All 10 lawyers of the Provincial Legal Office (PLO) in Negros Occidental “are not allowed to private practice,” lawyer Alberto Nillas Jr., said.

Nillas said that the rule includes him as department head.

“I come from government service too. I am used to serving the public first. We are also streamlining the processes in the legal office,” he said.

Nillas said he told all the lawyers to focus first on their work at the provincial government.

Meanwhile, Nillas said there are 20 pending cases involving the provincial government based on their review.

Most of these cases deals with expropriations and violations of environmental and fishing laws as well as case build up with the Provincial Environment Management Office, he said. (TDE)