Republika ng Pilipinas Kagawaran ng Katarungan Tanggapan ng Manananggol Pambayan (PUBLIC ATTORNEY’S OFFICE) DOJ Agencies Building, NIA Rd. cor. East Ave. 1104 Diliman, Quezon City Telephone Nos. 929-90-10/929-94-36; FAX Nos. 927-68-10/ 926-28-78 ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT OF THE PUBLIC ATTORNEY’S OFFICE FOR THE PERIOD COVERING JANUARY TO JUNE 2012 With ardent passion and dedication to its mandate, as provided under the Constitution and the law and also in the name of public service, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) remains to be the last resort of our indigent litigants, the oppressed, marginalized and underprivileged members of the society in their pursuit of justice. This accomplishment report speaks how dutiful and fervent the office is in catering the needs of the underprivileged members of our society for free legal services. Its ultimate goal is to ensure that all indigent Filipino people are able to enjoy what is provided under the Constitution that “Free access to courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance shall not be denied to any person by reason of poverty”. Social Justice also dictates that those who have less in life should have more in law. As such, the PAO will remain steadfast to its mandate and continue to deliver prompt legal service to its indigent clients. The accomplishments of the PAO, as reflected by this report, undoubtedly show that PAO is consistent in rendering exemplary public service. Its outstanding performance, as shown by the total number of clients it assisted and its winning rates, are indeed remarkable. The endeavors of the Office, as marked by its significant accomplishments in the first semester of 2012, are just among the humble but earnest contributions of this agency in strengthening the criminal justice system and government service in our country. The PAO vows to remain faithfully compliant with H. E. President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Social Contract Agenda which include the directive to “provide justice for all”. The PAO, as advocate of the indigents, will continue to deliver and fulfill its mandate as the principal law office of the government in providing free legal service and assistance to qualified clients in criminal, civil, labor, administrative and other quasi-judicial cases. Although not asking for any recognition in return for all the pains and hard works it has done in order to deliver prompt legal service to its indigent clients, the PAO and the Chief Public Attorney have received several awards and recognition from various organizations. While it is of great honor, the Public Attorney’s Office will never be satisfied and it will continue to serve the public until justice is served to those who deserve it and will always be a government institution dutiful to its mandate towards the attainment of the “Matuwid na Landas Program” of President Benigno S. Aquino, III. SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS A. CLIENTS ASSISTED AND CASES HANDLED The statistical figures below show the total number of indigent clients assisted and the total number of cases (judicial and quasi- judicial) handled by the PAO and its proportionate relation to the 1,532 lawyers for the period covering January to June, 2012. Total No. of Clients Assisted 3,296,969 Total No. of Cases Handled 576,280 Average No. of Clients Assisted by Each Lawyer 2,152 Average No. of Cases Handled by Each Lawyer 408 B. ACQUITTALS/DISMISSAL OF CASES AND OTHER FAVORABLE DISPOSITIONS In spite of their overwhelming case loads, the public attorneys ably represented indigent accused in court and facilitated the release and favorable disposition of cases of indigent clients of PAO, by acquittals, dismissal of cases, or for some other reasons, their cases were favorably disposed of, as shown in the graph below. 2 The graph above shows the figures of acquittals, dismissal and other favorable dispositions in criminal cases for the period January to June 2012, totaling 75,913. C. WINNING AND APPEALED CASES For criminal cases alone, a total of 67 cases were favorably disposed of during the period of January to June 2012 by the PAO – Special and Appealed Cases Service. The tables below show the breakdown of figures, to wit: Acquittals from Reclusion Perpetua 40 Acquittals from Reclusion Temporal 27 TOTAL 67 Aside from criminal cases, the Special and Appealed Cases Service (SACS) also handles civil and special cases such as appeals from the decision of NLRC, SSS and GSIS. In those cases handled, a total of 129 favorable dispositions were obtained by PAO-SACS from January to June 2012. D. JAIL VISITATION