Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act
RULE IX
LEGAL ASSISTANT FOR MIGRANT WORKERS AFFAIRS
Section 1. Function and Responsibilities. The Legal Assistant for Migrant Affairs under the Department of Foreign Affairs shall be primarily responsible for the provision and over-all coordination of all legal assistance services to Filipino Migrant Workers as well as Overseas Filipinos in distress. In the exercise of these primary responsibilities, he/she shall discharge the following duties and functions:
(a) Issue the guidelines, procedures and criteria for the provision of legal assistance services to Filipino Migrant Workers;
(b) Establish close linkages with the DOLE, POEA, OWWA and other government agencies concerned, as well as with non-governmental organizations assisting migrant workers, to ensure effective coordination in providing legal assistance to migrant workers;
(c) When necessary, tap the assistance of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), other bar associations, legal experts on labor, migration and human rights laws, reputable law firms, and other civil society organizations, to complement government services and resources to provide legal assistance to migrant workers;
(d) Administer the Legal Assistance Fund for Migrant Workers and to authorize its disbursement, subject to approved guidelines and procedures, governing its use, disposition and disbursement;
(e)Keep and maintain an information system for migration as provided in Section 20 of the Act;
(f) Prepare its budget for inclusion in the Department of foreign Affair's budget in the annual General Appropriations Act; and
(g) Perform such other functions and undertake other responsibilities as may be useful, necessary or incidental to the performance of his/her mandate.
He/she shall have authority to hire private lawyers, domestic or foreign, in order to assist him/her in the effective discharge of the functions of his/her Office.
Section 3. Legal Assistance Fund. The Legal Assistance Fund created under the Act shall be used exclusively to provide legal services for Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos in distress in accordance with approved guidelines, criteria and procedures of the DFA.
It shall be used inter alia for the following specific purposes:
(a) In the absence of a counsel de oficio or court-appointed lawyer, payment of attorney's fees to foreign lawyers for their services in representing migrant workers facing criminal and labor cases abroad, or in filing cases against erring or abusive employers abroad, provided, that no amount shall be disbursed for the appeal of cases except when the penalty meted is life imprisonment or death or under meritorious circumstances as determined by the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs;
(b) Bail bonds to secure the temporary release of workers under detention upon the recommendation of the lawyer and the foreign service post concerned; and
(c) Court fees, charges and other reasonable litigation expenses when so recommended by their lawyers.