Republic of the Philippines

Province of Cagayan
Municipality of Piat
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REQUEST LETTER TO ENGAGE IN

PRIVATE PRACTICE OF LEGAL PROFESSION
July 8, 2016
HON. ATTY. CARMELO BLACK O. VILLACETE
Municipal Mayor
Office of the Mayor
Balay Ya Maru
Piat, Cagayan
Dear Sir:
Greetings in the name of our Lord!
Sir, I am writing your good office in connection with my intention to engage in the
practice of my legal profession, specifically to appear as private counsel, apply for
notarial commission and teach law subjects in the tertiary level.
I am a member of the Philippine Bar and was admitted as such on June 22, 2016.
Currently, I am a coterminous employee of your good office, holding the position of
Executive Assistant/ Chief-of-Staff..
With such intention, worthy of note is the case of Cayetano v. Monsod, G.R.
No.100113, September 3, 1991, where the Court held that practice of law means
any activity in or out of court, which requires the application of law, legal procedure,
knowledge, training and experience. To engage in the practice of law is to perform acts
which are usually performed by members of the legal profession. Generally, to practice
law is to render any kind of service which requires the use of legal knowledge and skill.
Meanwhile, Section 7 (b)(2) of RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards
for Public Officials and Employees) provides:
Section 7. Prohibited Acts and Transactions. In addition to acts and omissions
of public
officials and employees now prescribed in the Constitution and existing laws, the
following shall constitute prohibited acts and transactions of any public official
and employee and are hereby directed to be unlawful:
xxx
(b) Outside employment and other activities related thereto. Public officials
and employees during their incumbency shall not:
xxx
(2) Engage in the private practice of their profession unless authorized by
the Constitution or law, provided, that such practice will not conflict or
tend to conflict with their official functions.
Also important, Section 12, Rule XVIII of the Revised Civil Service Rules states:

Republic of the Philippines

Province of Cagayan
Municipality of Piat
===================================================================

REQUEST LETTER TO ENGAGE IN

PRIVATE PRACTICE OF LEGAL PROFESSION
Sec. 12. No officer or employee shall engage directly in any private business,
vocation, or profession or be connected with any commercial, credit,
agricultural, or industrial undertaking without a written permission from the
head of Department; Provided, That this prohibition will be absolute in the case
of those officers and employees whose duties and responsibilities require that
their entire time be at the disposal of the Government: Provided, further, That if
an employee is granted permission to engage in outside activities, the time
so devoted outside of office hours should be fixed by the chief of the
agency to the end that it will not impair in any way the efficiency of the
other officer or employee, which do not involve any real or apparent
conflict between his private interests and public duties, or in any way
influence him in the discharge of his duties, and he shall not take part in the
management of the enterprise or become an officer or member of the board of
directors;
DILG No. 19, series of 2006 is also decisive in the practice of legal profession of
appointive officials. In the said DILG opinion, it states that the requirement of
authorization or permission from the DILG, the Ombudsman or the Civil Service
Commission applied only to appointive officials within their respective
jurisdictions who want to engage in the practice of their profession.
With this, rest assured that the privilege requested will not entail any conflict of interest
in so far as the functions of the your good office and public service are concerned, and it
will not in any way affect nor interfere in the discharge of my duties and responsibilities
as a local government unit employee.
Further, being part of your good office, I will firmly observe my limitations and make sure
that my private practice will not run contrary to the provision of Local Government Code
particularly Section 90 regarding (1) Non-appearance as counsel before any court in any
civil case wherein a local government unit or any office, agency, or instrumentality of the
government is the adverse party;(2) Non-appearance as counsel in any criminal case
wherein an officer or employee of the national or local government is accused of an
offense committed in relation to his office; (3) Prohibition in collecting any fee for their
appearance in administrative proceedings involving the local government unit of which
he is an official; and (4) non-use of property and personnel of the government except
when what is concerned is defending the interest of the government.

In light of the foregoing, I respectfully request that I be given the permission to exercise
my legal profession in private capacity, apply for notarial commission and teach law
subjects in the tertiary level.

Respectfully,

ATTY. JOHN MARK N. PARACAD

Roll No. 66374
2