do not fall under the denomination of
law, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court practice of law. Admission to the practice of law was not required for
on the retainer of clients. "The principal duties of an attorney are (1) membership in the Constitutional Commission or in the Fact-Finding
to be true to the court and to his client; (2) to manage the business Commission on the 1989 Coup Attempt. Any specific legal activities which
of his client with care, skill, and integrity; (3) to keep his client may have been assigned to Mr. Monsod while a member may be likened to
informed as to the state of his business; (4) to keep his secrets isolated transactions of foreign corporations in the Philippines which do not
confided to him as such. ... His rights are to be justly compensated categorize the foreign corporations as doing business in the Philippines. As in
for his services." Bouv. Law Dict. tit. "Attorney." The transitive verb the practice of law, doing business also should be active and continuous.
"practice," as defined by Webster, means 'to do or perform frequently, Isolated business transactions or occasional, incidental and casual
customarily, or habitually; to perform by a succession of acts, as, to transactions are not within the context of doing business. This was our
practice gaming, ... to carry on in practice, or repeated action; to apply, ruling in the case of Antam Consolidated, Inc. v. Court of appeals, 143 SCRA
as a theory, to real life; to exercise, as a profession, trade, art. etc.; as, 288 [1986]).
to practice law or medicine,' etc...." (State v. Bryan, S.E. 522, 523;
Emphasis supplied) Respondent Monsod, corporate executive, civic leader, and member of the
Constitutional Commission may possess the background, competence,
In this jurisdiction, we have ruled that the practice of law denotes frequency integrity, and dedication, to qualify for such high offices as President, Vice-
or a succession of acts. Thus, we stated in the case of People v. Villanueva President, Senator, Congressman or Governor but the Constitution in
(14 SCRA 109 [1965]): prescribing the specific qualification of having engaged in the practice of law
for at least ten (10) years for the position of COMELEC Chairman has
... Practice is more than an isolated appearance, for it consists in frequent or ordered that he may not be confirmed for that office. The Constitution
customary actions, a succession of acts of the same kind. In other words, it charges the public respondents no less than this Court to obey its mandate.
is frequent habitual exercise (State v. Cotner, 127, p. 1, 87 Kan. 864, 42 LRA,
M.S. 768). Practice of law to fall within the prohibition of statute has been I, therefore, believe that the Commission on Appointments committed grave
interpreted as customarily or habitually holding one's self out to the public, abuse of discretion in confirming the nomination of respondent Monsod as
as a lawyer and demanding payment for such services. ... . (at p. 112) Chairman of the COMELEC.

It is to be noted that the Commission on Appointment itself I vote to GRANT the petition.
recognizes habituality as a required component of the meaning of practice of
law in a Memorandum prepared and issued by it, to wit: Bidin, J., dissent

63 | P a g e
Separate Opinions The Constitution has imposed clear and specific standards for a COMELEC
Chairman. Among these are that he must have been "engaged in the practice
NARVASA, J., concurring: of law for at least ten (10) years." It is the bounden duty of this Court to
ensure that such standard is met and complied with.
I concur with the decision of the majority written by Mr. Justice Paras, albeit
only in the result; it does not appear to me that there has been an adequate What constitutes practice of law? As commonly understood, "practice" refers
showing that the challenged determination by the Commission on to the actual performance or application of knowledge as distinguished
Appointments-that the appointment of respondent Monsod as Chairman of from mere possession of knowledge; it connotes
the Commission on Elections should, on the basis of his stated qualifications an active, habitual, repeated or customary action.1 To "practice" law, or any
and after due assessment thereof, be confirmed-was attended by error so profession for that matter, means, to exercise or pursue an employment or
gross as to amount to grave abuse of discretion and consequently merits profession actively, habitually, repeatedly or customarily.
nullification by this Court in accordance with the second paragraph of
Section 1, Article VIII of the Constitution. I therefore vote to DENY the Therefore, a doctor of medicine who is employed and is habitually performing
petition. the tasks of a nursing aide, cannot be said to be in the "practice of medicine."
A certified public accountant who works as a clerk, cannot be said to practice
Melencio-Herrera, J., concur. his profession as an accountant. In the same way, a lawyer who is employed
as a business executive or a corporate manager, other than as head or
attorney of a Legal Department of a corporation or a governmental agency,
PADILLA, J., dissenting: cannot be said to be in the practice of law.

The records of this case will show that when the Court first deliberated on As aptly held by this Court in the case of People vs. Villanueva:2
the Petition at bar, I voted not only to require the respondents to comment on
the Petition, but I was the sole vote for the issuance of a temporary
restraining order to enjoin respondent Monsod from assuming the position of Practice is more than an isolated appearance for it consists in frequent
COMELEC Chairman, while the Court deliberated on his constitutional or customary actions, a succession of acts of the same kind. In other
qualification for the office. My purpose in voting for a TRO was to prevent the words, it is frequent habitual exercise (State vs- Cotner, 127, p. 1, 87
inconvenience and even embarrassment to all parties concerned were the Kan. 864, 42 LRA, M.S. 768). Practice of law to fall within the
Court to finally decide for respondent Monsod's disqualification. Moreover, a prohibition of statute has been interpreted as customarily or
reading of the Petition then in relation to established jurisprudence already habitually holding one's self out to the public as a lawyer and
showed prima facie that respondent Monsod did not possess the needed demanding payment for such services (State vs. Bryan, 4 S.E. 522,
qualification, that is, he had not engaged in the practice of law for at least 98 N.C. 644,647.) ... (emphasis supplied).
ten (10) years prior to his appointment as COMELEC Chairman.
It is worth mentioning that the respondent Commission on Appointments in
After considering carefully respondent Monsod's comment, I am even more a Memorandum it prepared, enumerated several factors determinative of
convinced that the constitutional requirement of "practice of law for at least whether a particular activity constitutes "practice of law." It states:
ten (10) years" has not been met.
1. Habituality. The term "practice of law" implies customarily or
The procedural barriers interposed by respondents deserve scant habitually holding one's self out to the public as a lawyer (People vs.
consideration because, ultimately, the core issue to be resolved in this Villanueva, 14 SCRA 109 citing State v. Boyen, 4 S.E. 522, 98 N.C.
petition is the proper construal of the constitutional provision requiring a 644) such as when one sends a circular announcing the
majority of the membership of COMELEC, including the Chairman thereof to establishment of a law office for the general practice of law (U.S. v.
"have been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten (10) years." (Art. Ney Bosque, 8 Phil. 146), or when one takes the oath of office as a
IX(C), Section 1(1), 1987 Constitution). Questions involving the construction lawyer before a notary public, and files a manifestation with the
of constitutional provisions are best left to judicial resolution. As declared Supreme Court informing it of his intention to practice law in all
in Angara v. Electoral Commission, (63 Phil. 139) "upon the judicial courts in the country (People v. De Luna, 102 Phil. 968).
department is thrown the solemn and inescapable obligation of interpreting
the Constitution and defining constitutional boundaries." Practice is more than an isolated appearance for it consists in
frequent or customary action, a succession of acts of the same kind.

64 | P a g e
 In other words, it is a habitual exercise (People v. Villanueva, 14 Given the employment or job history of respondent Monsod as appears from
SCRA 109 citing State v. Cotner, 127, p. 1, 87 Kan, 864). the records, I am persuaded that if ever he did perform any of the tasks
which constitute the practice of law, he did not do so HABITUALLY for at least
2. Compensation. Practice of law implies that one must have ten (10) years prior to his appointment as COMELEC Chairman.
presented himself to be in the active and continued practice of the
legal profession and that his professional services are available to the While it may be granted that he performed tasks and activities which could
public for compensation, as a service of his livelihood or in be latitudinarianly considered activities peculiar to the practice of law, like
consideration of his said services. (People v. Villanueva, supra). the drafting of legal documents and the rendering of legal opinion or advice,
Hence, charging for services such as preparation of documents such were isolated transactions or activities which do not qualify his past
involving the use of legal knowledge and skill is within the term endeavors as "practice of law." To become engaged in the practice of law,
"practice of law" (Ernani Paño, Bar Reviewer in Legal and Judicial there must be a continuity, or a succession of acts. As observed by the
Ethics, 1988 ed., p. 8 citing People v. People's Stockyards State Solicitor General in People vs. Villanueva:4
Bank, 176 N.B. 901) and, one who renders an opinion as to the
proper interpretation of a statute, and receives pay for it, is to that Essentially, the word private practice of law implies that one must
extent, practicing law (Martin, supra, p. 806 citing Mendelaun v. have presented himself to be in the activeand continued practice of
Gilbert and Barket Mfg. Co., 290 N.Y.S. 462) If compensation is the legal profession and that his professional services are available to
expected, all advice to clients and all action taken for them in the public for a compensation, as a source of his livelihood or in
matters connected with the law; are practicing law. (Elwood Fitchette consideration of his said services.
et al., v. Arthur C. Taylor, 94A-L.R. 356-359)
ACCORDINGLY, my vote is to GRANT the petition and to declare respondent
3. Application of law legal principle practice or procedure which calls Monsod as not qualified for the position of COMELEC Chairman for not
for legal knowledge, training and experience is within the term having engaged in the practice of law for at least ten (10) years prior to his
"practice of law". (Martin supra) appointment to such position.

4. Attorney-client relationship. Engaging in the practice of law CRUZ, J., dissenting:

presupposes the existence of lawyer-client relationship. Hence, where
a lawyer undertakes an activity which requires knowledge of law but
involves no attorney-client relationship, such as teaching law or I am sincerely impressed by the ponencia of my brother Paras but find I must
writing law books or articles, he cannot be said to be engaged in the dissent just the same. There are certain points on which I must differ with
practice of his profession or a lawyer (Agpalo, Legal Ethics, 1989 ed., him while of course respecting hisviewpoint.
p. 30).3
To begin with, I do not think we are inhibited from examining the
The above-enumerated factors would, I believe, be useful aids in determining qualifications of the respondent simply because his nomination has been
whether or not respondent Monsod meets the constitutional qualification of confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. In my view, this is not a
practice of law for at least ten (10) years at the time of his appointment as political question that we are barred from resolving. Determination of the
COMELEC Chairman. appointee's credentials is made on the basis of the established facts, not the
discretion of that body. Even if it were, the exercise of that discretion would
still be subject to our review.
The following relevant questions may be asked:
In Luego, which is cited in the ponencia, what was involved was the
1. Did respondent Monsod perform any of the tasks which are peculiar to the discretion of the appointing authority to choosebetween two claimants to the
practice of law? same office who both possessed the required qualifications. It was that kind
of discretion that we said could not be reviewed.
2. Did respondent perform such tasks customarily or habitually?
If a person elected by no less than the sovereign people may be ousted by
3. Assuming that he performed any of such tasks habitually, did he do so this Court for lack of the required qualifications, I see no reason why we
HABITUALLY FOR AT LEAST TEN (10) YEARS prior to his appointment as cannot disqualified an appointee simply because he has passed the
COMELEC Chairman? Commission on Appointments.

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Even the President of the Philippines may be declared ineligible by this Court business and finance, in which areas he has distinguished himself, but as an
in an appropriate proceeding notwithstanding that he has been found executive and economist and not as a practicing lawyer. The plain fact is that
acceptable by no less than the enfranchised citizenry. The reason is that he has occupied the various positions listed in his resume by virtue of his
what we would be examining is not the wisdom of his election but whether or experience and prestige as a businessman and not as an attorney-at-law
not he was qualified to be elected in the first place. whose principal attention is focused on the law. Even if it be argued that he
was acting as a lawyer when he lobbied in Congress for agrarian and urban
Coming now to the qualifications of the private respondent, I fear that reform, served in the NAMFREL and the Constitutional Commission (together
the ponencia may have been too sweeping in its definition of the phrase with non-lawyers like farmers and priests) and was a member of the Davide
"practice of law" as to render the qualification practically toothless. From the Commission, he has not proved that his activities in these capacities
numerous activities accepted as embraced in the term, I have the extended over the prescribed 10-year period of actual practice of the law. He
uncomfortable feeling that one does not even have to be a lawyer to be is doubtless eminently qualified for many other positions worthy of his
engaged in the practice of law as long as his activities involve the application abundant talents but not as Chairman of the Commission on Elections.
of some law, however peripherally. The stock broker and the insurance
adjuster and the realtor could come under the definition as they deal with or I have much admiration for respondent Monsod, no less than for Mr. Justice
give advice on matters that are likely "to become involved in litigation." Paras, but I must regretfully vote to grant the petition.

The lawyer is considered engaged in the practice of law even if his main GUTIERREZ, JR., J., dissenting:
occupation is another business and he interprets and applies some law only
as an incident of such business. That covers every company organized under When this petition was filed, there was hope that engaging in the practice of
the Corporation Code and regulated by the SEC under P.D. 902-A. law as a qualification for public office would be settled one way or another in
Considering the ramifications of the modern society, there is hardly any fairly definitive terms. Unfortunately, this was not the result.
activity that is not affected by some law or government regulation the
businessman must know about and observe. In fact, again going by the
definition, a lawyer does not even have to be part of a business concern to be Of the fourteen (14) member Court, 5 are of the view that Mr. Christian
considered a practitioner. He can be so deemed when, on his own, he rents a Monsod engaged in the practice of law (with one of these 5 leaving his vote
house or buys a car or consults a doctor as these acts involve his knowledge behind while on official leave but not expressing his clear stand on the
and application of the laws regulating such transactions. If he operates a matter); 4 categorically stating that he did not practice law; 2 voting in the
public utility vehicle as his main source of livelihood, he would still be result because there was no error so gross as to amount to grave abuse of
deemed engaged in the practice of law because he must obey the Public discretion; one of official leave with no instructions left behind on how he
Service Act and the rules and regulations of the Energy Regulatory Board. viewed the issue; and 2 not taking part in the deliberations and the decision.

The ponencia quotes an American decision defining the practice of law as the There are two key factors that make our task difficult. First is our reviewing
"performance of any acts . . . in or out of court, commonly understood to be the work of a constitutional Commission on Appointments whose duty is
the practice of law," which tells us absolutely nothing. The decision goes on precisely to look into the qualifications of persons appointed to high office.
to say that "because lawyers perform almost every function known in the Even if the Commission errs, we have no power to set aside error. We can
commercial and governmental realm, such a definition would obviously be look only into grave abuse of discretion or whimsically and arbitrariness.
too global to be workable." Second is our belief that Mr. Monsod possesses superior qualifications in
terms of executive ability, proficiency in management, educational
background, experience in international banking and finance, and instant
The effect of the definition given in the ponencia is to consider virtually every recognition by the public. His integrity and competence are not questioned by
lawyer to be engaged in the practice of law even if he does not earn his living, the petitioner. What is before us is compliance with a specific requirement
or at least part of it, as a lawyer. It is enough that his activities are written into the Constitution.
incidentally (even if only remotely) connected with some law, ordinance, or
regulation. The possible exception is the lawyer whose income is derived from
teaching ballroom dancing or escorting wrinkled ladies with pubescent Inspite of my high regard for Mr. Monsod, I cannot shirk my constitutional
pretensions. duty. He has never engaged in the practice of law for even one year. He is a
member of the bar but to say that he has practiced law is stretching the term
beyond rational limits.
The respondent's credentials are impressive, to be sure, but they do not
persuade me that he has been engaged in the practice of law for ten years as
required by the Constitution. It is conceded that he has been engaged in

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A person may have passed the bar examinations. But if he has not dedicated meaning. Every resident of this country who has reached the age of
his life to the law, if he has not engaged in an activity where membership in discernment has to know, follow, or apply the law at various times in his life.
the bar is a requirement I fail to see how he can claim to have been engaged Legal knowledge is useful if not necessary for the business executive,
in the practice of law. legislator, mayor, barangay captain, teacher, policeman, farmer, fisherman,
market vendor, and student to name only a few. And yet, can these people
Engaging in the practice of law is a qualification not only for COMELEC honestly assert that as such, they are engaged in the practice of law?
chairman but also for appointment to the Supreme Court and all lower
courts. What kind of Judges or Justices will we have if there main The Constitution requires having been "engaged in the practice of law for at
occupation is selling real estate, managing a business corporation, serving in least ten years." It is not satisfied with having been "a member of the
fact-finding committee, working in media, or operating a farm with no active Philippine bar for at least ten years."
involvement in the law, whether in Government or private practice, except
that in one joyful moment in the distant past, they happened to pass the bar Some American courts have defined the practice of law, as follows:
examinations?
The practice of law involves not only appearance in court in
The Constitution uses the phrase "engaged in the practice of law for at least connection with litigation but also services rendered out of court,
ten years." The deliberate choice of words shows that the practice envisioned and it includes the giving of advice or the rendering of any services
is active and regular, not isolated, occasional, accidental, intermittent, requiring the use of legal skill or knowledge, such as preparing a will,
incidental, seasonal, or extemporaneous. To be "engaged" in an activity for contract or other instrument, the legal effect of which, under the
ten years requires committed participation in something which is the result facts and conditions involved, must be carefully determined. People
of one's decisive choice. It means that one is occupied and involved in the ex rel. Chicago Bar Ass'n v. Tinkoff, 399 Ill. 282, 77 N.E.2d
enterprise; one is obliged or pledged to carry it out with intent and attention 693; People ex rel. Illinois State Bar Ass'n v. People's Stock Yards
during the ten-year period. State Bank, 344 Ill. 462,176 N.E. 901, and cases cited.

