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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider PAO asks SC to consider public lawyers' safety

PAO asks SC to consider public lawyers' safety

Published Apr 28, 2023 05:52 am
The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) has expressed concerns over the safety of its lawyers should a provision in the newly launched Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) be implemented by the Supreme Court (SC). PAO, an independent office attached to the Department of Justice (DOJ), is mandated to provide free legal assistance particularly to indigents persons in filing of cases, mediation, and court trials, and other legal services. In a letter to Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, PAO Chief Persida V. Rueda Acosta pointed out Section 21, Canon III of the CPRA which states: “A conflict of interest of any of the lawyers of the Public Attorney’s Office incident to services rendered for the Office shall be imputed only to the said lawyer and the lawyer’s direct supervisor. Such conflict of interest shall not disqualify the rest of the lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office from representing the affected client, upon full disclosure to the latter and written informed consent.” Acosta said the provision in Section 21 allows PAO lawyers to be pitted against each other before the courts by representing opposing parties in cases. She said the provision “puts at risk the life and limb of the handling public attorneys because if things go wrong, clients would have enough reason to suspect that their counsels double-crossed them.” “There were instances when conflict-of-interest representation was the cause of death of former public attorneys,” Acosta lamented. She recounted that in Region VII, “a former public attorney who later resigned and became a private practitioner was killed for handling a conflicting case.” “Another public attorney in Infanta, Quezon who assisted a murder suspect was killed in broad daylight when he became a public prosecutor and handled the conflicting case,” she said. She cited that based on experience, “PAO clients will never agree for their adversaries to be represented by PAO.” “Individuals who approach PAO are always in a state of helplessness, hopelessness, and desperation. Because of their dire financial standing and being so lowly in life, they come to the PAO very uncertain and insecure as to whether they will indeed obtain justice and whether their ‘free’ government lawyers will be as loyal, diligent, persistent, and competent as private practitioners.  Conflict-of-interest representation would most definitely add to their doubts and insecurities,” she pointed out. Pending action on PAO’s plea, Acosta asked the SC that the provision “be temporarily not implemented pending a second look and review by all members of the Supreme Court En Banc on its constitutionality, and determination of whether it is detrimental to the integrity of the justice system, public service and public trust, and safety of the life and limb of public attorneys.” She said that there are other means indigent persons can get free lawyers. “Indigents are not left without any option in the very few and far instances when the services of the PAO cannot be availed of,” she said. She cited Republic Act No. 9999, the Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010, wherein “a private lawyer or professional partnership/firm provides free legal assistance to indigents who cannot secure legal services from the PAO, the Department of Justice (DOJ), or any accredited association of the Supreme Court.” She also said that in 2021, “the DOJ and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) signed a memorandum of agreement to provide free legal assistance to indigents who cannot be accommodated by the PAO.” “Further, law schools and universities have legal aid clinics under their Clinical Legal Education Program (A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC),” she added. Also, she said “there are also existing legal aid non-governmental organizations (NGOs); such as, the Free Legal Assistance Group and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.” On top of representation in court cases, Acosta said that PAO “also assists both contending parties whose cases are not yet pending in court by conducting mediation/conciliation proceedings, as governed by the 2021 Revised PAO Operations Manual.”
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