Angara urges lawyers to offer free services to poor

MANILA, Philippines - Senator Edgardo Angara on Friday underscored the responsibility of all law practitioners to provide legal services to the poor during the groundbreaking of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines' (IBP) new tower in Ortigas, Pasig City.

Angara recalled that at the beginning of the IBP, it raised funds for legal aid through Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion.

Back then lawyers sacrificed their own time and offered their services for free to Filipinos who could not afford their own attorneys. That changed in 1980 when the government gave lawyers the first subsidy for legal aid, which continues to this day.

"All of us at the bar must remain conscious above all of our public responsibility. We have to fulfill our duty to provide legal assistance to the needy of this country," he said.

Angara joined Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, officials from the IBP and representatives of the Ortigas family in signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) explaining the build-operate-transfer deal between Ortigas and Co. Ltd. Partnership (OCLP) and the IBP.

The proposed 22-storey IBP Tower is expected to be built within the next two years.

Angara, executive vice president of the IBP in 1977,  said he had envisioned a home for the organization and that dream was realized through the generosity of the Ortigas family and many others.

"Lindy Locsin designed the building without charging a single cent. Atty. Lolong Lazaro persuaded Jun Cruz to allow the GSIS to loan the money for construction and Don Paquito Ortigas gave us two prime lots of 3,600 square meters. We can say that this building we have now was truly a gift of love," Angara said.