I agree with the petitioner that based on the bio-data submitted by It would be difficult, if not impossible to lay down a formula or
respondent Monsod to the Commission on Appointments, the latter has not definition of what constitutes the practice of law. "Practicing law" has
been engaged in the practice of law for at least ten years. In fact, if appears been defined as "Practicing as an attorney or counselor at law
that Mr. Monsod has never practiced law except for an alleged one year according to the laws and customs of our courts, is the giving of
period after passing the bar examinations when he worked in his father's law advice or rendition of any sort of service by any person, firm or
firm. Even then his law practice must have been extremely limited because corporation when the giving of such advice or rendition of such
he was also working for M.A. and Ph. D. degrees in Economics at the service requires the use of any degree of legal knowledge or skill."
University of Pennsylvania during that period. How could he practice law in Without adopting that definition, we referred to it as being
the United States while not a member of the Bar there? substantially correct in People ex rel. Illinois State Bar Ass'n v.
People's Stock Yards State Bank, 344 Ill. 462,176 N.E. 901. (People v.
There is nothing in the above bio-data which even remotely indicates that Schafer, 87 N.E. 2d 773, 776)
respondent Monsod has given the lawenough attention or a certain degree of
commitment and participation as would support in all sincerity and candor For one's actions to come within the purview of practice of law they should
the claim of having engaged in its practice for at least ten years. Instead of not only be activities peculiar to the work of a lawyer, they should also be
working as a lawyer, he has lawyers working for him. Instead of giving performed, habitually, frequently or customarily, to wit:
receiving that legal advice of legal services, he was the oneadvice and those
services as an executive but not as a lawyer.
Respondent's answers to questions propounded to him were rather
evasive. He was asked whether or not he ever prepared contracts for
The deliberations before the Commission on Appointments show an effort to the parties in real-estate transactions where he was not the
equate "engaged in the practice of law" with the use of legal knowledge in procuring agent. He answered: "Very seldom." In answer to the
various fields of endeavor such as commerce, industry, civic work, blue question as to how many times he had prepared contracts for the
ribbon investigations, agrarian reform, etc. where such knowledge would be parties during the twenty-one years of his business, he said: "I have
helpful. no Idea." When asked if it would be more than half a dozen times his
answer was I suppose. Asked if he did not recall making the
I regret that I cannot join in playing fast and loose with a term, which even statement to several parties that he had prepared contracts in a large
an ordinary layman accepts as having a familiar and customary well-defined number of instances, he answered: "I don't recall exactly what was

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 said." When asked if he did not remember saying that he had made a It is to be noted that the Commission on Appointment itself
practice of preparing deeds, mortgages and contracts and charging a recognizes habituality as a required component of the meaning of practice of
fee to the parties therefor in instances where he was not the broker law in a Memorandum prepared and issued by it, to wit:
in the deal, he answered: "Well, I don't believe so, that is not a
practice." Pressed further for an answer as to his practice in l. Habituality. The term 'practice of law' implies customarilyor
preparing contracts and deeds for parties where he was not the habitually holding one's self out to the public as a lawyer (People v.
broker, he finally answered: "I have done about everything that is on Villanueva, 14 SCRA 109 citing State v. Bryan, 4 S.E. 522, 98 N.C.
the books as far as real estate is concerned." 644) such as when one sends a circular announcing the
establishment of a law office for the general practice of law (U.S. v.
Respondent takes the position that because he is a real-estate broker Noy Bosque, 8 Phil. 146), or when one takes the oath of office as a
he has a lawful right to do any legal work in connection with real- lawyer before a notary public, and files a manifestation with the
estate transactions, especially in drawing of real-estate contracts, Supreme Court informing it of his intention to practice law in all
deeds, mortgages, notes and the like. There is no doubt but that he courts in the country (People v. De Luna, 102 Phil. 968).
has engaged in these practices over the years and has charged for
his services in that connection. ... (People v. Schafer, 87 N.E. 2d 773) Practice is more than an isolated appearance, for it consists in
frequent or customary action, a succession of acts of the same kind.
... An attorney, in the most general sense, is a person designated or In other words, it is a habitual exercise (People v. Villanueva, 14
employed by another to act in his stead; an agent; more especially, SCRA 1 09 citing State v. Cotner, 1 27, p. 1, 87 Kan, 864)." (Rollo, p.
one of a class of persons authorized to appear and act for suitors or 115)
defendants in legal proceedings. Strictly, these professional persons
are attorneys at law, and non-professional agents are properly styled xxx xxx xxx
"attorney's in fact;" but the single word is much used as meaning an
attorney at law. A person may be an attorney in facto for another,
without being an attorney at law. Abb. Law Dict. "Attorney." A public While the career as a businessman of respondent Monsod may have profited
attorney, or attorney at law, says Webster, is an officer of a court of from his legal knowledge, the use of such legal knowledge is incidental and
law, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court consists of isolated activities which do not fall under the denomination of
on the retainer of clients. "The principal duties of an attorney are (1) practice of law. Admission to the practice of law was not required for
to be true to the court and to his client; (2) to manage the business membership in the Constitutional Commission or in the Fact-Finding
of his client with care, skill, and integrity; (3) to keep his client Commission on the 1989 Coup Attempt. Any specific legal activities which
informed as to the state of his business; (4) to keep his secrets may have been assigned to Mr. Monsod while a member may be likened to
confided to him as such. ... His rights are to be justly compensated isolated transactions of foreign corporations in the Philippines which do not
for his services." Bouv. Law Dict. tit. "Attorney." The transitive verb categorize the foreign corporations as doing business in the Philippines. As in
"practice," as defined by Webster, means 'to do or perform frequently, the practice of law, doing business also should be active and continuous.
customarily, or habitually; to perform by a succession of acts, as, to Isolated business transactions or occasional, incidental and casual
practice gaming, ... to carry on in practice, or repeated action; to apply, transactions are not within the context of doing business. This was our
as a theory, to real life; to exercise, as a profession, trade, art. etc.; as, ruling in the case of Antam Consolidated, Inc. v. Court of appeals, 143 SCRA
to practice law or medicine,' etc...." (State v. Bryan, S.E. 522, 523; 288 [1986]).
Emphasis supplied)
Respondent Monsod, corporate executive, civic leader, and member of the
In this jurisdiction, we have ruled that the practice of law denotes frequency Constitutional Commission may possess the background, competence,
or a succession of acts. Thus, we stated in the case of People v. Villanueva integrity, and dedication, to qualify for such high offices as President, Vice-
(14 SCRA 109 [1965]): President, Senator, Congressman or Governor but the Constitution in
prescribing the specific qualification of having engaged in the practice of law
for at least ten (10) years for the position of COMELEC Chairman has
... Practice is more than an isolated appearance, for it consists in frequent or ordered that he may not be confirmed for that office. The Constitution
customary actions, a succession of acts of the same kind. In other words, it charges the public respondents no less than this Court to obey its mandate.
is frequent habitual exercise (State v. Cotner, 127, p. 1, 87 Kan. 864, 42 LRA,
M.S. 768). Practice of law to fall within the prohibition of statute has been
interpreted as customarily or habitually holding one's self out to the public, I, therefore, believe that the Commission on Appointments committed grave
as a lawyer and demanding payment for such services. ... . (at p. 112) abuse of discretion in confirming the nomination of respondent Monsod as
Chairman of the COMELEC.

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I vote to GRANT the petition. by virtue of an Order dated 11 April 1994. We note that his probation period
did not last for more than ten (10) months from the time of the Order of
Bidin, J., dissent Judge Santiago granting him probation dated 18 June 1993. Since then, Mr.
Argosino has filed three (3) Motions for Early Resolution of his Petition for
Admission to the Bar.
9) In The Matter Of The Admission To The Bar And Oath-
Taking Of Successful Bar Applicant Al C. Argosino, Bar
The practice of law is not a natural, absolute or constitutional right to be
Matter No. 712, July 13, 1995 granted to everyone who demands it. Rather, it is a high personal privilege
limited to citizens of good moral character, with special educational
B.M. No. 712 July 13, 1995 qualifications, duly ascertained and certified.2 The essentiality of good moral
IN THE MATTER OF THE ADMISSION TO THE BAR AND OATH-TAKING character in those who would be lawyers is stressed in the following excerpts
OF SUCCESSFUL BAR APPLICANT AL C. ARGOSINO, petitioner. which we quote with approval and which we regard as having persuasive
effect:
RESOLUTION
In Re Farmer: 3

FELICIANO, J.:
xxx xxx xxx
A criminal information was filed on 4 February 1992 with the Regional Trial
Court of Quezon City, Branch 101, charging Mr. A.C. Argosino along with This "upright character" prescribed by the statute, as a
thirteen (13) other individuals, with the crime of homicide in connection with condition precedent to the applicant's right to receive a
the death of one Raul Camaligan on 8 September 1991. The death of Raul license to practice law in North Carolina, and of which he
Camaligan stemmed from the infliction of severe physical injuries upon him must, in addition to other requisites, satisfy the court,
in the course of "hazing" conducted as part of university fraternity initiation includes all the elements necessary to make up such a
rites. Mr. Argosino and his co-accused then entered into plea bargaining with character. It is something more than an absence of bad
the prosecution and as a result of such bargaining, pleaded guilty to the character. It is the good name which the applicant has
lesser offense of homicide through reckless imprudence. This plea was acquired, or should have acquired, through association with
accepted by the trial court. In a judgment dated 11 February 1993, each of his fellows. It means that he must have conducted himself as
the fourteen (14) accused individuals was sentenced to suffer imprisonment a man of upright character ordinarily would, or should, or
for a period ranging from two (2) years, four (4) months and one (1) day to does. Such character expresses itself, not in negatives nor in
four (4) years. following the line of least resistance, but quite often, in the
will to do the unpleasant thing if it is right, and the resolve not
Eleven (11) days later, Mr. Argosino and his colleagues filed an application to do the pleasant thing if it is wrong. . . .
for probation with the lower court. The application for probation was granted
in an Order dated 18 June 1993 issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Pedro xxx xxx xxx
T. Santiago. The period of probation was set at two (2) years, counted from
the probationer's initial report to the probation officer assigned to supervise And we may pause to say that this requirement of the
him. statute is eminently proper. Consider for a moment the duties
of a lawyer. He is sought as counsellor, and his advice
Less than a month later, on 13 July 1993, Mr. Argosino filed a Petition for comes home, in its ultimate effect, to every man's
Admission to Take the 1993 Bar Examinations. In this Petition, he disclosed fireside. Vast interests are committed to his care; he is the
the fact of his criminal conviction and his then probation status. He was recipient of unbounded trust and confidence; he deals with is
allowed to take the 1993 Bar Examinations in this Court's En client's property, reputation, his life, his all. An attorney at
Banc Resolution dated 14 August 1993.1 He passed the Bar Examination. He law is a sworn officer of the Court, whose chief concern, as
was not, however, allowed to take the lawyer's oath of office. such, is to aid the administration of justice. . . .

On 15 April 1994, Mr. Argosino filed a Petition with this Court to allow him xxx xxx xxx4
to take the attorney's oath of office and to admit him to the practice of law,
averring that Judge Pedro T. Santiago had terminated his probation period

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In Re Application of Kaufman,5 citing Re Law Examination of Attorney's are licensed because of their learning and ability,
1926 (1926) 191 Wis 359, 210 NW 710: so that they may not only protect the rights and interests of
their clients, but be able to assist court in the trial of the
It can also be truthfully said that there exists nowhere cause. Yet what protection to clients or assistance to courts
greater temptations to deviate from the straight and narrow could such agents give? They are required to be of good moral
path than in the multiplicity of circumstances that arise in character, so that the agents and officers of the court, which
the practice of profession. For these reasons the wisdom of they are, may not bring discredit upon the due administration
requiring an applicant for admission to the bar to possess a of the law, and it is of the highest possible consequence that
high moral standard therefore becomes clearly apparent, and both those who have not such qualifications in the first
the board of bar examiners as an arm of the court, is instance, or who, having had them, have fallen
required to cause a minute examination to be made of the therefrom, shall not be permitted to appear in courts to aid in
moral standard of each candidate for admission to practice. . the administration of justice.
. . It needs no further argument, therefore, to arrive at the
conclusion that the highest degree of scrutiny must be It has also been stressed that the requirement of good moral character is, in
exercised as to the moral character of a candidate who fact, of greater importance so far as the general public and the proper
presents himself for admission to the bar. The evil must, if administration of justice are concerned, than the possession of legal learning:
possible, be successfully met at its very source, and
prevented, for, after a lawyer has once been admitted, and . . . (In re Applicants for License, 55 S.E. 635, 143 N.C. 1, 10
has pursued his profession, and has established himself L.R.A. [N.S.] 288, 10 Ann./Cas. 187):
therein, a far more difficult situation is presented to the
court when proceedings are instituted for disbarment and for
the recalling and annulment of his license. The public policy of our state has always
been to admit no person to the practice of
the law unless he covered an upright moral
In Re Keenan:6 character. The possession of this by the
attorney is more important, if anything, to the
The right to practice law is not one of the inherent rights of public and to the proper administration of
every citizen, as in the right to carry on an ordinary trade or justice than legal learning. Legal learning
business. It is a peculiar privilege granted and continued only may be acquired in after years, but if the
to those who demonstrate special fitness in intellectual applicant passes the threshold of the bar
attainment and in moral character. All may aspire to it on an with a bad moral character the chances are
absolutely equal basis, but not all will attain it. Elaborate that his character will remain bad, and that
machinery has been set up to test applicants by standards he will become a disgrace instead of an
fair to all and to separate the fit from the unfit. Only those ornament to his great calling — a curse
who pass the test are allowed to enter the profession, and instead of a benefit to his community — a
only those who maintain the standards are allowed to Quirk, a Gammon or a Snap, instead of a
remain in it. Davis, a Smith or a Ruffin.9

Re Rouss:7 All aspects of moral character and behavior may be inquired into in respect
of those seeking admission to the Bar. The scope of such inquiry is, indeed,
Membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with conditions, said to be properly broader than inquiry into the moral proceedings for
and a fair private and professional character is one of them; to disbarment:
refuse admission to an unworthy applicant is not to punish
him for past offense: an examination into character, like the Re Stepsay: 10

examination into learning, is merely a test of fitness.

The inquiry as to the moral character of an attorney in a
Cobb vs. Judge of Superior Court:8 proceeding for his admission to practice is broader in
scope than in a disbarment proceeding.

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 Re Wells: 11 to the bar. His evidence may consist, inter alia, of sworn certifications from
responsible members of the community who have a good reputation for truth
. . . that an applicant's contention that upon application for and who have actually known Mr. Argosino for a significant period of time,
admission to the California Bar the court cannot reject him particularly since the judgment of conviction was rendered by Judge
for want of good moral character unless it appears that he Santiago. He should show to the Court how he has tried to make up for the
has been guilty of acts which would be cause for his senseless killing of a helpless student to the family of the deceased student
disbarment or suspension, could not be sustained; that the and to the community at large. Mr. Argosino must, in other words, submit
inquiry is broader in its scope than that in a disbarment relevant evidence to show that he is a different person now, that he has
proceeding, and the court may receive any evidence which become morally fit for admission to the ancient and learned profession of the
tends to show the applicant's character as respects honesty, law.
integrity, and general morality, and may no doubt refuse
admission upon proofs that might not establish his guilt of any Finally, Mr. Argosino is hereby DIRECTED to inform this Court, by
of the acts declared to be causes for disbarment. appropriate written manifestation, of the names and addresses of the father
and mother (in default thereof, brothers and sisters, if any, of Raul
The requirement of good moral character to be satisfied by those who would Camaligan), within ten (10) day from notice hereof. Let a copy of this
seek admission to the bar must of necessity be more stringent than the norm Resolution be furnished to the parents or brothers and sisters, if any, of Raul
of conduct expected from members of the general public. There is a very real Camaligan.
need to prevent a general perception that entry into the legal profession is
open to individuals with inadequate moral qualifications. The growth of such Narvasa, C.J., Padilla, Regalado, Davide, Jr., Romero and Melo, JJ., concur.
a perception would signal the progressive destruction of our people's
confidence in their courts of law and in our legal system as we know it.12 Bellosillo, J. is on leave.

