The Public Attorney's Office (PAO) is the

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

for all courts in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It also provides other legal services to the poor. According to its mission statement it exists to provide to the poor "free access to courts, judicial and quasi-judicial agencies, by rendering legal services, counselling and assistance". It is an attached agency of the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

(DOJ). It is led by chief public attorney

Persida Acosta Persida V. Rueda-Acosta (born 1961) is a Filipino lawyer who currently serves as the chief of the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) since 2001. Early life and education Acosta was born in Mariveles, Bataan in 1961 to Florencio and Herminia Rueda. ...

, who was appointed to the position on February 23, 2001, by President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

History

PAO was previously known as the Citizen's Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) which was created as a body under the

(DOJ) in 1972 under the Integrated Reorganization Plan. It is mandated to provide free legal assistance to indigent people. In 2006, the CLAO was renamed as the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) through Republic Act 9406. The renamed body retained its mandate.

List of chief public attorneys

PAO is headed by the chief public attorney, whose tenure is not defined by law.

References

External links

* Department of Justice (Philippines) Public defense institutions 1972 establishments in the Philippines {{Philippines-stub