Sixty-eight lawyers have joined the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and have been assigned to various offices in the country, PAO Chief Persida V. Rueda Acosta said on Wednesday morning, March 31.
The newly hired lawyers took their oaths of office online on Tuesday, March 30, together with 10 new staff members, Acosta said.
Also, she said, 77 lawyers and nine staff members have been promoted, while 99 lawyers who were hired on temporary basis have been given permanent appointments.
“Nandito po ang mga bagong abogado at mga bagong staff na magjo-join sa Public Attorney’s Office upang magsilbi sa maralitang Filipino (Here are the new lawyers and the new staff who will join the PAO to serve poor Filipinos),” Acosta told the public during the virtual oath taking.
“Wine-welcome natin sila sapagkat sila ang makakasama natin sa service with a smile (We welcome them because they will be with us in providing service with a smile),” she added.
She pointed out that while the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to affect Metro Manila and its four adjacent provinces which have been placed under enhanced community quarantine, “there is no reason for the Public Attorney’s Office not to work.”
“So I hope everyone shall observe the policy that we, as legal frontliners, shall be exercising our wisdom, our courage and patriotism to defend our clients so that justice, rule of law, and equity shall prevail over the country,” she stressed.