Baldon, Pamela Kaye G.

307

DONNA MARIE S. AGUIRRE vs. EDWIN L. RANA

B. M. No. 1036. June 10, 2003
FACTS:
Respondent Edwin L. Rana was one of the bar exam passers in the 2000 Bar Examinations. On
May 21, 2001, a day before the mass oath-taking of the bar passers as members of the Philippine Bar,
complainant Donna Marie Aguirre filed a petition for denial of admission to the bar of the respondent
because of unauthorized practice of law, grave misconduct, violation of law, and grave misrepresentation.
On the charge of unauthorized practice of law and grave misconduct, he complainant alleges that
the respondent, appeared as a counsel for a candidate in the May 2001 elections before the Municipal
Board of Election Canvassers (MBEC) of Mandaon, Masbate. He further filed a pleading, entitled Formal
Objection to the Inclusion in the Canvassing of Votes in Some Precincts for the Office of Vice-Mayor,
with the MBES naming himself as the "counsel for and in behalf of Vice Mayoralty Candidate, George
Bunan" and signed such pleading in accordance thereof.
He is alleged to have violated the law for having appeared as counsel to George Bunan when he
was at the same time municipal government employee, working as the Secretary of the Sangguniang
Bayan of Mandaon, Masbate.
Moreover, he is alleged to have committed a grave misconduct and misrepresentation for the
pleading teh respondent filed was a ploy to prevent the proclamation of the winning vice mayoralty
candidate.
In his response, respondent contended that he assisted and advised Bunan not as a lawyer but as a
person who knows the law. He admits that he filed the pleading, but that he did not sign it as an
"attorney". On his employment, he claims that he resigned on May 11, 2001.
OBC conducted an investigation and found out that the respondent indeed appeared before the
MBEC as counsel as shown in the minutes of its proceedings, before he took the lawyer's oath on May 22,
2001. Hence, they recommend that the respondent be denied admission to the Philippine Bar.

ISSUE:
WHETHER OR NOT the respondent is morally fit for admission to the bar.

RULING:
The court held that the respondent did unauthorized practice of law for having appeared as
counsel for the vice-mayoralty candidate, Gerorge Bunan, even before his admission to the Philippine
Bar. The right to practice law is not a right but a privilege extended to those morally upright and with the
proper knowledge and skills. It involves strict regulation, one of which is on the moral character of its
members. Passing the bar is not the only qualification to become an attorney-at-law.
It is the signing in the Roll of Attorneys that finally makes one a full-fledged lawyer. The fact
that respondent passed the bar examinations is immaterial. Passing the bar is not the only qualification to
become an attorney-at-law. Respondent should know that two essential requisites for becoming a lawyer
still had to be performed, namely: his lawyers oath to be administered by this Court and his signature in
the Roll of Attorneys. The court held that he was not morally fit. Although he already took the oath, he
was not allowed to sign in the Roll of Attorneys. The respondent, Edwin L. Rana is DENIED admission
to the Philippine Bar.