Cebu City-wide legal aid program eyed

Local

LEGAL help will soon be within reach for poor and vulnerable Cebuanos.

This will happen if the Cebu City Council approves a citywide legal aid program with dedicated offices and barangay desks offering free legal services.

A proposed ordinance creating the Cebu City Legal Aid Program (CCLAP) is scheduled for deliberation during the July 15 regular session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

The program aims to establish an institutionalized system of accessible, community-based legal services for the city’s poor, elderly, and marginalized residents.

Authored by Councilor Mikel Rama, chairperson of the Committee on Laws, and seconded by Councilor Jerry Guardo Zafra, the ordinance seeks to operationalize national legal aid policies at the local level through the creation of a City Legal Aid Office (CLAO) and Barangay Legal Aid Desks (BLADs), with an initial pilot implementation in at least three barangays.

“This is a localized, institutional response to the constitutional right to free legal assistance. It also ensures the city complies with the Supreme Court’s mandatory legal aid programs,” Rama said in the ordinance’s explanatory note.

The measure is anchored in provisions of the 1987 Constitution that guarantee free access to courts, as well as recent Supreme Court rules mandating pro bono work from lawyers under the Unified Legal Aid Service (ULAS) and allowing law students to provide supervised legal aid under the Clinical Legal Education Program (CLEP).

Key features of the ordinance

Under the proposal, the Cebu City Legal Aid Program (CCLAP) would consist of three main components. The City Legal Aid Office (CLAO) would operate under the City Legal Office to manage the overall legal aid system. Barangay Legal Aid Desks (BLADs) would be established at the community level to provide walk-in consultations, legal referrals, and basic legal education.

Additionally, in partnership with accredited law schools and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter, law students and volunteer lawyers would be deployed to offer legal assistance through the CLEP and Volunteer Lawyer Partnership.

To oversee the program’s implementation, a Cebu City Legal Aid Coordinating Committee (CLACC) would be formed as the technical working group.

This committee would include representatives from the City Legal Office, the IBP Cebu Chapter, CLEP-accredited law schools, the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), the Committee on Social Services, and accredited civil society organizations.

Pilot implementation, funding

The ordinance provides for a one-year pilot implementation in at least three barangays, to be selected by CLACC.

The committee must submit midterm and final evaluation reports to the city council with findings, challenges, and rollout recommendations.

Funding for the program’s rollout will initially be sourced from available city appropriations. A dedicated annual budget will be included in the City Legal Office's allotment in subsequent years.

Eligible beneficiaries

Legal aid under CCLAP will be extended to:

Indigent individuals or groups; Victims of violence, abuse, or displacement;

Senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and other vulnerable persons;

Any resident meeting eligibility criteria set under the program's implementing rules.

The City Legal Office, along with its partners, will draft the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) within 60 days from the ordinance’s effectivity and will submit an annual Legal Aid Report detailing service delivery, lawyer compliance, and program recommendations.

If passed, the ordinance will take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation or public posting in at least three locations in the city.

“Through CCLAP, we bring justice closer to the barangays,” Rama said. “We enable communities to resolve legal issues with dignity, access, and professional support.”(TGP