SOUTHEAST ASIA

REGIONAL
CONFERENCE
ON ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Discussion on
Legal Aid

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 By DR. PERSIDA V. RUEDA-ACOSTA
Chief Public Attorney, Public Attorneys Office
Doctor of Social Development, CSWCD, UP-Diliman, Quezon City
Senior Executive Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
Climate Reality Leader, The Climate Reality
Project/The Climate Reality Leadership Corps
Senior Fellow, Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowships
Fellow, Salzburg Global Seminar
Fellow, Japan Legal Aid Association
International Visitor (IV), International Visitors Program
of the United States of America
Member, International Legal Aid Group
Member, International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts
Member, International Corrections and Prisons Association
4th Placer, 1989 Philippine Bar Examinations
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The Public Attorneys Office (PAO)
Principal law office of the Philippine
government in extending free legal
assistance to indigent persons and other
mandated clients in criminal, civil, labor,
administrative and other quasi-judicial
cases.

By virtue of Republic Act (R.A.) No.

9406 (Approved on March 23,
2007)
PAO has become an independent and
autonomous office, attached to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) only for
purposes of policy and program
coordination.
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 Republic Act No. 9406
An Act Reorganizing And Strengthening The Public
Attorneys Office (PAO), Amending For The Purpose
Pertinent Provisions Of Executive Order No.292, Otherwise
Known As The Administrative Code Of 1987, As Amended,
Granting Special Allowance To PAO Officials And Lawyers,
And Providing Funds Therefor.
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 Regional Offices : 17
District & Sub-district
Offices : More or less
300
Whole workforce
Lawyers: 1522
Support Staff: 1016
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Indigency and Merit Test

PAO Operations Manual

Article II, Section 3

Section 3. Indigency Test. Xxx (T)he following

shall be considered indigent persons:
1. If residing in Metro Manila, whose net income
does not exceed P14,000.00 a month;
2. If residing in other cities, whose net income
does not exceed P13,000.00 a month; and
3. If residing in all other places, whose net
income does not exceed P12,000.00 a month.

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 The term net income as herein employed, shall
be understood to refer to the income of the litigant less
statutory deductions.
Statutory deductions shall refer to
withholding taxes, GSIS, SSS, Pag-ibig, Health Insurance
and Philhealth premiums as well as mandatory
deductions.
For purposes of this Section, ownership of land
shall not per se, constitute a ground for disqualification of
an applicant for free legal assistance, in view of the ruling
in Juan Enaje vs. Victorio Ramos, et al. (G.R. No. L-
22109, January 30, 1970), that the determinative factor
for indigency is the income of the litigant and not his
ownership of real property.
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(Indigency Test, continuation)

To ensure that only those qualified shall be extended free legal

assistance, the applicant shall be required to execute an
Affidavit of Indigency, and to submit any of the following
documents:
1.Latest Income Tax Return or pay slip or other proofs of
income; or
2.Certificate of Indigency from the Department of Social
Welfare and Development, its local District Office, or the
Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office having
jurisdiction over the residence of the applicant; or
3.Certificate of Indigency from the Barangay Chairman having
jurisdiction over the residence of the applicant.
Xxx.
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 PAO Operations Manual,
Article II, Section 2

Section 2. Merit Test. - A case shall be

considered meritorious, if an assessment
of the law and evidence on hand,
discloses that the legal services of the
office will assist, or be in aid of, or in the
furtherance of justice x x x.

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 PAO: Lawyer of the Poor,
Defender of the Accused
Can also render legal assistance even to people
whose stature in society is associated with wealth,
power, and fame
Illustrative cases: That of Former Pres. Joseph
Estrada (2002), Former Cong. Ted Failon
(2009) & Ms. Janet Lim-Napoles (2013)
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Case of former Pres. Joseph Estrada
(incumbent Mayor of the City of
Manila)

In 2002
Sandiganbayan appointed Chief Acosta
as one of the former Presidents lead
counsels
Chief Acosta & 8 public attorneys part
of the defense team from February to
May 2002
PAOs withdrawal from the team due to:
Presence of private lawyers among the court
appointed lawyers;
Purpose already served legal assistance rendered
during the time when the former President had no
lawyer to represent him

