Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles on Sunday threw his support for a bill that proposes to fund the legal education of aspiring lawyers in state universities and colleges (SUCs) in exchange for working in the government for two years after they pass the Bar exams.
“A legal scholarship law would help in addressing our issues on legal access especially for the poor. This is a bill with noble intentions, and I support this wholeheartedly,” Nograles said.
Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, Benguet Rep. Eric Yap, and ACT-CIS Rep. Edvic Yap have jointly filed House Bill (HB) 7433, titled, “An Act promoting access to quality legal education by providing for free tuition and other school fees in state universities and colleges and appropriating funds therefor.”
The bill’s authors seek to provide free legal education to eligible students who will then render a mandatory two-year return of service (ROS) in the Public Attorney’s Office or any government agency lacking lawyers.
Nograles, a legal aid advocate and chair of the House committee on labor, said that if passed, the measure would help the poor have better access to legal representation.
According to the Foundation for Economic Freedom, there is roughly only one lawyer for every 2,500 Filipinos. In comparison, the United States has one lawyer for every 240 citizens.
“Currently, the PAO does not have enough lawyers, kaya’t gaano man nila gustuhin, because of the lack of numbers ay hindi nila matugunan nang husto ang pangangailangan ng mga kababayan natin,” he said.
“This measure would be a great boost towards this end as the PAO would
have a steady stream of lawyers coming in every year,” he added.
The lawmaker also said that a bill he has filed that seeks to establish legal aid programs in schools would be a good complement to HB No. 7433.
HB No. 6325 or the “Legal Aid Program” bill mandates the establishment of legal aid programs in both private and public law schools in the country to augment the services rendered by the PAO and other public offices that offer free legal assistance.
“A mandatory legal aid program in schools would mesh well with the ROS program. Perhaps we could find a way to harmonize these two measures so that our legal scholars would have the proper training habang nag-aaral pa lang sila,” said the solon.
“Maaari tayong gumawa ng parang service track, where scholars would be part of the legal clinic and then render the ROS. This way, may real-time experience na sila kapag sumabak sila sa PAO,” he added.