Chapter V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter presents the summary of the findings, conclusions and

recommendations based on the data analyzed in the previous chapter.

This research covered the performance of the Public Attorney’s Office in the

District of General Santos City. This study used a qualitative in-depth analysis with

informants coming from the lawyers, staff, and clienteles of the Public Attorney’s

Office (PAO) in General Santos City; Clerks of Court and Court Interpreters coming

from the different branches of Regional Trial Courts (RTC) and Municipal Trial

Courts in Cities (MTCC), and the staff from the Offices of the Executive Clerks of

Court and City Sheriffs of the Regional Trial Court (OCC-RTC) and Municipal Trial

Court in Cities (OCC-MTCC) in General Santos City,

Summary of Findings

The summary of the findings are as follows:

1. The Public Attorney’s Office – General Santos City District, is a legally-created

and mandated institution set to help indigents and the poor, by representing

their cases before courts and quasi-judicial bodies. It has followed the

guidelines set by its Operation Manual in accepting and handling the criminal

and other cases. As an institution, it has sets of rules to follow their mission –

that is to provide legal assistance to the indigent. Furthermore, PAO follows an

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operation manual in which the content provides guidelines and procedures in

accepting clienteles, and handling cases.

2. The Operation Manual has specifically set procedures for the public attorneys

to help the indigent and poor clienteles in certain different situations on stages

of the case whether the person is detained or is liberated. There are also merit

test and indigency test to ensure that a litigant is qualified to be a PAO’s

clientele. These measures have been done by the Public Attorney’s Office, as

it was affirmed by its clienteles and the court employees

3. The Handling of Criminal Cases of the Public Attorney’s Office is also specified

in the PAO Operations Manual. Situations such as where the accused is

detained, or on matters such as arraignment, pre-trial, time limit for trial, when

the accused enters a plea of guilty, exclusions, time limit following an order for

new trial, remedy where the accused is not brought to trial within the time limit

and where the accused has served the minimum imposable penalty has been

performed effectively by the PAO General Santos District.

4. During the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, the War on Drugs, the War on

Gambling, and other initiatives done by the Philippine National Police and other

executive forces have been initiated and waged. These initiatives have resulted

in the increase of numbers of cases filed in court. Throughout the Philippines,

the drug related cases grew from 82,000 prior to Duterte’s tenure, to 303,000

cases in 2017 (South China Morning Post, 2017). Though PAO General Santos

district does not have the specific data of how many drug-related cases were
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handled by the Public Attorneys, the above data was affirmed based on the

firsthand experiences of the public attorneys.

5. Many of the litigants of the new cases are indigent and are qualified to be

clienteles of PAO. This led to the increase of caseload of Public Attorneys.

From 2016 to 2018, around six (6) to eight (8) PAO lawyers were tasked to help

decongest cases filed in courts. Public Attorneys have caseloads with an

average of 418 cases in 2016, 496 cases in 2017, and 495 cases in 2018.

6. In 2016, 40% of the cases filed in the courts of General Santos City were

handled by the PAO. That figure increased to 76% of the cases filed in 2017,

and to 77% of the cases filed in 2018.

7. Also, due to the new Plea Bargaining rules and the GCTA Law, the Public

Attorney’s Office have disposed or terminated cases more in 2018 than it had

received in that same year. Yet, the caseload of the PAO is still yet

overwhelming, having a caseload of 3,466 in the end of the year 2018.

8. The effectiveness of the PAO was measured by two surveys, namely, the

Survey for the Clienteles of Public Attorney’s Office and the Survey for the

Court Employees.

9. In the first aforementioned survey, a high majority of the respondents strongly

agreed that PAO is effective in providing legal assistance. This is the summary

of the results of the survey, in particular order:

A) CLIENT-FRIENDLY OFFICE – the majority or 80% of the respondents

strongly agreed that PAO is a client-friendly office.

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B) FELT WELCOME – majority or 80% of the respondents strongly agreed

that they have felt welcome when they inquired and asked for assistance.

