8/28/2019 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 047
[No. 24119. August 8, 1925]
FELIX MARQUEZ, petitioner, vs. THE BOARD OF MEDICAL
EXAMINERS and THE SECRETARY-TREASURER OF THE
BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS, respondents.
1. PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS; BOARD OF MEDICAL
EXAMINERS; AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE STANDING OF
MEDICAL SCHOOLS.—The Board of Medical Examiners has
authority to determine whether a
762
762 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED
Marquez vs. Board of Medical Examiners
particular medical college is a reputable school in the sense
intended by law; and its determination on this point with respect to
a particular institution will not be controlled by the courts.
2. ID.; ID.; ID.; RISK AS TO REMOVAL OF SCHOOL FROM
ELIGIBLE LIST.— An intending physician upon matriculating in a
particular medical college which up to that time has been classified
as a reputable school takes upon himself the risk that, before he
shall become qualified to take the medical examination, the
institution attended by him may be removed from such list.
ORIGINAL ACTION in the Supreme Court. Mandamus.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
M. H. de Joya for petitioner.
Acting Attorney-General Reyes for respondents.
STREET, J.:
This is an original proceeding in this court by which the petitioner,
Felix Marquez, seeks to obtain a writ of mandamus against the
respondents, the Board of Medical Examiners and the Secretary-
Treasurer of the Board of Medical Examiners, requiring them to
admit the petitioner to the physicians' examinations conducted, or to
be conducted by the respondents in the City of Manila. To the
www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000016cd897dd943e76fd90003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 1/3
8/28/2019 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 047
original complaint the respondents answered, and to the answer a
demurrer was interposed in behalf of the petitioner.
It appears that the petitioner is a graduate of the Chicago Medical
College, having received the degree of M.D. from said institution on
June 8 of the year 1922. No question appears to have been made by
the respondents with respect to the petitioner's qualifications for the
physicians' examinations in other respects, but they have denied him
admission to the examinations on the ground that the Chicago
Medical College, where the petitioner was graduated, has been
classified as a Class C medical college by the National Medical
State Board of the United States. For this reason the respondents, in
accordance with the regulations of the
763
VOL. 47, AUGUST 8, 1925 763
Marquez vs. Board of Medical Examiners
board now in effect, have denied the requisite standing to said
institution and excluded the petitioner.
It is not denied by the respondents that prior to the adoption of
the present regulations, and prior to the date when the Chicago
Medical School was classified as a Class C medical college, the
Board of Medical Examiners for the Philippine Islands had accepted
diplomas of graduation from said medical college as sufficient proof
of proficiency in medical knowledge to admit a graduate to the
examinations held in these Islands; and as late as October 29, 1923,
said board acted favorably upon the application of one Dr. Mariano
M. Lazatin, who was graduated from said school in the year 1921.
At the time said candidate was admitted, however, the regulations
denying the requisite status to the Chicago Medical College had not
been made effective, and they had been made effective by proper
authority before the present petitioner had submitted his application.
In the argument for the petitioner it is admitted that under Act
No. 3111, and the regulations now in force, the petitioner is
disqualified to take the examinations; but it is pointed out that at the
time he began and even when he concluded his course in the
Chicago Medical School, said institution was still recognized as a
reputable medical institution; and the question submitted is whether
the petitioner's case should be governed by the law and regulations
in force at the time of his enrollment in and graduation from the
Chicago Medical School, or by those in force at the time he filed his
application for admission, on or about September 26, 1924. It is
submitted for the petitioner that his case should be governed by the
law and regulations at the time of his graduation. To hold otherwise,
it is insisted, is to make the law retroactive in effect and to do
irreparable damage to the petitioner, who has pursued his work in
www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000016cd897dd943e76fd90003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 2/3
8/28/2019 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 047
the institution referred to in good faith, believing that said school
had the status necessary to qualify him for examination.
764
764 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED
Provincial Government of Sulu vs. Rogers
The position taken by the petitioner is, we think, untenable. The
question whether a medical institution is "a reputable medical
school," in the sense intended by the law, is vested in the Board of
Medical Examiners, and although the action taken by them may
conceivably, in isolated cases, result in hardship, nevertheless the
interests of the public require that the board should be free to
exercise its judgment and discretion without reference to the effect
of the determination of the question in particular instances. There
can in the nature of things be no vested right in an existing law,
which would preclude its change or repeal. No one who has
commenced preparation in a particular institution has any inchoate
right on account of that fact. If the law were otherwise upon this
point, it would be impossible for the Board of Medical Examiners to
give effect to the knowledge which they from time to time acquire as
to the standing of medical schools; and an intending physician, upon
matriculating in a particular college, takes upon himself the risk of
changes that may be made in the standing of the institution by the
board.
The demurrer to the answer is not well taken. The answer is
therefore declared sufficient, and the petition dismissed, with costs.
So ordered.
Avanceña, C. J., Johnson, Malcolm, Villamor, Johns, and Villa-
Real, JJ., concur.
Writ denied.
__________
© Copyright 2019 Central Book Supply, Inc. All rights reserved.
www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/0000016cd897dd943e76fd90003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 3/3
