A Rock and a Hard Place: Challenges of Free Legal Aid in the Philippines

The 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance, and yet effective and relevant access to the justice system by the poor and marginalised continues to be an aspiration. There are plenty of opportunities for pro bono work in the Philippines, but these come with an equal number of difficulties.

According to the World Justice Project 2018 Survey, only 20 percent of Filipinos were able to access legal help, leaving 80 percent of Filipinos without legal assistance. Worse, of that 20 percent, 72 percent sought legal help from friends and families while 15 percent sought the help of lawyers, the rest from institutions.[1] In a UNDP survey, the common reasons why Filipinos were not able to access legal services were the cost, the inconvenience (due to traffic/distance), the time spent pursuing legal remedies and the sheer lack of contact with lawyers. The demographic most vulnerable to these barriers were overseas Filipino workers (10.23 million), persons with disabilities (953,000), small and medium enterprise owners (1 million) and other indigent clients.

While there are a number of formal structures in place to enable and even incentivise pro bono work, the reality for the vast majority of Filipino lawyers is that this kind of work is impractical and, often, frustrating. The Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010 grants lawyers tax deductions for giving legal services to poor clients. The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), an agency under the Department of Justice, was also established to provide free legal representation to individuals who either have no income or are below certain income thresholds in civil, criminal and administrative cases.[2] Other government agencies similarly assist in specific areas of the law, e.g. agrarian reform. Philippine courts may also appoint lawyers to provide free representation to indigent defendants in criminal cases. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines also provides legal assistance to indigent Filipinos through the IBP Legal Aid Program, which includes local legal aid committees throughout the Philippines.^[3] Law schools have also played a role in providing pro bono legal services. The Supreme Court of the Philippines has expanded the rule of Law Practice to allow second year law students to appear in court pro bono to represent indigent clients in need of legal representation.^[4]

But navigating the Philippine justice system successfully requires much time and is heavy on resources. Whether it is having enough money for filing fees or easy access to transportation to bring litigants and their witnesses to and from the courts, prosecuting a case is not easy and for many, not possible. Pro bono work is no exception. For a lawyer giving free professional services, the expenses for other “overheads” can be limiting, so that if one’s “paying practice” is not enough, engaging in pro bono work takes a heavy financial toll on the lawyer. Law firms with the infrastructure (messengers, paralegal staff, technology, etc.) needed to support free legal aid initiatives are in the best position to provide it, but what often hampers them is the lack of a connection between these firms, usually situated in the business districts of metro Manila, and the people who need their help, who generally live far away and in very different circumstances.

Another challenge lies in the pro bono clients themselves. Many do not have the time or resources to prosecute their own case. They have jobs and families to attend to and, often, very little time to devote to a case, no matter how meritorious, as it slowly inches its way through the justice system. Again, without a supporting infrastructure, litigants need to personally coordinate documents, witnesses, evidence and several other details that they do not have the skill or the resources to do. Many lose interest and stop communicating with their lawyer over time.

Without an effective support system, free legal aid in the Philippines for all those in need remains an ideal that we need to continue working towards. Many lawyers are willing to help but the physical and financial challenges make it very difficult to follow through and succeed. Apart from the personal satisfaction and fulfilment that pro bono work provides, there is, in reality, very little incentive for lawyers to actively pursue this type of work.

With the widespread changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in the way we work and how governments and businesses operate, there may be an opportunity to make our courts more accessible by way of online portals or other similar channels that do not require face-to-face interactions. LexMeet, Inc., a legal tech company in the Philippines, created a free online consultation platform to help ease the facilitation of pro bono work for indigent clients. With the Supreme Court En Banc issuing Administrative Matter No. 17-03-09-SC – otherwise known as the Community Legal Aid Service Rule  – the possibility of providing free online legal advice to indigent clients, overseas Filipino workers and persons with disabilities becomes more of a reality.^[5]    If other similar initiatives involving the judiciary were implemented, such as the online filing of pleadings and interviews of witnesses, along with other processes that could be done remotely, we could be sure of a renewed interest and enthusiasm from the legal community in providing free legal aid to persons and communities in need.

[1] Access to Justice Project available at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnership/?p=33320#:~:text=Background%20of%20the%20Project%3A%2 0According,and%20the%20rest%20from%20institutions. (last accessed 8 August 2020).

[2] “Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities in the Philippines” available at https://www.lw.com/admin/Upload/Documents/Global%20Pro%20Bono%20Survey/pro-bono-in-the-philippines.pdf (last accessed 08 August 2020).

[3] National Committee On Legal Aid available at http://www.ibp.ph/ncla.html (last accessed 8 August 2020).

[4] National Committee On Legal Aid available at http://www.ibp.ph/ncla.html (last accessed 8 August 2020).

“Sophomore Law Students Now 

Allowed to Represent Clients in Court” available at https://carpolaw.com/sophomore-law-students-now-allowed-to-represent-clients-in-

court/#:~:text=The%20Supreme%20Court%20(SC)%20of,in%20need%20of%20legal%20representation. (last accessed 8 August 2020).

 

[5] Access to Justice Project available at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/partnership/?p=33320#:~:text=Background%20of%20the%20Project%3A%2 0According,and%20the%20rest%20from%20institutions. (last accessed 8 August 2020).