AND DECONGESTION PROGRAM This outreach program for inmates has been strengthened by the PAO-Central Office Legal, Medical, Dental and Optical Jail Visitation Program. This program was started in 2007 and is being continuously conducted in various jails in the Philippines. The tables below show the output of the project for the first semester of 2012, to wit: NO. OF NO. OF NO. OF TOTAL NO. BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARIES OF VISITED JAIL DATE LEG FOR LEGAL FOR MEDICAL FOR DENTAL INMATES ASSISTANCE ASSISTANCE ASSISTANCE RELEASED (ADVICE) Makati City 1 February 216 137 49 11 Jail 1ST 14, 2012 2 Pasay City Jail 292 251 44 27 Malabon City February 3 2ND 205 264 90 143 Jail 16, 2012 Maximum 4 29 13 6 Compound March 30, 3RD 36 Medium 2012 5 60 94 20 Compound San Jose del 6 36 86 23 9 Monte City Jail April 12, Sta. Maria, 4TH 2012 7 Bulacan City 6 6 1 5 Jail Caloocan City 8 197 239 76 13 Jail April 13, 5TH Valenzuela 2012 9 60 175 64 12 City Jail 3 Malolos City Jail (Provincial 10 145 157 94 14 Civil Security April 25, 6TH & Jail 2012 Management) Meycauayan 11 0 39 16 n/a City Jail Quezon City Jail – Female 12 148 205 29 1 Dorm Camp May 23, 7th Karingal 2012 Molave Youth 13 0 73 42 n/a Home Maximum 14 94 7 n/a Compound May 24, 8th 99 Medium 2012 15 132 18 n/a Compound 16 Pasay City Jail 80 177 70 n/a June 26, th Makati City 9 17 2012 48 144 28 n/a Jail Manila City Jail – Male 73 101 80 n/a Dorm 18 Manila City June 27, 10th Jail – Female 2012 147 127 44 n/a Dorm Manila Youth 19 33 94 50 n/a Reception TOTAL 1,874 2,608 851 271 E. LEGAL/INQUEST PROCEEDINGS ASSISTANCE On their scheduled duties, the public attorneys and staff of the PAO- Central Office have alternately been providing legal and inquest proceedings assistance even during night time, weekends and Holidays since October 2009. For this purpose, the PAO hotline, 929-9436 (local 106 or 107 during office hours and local 159 beyond office hours) is open to the public 24/7. In September 2010, the coverage of this program was widened for the benefit of the people that are being served by the regional and district offices of the PAO nationwide. Since then, the said offices have been rendering legal assistance (e.g. legal advice, attending to the legal needs of suspects in the police stations within the territorial jurisdiction of the concerned PAO regional/district offices) up to 10:00 p.m. everyday (including weekends and Holidays) but the assigned PAO inquest public attorneys and staff therein remain on call after 10:00 p.m. during their respective scheduled duties whenever there is an inquest in the said police stations. A total of 7,800 clients benefited from the services provided by the PAO consisting of inquest assistance, legal advice/counseling and documentation at the above duty stations covering the period January to June 2012. 4 F. CASE LOAD STATISTICAL REPORT AND ACCOMPLISHMENT From January to June, 2012, the PAO handled a total of 360,691 criminal cases; of this total, 91,768 are newly received cases and 268,923 are carry- over from the previous year. Out of the 79,846 terminated criminal cases from January to June 2012, 60,165 cases or about 75.35% thereof were favorably disposed by respective Public Attorneys assigned to handle the same. 5 For the period January to June 2012, the office has handled a total of 44,420 civil cases consisting of newly received and carry-over cases. During the same period, a total of 6,297 were terminated. The PAO handled a total of 7,895 administrative cases consisting of 6,675 carry-over cases and 1,220 newly received cases from January to June, 2012. A total of 883 cases were terminated. 6 For the period January to June, 2012, the office handled a total of 46,809 cases at the Prosecutor’s level; 12,989 of which are newly received and 33,820 are carried over from the previous year. Out of the said total number of cases, 9,753 were terminated. In Labor cases, the PAO was able to handle a total of 18,485 complaints from January to June, 2012, 2,308 of which were disposed of. 7 The office also renders mediation and conciliation services as part of its quasi-judicial function. For the period covering January to June 2012, it handled a total of 233,154 disputes and resolved a total of 119,495 thereof. The office has extended limited services to accused in criminal cases on arraignment, pre-trial, promulgation of sentence only and in other stages of the case. It assisted a total of 418,246 accused for the first semester of 2012. 8 The office has rendered non-judicial services to 1,648,089 clients such as legal documentation, counseling and administration of oaths for the period January to June, 2012.