Bar Matter No. 1370 - Letter of Atty. Cecilio Y. Arevalo, Jr.

B.M. No. 1370

Letter of Atty. Cecilio Y. Arevalo, Jr., Requesting Exemption from Payment of IBP Dues

May 9, 2005

Chico-Nazario, J. FACTS:  Petitioners files a motion for exemption for paying his IBP dues from 1977-2005 in the amount of P12,035.00. He contends that after admission to the Bar he worked at the Phil. Civil Service then migrated to the US until his retirement. His contention to be exempt is that his employment with the CSC prohibits him to practice his law profession and he did not practice the same while in the US. The compulsion that he pays his IBP annual membership is oppressive since he has an inactive status as a lawyer. His removal from the profession because of non-payment of the same constitutes to the deprivation of his property rights bereft of due process of the law. ISSUE: Whether or not inactive practice of the law profession is an exemption to payment for IBP annual membership. HELD:  NO.  The court held that the imposition of the membership fee is a matter of regulatory measure by the State, which is a necessary consequence for being a member of the Philippine Bar. The compulsory requirement to pay the fees subsists for as long as one remains to be a member regardless whether one is a practicing lawyer or not. Thus, his petition for exemption from paying his IBP membership fee dues is denied.  In re Atty. Marcial Edillon: o Whether the practice of law is a property right, in the sense of its being one that entitles the holder of a license to practice a profession, we do not here pause to consider at length, as it [is] clear that under the police power of the State, and under the necessary powers granted to the Court to perpetuate its existence, the respondent's right to practice law before the courts of this country should be and is a matter subject to regulation and inquiry. And, if the power to impose the fee as a regulatory measure is recognize[d], then a penalty designed to enforce its payment, which penalty may be avoided altogether by payment, is not void as unreasonable or arbitrary. o But we must here emphasize that the practice of law is not a property right but a mere privilege, and as such must bow to the inherent regulatory power of the Court to exact compliance with the lawyer's public responsibilities.  As a final note, it must be borne in mind that membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with conditions, one of which is the payment of membership dues. Failure to abide by any of them entails the loss of such privilege if the gravity thereof warrants such drastic move.  WHEREFORE, petitioner's request for exemption from payment of IBP dues is DENIED. He is ordered to pay P12,035.00, the amount assessed by the IBP as membership fees for the years 1977-2005, within a non-extendible period of ten (10) days from receipt of this decision, with a warning that failure to do so will merit his suspension from the practice of law.