Mr. Nestor S. Mangio

April 18, 1996 Mr. Nestor S. Mangio United Architects of the Philippines 3rd Flr., Unit 5, Corporate House Bldg. 239 Santolan Rd. corner Benitez St., Quezon City S i r : This refers to your letter dated March 26, 1996 requesting opinion on whether or not foreign architects can join a professional partnership with Filipino counterparts and if they can be incorporators of a corporation together with local architects. prcd Republic Act No. 545, as amended (AN ACT TO REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES) provides: "SECTION 12. Registration of architects required . In order to safeguard life, health and property, no person shall practice architecture in this country, or engage in preparing plans, specifications or preliminary data for the erection or alteration of any building located within the boundaries of this country, except in this last case when he is duly registered civil engineer; or use the title "Architect", or display or use of any title, sign, card, advertisement, or other devise to indicate that such person shall have secured from the examining body a certificate of registration in the manner hereinafter provided, and shall thereafter comply with the provisions of the laws of the Philippines governing the registration and licensing of architects ." (Emphasis supplied) "SECTION 13. Inhibition against the practice of architecture . Unless exempt from registration, no person shall practice or offer to practice architecture in the Philippines without having previously obtained a certificate of registration from the Board of Examiners for Architects . It shall be unlawful for any architect, or any person practicing architecture, to seek to avoid the provisions of this Act by the use of any other than the title "Architect", and no such persons shall practice or offer to practice, architecture in this country, or present themselves as qualified for such practice, unless and until they have qualified and been registered as provided in this Act ." (Emphasis supplied) "SECTION 35. Reciprocity requirement . No person who is not a citizen of the Philippines at the time he applies to take the examination shall be allowed to take it unless he can prove in the manner provided by the Rules of Court that, by specific provision of law, the country of which he is citizen, subject, or national either admits citizens of the Philippines to the practice of the same profession without restriction or allows them to practice it after examination on terms of strict and absolute equality with citizens, subjects, or nationals of the country concerned, including the unconditional recognition of degrees issued by institutions of learning duly recognized for the purpose by the Government of the Philippines. Provided, That if he is not a citizen of the Philippines, and was admitted to the practice of profession in the Philippines after December 8, 1941, his active practice in that profession either in the Philippines or in the state or country where he was practicing his profession, shall not have been interrupted for a period of two years or more prior to July 4, 1946, and that the country or state from which he comes allows the citizens of the Philippines by specific provision of law, to practice the same profession without restriction or on terms of strict and absolute equality with citizens, subjects, nationals of the country or state concerned." (Emphasis supplied) cdll Thus, unless the above reciprocity requirement has been complied with and the foreign architect has obtained a certificate of registration/license from the Board of Examiners for Architects pursuant to the provisions of RA 545, as amended, he cannot practice architecture in the Philippines, and it follows that he cannot join a professional partnership of Filipino architects. As to whether an architect, local or foreign, could be an incorporator of a corporation, the Commission does not permit architects to practice as a corporate entity . Personal qualifications for such profession cannot be possessed by a corporation, and in view of the distinct and separate personality of a corporation from the individual members/stockholders, it cannot have the power to do an act requiring a license which only the individual members/stockholders could obtain. Section 34 of the same law provides, thus: "SECTION 34. Corporations cannot register . The practice of architecture is a professional service, admission to which shall be determined upon the basis of the individual, personal qualifications. No firm, company, partnership, association or corporation may be registered or licensed as such for the practice of architecture : Provided, however , That persons properly registered or licensed as architects may, among themselves or with a person or persons properly registered and licensed as civil engineers, form and obtain registration of, a firm, partnership or association using the term "Architects" or "Architects and Engineers", but, nobody shall be a member or partner of such firm partnership or association unless he is duly registered and licensed architect or civil engineer , and the members who are architects shall only render work and services proper for an architect as defined in this Act, and members who are civil engineers shall also only render work and services which are proper for a civil engineer as defined under the law regulating the practice of civil engineering, individual members of such firm partnership or association shall be responsible for their respective acts. (Emphasis supplied) However, while architects cannot practice as a " corporate entity ", the Commission allows them to form a "partnership" wherein all the partners thereof are duly licensed as such under Philippine laws, and in such a case, it would be the individual architects , not the partnership firm, who will engage in the practice of architecture and are personally responsible for their own acts. Likewise, a duly licensed architect can be an incorporator/stockholder or be hired as an employee in a corporation engaged in other line of business ' (e.g. construction company) to render his services as such, the hiring of which is merely incidental to carry out the corporate purposes , but in no case shall the corporation hire architects to carry on the business of the practice of architecture as the same would constitute "practice of profession" which can not be legally performed by a " corporate entity ". Very truly yours, (SGD.) FE ELOISA C. GLORIA Associate Commissioner