Re-electionist Senator Lito Lapid said on Monday that he will work on the expansion of Republic Act 9999 or an act providing a mechanism for free legal assistance to the public.
The Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010, also known as Lapid Law, states that the government guarantees free legal assistance to the poor and ensures that every person who cannot afford the services of a counsel is provided with a competent and independent counsel preferably of his/her own choice.
This is separate from the services provided by the Public Attorney's Office (PAO).
The Lapid Law further states that a lawyer or professional partnerships rendering actual free legal services, as defined by the Supreme Court, shall be entitled to an allowable deduction from the gross income, the amount that could have been collected for the actual free legal services rendered or up to ten percent (10%) of the gross income derived from the actual performance of the legal profession, whichever is lower.
After he cast his vote at the Poblacion Elementary School in Porac, Lapid told reporters that he will work harder for the people should he be given a chance to secure a final term. If elected, it will be his fourth term at the Senate since 2004.
“Itutuloy ko po ang mga nasimulan kong trabaho lalo yung para sa mga kababayan nating mahihirap. Isa po yung Lapid Law o Republic Act 9999, free legal assistance na kahit sinong abogado puwede pong libre walang bayad. Sabi ko sa mga abogado natin tumulong naman. Sana po manalo at umasa sila na lalo ko sisipagan at itutuloy-tuloy ko lang ang paglilingkod,” the senator said.
The Senate of the Philippines website cites that at the close of the 15th Congress, Lapid filed 239 measures earning him the distinction as the fifth most prolific members of the Upper Chamber.
He authored the Meat Labeling Act of 2011, Comprehensive Unilateral Hearing Loss Research and Development and Rehabilitation Act, Urban Agriculture and Vertical Farming Act, Corporate Social Responsibility Act, Kindergarten Education Act, and the Adopt-A-Wildlife Species Act, among others.
As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Games, Amusement and Sports, Lapid saw to it that measures are in motion to ensure the development of sports in the grassroots, seeing to it that the youth develop a keen interest in participation in sports competition.
The senator said he is eyeing coordination among concerned government agencies so that appropriate support is afforded to the national sports development program.