The Office of the Vice President (OVP) formally entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday to further widen service referrals concerning legal aid and employment.

These areas are not within the bounds of the OVP’s usual social services which include medical and burial assistance, free rides, and aid to children and learners.

In an interview, Vice President Sara Duterte said the OVP central office and its satellite offices across the country have been receiving the bulk of concerns that need referrals to other government agencies.

“Ang office of the Vice President kasi, under my administration, nakatutok kami sa peace and entrepreneurship, and nakita namin sa mga lumalapit sa opisina namin, and sa mga satellite offices namin na iba-iba ‘yung concerns nila na hindi naka-align dun sa priority areas ng Office of the Vice President (The OVP, under my administration, is focused on peace and entrepreneurship, and we saw that there were different concerns raised by those going to our office, to our satellite offices, which are not aligned to the OVP’s priority areas),” Duterte said.

Meanwhile, the PAO said it will study the actual demand to set the proper deployment of its personnel to the OVP’s central and satellite offices.

“Puwede siguro dalawa, pwedeng MWF, TTHS, or daily, pag-aaralan namin kung ano ‘yung bulk ng pangangailangan ng mga satellite offices ng ating mahal na pangalawang pangulo (Two may do, it can be MWF [Monday, Wednesday, Friday] or TTHS [Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday] or daily, we will study the bulk of demand in the satellite offices of our beloved vice president),” PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said.

Acosta said an additional 400 public lawyers are expected to be hired next month.

“Ang ating inaasahan ay lalong maabot ng mga mahihirap sa mga dalampasigan, kabundukan, at mga baybayin ang mga legal aid, pagpunta sa korte, panghingi ng hustisya, sapagkat ang ating mamamayan ay umaabot na ng isangdaang milyon, so kami naman ay dalawang libo’t limangdaang public attorney at isang libong staff (We are expecting to reach poor Filipinos across land and sea for legal aid, to go to the courts, to ask for justice, because our citizens now reach a hundred million, and we are around 2,500 public attorney with a thousand staff),” she added.

DOLE Undersecretary Felipe Egargo Jr. said the MOU entails the OVP’s referral of beneficiaries to DOLE under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program, where beneficiaries may be given a temporary source of income.

“Kami po ay sa pamamagitan ng memorandum of understanding, ay sila po ang magbibigay ng beneficiaries sa iba-ibang rehiyon sa ating bansa, at kami naman po ay magbibigay ng pasahod dun sa ma-eemploy na mga workers na ibibigay ng Office of the Vice President (We, through the MOU, the OVP shall give beneficiaries from different regions, and we shall provide compensation to those who will be employed workers, as referred by the OVP),” he said.

Interested individuals may now come to the OVP’s central office or satellite offices both for legal aid and employment concerns.

“Punta lang po sila sa satellite office, mayroon po kaming mga personnel doon, even dito sa central office, and ini-interview nila ang tao (Just go to the satellite offices, we have on-site personnel, even here in the central office, they are interviewing the person)… if it’s about peace and entrepreneurship, we take care of it. If it’s the concern of other government agencies, binibigyan namin sila ng referral (we are giving them referral),” Duterte said.

More satellite offices

The Vice President, meanwhile, said they are now looking into setting up additional satellite offices in other parts of the country to ensure adequate delivery of social services.

She stressed the need to assess the situation on the ground and identify strategic geographical points in the country.

“For next year, mayroon kaming plans from one to three satellite offices, i-assess lang namin kung gaano, ‘yung budget namin paano ma-accommodate ‘yung (we will assess how much, how our budget will accommodate the) additional one to three satellite offices, kung ilan talaga (but how many), we’ll end up with, depending on our assessment,” Duterte said.

She said their recent meeting revealed the demand for another satellite office in Eastern Luzon.

To date, the OVP has seven satellite offices in Bacolod, Cebu, Tacloban, Davao, Surigao del Sur, Dagupan and Zamboanga. (PNA)