City to form OCLAS
to render legal aid
October 9, 2008

            The Dumaguete City government will institutionalize a program to extend legal assistance to indigent families, as well as city employees who may be charged in connection with the performance of their official duties. The Office of the City Legal Assistance Service was created by virtue of Ordinance No. 2, series of 1999 with an initial budget of P200,000 for its operations.

            City legal officer Neil Ray Lagahit said the OCLAS will be under the administrative supervision of the office of the City Mayor, but will maintain its independence.

            It will be handled by volunteer trial lawyers to be assisted by law students from Foundation University, Negros Oriental State University and Silliman University. It is now awaiting the approval of the Sangguinang Panlungsod of its implementing rules and regulations.

            Lagahit can serve indigent residents of Dumaguete only with certification from the City Social Welfare Office, but he cannot handle drugs and anti-graft cases.

            He clarified that the OCLAS will operate separately from the city legal office, but will be housed at city hall for easy access to prospective clients.

            The OCLAS launching will be held Oct. 13, at 8:30 a.m., at the Dumaguete City Session Hall.   Director Mikhail Lee Maxino of the Dr. Jovito Salonga Center for Law and Development, College of Law, Silliman University said the program will also serves as a learning laboratory and legal clinic for law students. (By Juancho Gallarde, Visayan Daily Star)