Libanan House Minority Leader Marcelino ‘Nonoy’ Libanan at the 7th National Convention of Public Attorneys, where he received an award for his authorship of a 2007 law that transformed the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) into an independent agency providing free legal services to disadvantaged Filipinos.

Libanan cites PAO’s free legal services as ‘noblest work’

October 15, 2022 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco 499 views

HOUSE Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Representative Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan has lauded the 3,371-strong Public Attorneys’ Office (PAO) for their “noblest work” in lawyering for poor and defenseless Filipinos.

Addressing the 7th National Convention of Public Attorneys, where he was guest speaker, Libanan commended PAO lawyers for their service as “first responders” in legal emergencies involving violence against women and children and minors found in conflict with the law.

“If not for the PAO lawyers, ordinary people would lack legal representation and would be lost and taken advantage of by an uncaring system,” Libanan said.

“As a lawyer like yourselves, I have the greatest respect for those who toil day in and day out in their offices and in the halls of justice, taking the cudgels for our citizens who are unable to pay for the costs of litigation and sound legal counsel,” Libanan said.

“To my mind, the noblest expression of the legal profession can be found in the work that you do,” Libanan added.

Libanan received a standing ovation from the convention when he was presented a special award for his authorship of a 2007 law that reinforced and transformed the PAO into a truly autonomous agency.

PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta presented the award to Libanan.

When Libanan was chairperson of the House committee on justice in the 13th Congress, he authored the law that empowered the PAO to “independently discharge its mandate to render, free of charge, legal representation, assistance, and counseling to indigent persons in criminal, civil, labor, administrative and other quasi-judicial cases.”

Republic Act No. 9406 guaranteed PAO’s self-governance, despite it being housed together with the National Prosecution Service under the Department of Justice.

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