Drilon: Allow foreign lawyers to practice in PH

MANILA, Philippines – The integration of ASEAN countries means it’s time to liberalize the Philippine legal profession and allow foreign lawyers to practice in the country, according to Senate President Franklin Drilon.

“As the integration calls for a free exchange of resources, we must ask ourselves: what does integration mean to the legal profession? What is its impact to the practice of law? In this era of integration, the ASEAN lawyer must learn to navigate multiple legal jurisdictions,” Drilon, also a lawyer, said in a speech at the ASEAN Law Association Assembly on February 27, Friday. 

The practice of law in the Philippines is currently restricted to Filipino lawyers. Drilon said what is required are established procedures to guide foreign lawyers and firms in assisting clients in cross-border transactions where the Philippines is involved. In these cases, expertise in both domestic and foreign law are required.

“At current growth rates, it is predicted that the ASEAN would become the fourth-largest market, after the EU, US, and China, by 2030. However, full ASEAN integration poses a challenge to every ASEAN member country. The existing legal framework may not be sufficient for the region to achieve a completely free exchange of goods and services,” Drilon explained.

“The liberalization of law practice will help strengthen the country’s legal profession, and will help the country face the many challenges in the political and business sector being created due to the ASEAN Integration starting this year,” he added.

Drilon was a lawyer of one of the country’s biggest law firm, ACCRA, before he entered politics. – Rappler.com