THE growing demand for free, reliable legal assistance from poor clients belonging to the over 16.4 million indigent Filipinos has prompted the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) to “beg” for more lawyers.
Under the leadership of its chief, Persida Rueda-Acosta, PAO said it needs to maximize its manpower, citing its public attorney-to-court ratio, which remained at one lawyer for every two courts, as the number of tribunals has increased over the years.
With most of the country’s so-called public defenders facing heavy workloads and longer work hours, the PAO still achieved a 100 percent obligation rate and a 100 percent disbursement rate in 2025, Nelson Acevedo, PAO’s supervising administrative officer, told The Manila Times.
Acevedo said that the public attorney-to-court ratio remained at 1:2 from 2023 to 2025 against the 1:1 target, while the agency still showed strong absorptive capacity, noting that its public legal assistance program also posted 100 percent obligation and disbursement rates.
With just over 2,670 public attorneys nationwide, after the Department of Budget and Management approved 178 additional positions consisting of 56 Public Attorney II and 122 Public Attorney I posts, their responsibilities extend beyond appearing in court, according to Rigel Salvador, PAO’s Field Operations and Statistics Service head.
Both Acevedo and Salvador said public attorneys were also preoccupied with handling criminal, civil, and labor cases as well as quasi-judicial proceedings, mediation and conciliation, barangay outreach, jail visits, home and hospital visits, documentation and notarial services.
Meanwhile, Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Roberto Nazal Jr., during a budget hearing, urged his colleagues in Congress to consider providing additional funding to PAO, noting the agency’s “excellent performance” while citing records.
The figures showed that PAO had fully utilized the funds appropriated to it while continuing to face an unmet need for legal services, Nazal said.
“Shouldn’t we be giving additional funding to agencies like PAO that have demonstrated they can fully utilize and disburse their budget, especially when there is clearly still an unmet need for their services?” the party-list lawmaker said.
PAO said it operates 392 regional and district offices nationwide as of September 2026, located in almost every city and municipality and at or near halls of justice.
“These offices provide free legal advice, court representation, and counseling to qualified clients even beyond office hours as our public lawyers attend to indigent Filipinos who have legal concerns even during wee hours,” the PAO officials said.
PAO’s ability to fully use its appropriations should be considered to determine whether it can absorb additional funding for more lawyers and legal assistance, said Nazal.
“What additional amount can PAO realistically absorb and utilize in 2027 for more public attorneys and better legal assistance?” Nazal asked.
He said agencies like PAO, which has proven strong absorptive capacity, must be given additional resources “when there is a demonstrated public need for their services.”
