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De Lima wants PAO to prioritize indigents


Senator Leila de Lima filed a bill redefining the mandate of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) to serve only truly indigent defendants in criminal cases. 

De Lima, who is currently detained in Camp Crame over drug-related charges, said the existing functions of PAO has been used by affluent personalities to the detriment of those who need the services of public attorneys. 

In a Senate committee hearing last year, De Lima questioned PAO after it provided legal assistance to Bilibid inmates who tagged her in the illegal drug trade. 

De Lima's Senate Bill No. 1345 amends Republic Act 9406 creating PAO as the government’s principal law office for indigents. 

De Lima, a former Justice secretary, pointed out that PAO's power to render service to non-indigent persons "has been invoked to represent individuals who can afford to contract the services of their own private counsels, to the detriment of those who need PAO’s services the most."  

Other non-indigent individuals represented by PAO in the past include Ma. Cristina Sergio, the illegal recruiter behind the drug trafficking case of Mary Jane Veloso; and Janet Lim Napoles during a previous Senate hearing. 

De Lima also noted that PAO lawyers are spread too thin due to such unnecessary work forced onto each lawyer due to its existing mandate. 

She said the PAO served 7.5 million clients, mostly for non-judicial clients, with each public attorney handling more than 500 cases in 2014 alone. 

“The existing mandate of PAO needs to be fleshed out so that its personnel will be unburdened of other matters and can focus on providing the utmost attention to their clients accused of committing a crime,” she said.

"PAO should focus on its original mandate of serving truly indigent defendants in criminal cases,” De Lima said. —KG, GMA News

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