Mr. Argosino's participation in the deplorable "hazing" activities certainly fell 10) Consolidated case of Villareal vs. People G.R. No. 151258,
far short of the required standard of good moral character. The deliberate
People vs. CA, G.R. No. 154954, Dizon vs. People G.R. No.
(rather than merely accidental or inadvertent) infliction of severe physical
injuries which proximately led to the death of the unfortunate Raul 155101, and Villa vs. Escalona, G.R. Nos. 178057 and
Camaligan, certainly indicated serious character flaws on the part of those 178080, Feb. 1, 2012
who inflicted such injuries. Mr. Argosino and his co-accused had failed to
discharge their moral duty to protect the life and well-being of a "neophyte" G.R. No. 151258 February 1, 2012
who had, by seeking admission to the fraternity involved, reposed trust and ARTEMIO VILLAREAL, Petitioner,
confidence in all of them that, at the very least, he would not be beaten and vs.
kicked to death like a useless stray dog. Thus, participation in the prolonged PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.
and mindless physical beatings inflicted upon Raul Camaligan constituted x-----------------------x
evident rejection of that moral duty and was totally irresponsible behavior, G.R. No. 154954
which makes impossible a finding that the participant was then possessed of PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Petitioner,
good moral character. vs.
The HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, ANTONIO MARIANO ALMEDA,
Now that the original period of probation granted by the trial court has DALMACIO LIM, Jr., JUNEL ANTHONY AMA, ERNESTO JOSE
expired, the Court is prepared to consider de novo the question of whether MONTECILLO, VINCENT TECSON, ANTONIO GENERAL, SANTIAGO
applicant A.C. Argosino has purged himself of the obvious deficiency in moral RANADA III, NELSON VICTORINO, JAIME MARIA FLORES II, ZOSIMO
character referred to above. We stress that good moral character is a MENDOZA, MICHAEL MUSNGI, VICENTE VERDADERO, ETIENNE
requirement possession of which must be demonstrated not only at the time GUERRERO, JUDE FERNANDEZ, AMANTE PURISIMA II, EULOGIO
of application for permission to take the bar examinations but also, and more SABBAN, PERCIVAL BRIGOLA, PAUL ANGELO SANTOS, JONAS KARL B.
importantly, at the time of application for admission to the bar and to take PEREZ, RENATO BANTUG, JR., ADEL ABAS, JOSEPH LLEDO, and
the attorney's oath of office. RONAN DE GUZMAN, Respondents.
x-----------------------x
G.R. No. 155101
Mr. Argosino must, therefore, submit to this Court, for its examination and
FIDELITO DIZON, Petitioner,
consideration, evidence that he may be now regarded as complying with the
vs.
requirement of good moral character imposed upon those seeking admission
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Respondent.

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 x-----------------------x The pertinent facts, as determined by the Court of Appeals (CA)8 and the trial
G.R. Nos. 178057 & 178080 court,9 are as follows:
GERARDA H. VILLA, Petitioner,
vs. In February 1991, seven freshmen law students of the Ateneo de Manila
MANUEL LORENZO ESCALONA II, MARCUS JOEL CAPELLAN RAMOS, University School of Law signified their intention to join the Aquila Legis
CRISANTO CRUZ SARUCA, Jr., and ANSELMO ADRIANO, Respondents. Juris Fraternity (Aquila Fraternity). They were Caesar "Bogs" Asuncion,
Samuel "Sam" Belleza, Bienvenido "Bien" Marquez III, Roberto Francis "Bert"
DECISION Navera, Geronimo "Randy" Recinto, Felix Sy, Jr., and Leonardo "Lenny" Villa
(neophytes).
SERENO, J.:
On the night of 8 February 1991, the neophytes were met by some members
The public outrage over the death of Leonardo "Lenny" Villa – the victim in of the Aquila Fraternity (Aquilans) at the lobby of the Ateneo Law School.
this case – on 10 February 1991 led to a very strong clamor to put an end to They all proceeded to Rufo’s Restaurant to have dinner. Afterwards, they
hazing.1 Due in large part to the brave efforts of his mother, petitioner went to the house of Michael Musngi, also an Aquilan, who briefed the
Gerarda Villa, groups were organized, condemning his senseless and tragic neophytes on what to expect during the initiation rites. The latter were
death. This widespread condemnation prompted Congress to enact a special informed that there would be physical beatings, and that they could quit at
law, which became effective in 1995, that would criminalize hazing.2 The any time. Their initiation rites were scheduled to last for three days. After
intent of the law was to discourage members from making hazing a their "briefing," they were brought to the Almeda Compound in Caloocan City
requirement for joining their sorority, fraternity, organization, or for the commencement of their initiation.
association.3 Moreover, the law was meant to counteract the exculpatory
implications of "consent" and "initial innocent act" in the conduct of initiation Even before the neophytes got off the van, they had already received threats
rites by making the mere act of hazing punishable or mala prohibita.4 and insults from the Aquilans. As soon as the neophytes alighted from the
van and walked towards the pelota court of the Almeda compound, some of
Sadly, the Lenny Villa tragedy did not discourage hazing activities in the the Aquilans delivered physical blows to them. The neophytes were then
country.5 Within a year of his death, six more cases of hazing-related deaths subjected to traditional forms of Aquilan "initiation rites." These rites
emerged – those of Frederick Cahiyang of the University of Visayas in Cebu; included the "Indian Run," which required the neophytes to run a gauntlet of
Raul Camaligan of San Beda College; Felipe Narne of Pamantasan ng Araullo two parallel rows of Aquilans, each row delivering blows to the neophytes; the
in Cabanatuan City; Dennis Cenedoza of the Cavite Naval Training Center; "Bicol Express," which obliged the neophytes to sit on the floor with their
Joselito Mangga of the Philippine Merchant Marine Institute; and Joselito backs against the wall and their legs outstretched while the Aquilans walked,
Hernandez of the University of the Philippines in Baguio City.6 jumped, or ran over their legs; the "Rounds," in which the neophytes were
held at the back of their pants by the "auxiliaries" (the Aquilans charged with
the duty of lending assistance to neophytes during initiation rites), while the
Although courts must not remain indifferent to public sentiments, in this latter were being hit with fist blows on their arms or with knee blows on their
case the general condemnation of a hazing-related death, they are still bound thighs by two Aquilans; and the "Auxies’ Privilege Round," in which the
to observe a fundamental principle in our criminal justice system – "[N]o act auxiliaries were given the opportunity to inflict physical pain on the
constitutes a crime… unless it is made so by law."7 Nullum crimen, nulla neophytes. During this time, the neophytes were also indoctrinated with the
poena sine lege. Even if an act is viewed by a large section of the populace as fraternity principles. They survived their first day of initiation.
immoral or injurious, it cannot be considered a crime, absent any law
prohibiting its commission. As interpreters of the law, judges are called upon
to set aside emotion, to resist being swayed by strong public sentiments, and On the morning of their second day – 9 February 1991 – the neophytes were
to rule strictly based on the elements of the offense and the facts allowed in made to present comic plays and to play rough basketball. They were also
evidence. required to memorize and recite the Aquila Fraternity’s principles. Whenever
they would give a wrong answer, they would be hit on their arms or legs. Late
in the afternoon, the Aquilans revived the initiation rites proper and
Before the Court are the consolidated cases docketed as G.R. No. 151258 proceeded to torment them physically and psychologically. The neophytes
(Villareal v. People), G.R. No. 154954 (People v. Court of Appeals), G.R. No. were subjected to the same manner of hazing that they endured on the first
155101 (Dizon v. People), and G.R. Nos. 178057 and 178080 (Villa v. day of initiation. After a few hours, the initiation for the day officially ended.
Escalona).
After a while, accused non-resident or alumni fraternity members10 Fidelito
Facts Dizon (Dizon) and Artemio Villareal (Villareal) demanded that the rites be

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reopened. The head of initiation rites, Nelson Victorino (Victorino), initially 26. Percival Brigola (Brigola)
refused. Upon the insistence of Dizon and Villareal, however, he reopened the In Criminal Case No. C-38340
initiation rites. The fraternity members, including Dizon and Villareal, then 1. Manuel Escalona II (Escalona)
subjected the neophytes to "paddling" and to additional rounds of physical 2. Crisanto Saruca, Jr. (Saruca)
pain. Lenny received several paddle blows, one of which was so strong it sent 3. Anselmo Adriano (Adriano)
him sprawling to the ground. The neophytes heard him complaining of 4. Marcus Joel Ramos (Ramos)
intense pain and difficulty in breathing. After their last session of physical 5. Reynaldo Concepcion (Concepcion)
beatings, Lenny could no longer walk. He had to be carried by the auxiliaries 6. Florentino Ampil (Ampil)
to the carport. Again, the initiation for the day was officially ended, and the 7. Enrico de Vera III (De Vera)
neophytes started eating dinner. They then slept at the carport. 8. Stanley Fernandez (S. Fernandez)
9. Noel Cabangon (Cabangon)
After an hour of sleep, the neophytes were suddenly roused by Lenny’s
shivering and incoherent mumblings. Initially, Villareal and Dizon dismissed Twenty-six of the accused Aquilans in Criminal Case No. C-38340(91) were
these rumblings, as they thought he was just overacting. When they realized, jointly tried.11 On the other hand, the trial against the remaining nine
though, that Lenny was really feeling cold, some of the Aquilans started accused in Criminal Case No. C-38340 was held in abeyance due to certain
helping him. They removed his clothes and helped him through a sleeping matters that had to be resolved first.12
bag to keep him warm. When his condition worsened, the Aquilans rushed
him to the hospital. Lenny was pronounced dead on arrival. On 8 November 1993, the trial court rendered judgment in Criminal Case No.
C-38340(91), holding the 26 accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the
Consequently, a criminal case for homicide was filed against the following 35 crime of homicide, penalized with reclusion temporal under Article 249 of the
Aquilans: Revised Penal Code.13 A few weeks after the trial court rendered its judgment,
or on 29 November 1993, Criminal Case No. C-38340 against the remaining
In Criminal Case No. C-38340(91) nine accused commenced anew.14

1. Fidelito Dizon (Dizon) On 10 January 2002, the CA in (CA-G.R. No. 15520)15 set aside the finding of
2. Artemio Villareal (Villareal) conspiracy by the trial court in Criminal Case No. C-38340(91) and modified
3. Efren de Leon (De Leon) the criminal liability of each of the accused according to individual
4. Vincent Tecson (Tecson) participation. Accused De Leon had by then passed away, so the following
5. Junel Anthony Ama (Ama) Decision applied only to the remaining 25 accused, viz:
6. Antonio Mariano Almeda (Almeda)
7. Renato Bantug, Jr. (Bantug) 1. Nineteen of the accused-appellants – Victorino, Sabban, Lledo,
8. Nelson Victorino (Victorino) Guerrero, Musngi, Perez, De Guzman, Santos, General, Flores, Lim,
9. Eulogio Sabban (Sabban) Montecillo, Ranada, Mendoza, Verdadero, Purisima, Fernandez,
10. Joseph Lledo (Lledo) Abas, and Brigola (Victorino et al.) – were acquitted, as their
11. Etienne Guerrero (Guerrero) individual guilt was not established by proof beyond reasonable
12. Michael Musngi (Musngi) doubt.
13. Jonas Karl Perez (Perez)
14. Paul Angelo Santos (Santos) 2. Four of the accused-appellants – Vincent Tecson, Junel Anthony
15. Ronan de Guzman (De Guzman) Ama, Antonio Mariano Almeda, and Renato Bantug, Jr. (Tecson et
16. Antonio General (General) al.) – were found guilty of the crime of slight physical injuries and
17. Jaime Maria Flores II (Flores) sentenced to 20 days of arresto menor. They were also ordered to
18. Dalmacio Lim, Jr. (Lim) jointly pay the heirs of the victim the sum of ₱ 30,000 as indemnity.
19. Ernesto Jose Montecillo (Montecillo)
20. Santiago Ranada III (Ranada)
21. Zosimo Mendoza (Mendoza) 3. Two of the accused-appellants – Fidelito Dizon and Artemio
22. Vicente Verdadero (Verdadero) Villareal – were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of
23. Amante Purisima II (Purisima) homicide under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code. Having found
24. Jude Fernandez (J. Fernandez) no mitigating or aggravating circumstance, the CA sentenced them to
25. Adel Abas (Abas) an indeterminate sentence of 10 years of prision mayor to 17 years of
reclusion temporal. They were also ordered to indemnify, jointly and

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 severally, the heirs of Lenny Villa in the sum of ₱ 50,000 and to pay Regarding the second issue, petitioner contends that he should have likewise
the additional amount of ₱ 1,000,000 by way of moral damages. been acquitted, like the other accused, since his acts were also part of the
traditional initiation rites and were not tainted by evil motives.23 He claims
On 5 August 2002, the trial court in Criminal Case No. 38340 dismissed the that the additional paddling session was part of the official activity of the
charge against accused Concepcion on the ground of violation of his right to fraternity. He also points out that one of the neophytes admitted that the
speedy trial.16 Meanwhile, on different dates between the years 2003 and chairperson of the initiation rites "decided that [Lenny] was fit enough to
2005, the trial court denied the respective Motions to Dismiss of accused undergo the initiation so Mr. Villareal proceeded to do the
Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, and Adriano.17 On 25 October 2006, the CA in CA- paddling…."24 Further, petitioner echoes the argument of the Solicitor
G.R. SP Nos. 89060 & 9015318 reversed the trial court’s Orders and General that "the individual blows inflicted by Dizon and Villareal could not
dismissed the criminal case against Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, and Adriano have resulted in Lenny’s death."25 The Solicitor General purportedly averred
on the basis of violation of their right to speedy trial.19 that, "on the contrary, Dr. Arizala testified that the injuries suffered by Lenny
could not be considered fatal if taken individually, but if taken collectively,
the result is the violent death of the victim."26
From the aforementioned Decisions, the five (5) consolidated Petitions were
individually brought before this Court.
Petitioner then counters the finding of the CA that he was motivated by ill
will. He claims that Lenny’s father could not have stolen the parking space of
G.R. No. 151258 – Villareal v. People Dizon’s father, since the latter did not have a car, and their fathers did not
work in the same place or office. Revenge for the loss of the parking space
The instant case refers to accused Villareal’s Petition for Review on Certiorari was the alleged ill motive of Dizon. According to petitioner, his utterances
under Rule 45. The Petition raises two reversible errors allegedly committed regarding a stolen parking space were only part of the "psychological
by the CA in its Decision dated 10 January 2002 in CA-G.R. No. 15520 – initiation." He then cites the testimony of Lenny’s co-neophyte – witness
first, denial of due process; and, second, conviction absent proof beyond Marquez – who admitted knowing "it was not true and that he was just
reasonable doubt.20 making it up…."27

While the Petition was pending before this Court, counsel for petitioner Further, petitioner argues that his alleged motivation of ill will was negated
Villareal filed a Notice of Death of Party on 10 August 2011. According to the by his show of concern for Villa after the initiation rites. Dizon alludes to the
Notice, petitioner Villareal died on 13 March 2011. Counsel thus asserts that testimony of one of the neophytes, who mentioned that the former had kicked
the subject matter of the Petition previously filed by petitioner does not the leg of the neophyte and told him to switch places with Lenny to prevent
survive the death of the accused. the latter’s chills. When the chills did not stop, Dizon, together with
Victorino, helped Lenny through a sleeping bag and made him sit on a chair.
G.R. No. 155101 – Dizon v. People According to petitioner, his alleged ill motivation is contradicted by his
manifestation of compassion and concern for the victim’s well-being.
Accused Dizon filed a Rule 45 Petition for Review on Certiorari, questioning
the CA’s Decision dated 10 January 2002 and Resolution dated 30 August G.R. No. 154954 – People v. Court of Appeals
2002 in CA-G.R. No. 15520.21 Petitioner sets forth two main issues – first,
that he was denied due process when the CA sustained the trial court’s This Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 seeks the reversal of the CA’s
forfeiture of his right to present evidence; and, second, that he was deprived Decision dated 10 January 2002 and Resolution dated 30 August 2002 in
of due process when the CA did not apply to him the same "ratio decidendi CA-G.R. No. 15520, insofar as it acquitted 19 (Victorino et al.) and convicted
that served as basis of acquittal of the other accused."22 4 (Tecson et al.) of the accused Aquilans of the lesser crime of slight physical
injuries.28 According to the Solicitor General, the CA erred in holding that
As regards the first issue, the trial court made a ruling, which forfeited there could have been no conspiracy to commit hazing, as hazing or
Dizon’s right to present evidence during trial. The trial court expected Dizon fraternity initiation had not yet been criminalized at the time Lenny died.
to present evidence on an earlier date since a co-accused, Antonio General,
no longer presented separate evidence during trial. According to Dizon, his In the alternative, petitioner claims that the ruling of the trial court should
right should not have been considered as waived because he was justified in have been upheld, inasmuch as it found that there was conspiracy to inflict
asking for a postponement. He argues that he did not ask for a resetting of physical injuries on Lenny. Since the injuries led to the victim’s death,
any of the hearing dates and in fact insisted that he was ready to present petitioner posits that the accused Aquilans are criminally liable for the
evidence on the original pre-assigned schedule, and not on an earlier hearing resulting crime of homicide, pursuant to Article 4 of the Revised Penal
date. Code.29 The said article provides: "Criminal liability shall be incurred… [b]y

