DESPITE a shortage of lawyers needed to render free legal assistance to poor Filipinos, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) was able to provide its clients favorable results in 2010.
In its annual accomplishment report, PAO, under Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta, said that of the total 148,467 cases before courts nationwide, 112,133, or about a high of 74 percent received favorable dispositions through the public attorneys.
PAO lawyers won 12,562 acquittals.
In the other cases, it got favorable dispositions, including demurrer to evidence granted, 1,562; case provisionally dismissed, 40,029; case permanently dismissed, 31,151; and motion to quash granted,1,142.
For criminal cases appealed before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, a total of 154 favorable decisions were obtained last year, among them, 81 for acquittals from reclusion perpetua and 73 for acquittals from reclusion temporal.
Acosta said that 33 of PAO lawyers are devoted to appealed cases before the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and the Office of the President.
PAO at present has a total of 1,407 lawyers handling an average of 420 cases each but, despite the overwhelming case load, the public attorneys have produced positive results for their clients who do not have the money to pay for a lawyer.
It conducts jail visitations and decongestion program, which was launched in 2007.
PAO is also mandated by law to extend free legal assistance to women and their children who are victims of violence as well as to release minor offenders from jail, particularly those who are 15 years old or below at the time of their alleged commission of a crime.
Of the total number of 74,154 cases involving woman clients, there were 27,705 cases terminated and 17,602 of the cases were favorable to the clients.
Of the cases of minors in conflict with the law, PAO was able to terminate 3,405 from a total of 14,588. –JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA REPORTER, Manila Times
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