Decongesting jails
CONGESTION in many of the country’s jails and detention facilities has thrust out front the need to increase the 2023 budget of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).
PAO is the principal law office of the government in extending free legal assistance to indigent persons in criminal, civil, labor, administrative and other quasi-judicial cases.
Likewise, the office is mandated to provide non-judicial services, such as legal counseling, preparation of affidavits, notices, and other documents as well as notarization.
No less than Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has asked Congress to raise the 2023 budget of PAO to P5 billion as part of efforts to decongest our jails.
This year’s budget of PAO is only P4.74 billion, according to the DOJ secretary from vote-rich Cavite.
The budget of PAO, which is headed by lawyer Persida V. Rueda-Acosta, is so big because of its huge mission, said Secretary Remulla, a former member of the House of Representatives.
Remulla asked Acosta to look into the conditions of the country’s persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) nationwide.
He also instructed the PAO chief to determine who among the PDLs are eligible for early release, adding that jail congestion is often caused by inefficiency.
Certainly, PAO’s growing army of dedicated lawyers is in a position to look into the condition of every PDL in jails and prisons not only in Luzon but also in the Visayas and Mindanao.
That’s why, the two-chamber Congress would well to increase the 2023 budget of the Public Attorney’s Office , an attached agency of the Department of Justice.
Dapat lang!
