THE INTEGRATED Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in Davao City, in partnership with the City Government of Davao, plans to expand the free legal aid services program for indigent litigants.
In an interview, Atty. Antoinette Principe, IBP-Davao City Chapter public relations officer said the city allocated a budget of P2 million per annum utilized to hire additional lawyers, their salaries, office supplies, and other needs.
“The status for the said program is that we already have the budget from the City Government through our City Mayor Sebastian Duterte. We are just waiting for the legal opinion to give authority to our mayor for him to sign the Memorandum of Agreement between the city government of Davao and IBP-Davao City chapter,” Principe said.
Principe said this would help the city to cater and represent indigent litigants to the court, as clients couldn’t afford to hire private lawyers.
“It is a protected right within our constitution to give all Filipino citizens free access to the courts. Unfortunately, because of financial constraints, there are others that couldn’t really afford to hire private lawyers. We have the public attorney’s office that offers free services, however, there are still cases where other parties could not refer it to the office, due to a conflict of interest. That’s where the IBP Davao chapter legal aid office will come in,” she said.
She said qualified indigent litigants will be given free services not just consultation but including representation to the court, as long as the said client has a certification.
“IBP Davao already has a legal lawyer that represents litigants however; we only have one. We also have approximately 5 volunteer lawyers. With this expanded legal aid service, we could hire additional lawyers and we could be able to cater to more indigent clients. Based on the MOA, we are looking for 2-3 additional lawyers,” she added.
IBP Davao is a group of lawyers in Davao City and has an existing legal aid program, wherein they offer free legal services for indigent clients/litigants. At present, IBP Davao has only one lawyer that caters to approximately 142 pending clients and cases. Principe said they are looking forward to the MOA’s progress within the coming weeks.
The IBP legal aid office is located at the IBP Building inside the Hall of Justice, Ecoland, Davao City.
File Photo by Bing Gonzales
