PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1725, September 26, 1980
INCREASING THE NUMBER OF LAWYERS OF THE CITIZENS LEGAL ASSISTANCE OFFICE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
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 power vested in me under the Constitution, hereby
order and decree as follows:
SEC. 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, m such number as may be necessary and as may be determined under
pertinent organization law.
SEC. 2. The compensation of the positions created under this
Decree shall be determined pursuant to P.D. No. 985 and 1726.
SEC. 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.
Financial Officer, Technical Staff Chief, and the heads of all
bureaus/commissions/offices under this Ministry
Assistant Chief State
Counsels, the Assistant Chief State Prosecutors,
Regional State Prosecutors the officers next in rank to the above-mentioned
heads of bureaus/commissions offices under the Ministry, and the City fiscal of
Manila and Quezon City
State Counsels, Senior State Prosecutors, Assistant Regional State Prosecutors,
CLAO and NBI Regional Directors, Technical Staff Assistant Chiefs, and the
Provincial/City Fiscals of First Class A Provinces/Cities and First Assistant
Fiscals of Manila and Quezon City
Technical Staff Special Assistants, Board of Pardons and Parole Executive
Director, CLAO Supervising Citizens Attorneys and Senior Citizens Attorneys,
Boards of Special Inquiry Chairmen,Chief Legal Officers in the LRC,NBI, CID, and
Probation Administration, Special Assistant to the LRC Commissioner, LRC
Administrative Officer IV, LRC Chief Deeds Registry Inspector, LRC Clerk of
Court Division Chief, Registers of Deeds III, First and Second Brackets of State
Corporate Attorneys, State Counsels II, State Prosecutors III and IV, Second
Assistant City Fiscals of Manila and Quezon City, First Assistant Provincial
City Fiscals of FirstClass A Provinces/Cities, Provincial/City Fiscals of First
Class B/C Provinces/Cities
Special Inquiry Members, Third
and Fourth Brackets of State Corporate
Attorneys, LRC Senior Research Attorney,
LRC Assistant Chief Deeds Registry
Inspector, LRC Deputy Clerk of Court, Registers of Deeds II, Deputy Registers of
Deeds III, Land Registration Special Assistant, CID, and NBI Assistant Chief
Legal Officers, NBI and CLAO Chief Research Attorneys. District
Citizens
Attorneys, Bureau of Prisons Legal Officer II, State Counsels I,
State Prosecutors I and II, Third Assistant City Fiscals of Manila and Quezon
City, Second Assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of First Class A
Provinces/Cities, First Assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of First Class B/C
Provinces/Cities, Provincial/City Fiscals of Second Class
Provinces/Cities
Deputy Registers of Deeds II, Registers of Deeds I, Supervising Parole Officers,
Probation Administration Senior Legal Officer, Fourth Assistant City Fiscals of
Manila and Quezon City, Third Assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of First Class A
Provinces/Cities, Second assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of First Glass B/C
Provinces/Cities, First Assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of Second Class
Provinces/Cities, Provincial/City Fiscals of Third/Fourth Class
Provinces/Cities
Registers of Deeds I, Supervising Deeds Registry Inspector, Bureau of Prisons
Legal Officer I, Legal Officer IV in the bureaus and offices under the Ministry
of Justice, Senior Research Attorneys in the Office of the Minister and in the
bureaus and offices under the Ministry of Justice, Assistant Fiscals of Manila
and Quezon City, Fourth assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of First Class A
Provinces/Cities, Third Assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of First Class B/C
Provinces/Cities
Second Assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of Second Class
Provinces/Cities, First Assistant Provincial/City Fiscals of Third/Fourth, Class
Provinces /Cities, Provincial/City Fiscals of Fifth Class
Provinces/Cities
Investigator, Legal Officers III in the bureaus and offices under the Ministry
of Justice, Research Attorneys II in the Office of the Minister and in the
bureaus and offices under the Ministry of Justice, Parole Officers, Assistant
Fiscals of First Class A Provinces/Cities, Fourth Assistant Provincial/City
Fiscals of First Class B/C Provinces/Cities, Third Assistant Provincial/Cities
Fiscals of Second Class Provinces/Cities, Second Assistant Provincial/City
Fiscals of Third/Fourth ClassProvinces/Cities, First Assistant Provincial/City
Fiscals of Fifth Class Provinces/Cities, Assistant Fiscals of First Class B/C
Provinces/Cities, Prosecution Attorneys
Ministry of Justice, Deeds Registry Inspectors, Research Attorneys I in the
Office of the Minister and in the bureaus and Offices under the Ministry of
Justice, Legal Officers I in the bureaus and offices under the Ministry of
Justice, CID Special Investigator, Bureau of Prisons Legal Officer I (New
Bilibid Prison and Leyte Regional Prison)
SEC. 4. Office of the Solicitor General. The salary
of legal positions in the Office of the Solicitor General shall be upgraded in a
manner similar to that approved for the Ministry of Justice under Sec. 3
hereof.
SEC. 5. Other Agencies of Government. The
compensation of legal positions in the Office of the President, Ministry of
Agrarian Reform, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of the Budget, and other agencies
of Government, shall be studied by the Ministry of the Budget through the Office
of Compensation and Position Classification, which shall prepare a plan for
rationalizing and upgrading such positions, in a manner consistent with that for
the Ministry of Justice under Sec. 3 hereof.
SEC. 6. Guidelines. The following guidelines shall
be observed in implementing the plan for rationalizing and upgrading
judicial/legal salaries:
- The principle of equal pay for equal work shall be observed among agencies
of the national government, such that salary or compensation increased shall be
adopted for all positions of comparable qualifications and work load, for all
agencies in which such positions exists - Proposals shall be formulated and submitted, taking into account the funds
available for salary adjustments in government. No savings in personal service,
in maintenance and operating expenditures, or in capital outlays, may be used
for the creation of new positions or upgrading of the compensation of positions; - Existing vacant positions may be abolished and the amount budgeted for the
compensation of the said positions may be used for the reclassification or for
upgrading salaries of the remaining positions; - Superiors shall enjoy a higher salary than subordinate positions, except
where specifically approved by the President for highly technical positions; - After adjustment, the salary of Career Executive Service positions shall
continue to be higher than those who do not belong to the Service.
SEC. 7. Funding Source. The amounts needed to cover
any salary increases approved as a consequence of this Decree shall be charged
to the Salary Adjustment Fund, except when otherwise approved by the President
(Prime Minister).
SEC. 8. Repeal Clause. All laws, decrees and orders
or any part thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree
are hereby repealed and/or modified accordingly.
SEC. 9. Effectivity. This Decree shall be
immediately effective.
Done in the City of Manila, this 26th Day of September, in the Year of Our
Lord, nineteen hundred and eighty.
(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS
President of the
Philippines
By the President: (Sgd.) JUAN C. TUVERA Senior Presidential
Assistant