PAO seeks P700-M budget

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) is seeking an additional P700 million in funding to recruit more lawyers and support personnel to alleviate heavy workloads, with public attorneys currently handling an average of 350 cases per month.

Speaking at House budget deliberations, PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta told lawmakers that while the agency ideally needs 559 additional lawyers, it is willing to settle for roughly 225 new attorneys and 400 support staff under the supplemental request.

Rueda-Acosta explained that public attorneys carry responsibilities well beyond courtroom litigation, including labor disputes, preliminary investigations, inquest proceedings, community outreach, and legal assistance for Overseas Filipino Workers through partnerships with the Department of Migrant Workers and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

PAO’s baseline proposed budget for 2027 stands at P7.101 billion, a 6.1 percent increase over its P6.693-billion allocation for 2026.

However, Rueda-Acosta clarified that the budget growth primarily covers mandatory salary adjustments and previously authorized positions, including 87 attorney posts, rather than new expansion.

With the requested budget, the agency aims to achieve an 83.05 percent favorable judgment rate for disposed cases and appeals in 2027, building on alternative dispute resolution success rates that exceeded 91 percent in 2025.

The agency also pledged to process all requests for nonjudicial services within two hours.

During the hearing, FPJ Panday Bayanihan Representative Brian Poe Llamanzares urged PAO to devote additional resources to grassroots legal assistance programs, specifically pointing to the Department of Justice Action Center’s “Katarungan Caravan,” which served roughly 25,000 people in 2025 and 15,000 in 2026.

Rueda-Acosta agreed to expand outreach efforts, emphasizing the need for public attorneys in remote and mountainous indigenous communities. She also proposed stationing PAO attorneys at Philippine embassies abroad to directly assist migrant workers facing legal challenges.

Lawmakers expressed support for bolstering PAO’s operational budget, acknowledging the agency’s critical role in delivering free legal representation to indigent Filipinos.