THE Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) continued to serve millions of poor Filipinos who needed legal help in 2025. The agency reported that it served 11,180,333 people and handled 756,497 cases from January to September this year. In 2024, the PAO served 15,069,235 clients — mostly poor — and handled 847,317 cases nationwide. PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta was optimistic that these figures would be surpassed this year. Obtaining a favorable disposition rate of 89.98 percent in criminal cases, the PAO helped secure the release of 87,577 persons deprived of liberty in partnership with the Department of Justice and another attached agency, the Parole and Probation Administration. PAO has been commended for maximizing its resources to reach out to people who have no access to justice. “The biggest barrier to accessing justice, however, is the people’s knowledge and understanding, or the lack thereof, of their legal rights — it reduces certainty and confidence in the legal system, which ultimately erodes the rule of law,” Rueda-Acosta said. To reach more people, PAO launched its online program called #PALA (Persida Acosta’s Legal Advice) via Facebook. Deputy Chief Public Attorney Erwin Erfe, concurrent PAO’s Forensics Laboratory Division director, said PAO’s free legal services were also promoted by first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos’ “Lab for All” caravan. Deputy Chief Public Attorney Ana Lisa Soriano said that PAO has regularly been conducting seminars and training programs to enhance the capability, knowledge and professional skills of its workforce, particularly its public lawyers. Rueda-Acosta stressed that the continued trust of the people in PAO could be attributed to its three guiding parameters: transparency, accountability and empowerment. “Everybody can text or communicate directly with me through my public phone, any time, day and night, that I see and read myself,” she said. Rueda-Acosta has been the PAO chief for 24 years since her appointment by then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.