OVP signs deals with DoLE, PAO

The Office of the Vice President on Wednesday signed separate memoranda of understanding with the Department of Labor and Employment and the Public Attorney’s Office to provide immediate jobs to displaced workers and legal assistance to those who need it.

Vice President Sara Z. Duterte said the signing of the MoU aims to formalize the ongoing partnerships with the two government agencies.

“This is a formality of the initial partnership which we are already doing as a referral between the Public Attorney’s Office and the Department of Labor and Employment,” Duterte said during the signing of the MoU at the OVP central office in Mandaluyong City.

“The signing of these agreements is quite timely given the increasing number of clients we are receiving on a daily basis. One of the thrusts of the current administration is to provide poverty reduction programs and promote inclusive economic development,” she added.

The signing of these agreements, she added, is just the beginning of establishing substantive and meaningful partnerships with government institutions.

“We hope to expand such partnerships for the benefit of our people,” she said.

Chief Public Attorney, Dr. Persida Rueda-Acosta, said the event was made possible through the good heart of the Vice President and in her quest to put up satellite offices to provide for the marginalized and underrepresented citizens.

Acosta added that in her two decades of serving the PAO, this is the first time that the OVP and PAO had a memorandum of understanding for the benefit of underprivileged Filipinos needing of legal assistance.

“Our hope is that the poor will have more access to legal aid, go to court, and seek justice,” the PAO chief lawyer said.

She added that PAO is ready to respond to all referrals, especially the poor who come to OVP satellite offices and even to the central office.