MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO.

08
Series of 2007

STANDARD OFFICE PROCEDURES IN EXTENDING

LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN AND THEIR
CHILDREN SUBJECTED TO VIOLENCE UNDER
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9262 AND OTHER RELATED LAWS

ARTICLE I
PURPOSE

This circular defines and outlines the procedures and actions to be

undertaken by the lawyers and staff of the Public Attorneys Office (PAO)
in extending legal assistance to victims of violence against women and
their children and in handling applications for protection orders, in
consonance with Sections 13 and 35(b) of Republic Act No. 9262, its
Implementing Rules and Regulations, and Supreme Court A.M. No. 04-10-
11-SC (Rules on Violence Against Women and Their Children).

ARTICLE II
DEFINITION OF TERMS

Section 1. - The definition of terms provided under Republic Act No.

9262 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations is hereby adopted.

1. Battery refers to an act of inflicting physical harm upon the

woman or her child resulting to physical and psychological or
emotional distress.

2. Children refer to persons below eighteen years of age, or

older, but are incapable of taking care of themselves as defined
under Republic Act No. 7610, as amended. It includes the
biological children of the offended party and other children under
her care.

3. Court is a family court or, in places where there are no family

courts, any regional trial court.

4. Violence Against Women and Their Children refers to any

act or a series of acts committed by any person against:

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 a) A woman:
i. who is his wife;
ii. who is his former wife;
iii. with whom the person has or had sexual or dating
relationship;
iv. with whom he has a common child.

b) Her child, whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or outside

the family abode;

which results or is likely to result in physical, sexual,

psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse, including
threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or
arbitrary deprivation of liberty. It includes, but not limited to,
physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and
economic abuse.

5. Dating Relationship refers to a situation wherein the parties

live as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage or are
romantically involved over time and on a continuing basis during
the course of the relationship.

A casual acquaintance or ordinary socialization between two

individuals in a business or social context is not a dating
relationship.

6. Economic Abuse refers to acts that make or attempt to make

a woman financially dependent which includes, but not limited to
the following:

a. Withdrawal of financial support or preventing the victim

from engaging in any legitimate profession, occupation,
business or activity, except in cases wherein the other
spouse/partner objects on valid, serious and moral grounds
as defined in Article 73 of the Family Code;

b. Deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources

and the right to the use and enjoyment of the conjugal,
community or property owned in common;

c. Destroying household property; and

d. Controlling the victims own money or properties or solely

controlling the conjugal money or properties.

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7. Members of the family shall include the husband and wife,
parents and children, the ascendants or descendants, brothers
and sisters, whether of full or half blood, whether living together
or not.

8. Members of the household shall include:

a. Spouses, common-law spouses, former spouses, whether

living together or not, and their children;

b. Relatives by consanguinity or affinity up to the sixth civil

degree, including stepparents and stepchildren living
together in the same house; and
c. Domestic helpers in the service of the employer, whose
services are usually necessary or desirable for the
maintenance and enjoyment of the home, who attend to
the personal comfort and convenience of the members of
the household.

9. Physical violence refers to acts that include bodily or physical

harm.

10. Protection Order refers to an order issued by the Punong

Barangay or the court to prevent further acts of violence against
women and their children, their family or household members,
and to grant other necessary relief. Its purpose is to safeguard
the offended parties from further harm, minimize disruption in
their daily life and facilitate the opportunity and ability to regain
control of their lives.

The three (3) types of protection orders are: Barangay

Protection Order, Temporary Protection Order, and Permanent
Protection Order.

11. Psychological Violence refers to acts or omissions causing or

likely to cause mental or emotional suffering of the victim such as
but not limited to intimidation, harassment, stalking, damage to
property, public ridicule or humiliation, repeated verbal abuse and
marital infidelity. It includes causing or allowing the victim to
witness the physical, sexual or psychological abuse of a member
of the family to which the victim belongs or to witness
pornography in any forms, or to witness abusive injury to pets, or
to unlawful or unwanted deprivation of the right to custody and/or
visitation of common children.

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 12. Sexual Relation - refers to a single sexual act, which may or
may not result in the bearing of a common child.

13. Sexual Violence refers to an act, which is sexual in nature,

committed against a woman or her child. It includes, but not
limited to:

a. Rape, sexual harassment, acts of lasciviousness, treating a

woman or her child as a sex object, making demeaning
and sexually suggestive remarks, physically attacking the
sexual parts of the victims body, forcing him/her to watch
obscene publications and indecent shows or forcing the
woman or her child to do indecent acts and/or make films
thereof, forcing the wife and mistress/lover to live in the
conjugal home or sleep together in the same room with the
abuser.

b. Acts causing or attempting to cause the victim to engage in

any sexual activity by force, threat of force, physical or
other harm or threat of physical or other harm or coercion;
and,

c. Prostituting the woman or her child.

14. Stalking refers to an intentional act of knowingly and without

lawful justification, following the woman or her child or placing the
woman or her child under surveillance, directly or indirectly or
through a combination thereof.

Article III
CLIENTELE

Section 1. - The Public Attorneys Office shall extend legal

assistance to victims of violence against women and their children who
have passed the:

1. Merit Test; and

2. Indigency Test

The standards set forth under Memorandum Circular No. 18, Series
of 2002, on Merit and Indigency Tests are to be followed. However, the
lack of access to family or conjugal resources by aforesaid victim(s), such
as when the same are controlled by the perpetrator, shall qualify the victim
as an indigent, and free legal assistance of PAO shall therefore be
afforded to her/him.

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 Pursuant to the provisions of Sections 13 and 35 of Republic Act No.
9262, the woman or victim may avail of the services of PAO in the filing of
an application/petition for protection order and/or civil action for damages.
However, where the applicant is already represented by counsel de parte,
PAO may represent the other party.

