The Interpretivist or Constructivist Theory.

According to Blacks Law Dictionary the practice of law is:

The professional work of a duly licensed lawyer, encompassing a broad range of
services such as conducting cases in court, preparing papers necessary to bring
about various transactions from conveying land to effecting corporate mergers,
preparing legal opinions on various points of law, drafting wills and other estate
planning documents, and advising clients on countless types of legal questions.
The term also includes activities that comparatively few lawyers engage in but
that require legal expertise, such as drafting legislation and court rules.
While he defined the unauthorized practice of law as:
the practice of law by a person, typically a non-lawyer, who has not been
licensed or
admitted to practice law in a given jurisdiction.

The practice of law is a privilege granted only to those who possess the STRICT
INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL QUALIFICATIONS required of lawyers who are
instruments in the effective and efficient administration of justice. (In Re:
Argosino, 1997).
In the Philippines, as in most countries, even non-lawyers are de facto practicing
law, without the benefit of legal training, legal licensing, and judicial disciplinary
supervision, such as, paralegals, brokers, agents, appraisers, consultants, labor
union officers, accountants, and the like. This poses a problem to the legal
profession and to the general public, who are exposed to the risk of subjecting
their life, limb and property to the incompetence of unauthorized legal
practitioners. These non-lawyers are not subjected to the same ethical standard
required by law as opposed to lawyers who are expected to hold a higher degree
of morals and ethics as embodied in legal ethics (Code of Professional
Responsibility, Canons of Professional Ethics, jurisprudence, moral laws and
special laws.)
It would be logically unsound that they are put into a better position that those
who struggle to be admitted to the Bar but not subjected or scrutinized for their
lack of competence in their endeavour to pursue the business of lawyering to the
prejudice of the interest of their clients who blindly rely on their services because
the client cannot afford the services of a licensed lawyer. They would rather be
represented by a person or layman who has a working knowledge of the law but
does not fully comprehend the legal, procedural and substantial complexities of
the law, through the non-lawyers inadequacies the client cannot effectively
enforce a right or redress a wrong. The State cannot tolerate such injustice, it will
bring more harm than good if this so called legal practitioners be able to
proliferate their business of providing legal services for a smaller fee but lacking
not only in form but also in substance because at the onset they are not really
lawyers, they may be clothed with the authority granted to a lawyer to represent
his clients interest but they do not abide to the same high standard of principles
as full-pledged lawyers who have gone through hell and back to become the
guardians of justice.

Non-lawyers who may be authorized to appear in court:

1. Cases before the MTC: Party to the litigation, in person OR through an
agent or friend or appointed by him for that purpose (Sec. 34, Rule 138,
RRC)
2. Before any other court: Party to the litigation, in person (Ibid.)
3. Criminal case before the MTC in a locality where a duly licensed member
of the Bar is not available: the judge may appoint a non-lawyer who is:
1. Resident of the province of good repute for probity and ability to aid
the accused in his defense (Rule 116, Sec. 7, RRC).
4. Legal Aid Program A senior law student, who is enrolled in a recognized
law schools clinical education program approved by the supreme Court
may appear before any court without compensation, to represent indigent
clients, accepted by the Legal Clinic of the law school. The student shall
be under the direct supervision and control of an IBP member duly
accredited by the law school.
5. Under the Labor code, non-lawyers may appear before the NLRC or any
Labor Arbiter, if
1. They represent themselves, or if
2. They represent their organization or members thereof (Art 222, PO
442, as amended).