Petition for Leave to Resume Practice of Law, The exception is when Filipino citizenship is lost

Benjamin Dacanay 540 SCRA 424 by reason of naturalization as a citizen of

another country but subsequently reacquired
pursuant to RA 9225. This is because “all
FACTS: Petitioner was admitted to the
Philippine citizens who become citizens of
Philippine bar in March 1960. He practiced law
another country shall be deemed not to have
until he migrated to Canada in December 1998
lost their Philippine citizenship under the
to seek medical attention for his ailments. He
conditions of [RA 9225].” Therefore, a Filipino
subsequently applied for Canadian citizenship
lawyer who becomes a citizen of another
to avail of Canada’s free medical aid program.
country is deemed never to have lost his
His application was approved and he became a
Philippine citizenship if he reacquires it in
Canadian citizen in May 2004.
accordance with RA 9225.
In July 2006, pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 9225
Before he can can resume his law practice, he
(Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of
must first secure from this Court the authority
2003), petitioner reacquired his Philippine
to do so, conditioned on:
citizenship. On that day, he took his oath of
allegiance as a Filipino citizen before the 1. the updating and payment of of IBP
Philippine Consulate General in Toronto, membership dues;
Canada. Thereafter, he returned to the 2. the payment of professional tax;
Philippines and now intends to resume his law 3. the completion of at least 36 credit
practice. hours of mandatory continuing legal
education; this is specially significant to
ISSUE: Whether petitioner may still resume
refresh the applicant/petitioner’s
practice?
knowledge of Philippine laws and
RULING: Section 2, Rule 138 of the Rules of update him of legal developments and
Court provides an applicant for admission to 4. the retaking of the lawyer’s oath.
the bar be a citizen of the Philippines, at least
twenty-one years of age, of good moral
character and a resident of the Philippines.5 He
must also produce before this Court satisfactory
evidence of good moral character and that no
charges against him, involving moral turpitude,
have been filed or are pending in any court in
the Philippines.

Since Filipino citizenship is a requirement for

admission to the bar, loss thereof terminates
membership in the Philippine bar and,
consequently, the privilege to engage in the
practice of law. In other words, the loss of
Filipino citizenship ipso jure terminates the
privilege to practice law in the Philippines. The
practice of law is a privilege denied to
foreigners.