Lawyering's Ins and Outs

As a lawyer and a Filipino lawyer that is, who does not need to specialize and whose legal practice is a self imposed limitation, I feel that I should have a working knowledge of just about anything that anyone like family, friends, colleagues, employers or clients, would be very interested to know (as it affects them somehow) and would expect me to know the answers right at my finger tips when they ask. I guess one of those questions would relate to hospitals and hospital bills since everyone, in one way or another, has been or has a family member or friends who have been to the hospital and faced the million dollar pressure of being made to pay the bills before being discharge. Recently one of my friends suffered from a seizure and was brought to a well known hospital in Makati on an emergency. The confinement lasted for two (2) days and the doctor recommended discharge. When the family was settling the medical bills (which is horrendously high at that), there was some problem ...

Last Monday, I was at the Bureau of Immigration in Manila to apply for accreditation for my new law office, to file two (2) applications for Special Work Permit for my Mongolian clients who are in the Philippines for a one-month fixed period employment as MTC Mongolian Language Interpreters and visit some old friends who are still working at the Bureau. Many things have changed over the years, since I was working there last. There is much order in the manner by which applications and extension of stay are being done. Accompanied by my brother Mike as the law office paralegal, we were able to make the extension and file the applications in a few hours. I was also told that the approval will come in two days. Under the guidelines issued by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Mongolian nationals are considered as " unrestricted " nationals. As such, they do not need to obtain entry or 9(a) visas prior to entering the country. Upon arrival in the Philippines, the ...