Preamble
WHEREAS, the Citizens Legal Assistance Office, as the law office of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines for indigent and low-income persons, performs a vital role in the implementation of the legal aid program of the State, in upholding; the rule of law, in the protection and safeguarding of the constitutional and statutory rights of the citizenry, and in the efficient and speedy administration of Justice; WHEREAS, the Citizens Legal Assistance Office is presently organized into 96 Regional and District Offices situated in different centers throughout the country, and is handling for indigents more than 50,000 new cases every year; WHEREAS, there is still a large segment of our indigent population, specially those living in the remote areas, who cannot avail of the services of the Citizens Legal Assistance Office because of the distance of its offices from their respective residences, and the lack of an adequate number of CLAO lawyers; WHEREAS, there is a need to extend the services of the Citizens legal Assistance Office to all indigent citizens to make our constitutional guarantees a living reality for them; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, BY virtue of the power vested in me under the Constitution, hereby order and decree as follows: