WITH the high salary on top of other benefits they expect to receive, newly appointed lawyers have no reason not to give their best and time to serve the people, especially the underprivileged and indigents, Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said on Wednesday.
At the Bayview Park Hotel in Manila, officiating the mass oath-taking of 365 PAO members, 145 of whom were new hires, Rueda-Acosta challenged them not to short-change the poor clients, who deserve proper treatment and service from them without hesitation.
“You have desired to be part of PAO, and you are not here to stay in office and work just eight hours a day. Being a PAO worker, being a public attorney, we are committed to working here beyond that time — it must be 24/7,” the chief public attorney said.
With the passage of Republic Act 9406 in 2007, which reorganized and strengthened the agency and granted it autonomy while remaining attached to the Department of Justice for policy and program coordination, Rueda-Acosta said the new public attorneys were more fortunate than those who worked with PAO a few decades back.
“Each one of us was in a pitiful condition, given the low salary, and I saw for myself the suffering and sacrifice of my fellow PAO workers at the time. I once prayed to God to help us; after all, we were serving the poor, and several years later, I was surprised that I would be appointed as the new PAO chief,” she told new PAO members.
That was the time PAO, under her fresh stewardship, began to recover from its financial liabilities, including salaries and benefits of its personnel, and those unfunded employees, Rueda-Acosta recalled.
She emphasized that their work includes legal counseling, attending hearings, acting on judicial affidavits, and jail visitations, among others.
“This is not pleasure but work and sacrifice. However, we can say it’s pleasurable when you are enjoying and happy serving the indigent Filipinos with a smile,” she pointed out.
She reiterated that the PAO people must deliver their best to their clients and the public “because we value them and the mandate that has been entrusted to us.”
“This is also the best way of giving honor to our calling — calling from heaven — as public attorneys and public servants, and of recognizing our clients’ rights, recognizing our collective efforts, which have contributed greatly in making PAO as we know it today,” she said.
Rueda-Acosta, however, warned them that bad habits and behavior are not tolerated.
The administrative penalties enshrined by the Civil Service rules may be meted out upon those who intentionally have shortcomings, she said.
Newly appointed public attorneys can get a take-home pay of over P100,000 monthly, aside from numerous monetary incentives, including special inquest and transportation allowances, among others, according to PAO.