C) EXPLAINED CLEARLY THE NATURE OF THE CASE – the majority or

73% of the respondents strongly agreed that The PAO Attorney/ Staff

clearly explained the nature and dynamics of the case.

D) EXPLAINED THE ROLE OF THE CLIENT – majority or 80% of the

respondents strongly agreed that PAO Attorneys explain the litigants’ role/

participation in the favorable resolution of the cases.

E) PAO LAWYERS GIVE THEIR BEST EFFORT – majority or 73% of the

respondents strongly agreed that the PAO Attorneys give their best effort in

their defense.

F) PAO LAWYERS CAUSED TIMELY RESOLUTION OF THE CASE –

majority or 60% of the respondents strongly agreed that the PAO Attorneys

help the court in the timely resolution of the case.

G) SATISFACTION OF PAO SERVICES – almost all or 87% of the

respondents strongly agreed that they are satisfied with the services

rendered by the PAO General Santos District.

10. On average of eleven (11) or 76% of the total respondents have strongly

agreed that PAO is effective in providing legal assistance.

11. In the second survey, all nineteen (19) or 100% of the court employee-

respondents have agreed to the two questions of the survey, namely, “In
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your assessment/ observation, is PAO GenSan effective in handling

criminal cases of its clientele?” and “in your assessment/ observation, does

PAO need more lawyers in GenSan district?”

12. Each of the two questions has a yes and a no options. Each of the “yes”

option has four “because” answers. The fourth answer is an “Others”

answer where the respondents can opt to write or add another option. The

following are the results of the survey.

A) LAWYERS ARE HARDWORKING AND COMPETENT – all or nineteen

(19) or 100% of the respondents agreed that the lawyers are hardworking,

competent, faithful, and true to the mission of PAO.

B) EASILY TRUSTED BY POOR/INDIGENT LITIGANTS – the majority or

sixteen (16) or 84% of the respondents agreed that the PAO lawyers are

easily trusted by poor/ indigent litigants.

C) EXPLAINED CLEARLY THE NATURE OF THE CASE – the majority or

sixteen (16) or 84% of the respondents agreed that the PAO Attorney/ Staff

clearly explained the nature and dynamics of the case.

D) EXPERIENCED AND COMPASSIONATE LAWYERS – two of the court

employees have added options that made PAO effective and high

performing institution. A Regional Trial Court Clerk of Court had explained

that PAO Lawyers are experienced. A court interpreter had also described

Public Attorneys as compassionate lawyers.

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E) PAO GENSAN DISTRICT NEEDED MORE LAWYERS DUE TO THE

PROMOTION OF PAO LAWYERS – majority or fourteen (14) or 74% of the

respondents agreed that The Incumbent PAO lawyers are being promoted

to the prosecution and the judiciary frequently.

F) MORE COURTS THAN THERE ARE PAO LAWYERS – almost all or

eighteen (18) or 95% of the respondents agreed that there are more courts

than there are PAO Lawyers.

G) THE CASELOAD IS OVERWHELMING – almost all or eighteen (18) or

95% of the respondents strongly agreed that they the PAO caseload is just

exremely overwhelming.

H) ONE PAO LAWYER IN EVERY COURT – a court interpreter had

suggested these following words “One court, one prosecutor, one PAO.”

Today, there are only six PAO lawyers for the nine regional trial courts and

three municipal trial courts. Meaning there is only one (1) PAO Lawyer in

every two (2) courts. The said court interpreter suggested that the

Department of Justice, as the head agency of PAO, should hire more PAO

Lawyers.

13. Nineteen (19) or 100% of the total court employee-respondents have

agreed that PAO is effective in legal assistance. With an average of

seventeen (17) or 89% of the total respondents have agreed to all the

suggested answers of how PAO GenSan is effective in handling criminal

cases of its clientele. In the second question, an average of sixteen (16) or

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88% of the total respondents have agreed to all the suggested answers to

the question: “In your assessment/ observation, does PAO need more

lawyers in GenSan district?”

