Title
Board of Medicine vs. Ota
Case
G.R. No. 166097
Decision Date
Jul 14, 2008
Japanese national Yasuyuki Ota, a Philippine medical graduate, proved reciprocity between Japan and the Philippines, compelling PRC to issue his medical license after compliance with legal requirements.

Case Digest (G.R. No. 166097)
Expanded Legal Reasoning Model

Facts:

  • Background of the Parties
    • Yasuyuki Ota, a Japanese national married to a Filipina, resident in the Philippines for over 10 years, graduated Doctor of Medicine from Bicol Christian College of Medicine on April 21, 1991.
    • Completed one-year postgraduate internship at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center.
  • Application for Licensure
    • Filed application to take Philippine medical board examinations; required by PRC to submit an affidavit undertaking that he would not practice until reciprocity with Japan was proven.
    • Submitted a duly authenticated English translation of Japan’s Medical Practitioners Law; allowed to take the August 1992 exam and passed.
  • Denial of License and Judicial Proceedings
    • On March 8, 1993, the Board of Medicine denied his license, citing lack of genuine reciprocity (no Filipino could practice in Japan).
    • Ota filed a petition for certiorari and mandamus before the RTC Manila (amended to implead PRC).
    • On October 19, 2003, RTC ruled in his favor, ordering issuance of his certificate of registration.
    • The Court of Appeals affirmed on November 16, 2004.
    • Petitioners (Board and PRC) elevated the case to the Supreme Court via petition for review on certiorari.

Issues:

  • Did respondent sufficiently establish reciprocity in the practice of medicine between the Philippines and Japan?
  • Is the Board/PRC’s duty to issue a license to a qualified examinee ministerial and enforceable by writ of mandamus?

Ruling:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

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