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 Case of Former Cong. Ted Failon
2009, Camp Karingal, Quezon City
Chief Acosta provided provisional and temporary
legal assistance (taking of oath) to Mr. Ted Failon
and his driver
Failon & his driver under custodial investigation
(Camp Karingal) relative to the case of Trina Etong,
his wife who committed suicide
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 Case of Ms. Janet Lim-Napoles
November 7, 2013, Senate Blue Ribbon
Committee
November 5, 2013 PAO was requested by the Office
of the Chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
to provide Ms. Napoles with the services of counsel
on the November 7, 2013 hearing on the PDAF scam
Three (3) senior public attorneys assisted her
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 Senate Blue Ribbon
Committee - requested
for the PAOs legal
services in the case of Ms.
Napoles on the
November 7, 2013
hearing on the PDAF
scam
Senator Teofisto
Guingona III, Chairman
of the Senate Blue Ribbon
Committee, sent the PAO
a letter of gratitude for
ensuring that all the
rights of Ms. Napoles
were protected. 15
 An accused, whether
he or she is just perceived
guilty or already proven
guilty, is entitled to the best
defense.

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PAO: Defender of the Victim as Well

The Public Attorneys Office

Can also render pro bono legal services to the
victim
In consonance with the first come-first served
basis policy being observed by the PAO
In cases wherein the victim is the first one
to approach the Office, she/he can be
assisted up to the preliminary
investigation of the case, and the PAO can
no longer entertain the suspect or accused.

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With its first come-first served basis
policy, the PAO was able to render legal
assistance to:
Two Jesus is Lord (JIL) preachers
Allegedly raped and murdered by
two policemen
Bonita Baran - former domestic
helper who was maltreated by her
former employers until she lost her
right eyesight
Her case helped in the approval of
Republic Act No. 10361 or the Domestic
Workers Act
Approved by H. E. President Benigno S.
Aquino III on January 18, 2013
These cases emphasize the distinct and
mandated prosecutorial role of the PAO

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Best Practices

Extension for two (2) working hours

Of the Executive Support Service (ESS) - front line
service provider at the PAO-Central Office
Starts from seven oclock in the morning and ends at six
oclock in the evening
Lawyers and staff at the ESS - required to render an
additional working hour per day
One half of them - required
to start working an hour
earlier than the usual office
hours in the morning
The other half - required to
extend work in the afternoon
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Best Practices

24/7 Legal Counselling:

(632) 929-9436 loc. 106 or
107 (during office hours);
loc. 159 (after office hours,
nighttime, weekends,
holidays)
Legal Queries:
pao_executive@yahoo.com/
PAO-Central Office, DOJ
Agencies Bldg., NIA Rd.
corner East Ave., Diliman,
Quezon City.
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Best Practices

Chief Acostas free legal advice in

four newspaper columns
1. Dear PAO, published daily by The
Manila Times;
2. Magtanong kay Attorney,
published daily by Bulgar;
3. Say Mo Attorney?, published by
Peoples Tonight three times a week,
Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and
4. Atorni First in Pinoy Parazzi
published every Monday and Friday

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Achievements

With the approval of Republic Act No. 9406

(PAO Law) on March 23, 2007
Both the numbers of clients and cases have
increased
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Achievements
1. Since the approval of R.A. No. 9406 -
PAO has been consistently serving more or
less five million clients and handling
more or less 500,000 cases per year
STATISTICAL BREAKTHROUGH:
Soared to 6,735,603 clients and 710,457
cases in the year 2012
CONTINUOUSLY SOARED: Served
7,126,565 clients and handled 746,161
cases in the year 2013
CLIMBED EVEN MORE: PAOs
number of clients served climbed even
more to 7,514,325 in 2014, and the
number of cases handled to 783,569 in
the same year.
January to June 2015 - served 4,812,627
clients, and handled 556,537 cases
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 The Case of Krisel Mallari