14. The two surveys revealed that the Public Attorney’s Office in General

Santos District is effective in providing legal assistance for the indigents.

This has been affirmed by its clientele-respondents and seconded by the

court employee-respondents. Majority of the respondents strongly agreed

that PAO is a client-friendly office, which welcomed them when they

inquired and asked about their cases. Also almost all of the respondents

have affirmed that they are satisfied by the services rendered by the office

and its public attorneys.

15. However, the need for more Public Attorneys in the district of General

Santos is clear, as eighteen (18) of nineteen (19) or 95% of the court-

employees-respondents have affirmed in the survey. Furthermore, the need

for more lawyers is also evident as 95% of the court employee-respondents

have also agreed that Public Attorneys have overwhelming caseloads.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:
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1. The Public Attorney’s Office – General Santos City District followed the

guidelines and procedures set and dictated by the Public Attorney’s

Office Operation Manual in accepting clienteles with criminal cases.

Tests including merit and indigency were implemented by the PAO.

2. The proper handling of criminal cases as indicated by the PAO

Operations Manual was followed by the Public Attorney’s Office in

General Santos City District. In 2016, 874 cases or 49% of the total

cases received by the courts were handled by the Public Attorney’s

Office. Within the three-year span, 3,956 cases or 65% of the total cases

received by the courts (4,225 cases in RTC and 1,994 cases from

MTCC) were handled by the six (6) PAO Lawyers. The War on Drugs

and other initiative done by the Duterte Administration has helped

increased the caseload of PAO. However, the increasingly growth of

number of cases and the increased numbers of cases that were

terminated or disposed has been done also at the same time. New Rules

on Plea Bargaining and the GCTA Law have helped lawyers disposed

cases faster despite the low numbers of PAO Lawyers.

3. The Public Attorney’s Office General Santos City is effective in providing

legal assistance to its clientele. 76% of the total answers of the clientele-

respondents strongly agreed that PAO is a client-friendly office, and they

are satisfied with the services rendered by PAO. 100% of the court

employee-respondents have agreed that PAO is effective in handling

criminal cases of their clieneteles. However, the said respondents have

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also agreed that PAO need more lawyers in the District of General

Santos.

Recommendation

As regards to the findings and conclusions, the researcher would like to

propose following recommendations:

Policy Recommendations

1. The Public Attorney’s Office in General Santos City should hire more PAO

Lawyers. With a ratio of one (1) PAO Lawyers in every two (2) courts, it is

therefore ideal that there should at least be one PAO Lawyer in each court

in General Santos City to give the PAO Lawyers quality time to research,

secure evidences, and prepare the evidence of their cases.

2. Many of the Public Attorneys are finding better and greener pastures in

courts and private institutions because of the better salaries they offer.

Therefore, the Department of Justice, as the head agency of PAO should

raise their salary to attract lawyers to apply as Public Attorneys.

3. To ease the overwhelming burden of huge number of caseloads given to

PAO Lawyers, the Supreme Court should implement more the A.M. No. 17-

03-09-SC or the Community Legal Aid Service Rule. The Supreme Court

issuance stated that new lawyers have to provide 120 hours legal aid or pro

bono for litigants who need it as part of the efforts to implement the

constitutional mandate to free access to the courts and quasi-judicial

bodies.
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Research Recommendations

1. Due to CoVid-19, the Key Informant Interviews (KII) method is not used to

gather data. However, informal interviews were used instead. Therefore, it

is better to used KII as method of gathering data to further understand the

strengths and weaknesses of the Public Attorney’s Office

2. Because of the quarantine measures set by the government to limit

movement due to a health emergency, the number of respondents in this

study is limited. Therefore, it is recommended to widen the scope of

respondents to have a more accurate perception of the clienteles towards

the performance of Public Attorney’s Office. This includes clienteles who

are detained.

3. A study that will look at the role of the Public Attorney’s Office and the War

on Drugs that started in 2016 to understand more the need of PAO Lawyers

during such situations.

4. A study of comparison between districts of PAO to give better

understanding and analysis as to how the districts of PAO perform.