Fil-Am may practice law here

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court this month reinstated a lawyer who had been stripped of his right to litigate in the Philippines for switching to American citizenship 31 years ago.

With a dual citizenship law now in place, the high court en banc recently granted lawyer Epifanio Muneses’ petition to regain his privilege to practice law in the Philippines.

Muneses became an American citizen in 1981 but reacquired Filipino citizenship in 2006.

“The court sees no bar to the petitioner’s resumption to the practice of law in the Philippines,” the Supreme Court said in a six-page resolution written by Justice Bienvenido Reyes.

The court was unanimous in deciding that Muneses had “satisfactorily complied” with the requirements of the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC) for his requalification into the Philippine bar, particularly his oath of allegiance to the Philippines.

Necessary guidelines

The court also ordered the OBC to “draft the necessary guidelines for the reacquisition of the privilege to resume the practice of law for the guidance of the bench and the bar.”

The Supreme Court reiterated the requirement of Filipino citizenship for anyone who would like to practice law in the Philippines.

“Thus, a Filipino lawyer who becomes a citizen of another country but later reacquires his Philippine citizenship under Republic Act No. 9225 (Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003) remains to be a member of the Philippine bar,” the court said in a statement posted online.