Lawyers of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) are not allowed to render legal services to political candidates like the notarization of their certificates of candidacy (COCs) and other election-related documents.
In a public advisory issued on Sunday, Aug. 27, PAO – an attached agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ) – said it is against its rules to provide legal services to candidates on election-related concerns.
Citing Article 7, Paragraph 5, Chapter II of the 2021 Revised PAO Operations Manual, the agency said: “Ang mga public attorneys at iba pang kawani ng PAO ay hindi pinapayagang magbigay ng serbisyong legal sa mga politikong kandidato o kung sino pa mang tao sa mga bagay na may kaugnayan sa eleksyon (public attorneys and other personnel of PAO are not allowed to render legal services to candidates or any other persons on election matters).”
“Samakatuwid, hindi maaaring ma-i-notarize ng isang PAO lawyer ang mga Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) ng mga kandidato, authorization letter o special power of attorney (SPA) sa paghahain ng COC at ibang dokumento na may kaugnayan sa darating na Barangay at Sangguniang Kabataan Elections or BSKE (Thus, a PAO lawyer cannot notarize the COCs, authorization letter or SPA of candidates concerning the submission of documents related to the upcoming BSKE),” it said.
PAO issued the advisory as the filing of the COCs for the 2023 BSKE is set to start on Monday, Aug. 28.
“Simula Agosto 28, 2023 hanggang Setyembre 2, 2023 ang nakatakdang paghahain ng COC para sa mga nagnanais tumakbo sa nasabing halalan (The filing of the COCs is set this Aug. 28 up to Sept. 2),” it said.
“Ang paalaalang ito ay ipinapalabas matapos makatanggap ang tanggapan ng mga kahilingan mula sa mga nais tumakbo sa BSKE sa pagpapanotaryo ng kanilang mga COCs (This notice was issued after receiving reports that PAO has received requests from persons who wanted to run in BSKE to have their COCs notarized),” it explained
The BSKE is set on Oct. 30, 2023.