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any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act done be 3. Whether the CA committed grave abuse of discretion, amounting
different from that which he intended." to lack or excess of jurisdiction, when it set aside the finding of
conspiracy by the trial court and adjudicated the liability of each
Petitioner also argues that the rule on double jeopardy is inapplicable. accused according to individual participation;
According to the Solicitor General, the CA acted with grave abuse of
discretion, amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, in setting aside the 4. Whether accused Dizon is guilty of homicide; and
trial court’s finding of conspiracy and in ruling that the criminal liability of
all the accused must be based on their individual participation in the 5. Whether the CA committed grave abuse of discretion when it
commission of the crime. pronounced Tecson, Ama, Almeda, and Bantug guilty only of slight
physical injuries.
G.R. Nos. 178057 and 178080 – Villa v. Escalona
Discussion
Petitioner Villa filed the instant Petition for Review on Certiorari, praying for
the reversal of the CA’s Decision dated 25 October 2006 and Resolution Resolution on Preliminary Matters
dated 17 May 2007 in CA-G.R. S.P. Nos. 89060 and 90153.30 The Petition
involves the dismissal of the criminal charge filed against Escalona, Ramos,
Saruca, and Adriano. G.R. No. 151258 – Villareal v. People

Due to "several pending incidents," the trial court ordered a separate trial for In a Notice dated 26 September 2011 and while the Petition was pending
accused Escalona, Saruca, Adriano, Ramos, Ampil, Concepcion, De Vera, S. resolution, this Court took note of counsel for petitioner’s Notice of Death of
Fernandez, and Cabangon (Criminal Case No. C-38340) to commence after Party.
proceedings against the 26 other accused in Criminal Case No. C-38340(91)
shall have terminated. On 8 November 1993, the trial court found the 26 According to Article 89(1) of the Revised Penal Code, criminal liability for
accused guilty beyond reasonable doubt. As a result, the proceedings in personal penalties is totally extinguished by the death of the convict. In
Criminal Case No. C-38340 involving the nine other co-accused contrast, criminal liability for pecuniary penalties is extinguished if the
recommenced on 29 November 1993. For "various reasons," the initial trial of offender dies prior to final judgment. The term "personal penalties" refers to
the case did not commence until 28 March 2005, or almost 12 years after the the service of personal or imprisonment penalties,31while the term "pecuniary
arraignment of the nine accused. penalties" (las pecuniarias) refers to fines and costs,32 including civil liability
predicated on the criminal offense complained of (i.e., civil liability ex
Petitioner Villa assails the CA’s dismissal of the criminal case involving 4 of delicto).33 However, civil liability based on a source of obligation other than
the 9 accused, namely, Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, and Adriano. She argues the delict survives the death of the accused and is recoverable through a
that the accused failed to assert their right to speedy trial within a separate civil action.34
reasonable period of time. She also points out that the prosecution cannot be
faulted for the delay, as the original records and the required evidence were Thus, we hold that the death of petitioner Villareal extinguished his criminal
not at its disposal, but were still in the appellate court. liability for both personal and pecuniary penalties, including his civil liability
directly arising from the delict complained of. Consequently, his Petition is
We resolve herein the various issues that we group into five. hereby dismissed, and the criminal case against him deemed closed and
terminated.
Issues
G.R. No. 155101 (Dizon v. People)
1. Whether the forfeiture of petitioner Dizon’s right to present
evidence constitutes denial of due process; In an Order dated 28 July 1993, the trial court set the dates for the reception
of evidence for accused-petitioner Dizon on the 8th, 15th, and 22nd of
September; and the 5th and 12 of October 1993.35 The Order likewise stated
2. Whether the CA committed grave abuse of discretion, amounting that "it will not entertain any postponement and that all the accused who
to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it dismissed the case against have not yet presented their respective evidence should be ready at all times
Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, and Adriano for violation of the right of down the line, with their evidence on all said dates. Failure on their part to
the accused to speedy trial;

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present evidence when required shall therefore be construed as waiver to his nonappearance at "yesterday’s and today’s scheduled hearings." In ruling
present evidence."36 against the Order, we held thus:

However, on 19 August 1993, counsel for another accused manifested in Under Section 2(c), Rule 114 and Section 1(c), Rule 115 of the Rules of
open court that his client – Antonio General – would no longer present Court, Crisostomo’s non-appearance during the 22 June 1995 trial was
separate evidence. Instead, the counsel would adopt the testimonial evidence merely a waiver of his right to be present for trial on such date only and not
of the other accused who had already testified.37 Because of this development for the succeeding trial dates…
and pursuant to the trial court’s Order that the parties "should be ready at
all times down the line," the trial court expected Dizon to present evidence on Moreover, Crisostomo’s absence on the 22 June 1995 hearing should not
the next trial date – 25 August 1993 – instead of his originally assigned have been deemed as a waiver of his right to present evidence. While
dates. The original dates were supposed to start two weeks later, or on 8 constitutional rights may be waived, such waiver must be clear and must be
September 1993.38 Counsel for accused Dizon was not able to present coupled with an actual intention to relinquish the right. Crisostomo did not
evidence on the accelerated date. To address the situation, counsel filed a voluntarily waive in person or even through his counsel the right to present
Constancia on 25 August 1993, alleging that he had to appear in a evidence. The Sandiganbayan imposed the waiver due to the agreement of
previously scheduled case, and that he would be ready to present evidence the prosecution, Calingayan, and Calingayan's counsel.
on the dates originally assigned to his clients.39 The trial court denied the
Manifestation on the same date and treated the Constancia as a motion for
postponement, in violation of the three-day-notice rule under the Rules of In criminal cases where the imposable penalty may be death, as in the
Court.40 Consequently, the trial court ruled that the failure of Dizon to present case, the court is called upon to see to it that the accused is
present evidence amounted to a waiver of that right.41 personally made aware of the consequences of a waiver of the right to present
evidence. In fact, it is not enough that the accused is simply warned of the
consequences of another failure to attend the succeeding hearings. The court
Accused-petitioner Dizon thus argues that he was deprived of due process of must first explain to the accused personally in clear terms the exact nature
law when the trial court forfeited his right to present evidence. According to and consequences of a waiver. Crisostomo was not even forewarned. The
him, the postponement of the 25 August 1993 hearing should have been Sandiganbayan simply went ahead to deprive Crisostomo of his right to
considered justified, since his original pre-assigned trial dates were not present evidence without even allowing Crisostomo to explain his absence on
supposed to start until 8 September 1993, when he was scheduled to present the 22 June 1995 hearing.
evidence. He posits that he was ready to present evidence on the dates
assigned to him. He also points out that he did not ask for a resetting of any
of the said hearing dates; that he in fact insisted on being allowed to present Clearly, the waiver of the right to present evidence in a criminal case
evidence on the dates fixed by the trial court. Thus, he contends that the trial involving a grave penalty is not assumed and taken lightly. The presence of
court erred in accelerating the schedule of presentation of evidence, thereby the accused and his counsel is indispensable so that the court could
invalidating the finding of his guilt. personally conduct a searching inquiry into the waiver x x x.46 (Emphasis
supplied)
The right of the accused to present evidence is guaranteed by no less than
the Constitution itself.42 Article III, Section 14(2) thereof, provides that "in all The trial court should not have deemed the failure of petitioner to present
criminal prosecutions, the accused … shall enjoy the right to be heard by evidence on 25 August 1993 as a waiver of his right to present evidence. On
himself and counsel…" This constitutional right includes the right to present the contrary, it should have considered the excuse of counsel justified,
evidence in one’s defense,43 as well as the right to be present and defend especially since counsel for another accused – General – had made a last-
oneself in person at every stage of the proceedings.44 minute adoption of testimonial evidence that freed up the succeeding trial
dates; and since Dizon was not scheduled to testify until two weeks later. At
any rate, the trial court pre-assigned five hearing dates for the reception of
In Crisostomo v. Sandiganbayan,45 the Sandiganbayan set the hearing of the evidence. If it really wanted to impose its Order strictly, the most it could
defense’s presentation of evidence for 21, 22 and 23 June 1995. The 21 June have done was to forfeit one out of the five days set for Dizon’s testimonial
1995 hearing was cancelled due to "lack of quorum in the regular evidence. Stripping the accused of all his pre-assigned trial dates constitutes
membership" of the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division and upon the a patent denial of the constitutionally guaranteed right to due process.
agreement of the parties. The hearing was reset for the next day, 22 June
1995, but Crisostomo and his counsel failed to attend. The Sandiganbayan,
on the very same day, issued an Order directing the issuance of a warrant for Nevertheless, as in the case of an improvident guilty plea, an invalid waiver of
the arrest of Crisostomo and the confiscation of his surety bond. The Order the right to present evidence and be heard does not per se work to vacate a
further declared that he had waived his right to present evidence because of finding of guilt in the criminal case or to enforce an automatic remand of the
case to the trial court.47 In People v. Bodoso, we ruled that where facts have

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adequately been represented in a criminal case, and no procedural than a mathematical computation of the number of postponements of the
unfairness or irregularity has prejudiced either the prosecution or the scheduled hearings of the case.55 The conduct of both the prosecution and
defense as a result of the invalid waiver, the rule is that a guilty verdict may the defense must be weighed.56 Also to be considered are factors such as the
nevertheless be upheld if the judgment is supported beyond reasonable length of delay, the assertion or non-assertion of the right, and the prejudice
doubt by the evidence on record.48 wrought upon the defendant.57

We do not see any material inadequacy in the relevant facts on record to We have consistently ruled in a long line of cases that a dismissal of the case
resolve the case at bar. Neither can we see any "procedural unfairness or pursuant to the right of the accused to speedy trial is tantamount to
irregularity" that would substantially prejudice either the prosecution or the acquittal.58 As a consequence, an appeal or a reconsideration of the dismissal
defense as a result of the invalid waiver. In fact, the arguments set forth by would amount to a violation of the principle of double jeopardy.59 As we have
accused Dizon in his Petition corroborate the material facts relevant to decide previously discussed, however, where the dismissal of the case is capricious,
the matter. Instead, what he is really contesting in his Petition is the certiorari lies.60 The rule on double jeopardy is not triggered when a petition
application of the law to the facts by the trial court and the CA. Petitioner challenges the validity of the order of dismissal instead of the correctness
Dizon admits direct participation in the hazing of Lenny Villa by alleging in thereof.61 Rather, grave abuse of discretion amounts to lack of jurisdiction,
his Petition that "all actions of the petitioner were part of the traditional and lack of jurisdiction prevents double jeopardy from attaching.62
rites," and that "the alleged extension of the initiation rites was not outside
the official activity of the fraternity."49 He even argues that "Dizon did not We do not see grave abuse of discretion in the CA’s dismissal of the case
request for the extension and he participated only after the activity was against accused Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, and Adriano on the basis of the
sanctioned."50 violation of their right to speedy trial. The court held thus:

For one reason or another, the case has been passed or turned over from one An examination of the procedural history of this case would reveal that the
judge or justice to another – at the trial court, at the CA, and even at the following factors contributed to the slow progress of the proceedings in the
Supreme Court. Remanding the case for the reception of the evidence of case below:
petitioner Dizon would only inflict further injustice on the parties. This case
has been going on for almost two decades. Its resolution is long overdue.
Since the key facts necessary to decide the case have already been 5) The fact that the records of the case were elevated to the Court of Appeals
determined, we shall proceed to decide it. and the prosecution’s failure to comply with the order of the court a quo
requiring them to secure certified true copies of the same.
G.R. Nos. 178057 and 178080 (Villa v. Escalona)
While we are prepared to concede that some of the foregoing factors that
contributed to the delay of the trial of the petitioners are justifiable, We
Petitioner Villa argues that the case against Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, and nonetheless hold that their right to speedy trial has been utterly violated in
Adriano should not have been dismissed, since they failed to assert their this case x x x.
right to speedy trial within a reasonable period of time. She points out that
the accused failed to raise a protest during the dormancy of the criminal case
against them, and that they asserted their right only after the trial court had [T]he absence of the records in the trial court [was] due to the fact that the
dismissed the case against their co-accused Concepcion. Petitioner also records of the case were elevated to the Court of Appeals, and the
emphasizes that the trial court denied the respective Motions to Dismiss filed prosecution’s failure to comply with the order of the court a quo requiring it
by Saruca, Escalona, Ramos, and Adriano, because it found that "the to secure certified true copies of the same. What is glaring from the records is
prosecution could not be faulted for the delay in the movement of this case the fact that as early as September 21, 1995, the court a quo already issued
when the original records and the evidence it may require were not at its an Order requiring the prosecution, through the Department of Justice, to
disposal as these were in the Court of Appeals."51 secure the complete records of the case from the Court of Appeals. The
prosecution did not comply with the said Order as in fact, the same directive
was repeated by the court a quo in an Order dated December 27, 1995. Still,
The right of the accused to a speedy trial has been enshrined in Sections there was no compliance on the part of the prosecution. It is not stated when
14(2) and 16, Article III of the 1987 Constitution.52 This right requires that such order was complied with. It appears, however, that even until August 5,
there be a trial free from vexatious, capricious or oppressive delays.53 The 2002, the said records were still not at the disposal of the trial court because
right is deemed violated when the proceeding is attended with unjustified the lack of it was made the basis of the said court in granting the motion to
postponements of trial, or when a long period of time is allowed to elapse dismiss filed by co-accused Concepcion x x x.
without the case being tried and for no cause or justifiable motive.54 In
determining the right of the accused to speedy trial, courts should do more

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It is likewise noticeable that from December 27, 1995, until August 5, 2002, of reason, justice and conscience.70 It is embodied in the civil law maxim non
or for a period of almost seven years, there was no action at all on the part of bis in idem found in the common law of England and undoubtedly in every
the court a quo. Except for the pleadings filed by both the prosecution and system of jurisprudence.71 It found expression in the Spanish Law, in the
the petitioners, the latest of which was on January 29, 1996, followed by Constitution of the United States, and in our own Constitution as one of the
petitioner Saruca’s motion to set case for trial on August 17, 1998 which the fundamental rights of the citizen,72 viz:
court did not act upon, the case remained dormant for a considerable length
of time. This prolonged inactivity whatsoever is precisely the kind of delay Article III – Bill of Rights
that the constitution frowns upon x x x.63(Emphasis supplied)
Section 21. No person shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment for the
This Court points out that on 10 January 1992, the final amended same offense. If an act is punished by a law and an ordinance, conviction or
Information was filed against Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, Ampil, S. Fernandez, acquittal under either shall constitute a bar to another prosecution for the
Adriano, Cabangon, Concepcion, and De Vera.64 On 29 November 1993, they same act.
were all arraigned.65 Unfortunately, the initial trial of the case did not
commence until 28 March 2005 or almost 12 years after arraignment.66
Rule 117, Section 7 of the Rules of Court, which implements this particular
constitutional right, provides as follows:73
As illustrated in our ruling in Abardo v. Sandiganbayan, the unexplained
interval or inactivity of the Sandiganbayan for close to five years since the
arraignment of the accused amounts to an unreasonable delay in the SEC. 7. Former conviction or acquittal; double jeopardy. — When an accused
disposition of cases – a clear violation of the right of the accused to a speedy has been convicted or acquitted, or the case against him dismissed or
disposition of cases.67 Thus, we held: otherwise terminated without his express consent by a court of competent
jurisdiction, upon a valid complaint or information or other formal charge
sufficient in form and substance to sustain a conviction and after the
The delay in this case measures up to the unreasonableness of the delay in accused had pleaded to the charge, the conviction or acquittal of the accused
the disposition of cases in Angchangco, Jr. vs. Ombudsman, where the Court or the dismissal of the case shall be a bar to another prosecution for the
found the delay of six years by the Ombudsman in resolving the criminal offense charged, or for any attempt to commit the same or frustration
complaints to be violative of the constitutionally guaranteed right to a speedy thereof, or for any offense which necessarily includes or is necessarily
disposition of cases; similarly, in Roque vs. Office of the Ombudsman, where included in the offense charged in the former complaint or information.
the Court held that the delay of almost six years disregarded the
Ombudsman's duty to act promptly on complaints before him; and in
Cervantes vs. Sandiganbayan, where the Court held that the Sandiganbayan The rule on double jeopardy thus prohibits the state from appealing the
gravely abused its discretion in not quashing the information which was filed judgment in order to reverse the acquittal or to increase the penalty imposed
six years after the initiatory complaint was filed and thereby depriving either through a regular appeal under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court or
petitioner of his right to a speedy disposition of the case. So it must be in the through an appeal by certiorari on pure questions of law under Rule 45 of
instant case, where the reinvestigation by the Ombudsman has dragged on the same Rules.74 The requisites for invoking double jeopardy are the
for a decade already.68 (Emphasis supplied) following: (a) there is a valid complaint or information; (b) it is filed before a
competent court; (c) the defendant pleaded to the charge; and (d) the
defendant was acquitted or convicted, or the case against him or her was
From the foregoing principles, we affirm the ruling of the CA in CA-G.R. SP dismissed or otherwise terminated without the defendant’s express
No. 89060 that accused Escalona et al.’s right to speedy trial was violated. consent.75
Since there is nothing in the records that would show that the subject of this
Petition includes accused Ampil, S. Fernandez, Cabangon, and De Vera, the
effects of this ruling shall be limited to accused Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, As we have reiterated in People v. Court of Appeals and Galicia, "[a] verdict of
and Adriano. acquittal is immediately final and a reexamination of the merits of such
acquittal, even in the appellate courts, will put the accused in jeopardy for
the same offense. The finality-of-acquittal doctrine has several avowed
G.R. No. 154954 (People v. Court of Appeals) purposes. Primarily, it prevents the State from using its criminal processes
as an instrument of harassment to wear out the accused by a multitude of
The rule on double jeopardy is one of the pillars of our criminal justice cases with accumulated trials. It also serves the additional purpose of
system. It dictates that when a person is charged with an offense, and the precluding the State, following an acquittal, from successively retrying the
case is terminated – either by acquittal or conviction or in any other manner defendant in the hope of securing a conviction. And finally, it prevents the
without the consent of the accused – the accused cannot again be charged State, following conviction, from retrying the defendant again in the hope of
with the same or an identical offense.69This principle is founded upon the law securing a greater penalty."76 We further stressed that "an acquitted

