The Public Attorney's Office (PAO) pledged to improve the delivery of free legal services despite continuing shortages in its ranks, with Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta committing to maximize the agency's resources for millions of indigent clients nationwide.

PAO currently operates with about 2,505 to 2,555 active attorney positions assigned to district and regional offices across the country.

The Department of Budget and Management recently approved the creation of 178 additional Public Attorney I and Public Attorney II positions, allowing the agency to continue expanding its workforce.

Rueda-Acosta has also intensified the recruitment of newly admitted lawyers to increase PAO's capacity.

Despite the additional positions, the agency has yet to achieve its goal of assigning one public attorney to every active court in the country.

Rueda-Acosta vowed to maximize the efficiency of the agency's public defenders to better serve indigent Filipinos.

She made the commitment after Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 230 Judge Maria Gilda Loja-Pangilinan affirmed that her term as chief public attorney extends until she reaches the compulsory retirement age of 70 in 2031.

The judge made the clarification before around 3,000 public lawyers during PAO's 9th Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Grand Convention.

Loja-Pangilinan also cited her 2017 ruling, later affirmed by the Court of Appeals, which granted PAO retirees benefits equivalent to those received by members of the National Prosecution Service under the Department of Justice.

Rueda-Acosta, appointed by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in February 2001, is the longest-serving PAO chief. Now 64, she confirmed that she intends to remain in office until she reaches the mandatory retirement age prescribed by law.

Citing Republic Act No. 9946 and the PAO Law, Loja-Pangilinan said parity between the Public Attorney's Office and the National Prosecution Service extends to qualifications, rank, salary and retirement benefits.

“As the law provides, parity extends to the senior-ranking members of the Public Attorney's Office. It is quite evident: the Chief Public Attorney shall have the same qualifications and retirement benefits as his or her counterpart in NAPROS,” the judge said.

She explained that public attorneys are subject to a compulsory retirement age of 70, provided they have rendered at least 15 years of judicial or government service.

The judge added that public attorneys also have the option of optional retirement at age 60, provided they have completed at least 15 years of government service.

“For you, it's just 15 years of government service. No additional requirement,” Loja-Pangilinan said.

She maintained that the retirement provisions under Republic Act No. 9946 should likewise apply to the chief public attorney, deputy public attorneys and other senior PAO officials.