PAO changing rules to accommodate poor clients

The Public Attorney’s Office is coming out with new guidelines to accommodate more poor Filipinos in need of legal aid. PAO head Persida Acosta said she expects to sign the updated rules soon in response to the office’s declining clients. The PAO provides free legal assistance to poor Filipinos. “We noticed a decline in our poor clients. Before, there used to be five million a year, but now it’s down to four million a year. We found our rules were not applicable to many clients," Acosta told dwIZ radio in Filipino. She said her office was revising the requirements, which were based on economic data in the 1990s. One potential revision involves changing the income bracket for those eligible for legal aid. At present, a client’s gross family income must not exceed P14,000 to qualify for assistance. But Acosta noted that while wages have since increased, the rules do not consider automatic deductions on wages. The PAO is looking at basing the maximum income requirement on an applicant’s individual net income. “What if one has a loan with Pag-IBIG, even if his salary is more than P14,000 a month? We have to consider these factors," Acosta said, noting that one's take-home pay usually comes down to half his gross salary. — CL/NPA, GMANews.TV