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defendant is entitled to the right of repose as a direct consequence of the We, however, modify the assailed judgment as regards Tecson, Ama, Almeda,
finality of his acquittal."77 and Bantug – the four fraternity members convicted of slight physical
injuries.
This prohibition, however, is not absolute. The state may challenge the lower
court’s acquittal of the accused or the imposition of a lower penalty on the Indeed, we have ruled in a line of cases that the rule on double jeopardy
latter in the following recognized exceptions: (1) where the prosecution is similarly applies when the state seeks the imposition of a higher penalty
deprived of a fair opportunity to prosecute and prove its case, tantamount to against the accused.91 We have also recognized, however, that certiorari may
a deprivation of due process;78 (2) where there is a finding of mistrial;79 or (3) be used to correct an abusive judgment upon a clear demonstration that the
where there has been a grave abuse of discretion.80 lower court blatantly abused its authority to a point so grave as to deprive it
of its very power to dispense justice.92 The present case is one of those
The third instance refers to this Court’s judicial power under Rule 65 to instances of grave abuse of discretion.
determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or In imposing the penalty of slight physical injuries on Tecson, Ama, Almeda,
instrumentality of the government.81 Here, the party asking for the review and Bantug, the CA reasoned thus:
must show the presence of a whimsical or capricious exercise of judgment
equivalent to lack of jurisdiction; a patent and gross abuse of discretion Based on the medical findings, it would appear that with the exclusion of the
amounting to an evasion of a positive duty or to a virtual refusal to perform a fatal wounds inflicted by the accused Dizon and Villareal, the injuries
duty imposed by law or to act in contemplation of law; an exercise of power sustained by the victim as a result of the physical punishment heaped on
in an arbitrary and despotic manner by reason of passion and hostility;82 or a him were serious in nature. However, by reason of the death of the victim,
blatant abuse of authority to a point so grave and so severe as to deprive the there can be no precise means to determine the duration of the incapacity or
court of its very power to dispense justice.83 In such an event, the accused the medical attendance required. To do so, at this stage would be merely
cannot be considered to be at risk of double jeopardy.84 speculative. In a prosecution for this crime where the category of the offense
and the severity of the penalty depend on the period of illness or incapacity
The Solicitor General filed a Rule 65 Petition for Certiorari, which seeks the for labor, the length of this period must likewise be proved beyond
reversal of (1) the acquittal of Victorino et al. and (2) the conviction of Tecson reasonable doubt in much the same manner as the same act charged [People
et al. for the lesser crime of slight physical injuries, both on the basis of a v. Codilla, CA-G.R. No. 4079-R, June 26, 1950]. And when proof of the said
misappreciation of facts and evidence. According to the Petition, "the decision period is absent, the crime committed should be deemed only as slight
of the Court of Appeals is not in accordance with law because private physical injuries [People v. De los Santos, CA, 59 O.G. 4393, citing People v.
complainant and petitioner were denied due process of law when the public Penesa, 81 Phil. 398]. As such, this Court is constrained to rule that the
respondent completely ignored the a) Position Paper x x x b) the Motion for injuries inflicted by the appellants, Tecson, Ama, Almeda and Bantug, Jr.,
Partial Reconsideration x x x and c) the petitioner’s Comment x x are only slight and not serious, in nature.93 (Emphasis supplied and citations
x."85 Allegedly, the CA ignored evidence when it adopted the theory of included)
individual responsibility; set aside the finding of conspiracy by the trial court;
and failed to apply Article 4 of the Revised Penal Code.86 The Solicitor General The appellate court relied on our ruling in People v. Penesa94 in finding that
also assails the finding that the physical blows were inflicted only by Dizon the four accused should be held guilty only of slight physical injuries.
and Villareal, as well as the appreciation of Lenny Villa’s consent to hazing.87 According to the CA, because of "the death of the victim, there can be no
precise means to determine the duration of the incapacity or medical
In our view, what the Petition seeks is that we reexamine, reassess, and attendance required."95 The reliance on Penesa was utterly misplaced. A
reweigh the probative value of the evidence presented by the parties.88 In review of that case would reveal that the accused therein was guilty merely of
People v. Maquiling, we held that grave abuse of discretion cannot be slight physical injuries, because the victim’s injuries neither caused
attributed to a court simply because it allegedly misappreciated the facts and incapacity for labor nor required medical attendance.96Furthermore, he did
the evidence.89 Mere errors of judgment are correctible by an appeal or a not die.97 His injuries were not even serious.98 Since Penesa involved a case in
petition for review under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, and not by an which the victim allegedly suffered physical injuries and not death, the ruling
application for a writ of certiorari.90 Therefore, pursuant to the rule on double cited by the CA was patently inapplicable.
jeopardy, we are constrained to deny the Petition contra Victorino et al. – the
19 acquitted fraternity members. On the contrary, the CA’s ultimate conclusion that Tecson, Ama, Almeda,
and Bantug were liable merely for slight physical injuries grossly contradicts
its own findings of fact. According to the court, the four accused "were found
to have inflicted more than the usual punishment undertaken during such

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initiation rites on the person of Villa."99 It then adopted the NBI medico-legal members were guilty of homicide, as it was the direct, natural and logical
officer’s findings that the antecedent cause of Lenny Villa’s death was the consequence of the physical injuries they had intentionally inflicted.104
"multiple traumatic injuries" he suffered from the initiation
rites.100 Considering that the CA found that the "physical punishment heaped The CA modified the trial court’s finding of criminal liability. It ruled that
on [Lenny Villa was] serious in nature,"101 it was patently erroneous for the there could have been no conspiracy since the neophytes, including Lenny
court to limit the criminal liability to slight physical injuries, which is a light Villa, had knowingly consented to the conduct of hazing during their
felony. initiation rites. The accused fraternity members, therefore, were liable only
for the consequences of their individual acts. Accordingly, 19 of the accused
Article 4(1) of the Revised Penal Code dictates that the perpetrator shall be – Victorino et al. – were acquitted; 4 of them – Tecson et al. – were found
liable for the consequences of an act, even if its result is different from that guilty of slight physical injuries; and the remaining 2 – Dizon and Villareal –
intended. Thus, once a person is found to have committed an initial felonious were found guilty of homicide.
act, such as the unlawful infliction of physical injuries that results in the
death of the victim, courts are required to automatically apply the legal The issue at hand does not concern a typical criminal case wherein the
framework governing the destruction of life. This rule is mandatory, and not perpetrator clearly commits a felony in order to take revenge upon, to gain
subject to discretion. advantage over, to harm maliciously, or to get even with, the victim. Rather,
the case involves an ex ante situation in which a man – driven by his own
The CA’s application of the legal framework governing physical injuries – desire to join a society of men – pledged to go through physically and
punished under Articles 262 to 266 for intentional felonies and Article 365 psychologically strenuous admission rituals, just so he could enter the
for culpable felonies – is therefore tantamount to a whimsical, capricious, fraternity. Thus, in order to understand how our criminal laws apply to such
and abusive exercise of judgment amounting to lack of jurisdiction. situation absent the Anti-Hazing Law, we deem it necessary to make a brief
According to the Revised Penal Code, the mandatory and legally imposable exposition on the underlying concepts shaping intentional felonies, as well as
penalty in case the victim dies should be based on the framework governing on the nature of physical and psychological initiations widely known as
the destruction of the life of a person, punished under Articles 246 to 261 for hazing.
intentional felonies and Article 365 for culpable felonies, and not under the
aforementioned provisions. We emphasize that these two types of felonies are Intentional Felony and Conspiracy
distinct from and legally inconsistent with each other, in that the accused
cannot be held criminally liable for physical injuries when actual death
occurs.102 Our Revised Penal Code belongs to the classical school of thought.105 The
classical theory posits that a human person is essentially a moral creature
with an absolute free will to choose between good and evil.106 It asserts that
Attributing criminal liability solely to Villareal and Dizon – as if only their one should only be adjudged or held accountable for wrongful acts so long as
acts, in and of themselves, caused the death of Lenny Villa – is contrary to free will appears unimpaired.107 The basic postulate of the classical penal
the CA’s own findings. From proof that the death of the victim was the system is that humans are rational and calculating beings who guide their
cumulative effect of the multiple injuries he suffered,103 the only logical actions with reference to the principles of pleasure and pain.108 They refrain
conclusion is that criminal responsibility should redound to all those who from criminal acts if threatened with punishment sufficient to cancel the
have been proven to have directly participated in the infliction of physical hope of possible gain or advantage in committing the crime.109 Here, criminal
injuries on Lenny. The accumulation of bruising on his body caused him to liability is thus based on the free will and moral blame of the actor.110 The
suffer cardiac arrest. Accordingly, we find that the CA committed grave abuse identity of mens rea – defined as a guilty mind, a guilty or wrongful purpose
of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in finding Tecson, or criminal intent – is the predominant consideration.111 Thus, it is not
Ama, Almeda, and Bantug criminally liable for slight physical injuries. As an enough to do what the law prohibits.112 In order for an intentional felony to
allowable exception to the rule on double jeopardy, we therefore give due exist, it is necessary that the act be committed by means of dolo or
course to the Petition in G.R. No. 154954. "malice."113

Resolution on Ultimate Findings The term "dolo" or "malice" is a complex idea involving the elements of
freedom, intelligence, and intent.114 The first element, freedom, refers to an
According to the trial court, although hazing was not (at the time) punishable act done with deliberation and with power to choose between two
as a crime, the intentional infliction of physical injuries on Villa was things.115 The second element, intelligence, concerns the ability to determine
nonetheless a felonious act under Articles 263 to 266 of the Revised Penal the morality of human acts, as well as the capacity to distinguish between a
Code. Thus, in ruling against the accused, the court a quo found that licit and an illicit act.116 The last element, intent, involves an aim or a
pursuant to Article 4(1) of the Revised Penal Code, the accused fraternity determination to do a certain act.117

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The element of intent – on which this Court shall focus – is described as the The notion of hazing is not a recent development in our society.135 It is said
state of mind accompanying an act, especially a forbidden act.118 It refers to that, throughout history, hazing in some form or another has been
the purpose of the mind and the resolve with which a person proceeds.119 It associated with organizations ranging from military groups to indigenous
does not refer to mere will, for the latter pertains to the act, while intent tribes.136 Some say that elements of hazing can be traced back to the Middle
concerns the result of the act.120 While motive is the "moving power" that Ages, during which new students who enrolled in European universities
impels one to action for a definite result, intent is the "purpose" of using a worked as servants for upperclassmen.137 It is believed that the concept of
particular means to produce the result.121 On the other hand, the term hazing is rooted in ancient Greece,138 where young men recruited into the
"felonious" means, inter alia, malicious, villainous, and/or proceeding from military were tested with pain or challenged to demonstrate the limits of their
an evil heart or purpose.122 With these elements taken together, the loyalty and to prepare the recruits for battle.139 Modern fraternities and
requirement of intent in intentional felony must refer to malicious intent, sororities espouse some connection to these values of ancient Greek
which is a vicious and malevolent state of mind accompanying a forbidden civilization.140 According to a scholar, this concept lends historical legitimacy
act. Stated otherwise, intentional felony requires the existence of dolus malus to a "tradition" or "ritual" whereby prospective members are asked to prove
– that the act or omission be done "willfully," "maliciously," "with deliberate their worthiness and loyalty to the organization in which they seek to attain
evil intent," and "with malice aforethought."123 The maxim is actus non facit membership through hazing.141
reum, nisi mens sit rea – a crime is not committed if the mind of the person
performing the act complained of is innocent.124 As is required of the other Thus, it is said that in the Greek fraternity system, custom requires a
elements of a felony, the existence of malicious intent must be proven beyond student wishing to join an organization to receive an invitation in order to be
reasonable doubt.125 a neophyte for a particular chapter.142 The neophyte period is usually one to
two semesters long.143 During the "program," neophytes are required to
In turn, the existence of malicious intent is necessary in order for conspiracy interview and to get to know the active members of the chapter; to learn
to attach. Article 8 of the Revised Penal Code – which provides that chapter history; to understand the principles of the organization; to maintain
"conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement a specified grade point average; to participate in the organization’s activities;
concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it" – is to be and to show dignity and respect for their fellow neophytes, the organization,
interpreted to refer only to felonies committed by means of dolo or malice. and its active and alumni members.144 Some chapters require the initiation
The phrase "coming to an agreement" connotes the existence of a prefaced activities for a recruit to involve hazing acts during the entire neophyte
"intent" to cause injury to another, an element present only in intentional stage.145
felonies. In culpable felonies or criminal negligence, the injury inflicted on
another is unintentional, the wrong done being simply the result of an act Hazing, as commonly understood, involves an initiation rite or ritual that
performed without malice or criminal design.126 Here, a person performs an serves as prerequisite for admission to an organization.146 In hazing, the
initial lawful deed; however, due to negligence, imprudence, lack of foresight, "recruit," "pledge," "neophyte," "initiate," "applicant" – or any other term by
or lack of skill, the deed results in a wrongful act.127 Verily, a deliberate which the organization may refer to such a person – is generally placed in
intent to do an unlawful act, which is a requisite in conspiracy, is embarrassing or humiliating situations, like being forced to do menial, silly,
inconsistent with the idea of a felony committed by means of culpa.128 foolish, or other similar tasks or activities.147 It encompasses different forms
of conduct that humiliate, degrade, abuse, or physically endanger those who
The presence of an initial malicious intent to commit a felony is thus a vital desire membership in the organization.148 These acts usually involve physical
ingredient in establishing the commission of the intentional felony of or psychological suffering or injury.149
homicide.129 Being mala in se, the felony of homicide requires the existence of
malice or dolo130 immediately before or simultaneously with the infliction of The concept of initiation rites in the country is nothing new. In fact, more
injuries.131 Intent to kill – or animus interficendi – cannot and should not be than a century ago, our national hero – Andres Bonifacio – organized a secret
inferred, unless there is proof beyond reasonable doubt of such society named Kataastaasan Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng
intent.132 Furthermore, the victim’s death must not have been the product of Bayan (The Highest and Most Venerable Association of the Sons and
accident, natural cause, or suicide.133 If death resulted from an act executed Daughters of the Nation).150 The Katipunan, or KKK, started as a small
without malice or criminal intent – but with lack of foresight, carelessness, or confraternity believed to be inspired by European Freemasonry, as well as by
negligence – the act must be qualified as reckless or simple negligence or confraternities or sodalities approved by the Catholic Church.151 The
imprudence resulting in homicide.134 Katipunan’s ideology was brought home to each member through the
society’s initiation ritual.152 It is said that initiates were brought to a dark
Hazing and other forms of initiation rites room, lit by a single point of illumination, and were asked a series of
questions to determine their fitness, loyalty, courage, and
resolve.153 They were made to go through vigorous trials such as
"pagsuot sa isang lungga" or "[pagtalon] sa balon."154 It would seem that

