PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1725

INCREASING THE NUMBER OF LAWYERS OF THE CITIZENS LEGAL ASSISTANCE OFFICE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

WHEREAS, the Citizens Legal Assistance Office, as the law office of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines for indigent and low-income persons, performs a vital role in the implementation of the legal aid program of the State, in upholding the rule of law, in the protection and safeguarding of the constitutional and statutory rights of the citizenry, and in the efficient and speedy administration of justice;

WHEREAS, the Citizens Legal Assistance Office is presently organized into 96 Regional and District Offices situated in different centers throughout the country, and is handling for indigents more than 50,000 new cases every year;

WHEREAS, there is still a large segment of our indigent population, specially those living in the remote areas, who cannot avail of the services of the Citizens Legal Assistance Office because of the distance of its offices from their respective residences, and the lack of an adequate number of CLAO lawyers;

WHEREAS, there is a need to extend the services of the Citizens Legal Assistance Office to all indigent citizens to make our constitutional guarantees a living reality for them;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me under the Constitution, hereby order and decree as follows:

Section 1. The Citizens Legal Assistance Office shall establish a District Office in every city or municipality where a branch of the Court of First Instance is located. In accomplishing this objective, there shall be created positions of Supervising Citizens attorneys, Senior Citizens attorneys, District Citizens attorneys, Citizens attorneys, Senior Stenographers, and Clerks, in such number as may be necessary and as may be determined under pertinent organization law.

Section 2. The compensation of the positions created under this Decree shall be determined pursuant to P.D. No. 985 and 1726.

Section 3. To carry out the provisions of this Decree, the sum of seven million two hundred thousand pesos (P7,200,000) is hereby authorized to be released out of the Special Activities Fund to cover costs incurred in 1980 and 1981.

Section 4. This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 26th day of September, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty.