‘Free legal aid is one activity that the Supreme Court fully pushes by way of training, funding and technical assistance, and should also find support from the public.’
WHEN you are poor or middle class — meaning you belong to the great majority of Filipinos — your idea of free assistance from the government or private entities is most often about baskets of groceries, rice, sardines and other canned goods, livelihood, and cash dole-outs.
Seldom will it occur to you that free legal aid or assistance is also important and in fact necessary, until you find yourself in a situation where you needed one.
If you are an OFW having employment or family problems; if you belong to indigenous Filipinos trying to defend your ancestral land; if you are a young female office worker fending off sexual advances from your superiors, then you will need free legal assistance.
Come to think of it, many Filipinos will stand to benefit from free legal aid, considering that incidents of scams and abuses are rampant and seeking redress of grievances through the courts is hard, tedious and expensive.
With this realization, it is more than timely that Sen. Francis “Tol” N. Tolentino launched the Philippine Legal Justice Center (PLJC), a free legal aid clinic on Taft Ave., Manila, last week.
Tolentino, founder of the Center, said it would render free, adequate, and accessible legal assistance to marginalized and indigent litigants, overseas Filipino workers, and indigenous peoples and their communities.
The Center will offer legal services such as legal advice, drafting of legal instruments, and representation and counseling in cases filed before the Office of the Prosecutor, as well as in any court of justice, quasi-judicial bodies, and other administrative bodies.
“The program aims to instill civic consciousness through social engagement among members of the Bar by instituting a legal clinic and serving the community and the country through pro bono legal work,” Tolentino said.
The Center has vowed to uphold and concretize the people’s rights to speedy disposition of their cases and to be given fair, impartial, and efficient justice. The group will also support nation-building by promoting legal literacy and justice, including environmental justice, across all sectors of society.
Free legal aid is one activity that the Supreme Court fully pushes by way of training, funding and technical assistance, and should also find support from the public.