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they were also made to withstand the blow of "pangherong bakal sa and vomit; (2) receiving paddlings on the buttocks; (3) being pushed and
pisngi" and to endure a "matalas na punyal."155 As a final step in the kicked, often onto walls or into pits and trash cans; (4) eating foods like
ritual, the neophyte Katipunero was made to sign membership papers peppers, hot sauce, butter, and "yerks" (a mixture of hot sauce, mayonnaise,
with the his own blood.156 butter, beans, and other items); (5) doing chores for the fraternity and its
members, such as cleaning the fraternity house and yard, being designated
It is believed that the Greek fraternity system was transported by the as driver, and running errands; (6) appearing regularly at 2 a.m. "meetings,"
Americans to the Philippines in the late 19th century. As can be seen in the during which the pledges would be hazed for a couple of hours; and (7)
following instances, the manner of hazing in the United States was jarringly "running the gauntlet," during which the pledges were pushed, kicked, and
similar to that inflicted by the Aquila Fraternity on Lenny Villa. hit as they ran down a hallway and descended down a flight of stairs.169

Early in 1865, upperclassmen at West Point Academy forced the fourth In Lloyd v. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, decided in 1999, the victim – Sylvester
classmen to do exhausting physical exercises that sometimes resulted in Lloyd – was accepted to pledge at the Cornell University chapter of the Alpha
permanent physical damage; to eat or drink unpalatable foods; and in Phi Alpha Fraternity.170 He participated in initiation activities, which included
various ways to humiliate themselves.157 In 1901, General Douglas various forms of physical beatings and torture, psychological coercion and
MacArthur got involved in a congressional investigation of hazing at the embarrassment.171
academy during his second year at West Point.158
In Kenner v. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, decided in 2002, the initiate-victim
In Easler v. Hejaz Temple of Greenville, decided in 1985, the candidate-victim suffered injuries from hazing activities during the fraternity’s initiation
was injured during the shriner’s hazing event, which was part of the rites.172 Kenner and the other initiates went through psychological and
initiation ceremonies for Hejaz membership.159 The ritual involved what was physical hazing, including being paddled on the buttocks for more than 200
known as the "mattress-rotating barrel trick."160 It required each candidate to times.173
slide down an eight to nine-foot-high metal board onto connected mattresses
leading to a barrel, over which the candidate was required to In Morton v. State, Marcus Jones – a university student in Florida – sought
climb.161Members of Hejaz would stand on each side of the mattresses and initiation into the campus chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity during
barrel and fun-paddle candidates en route to the barrel.162 the 2005-06 academic year.174 The pledge’s efforts to join the fraternity
culminated in a series of initiation rituals conducted in four nights. Jones,
In a video footage taken in 1991, U.S. Marine paratroopers in Camp Lejeune, together with other candidates, was blindfolded, verbally harassed, and
North Carolina, were seen performing a ceremony in which they pinned caned on his face and buttocks.175 In these rituals described as
paratrooper jump wings directly onto the neophyte paratroopers’ "preliminaries," which lasted for two evenings, he received approximately 60
chests.163 The victims were shown writhing and crying out in pain as others canings on his buttocks.176 During the last two days of the hazing, the rituals
pounded the spiked medals through the shirts and into the chests of the intensified.177 The pledges sustained roughly 210 cane strikes during the
victims.164 four-night initiation.178 Jones and several other candidates passed out.179

In State v. Allen, decided in 1995, the Southeast Missouri State University The purported raison d’être behind hazing practices is the proverbial "birth
chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi invited male students to enter into a pledgeship by fire," through which the pledge who has successfully withstood the hazing
program.165 The fraternity members subjected the pledges to repeated proves his or her worth.180 Some organizations even believe that hazing is the
physical abuse including repeated, open-hand strikes at the nape, the chest, path to enlightenment. It is said that this process enables the organization to
and the back; caning of the bare soles of the feet and buttocks; blows to the establish unity among the pledges and, hence, reinforces and ensures the
back with the use of a heavy book and a cookie sheet while the pledges were future of the organization.181 Alleged benefits of joining include leadership
on their hands and knees; various kicks and punches to the body; and "body opportunities; improved academic performance; higher self-esteem;
slamming," an activity in which active members of the fraternity lifted professional networking opportunities; and the esprit d’corp associated with
pledges up in the air and dropped them to the ground.166 The fraternity close, almost filial, friendship and common cause.182
members then put the pledges through a seven-station circle of physical
abuse.167 Anti-Hazing laws in the U.S.

In Ex Parte Barran, decided in 1998, the pledge-victim went through hazing The first hazing statute in the U.S. appeared in 1874 in response to hazing in
by fraternity members of the Kappa Alpha Order at the Auburn University in the military.183 The hazing of recruits and plebes in the armed services was
Alabama.168 The hazing included the following: (1) having to dig a ditch and so prevalent that Congress prohibited all forms of military hazing, harmful or
jump into it after it had been filled with water, urine, feces, dinner leftovers, not.184 It was not until 1901 that Illinois passed the first state anti-hazing

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law, criminalizing conduct "whereby any one sustains an injury to his [or The existence of animus interficendi or intent to kill not proven beyond
her] person therefrom."185 reasonable doubt

However, it was not until the 1980s and 1990s, due in large part to the The presence of an ex ante situation – in this case, fraternity initiation rites –
efforts of the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings and other similar does not automatically amount to the absence of malicious intent or dolus
organizations, that states increasingly began to enact legislation prohibiting malus. If it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that the perpetrators were
and/or criminalizing hazing.186 As of 2008, all but six states had enacted equipped with a guilty mind – whether or not there is a contextual
criminal or civil statutes proscribing hazing.187 Most anti-hazing laws in the background or factual premise – they are still criminally liable for intentional
U.S. treat hazing as a misdemeanor and carry relatively light consequences felony.
for even the most severe situations.188 Only a few states with anti-hazing laws
consider hazing as a felony in case death or great bodily harm occurs.189 The trial court, the CA, and the Solicitor General are all in agreement that –
with the exception of Villareal and Dizon – accused Tecson, Ama, Almeda,
Under the laws of Illinois, hazing is a Class A misdemeanor, except hazing and Bantug did not have the animus interficendi or intent to kill Lenny Villa
that results in death or great bodily harm, which is a Class 4 felony.190 In a or the other neophytes. We shall no longer disturb this finding.
Class 4 felony, a sentence of imprisonment shall be for a term of not less
than one year and not more than three years.191 Indiana criminal law As regards Villareal and Dizon, the CA modified the Decision of the trial court
provides that a person who recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally performs and found that the two accused had the animus interficendi or intent to kill
hazing that results in serious bodily injury to a person commits criminal Lenny Villa, not merely to inflict physical injuries on him. It justified its
recklessness, a Class D felony.192 finding of homicide against Dizon by holding that he had apparently been
motivated by ill will while beating up Villa. Dizon kept repeating that his
The offense becomes a Class C felony if committed by means of a deadly father’s parking space had been stolen by the victim’s father.207 As to
weapon.193 As an element of a Class C felony – criminal recklessness – Villareal, the court said that the accused suspected the family of Bienvenido
resulting in serious bodily injury, death falls under the category of "serious Marquez, one of the neophytes, to have had a hand in the death of Villareal’s
bodily injury."194 A person who commits a Class C felony is imprisoned for a brother.208 The CA then ruled as follows:
fixed term of between two (2) and eight (8) years, with the advisory sentence
being four (4) years.195 Pursuant to Missouri law, hazing is a Class A The two had their own axes to grind against Villa and Marquez. It was very
misdemeanor, unless the act creates a substantial risk to the life of the clear that they acted with evil and criminal intent. The evidence on this
student or prospective member, in which case it becomes a Class C matter is unrebutted and so for the death of Villa,
felony.196 A Class C felony provides for an imprisonment term not to exceed appellants Dizon and Villarealmust and should face the consequence of their
seven years.197 acts, that is, to be held liable for the crime of homicide.209 (Emphasis
supplied)
In Texas, hazing that causes the death of another is a state jail felony.198 An
individual adjudged guilty of a state jail felony is punished by confinement in We cannot subscribe to this conclusion.
a state jail for any term of not more than two years or not less than 180
days.199 Under Utah law, if hazing results in serious bodily injury, the hazer
is guilty of a third-degree felony.200 A person who has been convicted of a The appellate court relied mainly on the testimony of Bienvenido Marquez to
third-degree felony may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not to determine the existence of animus interficendi. For a full appreciation of the
exceed five years.201 West Virginia law provides that if the act of hazing would context in which the supposed utterances were made, the Court deems it
otherwise be deemed a felony, the hazer may be found guilty thereof and necessary to reproduce the relevant portions of witness Marquez’s testimony:
subject to penalties provided therefor.202 In Wisconsin, a person is guilty of a
Class G felony if hazing results in the death of another.203 A Class G felony Witness We were brought up into [Michael Musngi’s] room and we were
carries a fine not to exceed $25,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 10 years, briefed as to what to expect during the next three days and we were told the
or both.204 members of the fraternity and their batch and we were also told about the
fraternity song, sir.
In certain states in the U.S., victims of hazing were left with limited remedies,
as there was no hazing statute.205 This situation was exemplified in Ballou v. Witness We were escorted out of [Michael Musngi’s] house and we were made
Sigma Nu General Fraternity, wherein Barry Ballou’s family resorted to a civil to ride a van and we were brought to another place in Kalookan City which I
action for wrongful death, since there was no anti-hazing statute in South later found to be the place of Mariano Almeda, sir.
Carolina until 1994.206

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Witness Upon arrival, we were instructed to bow our head down and to link Atty. Tadiar When Boyet Dizon at that particular time was accusing you of
our arms and then the driver of the van and other members of the Aquilans having your family have his brother killed, what was your response?
who were inside left us inside the van, sir. Witness Of course, I knew sir that it was not true and that he was just
making it up sir. So he said that I knew nothing of that incident. However, he
Witness We heard voices shouted outside the van to the effect, "Villa akin just in fact after the Bicol Express, he kept on uttering those
ka," "Asuncion Patay ka" and the people outside pound the van, rock the van, words/statements so that it would in turn justify him and to give me harder
sir. blows, sir.
Atty. Tadiar Will you please recall in what tone of voice and how strong a xxx xxx xxx
voice these remarks uttered upon your arrival? Atty. Tadiar You mentioned about Dizon in particular mentioning that Lenny
Witness Some were almost shouting, you could feel the sense of excitement Villa’s father stole the parking space allotted for his father, do you recall who
in their voices, sir. were within hearing distance when that utterance was made?
xxx xxx xxx Witness Yes, sir. All of the neophytes heard that utterance, sir.
Atty. Tadiar During all these times that the van was being rocked through xxx xxx xxx
and through, what were the voices or utterances that you heard? Witness There were different times made this accusation so there were
Witness "Villa akin ka," "Asuncion patay ka," "Recinto patay ka sa amin," different people who heard from time to time, sir.
etc., sir. xxx xxx xxx
Atty. Tadiar And those utterances and threats, how long did they continue Atty. Tadiar Can you tell the Honorable Court when was the next accusation
during the rocking of the van which lasted for 5 minutes? against Lenny Villa’s father was made?
xxx xxx xxx Witness When we were line up against the wall, Boyet Dizon came near to us
Witness Even after they rocked the van, we still kept on hearing voices, sir. and when Lenny Villa’s turn, I heard him uttered those statements, sir.
xxx xxx xxx Atty. Tadiar What happened after he made this accusation to Lenny Villa’s
Atty. Tadiar During the time that this rounds [of physical beating] were being father?
inflicted, was there any utterances by anybody? Witness He continued to inflict blows on Lenny Villa.
Witness Yes sir. Some were piercing, some were discouraging, and some were Atty. Tadiar How were those blows inflicted?
encouraging others who were pounding and beating us, it was just like a Witness There were slaps and he knelt on Lenny Villa’s thighs and sometime
fiesta atmosphere, actually some of them enjoyed looking us being pounded, he stand up and he kicked his thighs and sometimes jumped at it, sir.
sir. xxx xxx xxx
Atty. Tadiar Do you recall what were those voices that you heard? Atty. Tadiar We would go on to the second day but not right now. You
Witness One particular utterance always said was, they asked us whether mentioned also that accusations made by Dizon "you or your family had his
"matigas pa yan, kayang-kaya pa niyan." brother killed," can you inform this Honorable Court what exactly were the
Atty. Tadiar Do you know who in particular uttered those particular words accusations that were charged against you while inflicting blows upon you in
that you quote? particular?
Witness I cannot particularly point to because there were utterances Witness While he was inflicting blows upon me, he told me in particular if I
simultaneously, I could not really pin point who uttered those words, sir. knew that his family who had his brother killed, and he said that his brother
xxx xxx xxx was an NPA, sir so I knew that it was just a story that he made up and I said
Atty. Tadiar Were there any utterances that you heard during the conduct of that I knew nothing about it and he continued inflicting blows on me, sir.
this Bicol Express? And another incident was when a talk was being given, Dizon was on another
Witness Yes, sir I heard utterances. part of the pelota court and I was sort of looking and we saw that he was
Atty. Tadiar Will you please recall to this Honorable Court what were the drinking beer, and he said and I quote: "Marquez, Marquez, ano ang
utterances that you remember? tinitingin-tingin mo diyan, ikaw yung pamilya mo ang nagpapatay sa aking
Witness For example, one person particularly Boyet Dizon stepped on my kapatid, yari ka sa akin," sir.
thigh, he would say that and I quote "ito, yung pamilya nito ay pinapatay Atty. Tadiar What else?
yung kapatid ko," so that would in turn sort of justifying him in inflicting Witness That’s all, sir.
more serious pain on me. So instead of just walking, he would jump on my Atty. Tadiar And on that first night of February 8, 1991, did ever a doctor or
thighs and then after on was Lenny Villa. He was saying to the effect that a physician came around as promised to you earlier?
"this guy, his father stole the parking space of my father," sir. So, that’s why Witness No, sir.210 (Emphasis supplied)
he inflicted more pain on Villa and that went on, sir. On cross-examination, witness Bienvenido Marquez testified thus:
Atty. Tadiar And you were referring to which particular accused? Judge Purisima When you testified on direct examination Mr. Marquez, have
Witness Boyet Dizon, sir. you stated that there was a briefing that was conducted immediately before
your initiation as regards to what to expect during the initiation, did I hear
you right?

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Witness Yes, sir. Atty. Jimenez In other words, he was only psychologizing you perhaps, the
Judge Purisima Who did the briefing? purpose as I have mentioned before, terrifying you, scaring you or frightening
Witness Mr. Michael Musngi, sir and Nelson Victorino. you into quitting the initiation, this is correct?
Judge Purisima Will you kindly tell the Honorable Court what they told you Witness No, sir, perhaps it is one but the main reason, I think, why he was
to expect during the initiation? saying those things was because he wanted to inflict injury.
Witness They told us at the time we would be brought to a particular place, Atty. Jimenez He did not tell that to you. That is your only perception,
we would be mocked at, sir. correct?
Judge Purisima So, you expected to be mocked at, ridiculed, humiliated etc., Witness No, sir, because at one point, while he was telling this to Villareal, he
and the likes? was hitting me.
Witness Yes, sir. Atty. Jimenez But did you not say earlier that you [were] subjected to the
Judge Purisima You were also told beforehand that there would be physical same forms of initiation by all the initiating masters? You said that earlier,
contact? right?
Witness Yes, sir at the briefing. Witness Yes, sir.
xxx xxx xxx Atty. Jimenez Are you saying also that the others who jumped on you or
Witness Yes, sir, because they informed that we could immediately go back to kicked you said something similar as was told to you by Mr. Dizon?
school. All the bruises would be limited to our arms and legs, sir. So, if we Witness No, sir.
wear the regular school uniforms like long sleeves, it would be covered Atty. Jimenez But the fact remains that in the Bicol Express for instance, the
actually so we have no thinking that our face would be slapped, sir. masters would run on your thighs, right?
Judge Purisima So, you mean to say that beforehand that you would have Witness Yes, sir.
bruises on your body but that will be covered? Atty. Jimenez This was the regular procedure that was followed by the
Witness Yes, sir. initiating masters not only on you but also on the other neophytes?
JudgePurisima So, what kind of physical contact or implements that you Witness Yes, sir.
expect that would create bruises to your body? Atty. Jimenez In other words, it is fair to say that whatever forms of initiation
Witness At that point I am already sure that there would be hitting by a was administered by one master, was also administered by one master on a
paddling or paddle, sir. neophyte, was also administered by another master on the other neophyte,
xxx xxx xxx this is correct?
Judge Purisima Now, will you admit Mr. Marquez that much of the initiation Witness Yes, sir.212 (Emphasis supplied)
procedures is psychological in nature?
Witness Combination, sir.211 (Emphasis supplied) According to the Solicitor General himself, the ill motives attributed by the
xxx xxx xxx CA to Dizon and Villareal were "baseless,"213 since the statements of the
Atty. Jimenez The initiation that was conducted did not consist only of accused were "just part of the psychological initiation calculated to instill fear
physical initiation, meaning body contact, is that correct? on the part of the neophytes"; that "[t]here is no element of truth in it as
Witness Yes, sir. testified by Bienvenido Marquez"; and that the "harsh words uttered by
Atty. Jimenez Part of the initiation was the so-called psychological initiation, Petitioner and Villareal are part of ‘tradition’ concurred and accepted by all
correct? the fraternity members during their initiation rites."214
Witness Yes, sir.
Atty. Jimenez And this consisted of making you believe of things calculated
to terrify you, scare you, correct? We agree with the Solicitor General.
Witness Yes, sir.
Atty. Jimenez In other words, the initiating masters made belief situation The foregoing testimony of witness Marquez reveals a glaring mistake of
intended to, I repeat, terrify you, frighten you, scare you into perhaps substantial proportion on the part of the CA – it mistook the utterances of
quitting the initiation, is this correct? Dizon for those of Villareal. Such inaccuracy cannot be tolerated, especially
Witness Sometimes sir, yes. because it was the CA’s primary basis for finding that Villarreal had the
Atty. Jimenez You said on direct that while Mr. Dizon was initiating you, he intent to kill Lenny Villa, thereby making Villareal guilty of the intentional
said or he was supposed to have said according to you that your family were felony of homicide. To repeat, according to Bienvenido Marquez’s testimony,
responsible for the killing of his brother who was an NPA, do you remember as reproduced above, it was Dizon who uttered both "accusations" against
saying that? Villa and Marquez; Villareal had no participation whatsoever in the specific
Witness Yes, sir. threats referred to by the CA. It was "Boyet Dizon [who] stepped on
Atty. Jimenez You also said in connection with that statement said to you by [Marquez’s] thigh"; and who told witness Marquez, "[I]to, yung pamilya nito
Dizon that you did not believe him because that is not true, correct? ay pinapatay yung kapatid ko." It was also Dizon who jumped on Villa’s
Witness Yes, sir. thighs while saying, "[T]his guy, his father stole the parking space of my