ARTICLE IV
LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO CLIENTS

Section 1. Legal Assistance to Women and Children Subjected

to Abuse The assistance of the Public Attorneys Office to women and
children who are victims of violence under RA No. 9262 shall be limited to the
following services:

a. Legal advice or consultation;

b. Conduct of pre-litigation/mediation conference between the parties in
cases involving economic abuse, with the express consent of the
victim and where there is no imminent danger to her life and limb and
those of her children;

c. Preparation of affidavits and other pertinent papers necessary to the

filing of the complaint for violence against women or children,
petition/application for protection order and/or civil action for damages;

d. Filing of petition/application for protection order;

e. Representation in courts in cases of petition for protection order and/or
civil action for damages.

Section 2. Provisional Legal Assistance Pending verification on

the applicants indigency and evaluation of the merit of her/his case, the Public
Attorneys Office may provide legal assistance to women and their children who
are victims of violence in cases where a pleading has to be filed immediately to
avoid adverse effects to the applicant, except when the same would give rise to
conflict of interest.

When at anytime, during the hearing of the application for protection order,
the Public Attorney finds that the petitioner/applicant is not qualified for PAO legal
assistance, he/she should be referred to any other public and/or free legal aid
organization and/or be duly advised to retain the services of a counsel of his/her
own choice.

Section 3. Handling of Cases In the handling of cases involving

violence to women and their children, the First Come First Serve Policy
embodied in Memorandum Circular No. 18 shall be strictly observed.

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 ARTICLE V
PROCEDURE IN EXTENDING LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO WOMEN
AND CHILDREN SUBJECTED TO VIOLENCE

Section 1. WALK-IN CLIENTS. For clients who seek the services of

the Office, or who visit the same for consultation, the following procedures shall
be observed:

a. When a person visits the Office to seek legal advice for a problem
concerning violence against women and their children, he/she shall be
referred to a PAO staff who shall conduct an interview and determine if
the person/client is qualified under the Indigency Test and to a Public
Attorney for the Merit Standard Tests, in accordance with MC No. 18.

In qualifying the person for the Indigency Test, the Public Attorney
or staff shall require the submission of any of the following: the latest
Income Tax Return (ITR), DSWD Certificate of Indigency, Barangay
Certificate of Indigency, or other pertinent proof of indigency. In
situations where the victim woman or child lacks access to family or
conjugal resources, such as when the same are controlled by the
perpetrator, this shall qualify the victim as an indigent, and free legal
assistance of PAO shall therefore be afforded to her/him.

b. If the person is qualified to avail of free legal assistance, the Public

Attorney shall advise her/him on the proper action to be taken,
including the filing of the application/petition for protection order.

In filing the application/petition for protection order, the Public

Attorney shall prepare the pleadings, as well as the affidavits of the
applicants and the witnesses in support thereof.

c. If the person does not qualify for free legal assistance after applying
the merit and indigency tests, he/she should be referred to any other
public and/or free legal aid organization and/or be duly advised to seek
the legal assistance of a counsel of his/her own choice;

d. Whether or not the person is qualified to avail of free legal assistance,

the Public Attorney shall cause to be entered in the Logbook for Cases
of Violence Against Women and Their Children the following data:

Entry No.
Date Received
Name and Address of Victim/ Complainant
Name and address of Parents/Guardian of the victim
Name and Address of Respondent
Assistance Given
Remarks

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 Each PAO District Office shall maintain a separate logbook for cases
involving violence against women and their children. The logbook shall
serve as a directory for cases handled by the Office. At the same time,
it shall also be a guide/reference for Public Attorneys in accepting or
refusing acceptance of a case by reason of conflict of interest; and,

e. In an application/petition for protection order, the appearance and

assistance of PAO shall extend up to the final resolution of the case.

f. In the event a criminal Information is filed in court against the accused,

as a result of PAOs assistance to the complainant at the prosecutors
office, the active prosecution of the criminal case in court shall
immediately be turned over to the public prosecutor.

Section 2. WHERE APPEARANCE OF PAO IS THROUGH

COURT APPOINTMENT

Where an application/petition for protection order is filed in court through

the assistance of any person mentioned in Section 9 of R.A. 9262, and the Public
Attorney is appointed by the court to appear for the applicant/petitioner, he shall
provisionally accept such appointment.

However, in case of conflict of interest or after determining that the

applicant can afford to hire the services of a counsel de parte, the handling
Public Attorney shall withdraw his appearance, and thereafter refer the applicant
to any other public and/or free legal aid organization or advise him/her to retain
the services of a counsel of his/her own choice.

ARTICLE VI
SANCTION

Section 1. Sanction Willful and unjustified deviation from these

Procedures on the part of the PAO lawyer shall warrant the imposition of
sanctions in accordance with the Civil Service Laws, Rules and Regulations.

ARTICLE VII
FINAL PROVISION

Section 1. Suppletory character These Procedures shall be

suppletory to Memorandum Circular No. 18, Series of 2002 on Amended
Standard Office Procedures in Extending Legal Assistance and the Implementing
Rules and Regulations of R.A. No. 9406.

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 Section 2. Repealing Clause Memorandum Circular No. 01, Series
of 2006 on the Standard Office Procedures in Extending Legal Assistance to
Women and Their Children who are victims of violence, other circulars,
issuances and memoranda or any portion thereof inconsistent herewith are
hereby repealed and/or modified accordingly.

Section 3. Effectivity This Memorandum Circular shall take effect on

December 7_, 2007.
Signed this _7th_ day of _November_ 2007, Quezon City.

PERSIDA V. RUEDA-ACOSTA
Chief Public Attorney