[ G.R. No. L-16412, November 30, 1962 ]
DR. ERNESTO A. BELEN, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. DR. CONRADO M. DE LEON, DEFENDANT AND APPELLANT.
D E C I S I O N
DIZON, J.:
Before the date of the sale, the judgment debtor filed an urgent motion praying that the above-mentioned articles be declared exempt from execution on the ground that they constitute implements or equipment necessarily used by him in the practice of his profession as a dentist.
Resolving the same on September 25, 1959, the court declared the dental equipment, including chair, exempt, but not the electric floor fan. Hence the present appeal.
Under the provisions of paragraph b, Section 12, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, "tools and implements necessarily used by the judgment debtor in his trade or employment" are exempt from execution.
The term "implement" (from the latin word "implementum") generally means: to fill up or to complete. Its meaning includes an "article, as of aparel or furniture, serving to equip" (Webster, International Dictionary).
The weight of authority is for the liberal construction of statutes or rules providing for exemption from execution in order to give effect to their beneficent and humane purpose. To this end any reasonable doubt should be resolved in favor of exemption.
To the above we may add that judicial notice may be taken of the fact that most dental clinics are not spacious nor air-conditioned; that the work to be done by the dentist is of a delicate nature, while the lot of the patient is not exactly what may be called pleasant and desirable.
In view of the foregoing considerations, we believe that a humane construction of the provision under consideration justifies the conclusion that the electric floor fan in question is an implement necessarily used by appellant in the practice of his profession and should be deemed exempt from execution.
Wherefore, the decision below is modified in the sense of including the electric floor fan in question among the articles belonging to appellant exempt from execution. Without costs.
Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Reyes, J. B. L., Barrera, Paredes, Regala, and Makalintal, JJ., concur.