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father." With the testimony clarified, we find that the CA had no basis for Thus, without proof beyond reasonable doubt, Dizon’s behavior must not be
concluding the existence of intent to kill based solely thereon. automatically viewed as evidence of a genuine, evil motivation to kill Lenny
Villa. Rather, it must be taken within the context of the fraternity’s
As to the existence of animus interficendi on the part of Dizon, we refer to the psychological initiation. This Court points out that it was not even
entire factual milieu and contextual premise of the incident to fully established whether the fathers of Dizon and Villa really had any familiarity
appreciate and understand the testimony of witness Marquez. At the outset, with each other as would lend credence to the veracity of Dizon’s threats. The
the neophytes were briefed that they would be subjected to psychological testimony of Lenny’s co-neophyte, Marquez, only confirmed this view.
pressure in order to scare them. They knew that they would be mocked, According to Marquez, he "knew it was not true and that [Dizon] was just
ridiculed, and intimidated. They heard fraternity members shout, "Patay ka, making it up…."218 Even the trial court did not give weight to the utterances
Recinto," "Yari ka, Recinto," "Villa, akin ka," "Asuncion, gulpi ka," "Putang of Dizon as constituting intent to kill: "[T]he cumulative acts of all the
ina mo, Asuncion," "Putang ina nyo, patay kayo sa amin," or some other accused were not directed toward killing Villa, but merely to inflict physical
words to that effect.215 While beating the neophytes, Dizon accused Marquez harm as part of the fraternity initiation rites x x x."219 The Solicitor General
of the death of the former’s purported NPA brother, and then blamed Lenny shares the same view.
Villa’s father for stealing the parking space of Dizon’s father. According to the
Solicitor General, these statements, including those of the accused Dizon, Verily, we cannot sustain the CA in finding the accused Dizon guilty of
were all part of the psychological initiation employed by the Aquila homicide under Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code on the basis of the
Fraternity.216 existence of intent to kill. Animus interficendi cannot and should not be
inferred unless there is proof beyond reasonable doubt of such
Thus, to our understanding, accused Dizon’s way of inflicting psychological intent.220 Instead, we adopt and reinstate the finding of the trial court in part,
pressure was through hurling make-believe accusations at the initiates. He insofar as it ruled that none of the fraternity members had the specific intent
concocted the fictitious stories, so that he could "justify" giving the neophytes to kill Lenny Villa.221
harder blows, all in the context of fraternity initiation and role playing. Even
one of the neophytes admitted that the accusations were untrue and made- The existence of animus iniuriandi or malicious intent to injure not proven
up. beyond reasonable doubt

The infliction of psychological pressure is not unusual in the conduct of The Solicitor General argues, instead, that there was an intent to inflict
hazing. In fact, during the Senate deliberations on the then proposed Anti- physical injuries on Lenny Villa. Echoing the Decision of the trial court, the
Hazing Law, former Senator Lina spoke as follows: Solicitor General then posits that since all of the accused fraternity members
conspired to inflict physical injuries on Lenny Villa and death ensued, all of
Senator Lina. -- so as to capture the intent that we conveyed during the them should be liable for the crime of homicide pursuant to Article 4(1) of the
period of interpellations on why we included the phrase "or psychological Revised Penal Code.
pain and suffering."
In order to be found guilty of any of the felonious acts under Articles 262 to
So that if no direct physical harm is inflicted upon the neophyte or the 266 of the Revised Penal Code,222 the employment of physical injuries must
recruit but the recruit or neophyte is made to undergo certain acts which I be coupled with dolus malus. As an act that is mala in se, the existence of
already described yesterday, like playing the Russian roulette extensively to malicious intent is fundamental, since injury arises from the mental state of
test the readiness and the willingness of the neophyte or recruit to continue the wrongdoer – iniuria ex affectu facientis consistat. If there is no criminal
his desire to be a member of the fraternity, sorority or similar organization or intent, the accused cannot be found guilty of an intentional felony. Thus, in
playing and putting a noose on the neck of the neophyte or recruit, making case of physical injuries under the Revised Penal Code, there must be a
the recruit or neophyte stand on the ledge of the fourth floor of the building specific animus iniuriandi or malicious intention to do wrong against the
facing outside, asking him to jump outside after making him turn around physical integrity or well-being of a person, so as to incapacitate and deprive
several times but the reality is that he will be made to jump towards the the victim of certain bodily functions. Without proof beyond reasonable doubt
inside portion of the building – these are the mental or psychological tests of the required animus iniuriandi, the overt act of inflicting physical injuries
that are resorted to by these organizations, sororities or fraternities. The per se merely satisfies the elements of freedom and intelligence in an
doctors who appeared during the public hearing testified that such acts can intentional felony. The commission of the act does not, in itself, make a man
result in some mental aberration, that they can even lead to psychosis, guilty unless his intentions are.223
neurosis or insanity. This is what we want to prevent.217 (Emphasis supplied)
Thus, we have ruled in a number of instances224 that the mere infliction of
physical injuries, absent malicious intent, does not make a person

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automatically liable for an intentional felony. In Bagajo v. People,225 the During the whole initiation rites, auxiliaries were assigned to the neophytes.
accused teacher, using a bamboo stick, whipped one of her students behind The auxiliaries protected the neophytes by functioning as human barriers
her legs and thighs as a form of discipline. The student suffered lesions and and shielding them from those who were designated to inflict physical and
bruises from the corporal punishment. In reversing the trial court’s finding of psychological pain on the initiates.230 It was their regular duty to stop foul or
criminal liability for slight physical injuries, this Court stated thus: excessive physical blows; to help the neophytes to "pump" their legs in order
"Independently of any civil or administrative responsibility … [w]e are that their blood would circulate; to facilitate a rest interval after every
persuaded that she did not do what she had done with criminal intent … the physical activity or "round"; to serve food and water; to tell jokes; to coach
means she actually used was moderate and that she was not motivated by the initiates; and to give them whatever they needed.
ill-will, hatred or any malevolent intent." Considering the applicable laws, we
then ruled that "as a matter of law, petitioner did not incur any criminal These rituals were performed with Lenny’s consent.231 A few days before the
liability for her act of whipping her pupil." In People v. Carmen,226 the "rites," he asked both his parents for permission to join the Aquila
accused members of the religious group known as the Missionaries of Our Fraternity.232 His father knew that Lenny would go through an initiation
Lady of Fatima – under the guise of a "ritual or treatment" – plunged the process and would be gone for three days.233 The CA found as follows:
head of the victim into a barrel of water, banged his head against a bench,
pounded his chest with fists, and stabbed him on the side with a kitchen
knife, in order to cure him of "nervous breakdown" by expelling through It is worth pointing out that the neophytes willingly and voluntarily
those means the bad spirits possessing him. The collective acts of the group consented to undergo physical initiation and hazing. As can be gleaned from
caused the death of the victim. Since malicious intent was not proven, we the narration of facts, they voluntarily agreed to join the initiation rites to
reversed the trial court’s finding of liability for murder under Article 4 of the become members of the Aquila Legis Fraternity. Prior to the initiation, they
Revised Penal Code and instead ruled that the accused should be held were given briefings on what to expect. It is of common knowledge that before
criminally liable for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide under Article admission in a fraternity, the neophytes will undergo a rite of passage. Thus,
365 thereof. they were made aware that traditional methods such as mocking,
psychological tests and physical punishment would take place. They knew
that the initiation would involve beatings and other forms of hazing. They
Indeed, the threshold question is whether the accused’s initial acts of were also told of their right and opportunity to quit at any time they wanted
inflicting physical pain on the neophytes were attended by animus iniuriandi to. In fact, prosecution witness Navera testified that accused Tecson told him
amounting to a felonious act punishable under the Revised Penal Code, that "after a week, you can already play basketball." Prosecution witness
thereby making it subject to Article 4(1) thereof. In People v. Regato, we ruled Marquez for his part, admitted that he knew that the initiates would be hit
that malicious intent must be judged by the action, conduct, and external "in the arms and legs," that a wooden paddle would be used to hit them and
acts of the accused.227 What persons do is the best index of their that he expected bruises on his arms and legs…. Indeed, there can be no
intention.228 We have also ruled that the method employed, the kind of fraternity initiation without consenting neophytes.234 (Emphasis supplied)
weapon used, and the parts of the body on which the injury was inflicted
may be determinative of the intent of the perpetrator.229 The Court shall thus
examine the whole contextual background surrounding the death of Lenny Even after going through Aquila’s grueling traditional rituals during the first
Villa. day, Lenny continued his participation and finished the second day of
initiation.
Lenny died during Aquila’s fraternity initiation rites. The night before the
commencement of the rites, they were briefed on what to expect. They were Based on the foregoing contextual background, and absent further proof
told that there would be physical beatings, that the whole event would last showing clear malicious intent, we are constrained to rule that the specific
for three days, and that they could quit anytime. On their first night, they animus iniuriandi was not present in this case. Even if the specific acts of
were subjected to "traditional" initiation rites, including the "Indian Run," punching, kicking, paddling, and other modes of inflicting physical pain were
"Bicol Express," "Rounds," and the "Auxies’ Privilege Round." The beatings done voluntarily, freely, and with intelligence, thereby satisfying the elements
were predominantly directed at the neophytes’ arms and legs. of freedom and intelligence in the felony of physical injuries, the fundamental
ingredient of criminal intent was not proven beyond reasonable doubt. On
the contrary, all that was proven was that the acts were done pursuant to
In the morning of their second day of initiation, they were made to present tradition. Although the additional "rounds" on the second night were held
comic plays and to play rough basketball. They were also required to upon the insistence of Villareal and Dizon, the initiations were officially
memorize and recite the Aquila Fraternity’s principles. Late in the afternoon, reopened with the consent of the head of the initiation rites; and the accused
they were once again subjected to "traditional" initiation rituals. When the fraternity members still participated in the rituals, including the paddling,
rituals were officially reopened on the insistence of Dizon and Villareal, the which were performed pursuant to tradition. Other than the paddle, no other
neophytes were subjected to another "traditional" ritual – paddling by the "weapon" was used to inflict injuries on Lenny. The targeted body parts were
fraternity.

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predominantly the legs and the arms. The designation of roles, including the Senator Guingona. Yes, but what would be the rationale for that imposition?
role of auxiliaries, which were assigned for the specific purpose of lending Because the distinguished Sponsor has said that he is not punishing a mere
assistance to and taking care of the neophytes during the initiation rites, organization, he is not seeking the punishment of an initiation into a club or
further belied the presence of malicious intent. All those who wished to join organization, he is seeking the punishment of certain acts that resulted in
the fraternity went through the same process of "traditional" initiation; there death, et cetera as a result of hazing which are already covered crimes.
is no proof that Lenny Villa was specifically targeted or given a different
treatment. We stress that Congress itself recognized that hazing is uniquely The penalty is increased in one, because we would like to discourage hazing,
different from common crimes.235 The totality of the circumstances must abusive hazing, but it may be a legitimate defense for invoking two or more
therefore be taken into consideration. charges or offenses, because these very same acts are already punishable
under the Revised Penal Code.
The underlying context and motive in which the infliction of physical injuries
was rooted may also be determined by Lenny’s continued participation in the That is my difficulty, Mr. President.
initiation and consent to the method used even after the first day. The
following discussion of the framers of the 1995 Anti-Hazing Law is
enlightening: Senator Lina. x x x

Senator Guingona. Most of these acts, if not all, are already punished under Another point, Mr. President, is this, and this is a very telling difference:
the Revised Penal Code. When a person or group of persons resort to hazing as a requirement for
gaining entry into an organization, the intent to commit a wrong is not visible
or is not present, Mr. President. Whereas, in these specific crimes, Mr.
Senator Lina. That is correct, Mr. President. President, let us say there is death or there is homicide, mutilation, if one
files a case, then the intention to commit a wrong has to be proven. But if the
Senator Guingona. If hazing is done at present and it results in death, the crime of hazing is the basis, what is important is the result from the act of
charge would be murder or homicide. hazing.

Senator Lina. That is correct, Mr. President. To me, that is the basic difference and that is what will prevent or deter the
sororities or fraternities; that they should really shun this activity called
Senator Guingona. If it does not result in death, it may be frustrated "hazing." Because, initially, these fraternities or sororities do not even
homicide or serious physical injuries. consider having a neophyte killed or maimed or that acts of lasciviousness
are even committed initially, Mr. President.
Senator Lina. That is correct, Mr. President.
So, what we want to discourage is the so-called initial innocent act. That is
why there is need to institute this kind of hazing. Ganiyan po ang nangyari.
Senator Guingona. Or, if the person who commits sexual abuse does so it Ang fraternity o ang sorority ay magre-recruit. Wala talaga silang intensiyong
can be penalized under rape or acts of lasciviousness. makamatay. Hindi ko na babanggitin at buhay pa iyong kaso. Pero dito sa
anim o pito na namatay nitong nakaraang taon, walang intensiyong patayin
Senator Lina. That is correct, Mr. President. talaga iyong neophyte. So, kung maghihintay pa tayo, na saka lamang natin
isasakdal ng murder kung namatay na, ay after the fact ho iyon. Pero, kung
Senator Guingona. So, what is the rationale for making a new offense under sasabihin natin sa mga kabataan na: "Huwag ninyong gagawin iyong hazing.
this definition of the crime of hazing? Iyan ay kasalanan at kung mamatay diyan, mataas ang penalty sa inyo."

Senator Lina. To discourage persons or group of persons either composing a Senator Guingona. I join the lofty motives, Mr. President, of the distinguished
sorority, fraternity or any association from making this requirement of Sponsor. But I am again disturbed by his statement that the prosecution
initiation that has already resulted in these specific acts or results, Mr. does not have to prove the intent that resulted in the death, that resulted in
President. the serious physical injuries, that resulted in the acts of lasciviousness or
deranged mind. We do not have to prove the willful intent of the accused in
proving or establishing the crime of hazing. This seems, to me, a novel
That is the main rationale. We want to send a strong signal across the land situation where we create the special crime without having to go into the
that no group or association can require the act of physical initiation before a intent, which is one of the basic elements of any crime.
person can become a member without being held criminally liable.

