PAO lawyers won’t get cash aid from City Hall

CEBU, Philippines - Lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office may not be getting any financial assistance from the Cebu City government this year since no fund was appropriated for them.

Councilor Margarita Osmeña, chairperson of the committee on budget and finance in the City Council, discovered it upon review of the city government’s budget.

“While the city provides for additional allowances for judges, city fiscals, prosecutors, and other national government employees under its Peace and Order Account in the General Fund, no allocation was appropriated for the PAO..,” the committee report reads.

 Osmeña said recommended that the executive department should include PAO lawyers in the prioritization of the distribution of cash assistance in the next budget.

There are 25 emplo-yees of PAO that are not receiving allowances or incentives from any local go-vernment unit.

 â€œConsidering that the PAO serves the poorest of the poor, this Committee therefore recommends that should the city’s finances allow, an amount for the allowances of the PAO should be included in the next budget,” Osmeña said.

 While the PAO lawyers are not receiving any, Cebu City allocates P10,000 allowance to members of the City Prosecutor’s Office; P20,000 to RTC judges; P15,000 to MTCC judges; and P4,000 to clerks of court.

 In a meeting with the committee and PAO lawyers on  April 2,  the  lawyers  reiterated their request for P12,000 allowance, saying bulk of their cases involve indigent clients in the city. 

 The duties of PAO lawyers include appearances in civil, administrative, and labor cases as well as other quasi-judicial cases, walk-in consultations, documentation, administration of oath and legal counseling, jail visitation, and other related duties.

 Lawyer Danilo Tenebro Jr. earlier said the approval of their request for allowance would serve as “token of appreciation” for the legal work they do for the indigent constituents they represent in court free of charge.

 â€œWhile we do seek your munificence in granting our request as a token of appreciation for the work we have been doing, the outcome of our request won’t affect our priority to continually uphold the PAO’s mandate to render, free of charge, legal representation, assistance and counseling to indigent persons including Cebu City residents,” Tenebro said.

 Based on Tenebro’s report, PAO-Cebu City District served approximately 8,776 clients in 2013, 2,206 of which or 25-percent constitutes walk-in clients while 6,659 or 75-percent are those represented in court.

 PAO is mandated under RA 9406 “to assist the filing of criminal complaints on a first come, first served basis, and allows the filing meritorious civil, administrative and labor complaints to indigents litigants.”  (FREEMAN)