Krisel Mallari, 16-year old girl who just finished

her secondary education.
Approached the PAO, with her father, in May
2015
Concern: Refusal of her
alma mater to issue her a
Certificate of Good Moral
Character for enrolment at
the University of Santo
Tomas (UST), Philippines

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 The Case of Krisel Mallari
Graduated last March 21, 2015 as Class Salutatorian
Was stopped while delivering her salutatory address -conveying her
sentiments at that time without mentioning any names, and her
gratitude to the people around her
The incident
Video footage circulated on Facebook, where the school was
widely criticized
Was also reported by the media
Her request for a certificate of good moral character from her alma
mater not granted ; even with PAOs help was also denied
Court Action: Complaint for injunction and damages with a prayer
for issuance of a writ of preliminary mandatory injunction before the
RTC - to compel her school to issue a certificate of good moral
character. Prayer denied by RTC
Court of Appeals granted the prayer and directed the
school to issue a certificate of good moral character.
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 The Case of Krisel Mallari

Her alma mater reluctantly issued a certificate under

protest
Krisel was finally allowed to enrol in the
Accountancy program of the UST - granted her a
scholarship
Legal battle is not yet over
The damages case is still pending before the RTC,
and the counterclaim filed by Krisels alma mater.
More than enough reason to rejoice
Krisels right to pursue higher learning at the
school of her choice has been secured

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Achievements (continuation)
2. The Civil Service Commission (CSC)
of the Philippines conferred to the
PAO the 2014 Anti-Red Tape Act
(ARTA) Breakthrough Agency
Award;
3. The PAO placed second in the Report
Card Survey among the offices in the
Philippines that were assessed by the
CSC in 2014 regarding compliance
with Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-
Red Tape Act of 2007;
4. From 2007 to 2014, our Office has
won 1,022,542 total number of
acquittals and other favorable
dispositions, on behalf of our clients;
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5. A Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) was signed by the Public
Attorneys Office (PAO) and the
Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) on January 8, 2013,
regarding access to free legal
assistance, counselling and
representation of refugees,
stateless persons and those
seeking recognition as refugees
and/or stateless persons in the
Philippine context, provided that
such persons qualify as indigents,
and the holding of seminars thereto.

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 Achievements as of June 19, 2015
Capacity Building
776 - estimated number of PAO lawyers participated in the Training on
Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons;
50 - number of PAO lawyers participated in four Field User Trainings for
Registration of Persons of Indonesian Descent Residing in the Philippines;
7 - number of trainings on Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons
organized by PAO and supported by UNHCR
Registration
4,888 - total number of registrants assisted and served across four
registration phases in 2014 and 2015;
1,632 - total man hours rendered by PAO lawyers in 40 days of
registration covering 53 villages; and
21 - total number of PAO lawyers deployed. (Source: UNHCR)
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6. The Public Attorneys Office
and the Legal Aid Foundation
of R.O.C., Taiwan, signed an
Agreement on Mutual
Assistance for Citizens of
Both Countries, on October
27, 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan.
The beneficiaries of the
Agreement are Filipinos in
Taiwan, and Taiwanese in
the Philippines, who are
seeking legal assistance and
are qualified for the legal
services of the said
organizations.

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Challenges
Section 7 of R. A. No 9406 provides that:
SEC. 7. Ratio of Public Attorneys Position to an
Organized Sala. - There shall be a
corresponding number of public attorneys
positions at the ratio of one public attorney to
an organized sala and the corresponding
administrative support staff thereto.
With some challenges as to the faithful of compliance of this
provision
1522 public attorneys attend to more or less 3,000 Philippine
courts
Ratio of 1:2 or 3 public attorneys to a court still exists despite the
presence of the law requiring 1:1 ratio
Fast turn-over and transfer of lawyers to the prosecution, judiciary
and other government or private corporate entities; public
attorneys seek for more convenient working hours and lighter
volume of assignments
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 Accomplishments through the years

Public attorneys hard work and dedication to

public service and administration of justice

Nobility of the mandate of our Office

Young lawyers and new BAR passers who join

our workforce with pride

Silver Linings at the PAO

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Thank You!
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