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If there is no intent, there is no crime. If the intent were merely to initiate, During a discussion between Senator Biazon and Senator Lina on the issue
then there is no offense. And even the distinguished Sponsor admits that the of whether to include sodomy as a punishable act under the Anti-Hazing
organization, the intent to initiate, the intent to have a new society or a new Law, Senator Lina further clarified thus:
club is, per se, not punishable at all. What are punishable are the acts that
lead to the result. But if these results are not going to be proven by intent, Senator Biazon. Mr. President, this Representation has no objection to the
but just because there was hazing, I am afraid that it will disturb the basic inclusion of sodomy as one of the conditions resulting from hazing as
concepts of the Revised Penal Code, Mr. President. necessary to be punished. However, the act of sodomy can be committed by
two persons with or without consent.
Senator Lina. Mr. President, the act of hazing, precisely, is being criminalized
because in the context of what is happening in the sororities and fraternities, To make it clearer, what is being punished here is the commission of sodomy
when they conduct hazing, no one will admit that their intention is to maim forced into another individual by another individual. I move, Mr. President,
or to kill. So, we are already criminalizing the fact of inflicting physical pain. that sodomy be modified by the phrase "without consent" for purposes of this
Mr. President, it is a criminal act and we want it stopped, deterred, section.
discouraged.
Senator Lina. I am afraid, Mr. President, that if we qualify sodomy with the
If that occurs, under this law, there is no necessity to prove that the masters concept that it is only going to aggravate the crime of hazing if it is done
intended to kill or the masters intended to maim. What is important is the without consent will change a lot of concepts here. Because the results from
result of the act of hazing. Otherwise, the masters or those who inflict the hazing aggravate the offense with or without consent. In fact, when a person
physical pain can easily escape responsibility and say, "We did not have the joins a fraternity, sorority, or any association for that matter, it can be with
intention to kill. This is part of our initiation rites. This is normal. We do not or without the consent of the intended victim. The fact that a person joins a
have any intention to kill or maim." sorority or fraternity with his consent does not negate the crime of hazing.

This is the lusot, Mr. President. They might as well have been charged This is a proposed law intended to protect the citizens from the malpractices
therefore with the ordinary crime of homicide, mutilation, et cetera, where that attend initiation which may have been announced with or without
the prosecution will have a difficulty proving the elements if they are separate physical infliction of pain or injury, Mr. President. Regardless of whether
offenses. there is announcement that there will be physical hazing or whether there is
none, and therefore, the neophyte is duped into joining a fraternity is of no
Senator Guingona. Mr. President, assuming there was a group that initiated moment. What is important is that there is an infliction of physical pain.
and a person died. The charge is murder. My question is: Under this bill if it
becomes a law, would the prosecution have to prove conspiracy or not The bottom line of this law is that a citizen even has to be protected from
anymore? himself if he joins a fraternity, so that at a certain point in time, the State,
the individual, or the parents of the victim can run after the perpetrators of
Senator Lina. Mr. President, if the person is present during hazing x x x the crime, regardless of whether or not there was consent on the part of the
victim.
Senator Guingona. The persons are present. First, would the prosecution
have to prove conspiracy? Second, would the prosecution have to prove Senator Lina. Mr. President, I understand the position taken by the
intent to kill or not? distinguished Gentleman from Cavite and Metro Manila. It is correct that
society sometimes adopts new mores, traditions, and practices.
Senator Lina. No more. As to the second question, Mr. President, if that
occurs, there is no need to prove intent to kill. In this bill, we are not going to encroach into the private proclivities of some
individuals when they do their acts in private as we do not take a peek into
Senator Guingona. But the charge is murder. the private rooms of couples. They can do their thing if they want to make
love in ways that are not considered acceptable by the mainstream of society.
That is not something that the State should prohibit.
Senator Lina. That is why I said that it should not be murder. It should be
hazing, Mr. President. 236 (Emphasis supplied)
But sodomy in this case is connected with hazing, Mr. President. Such that
the act may even be entered into with consent. It is not only sodomy. The
infliction of pain may be done with the consent of the neophyte. If the law is

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passed, that does not make the act of hazing not punishable because the unique as against typical crimes – cast a cloud of doubt on whether society
neophyte accepted the infliction of pain upon himself. considered the act as an inherently wrong conduct or mala in se at the time.
It is safe to presume that Lenny’s parents would not have consented239 to his
If the victim suffers from serious physical injuries, but the initiator said, participation in Aquila Fraternity’s initiation rites if the practice of hazing
"Well, he allowed it upon himself. He consented to it." So, if we allow that were considered by them as mala in se.
reasoning that sodomy was done with the consent of the victim, then we
would not have passed any law at all. There will be no significance if we pass Furthermore, in Vedaña v. Valencia (1998), we noted through Associate
this bill, because it will always be a defense that the victim allowed the Justice (now retired Chief Justice) Hilario Davide that "in our nation’s very
infliction of pain or suffering. He accepted it as part of the initiation rites. recent history, the people have spoken, through Congress, to deem conduct
constitutive of … hazing, [an] act[] previously considered harmless by
But precisely, Mr. President that is one thing that we would want to prohibit. custom, as criminal."240 Although it may be regarded as a simple obiter
That the defense of consent will not apply because the very act of inflicting dictum, the statement nonetheless shows recognition that hazing – or the
physical pain or psychological suffering is, by itself, a punishable act. The conduct of initiation rites through physical and/or psychological suffering –
result of the act of hazing, like death or physical injuries merely aggravates has not been traditionally criminalized. Prior to the 1995 Anti-Hazing Law,
the act with higher penalties. But the defense of consent is not going to there was to some extent a lacuna in the law; hazing was not clearly
nullify the criminal nature of the act. considered an intentional felony. And when there is doubt on the
interpretation of criminal laws, all must be resolved in favor of the accused.
In dubio pro reo.
So, if we accept the amendment that sodomy can only aggravate the offense if
it is committed without consent of the victim, then the whole foundation of
this proposed law will collapse. For the foregoing reasons, and as a matter of law, the Court is constrained to
rule against the trial court’s finding of malicious intent to inflict physical
injuries on Lenny Villa, there being no proof beyond reasonable doubt of the
Senator Biazon. Thank you, Mr. President. existence of malicious intent to inflict physical injuries or animus iniuriandi
as required in mala in se cases, considering the contextual background of his
Senator Lina. Thank you very much. death, the unique nature of hazing, and absent a law prohibiting hazing.

The President. Is there any objection to the committee amendment? (Silence.) The accused fraternity members guilty of reckless imprudence resulting in
The Chair hears none; the same is approved.237 homicide

(Emphasis supplied) The absence of malicious intent does not automatically mean, however, that
the accused fraternity members are ultimately devoid of criminal liability.
Realizing the implication of removing the state’s burden to prove intent, The Revised Penal Code also punishes felonies that are committed by means
Senator Lina, the principal author of the Senate Bill, said: of fault (culpa). According to Article 3 thereof, there is fault when the
wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight, or lack of
skill.
I am very happy that the distinguished Minority Leader brought out the idea
of intent or whether there it is mala in seor mala prohibita. There can be a
radical amendment if that is the point that he wants to go to. Reckless imprudence or negligence consists of a voluntary act done without
malice, from which an immediate personal harm, injury or material damage
results by reason of an inexcusable lack of precaution or advertence on the
If we agree on the concept, then, maybe, we can just make this a special law part of the person committing it.241 In this case, the danger is visible and
on hazing. We will not include this anymore under the Revised Penal Code. consciously appreciated by the actor.242In contrast, simple imprudence or
That is a possibility. I will not foreclose that suggestion, Mr. negligence comprises an act done without grave fault, from which an injury
President.238(Emphasis supplied) or material damage ensues by reason of a mere lack of foresight or
skill.243 Here, the threatened harm is not immediate, and the danger is not
Thus, having in mind the potential conflict between the proposed law and the openly visible. 244
core principle of mala in se adhered to under the Revised Penal Code,
Congress did not simply enact an amendment thereto. Instead, it created a The test245 for determining whether or not a person is negligent in doing an
special law on hazing, founded upon the principle of mala prohibita. This act is as follows: Would a prudent man in the position of the person to whom
dilemma faced by Congress is further proof of how the nature of hazing – negligence is attributed foresee harm to the person injured as a reasonable

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consequence of the course about to be pursued? If so, the law imposes on the the death of the victim was the cumulative effect of the multiple injuries
doer the duty to take precaution against the mischievous results of the act. suffered by the latter.266 The relevant portion of the testimony is as follows:
Failure to do so constitutes negligence.246
Atty. Tadiar Doctor, there was, rather, it was your testimony on various cross
As we held in Gaid v. People, for a person to avoid being charged with examinations of defense counsels that the injuries that you have enumerated
recklessness, the degree of precaution and diligence required varies with the on the body of the deceased Lenny Villa previously marked as Exhibit "G-1"
degree of the danger involved.247 If, on account of a certain line of conduct, to "G-14" individually by themselves would not cause the death of the victim.
the danger of causing harm to another person is great, the individual who The question I am going to propound to you is what is the cumulative effect
chooses to follow that particular course of conduct is bound to be very of all of these injuries marked from Exhibit "G-1" to "G-14"?
careful, in order to prevent or avoid damage or injury.248 In contrast, if the
danger is minor, not much care is required.249 It is thus possible that there Witness All together nothing in concert to cause to the demise of the victim.
are countless degrees of precaution or diligence that may be required of an So, it is not fair for us to isolate such injuries here because we are talking of
individual, "from a transitory glance of care to the most vigilant effort."250 The the whole body. At the same manner that as a car would not run minus one
duty of the person to employ more or less degree of care will depend upon the (1) wheel. No, the more humane in human approach is to interpret all those
circumstances of each particular case.251 injuries in whole and not in part.267

There was patent recklessness in the hazing of Lenny Villa. There is also evidence to show that some of the accused fraternity members
were drinking during the initiation rites.268
According to the NBI medico-legal officer, Lenny died of cardiac failure
secondary to multiple traumatic injuries.252The officer explained that cardiac Consequently, the collective acts of the fraternity members were tantamount
failure refers to the failure of the heart to work as a pump and as part of the to recklessness, which made the resulting death of Lenny a culpable felony.
circulatory system due to the lack of blood.253 In the present case, the It must be remembered that organizations owe to their initiates a duty of care
victim’s heart could no longer work as a pumping organ, because it was not to cause them injury in the process.269 With the foregoing facts, we rule
deprived of its requisite blood and oxygen.254 The deprivation was due to the that the accused are guilty of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
"channeling" of the blood supply from the entire circulatory system – Since the NBI medico-legal officer found that the victim’s death was the
including the heart, arteries, veins, venules, and capillaries – to the thigh, cumulative effect of the injuries suffered, criminal responsibility redounds to
leg, and arm areas of Lenny, thus causing the formation of multiple all those who directly participated in and contributed to the infliction of
hematomas or blood clots.255 The multiple hematomas were wide, thick, and physical injuries.
deep,256 indicating that these could have resulted mainly from injuries
sustained by the victim from fist blows, knee blows, paddles, or the
like.257 Repeated blows to those areas caused the blood to gradually ooze out It appears from the aforementioned facts that the incident may have been
of the capillaries until the circulating blood became so markedly diminished prevented, or at least mitigated, had the alumni of Aquila Fraternity –
as to produce death. 258 The officer also found that the brain, liver, kidney, accused Dizon and Villareal – restrained themselves from insisting on
pancreas, intestines, and all other organs seen in the abdominals, as well as reopening the initiation rites. Although this point did not matter in the end,
the thoracic organ in the lungs, were pale due to the lack of blood, which was as records would show that the other fraternity members participated in the
redirected to the thighs and forearms.259 It was concluded that there was reopened initiation rites – having in mind the concept of "seniority" in
nothing in the heart that would indicate that the victim suffered from a fraternities – the implication of the presence of alumni should be seen as a
previous cardiac arrest or disease.260 point of review in future legislation. We further note that some of the
fraternity members were intoxicated during Lenny’s initiation rites. In this
light, the Court submits to Congress, for legislative consideration, the
The multiple hematomas or bruises found in Lenny Villa’s arms and thighs, amendment of the Anti-Hazing Law to include the fact of intoxication and the
resulting from repeated blows to those areas, caused the loss of blood from presence of non-resident or alumni fraternity members during hazing as
his vital organs and led to his eventual death. These hematomas must be aggravating circumstances that would increase the applicable penalties.
taken in the light of the hazing activities performed on him by the Aquila
Fraternity. According to the testimonies of the co-neophytes of Lenny, they
were punched, kicked, elbowed, kneed, stamped on; and hit with different It is truly astonishing how men would wittingly – or unwittingly –impose the
objects on their arms, legs, and thighs.261 They were also "paddled" at the misery of hazing and employ appalling rituals in the name of brotherhood.
back of their thighs or legs;262 and slapped on their faces.263 They were made There must be a better way to establish "kinship." A neophyte admitted that
to play rough basketball.264 Witness Marquez testified on Lenny, saying: he joined the fraternity to have more friends and to avail himself of the
"[T]inamaan daw sya sa spine."265 The NBI medico-legal officer explained that benefits it offered, such as tips during bar examinations.270 Another initiate
did not give up, because he feared being looked down upon as a quitter, and

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because he felt he did not have a choice.271 Thus, for Lenny Villa and the moral damages for mental anguish by reason of the death of the
other neophytes, joining the Aquila Fraternity entailed a leap in the dark. By deceased."279 Thus, we hereby we affirm the CA’s award of moral damages in
giving consent under the circumstances, they left their fates in the hands of the amount of ₱ 1,000,000.
the fraternity members. Unfortunately, the hands to which lives were
entrusted were barbaric as they were reckless. WHEREFORE, the appealed Judgment in G.R. No. 155101 finding petitioner
Fidelito Dizon guilty of homicide is hereby MODIFIED and set aside IN PART.
Our finding of criminal liability for the felony of reckless imprudence The appealed Judgment in G.R. No. 154954 – finding Antonio Mariano
resulting in homicide shall cover only accused Tecson, Ama, Almeda, Bantug, Almeda, Junel Anthony Ama, Renato Bantug, Jr., and Vincent Tecson guilty
and Dizon. Had the Anti-Hazing Law been in effect then, these five accused of the crime of slight physical injuries – is also MODIFIED and set aside in
fraternity members would have all been convicted of the crime of hazing part. Instead, Fidelito Dizon, Antonio Mariano Almeda, Junel Anthony Ama,
punishable by reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment).272 Since there was no Renato Bantug, Jr., and Vincent Tecson are found guilty beyond reasonable
law prohibiting the act of hazing when Lenny died, we are constrained to rule doubt of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide defined and penalized
according to existing laws at the time of his death. The CA found that the under Article 365 in relation to Article 249 of the Revised Penal Code. They
prosecution failed to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, Victorino et al.’s are hereby sentenced to suffer an indeterminate prison term of four (4)
individual participation in the infliction of physical injuries upon Lenny months and one (1) day of arresto mayor, as minimum, to four (4) years and
Villa.273 As to accused Villareal, his criminal liability was totally extinguished two (2) months of prision correccional, as maximum. In addition, accused are
by the fact of his death, pursuant to Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code. ORDERED jointly and severally to pay the heirs of Lenny Villa civil indemnity
ex delicto in the amount of ₱ 50,000, and moral damages in the amount of ₱
Furthermore, our ruling herein shall be interpreted without prejudice to the 1,000,000, plus legal interest on all damages awarded at the rate of 12%
applicability of the Anti-Hazing Law to subsequent cases. Furthermore, the from the date of the finality of this Decision until satisfaction.280 Costs de
modification of criminal liability from slight physical injuries to reckless oficio.
imprudence resulting in homicide shall apply only with respect to accused
Almeda, Ama, Bantug, and Tecson. The appealed Judgment in G.R. No. 154954, acquitting Victorino et al., is
hereby affirmed. The appealed Judgments in G.R. Nos. 178057 & 178080,
The accused liable to pay damages dismissing the criminal case filed against Escalona, Ramos, Saruca, and
Adriano, are likewise affirmed. Finally, pursuant to Article 89(1) of the
Revised Penal Code, the Petition in G.R. No. 151258 is hereby dismissed, and
The CA awarded damages in favor of the heirs of Lenny Villa in the amounts the criminal case against Artemio Villareal deemed closed and TERMINATED.
of ₱ 50,000 as civil indemnity ex delicto and ₱ 1,000,000 as moral damages,
to be jointly and severally paid by accused Dizon and Villareal. It also
awarded the amount of ₱ 30,000 as indemnity to be jointly and severally paid Let copies of this Decision be furnished to the Senate President and the
by accused Almeda, Ama, Bantug, and Tecson.1âwphi1 Speaker of the House of Representatives for possible consideration of the
amendment of the Anti-Hazing Law to include the fact of intoxication and the
presence of non-resident or alumni fraternity members during hazing as
Civil indemnity ex delicto is automatically awarded for the sole fact of death aggravating circumstances that would increase the applicable penalties.
of the victim.274 In accordance with prevailing jurisprudence,275 we sustain
the CA’s award of indemnity in the amount of ₱ 50,000.
SO ORDERED.
The heirs of the victim are entitled to actual or compensatory damages,
including expenses incurred in connection with the death of the victim, so
long as the claim is supported by tangible documents.276 Though we are
prepared to award actual damages, the Court is prevented from granting
them, since the records are bereft of any evidence to show that actual
expenses were incurred or proven during trial. Furthermore, in the appeal,
the Solicitor General does not interpose any claim for actual damages.277

The heirs of the deceased may recover moral damages for the grief suffered
on account of the victim’s death.278 This penalty is pursuant to Article
2206(3) of the Civil Code, which provides that the "spouse, legitimate and
illegitimate descendants and the ascendants of the deceased may demand

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