URDANETA CITY UNIVERSITY

URDANETA CITY
SCHOOL OF LAW
EXTENSION PROGRAM PLAN

Title of the Project: Legal Aid Extension Program

Location: Municipality of Laoac, Pangasinan

Duration: October 22, 2019 to December 18, 2019

Type of Community Extension: Community Outreach Program

Department Involved: School of Law

Project Leader/Coordinator: Atty. Samson E. Florendo

Cooperating Agencies: Local Government of Laoac

Beneficiaries: Constituents of Laoac, Pangasinan

Total Cost of Project: Not Applicable

Rationale of the Program:

Pursuant to the Supreme Court of the Philippines En Banc Resolution dated

25 June 2019 in A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC (Law Student Practice), UCU School of
Law instituted this extension program (community outreach program) to help the
Court in “ensuring access to justice of marginalized sectors, to enhance learning
opportunities of law students, to instill among them the value of legal professional
social responsibility, and to prepare them for the practice of law (Revised Rule 138-
A).

Objectives:

The Legal Aid Extension Program seeks to achieve multifaceted goals.

Although this list is not exhaustive, some of these goals include:
a) Providing a progressive method of education that focuses on students
learning and improving skills that they will utilize as future lawyers and in
other professional positions. These skills include those abilities needed to
effectively represent clients through the use of ethical value-based actions in
relation to Rule 138-A of the Rules of Court and A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC.
b) Applying experiential learning methods with students to give them the
opportunity to learn more effectively and apply what they learn to actual
realistic situations in a way that traditional teaching, through a Socratic and
lecture based system, can never do.
 c) To provide “back up” legal services and other services for indigent and
marginalized community members who may not have an alternative access
to the legal and other support systems.
d) Developing within students the idea of public interest service, with a
simultaneous goal of formulating and increasing an ethically aware,
proactive community.
e) Providing ways and means for professors and students to make important
contributions to the development of scholarship on skills and theories of
legal practice that can provide closer links between the legal bar and the
academy.
f) Strengthening civil society through supporting lawyers’ responsibility and
providing legal services to the vulnerable who find it hard to access legal
services.

Description of the Program:

The Free Legal Aid Program of the UCU School of Law in cooperation with
the Local Government of Laoac, Pangasinan aims to help decongest the dockets of
cases before the quasi-judicial bodies and regular court by providing effective
means of mediation, conciliation and arbitration. Further, the said Legal Aid also
offers help to the constituents of Laoac to avail of free legal consultation, and
affordable notarial services.

Strategies:

A rotational duty schedule of two (2) Student/Practitioners will attend to the

Free Legal Aid Program set during Tuesdays of each week from 22 October 2019 to
17 December 2019. Student/Practitioners will report to the Office of the Vice Mayor
at the Sangguniang Bayan Building in Laoac, Pangasinan from 8AM to 12NN, with
inclusive fifteen (15) minutes break. A supervising lawyer from the UCU School of
Law, or from the LGU shall oversee the conduct of the Legal Aid Program.

Methods:

Student/Practitioner intended to enlist as volunteer for the Free Legal Aid

must have finished all the prescribed subjects in the first year curriculum for JD.
The nature of work is limited only to those enumerated in A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC.

Students intended to volunteer for Academic Year 2020 – 2021 in this

program should apply and obtain certification from the Regional Trial Court of
Urdaneta City as provided by A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC.

The Student/Practitioner shall provide a learning journal every end of each

duty to be submitted in two (2) copies to the School of Law Secretary where one (1)
copy shall be filed for accreditation purposed, and one (1) for the LGU. Likewise,
the documents that the Student/Practitioner had made in connection to his or her
duty in the Free Legal Aid must be surrendered or served to his or her clients with
one (1) copy to be kept in the Office of the Dean, and one (1) for the LGU.

Notary of documents should be done by an affiliated lawyer of the UCU

School of Law, the LGU, or the Student/Practitioner. Fees collected from the
document notarized by the affiliate of the Student/Practitioner shall be his or her
earning provided that no Notarization of Document shall exceed the amount of
P200.00. Further, the fees that had been collected must be reported in his or her
journal.

Successful Student/Practitioner who were enrolled in the JD Internship

Course may request the LGU and the UCU School of Law for proper crediting of
duty hours.

At the end of each timeframe, LGU of Laoac and UCU School of Law will
evaluate the Free Legal Aid Program.
Financial Plans:

The Local Government of Laoac will dole out for the transportation, snack
and meal allowance of the Student/Practitioner or student allowance as provided in
their rules on disbursement.

Functional Relationships with the Collaborating Agencies:

The LGU of Laoac, in its desire to help its marginalized constituents to

access free legal aid, has agreed to support the endeavors of the UCU School of Law
in the form of training and exposure on mediation, conciliation, and arbitration of
its Student/Practitioners.

Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanics:

Attached is the Tool for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Free Legal Aid
Program.

Plans for Ensuring the Sustainability of the Program:

The UCU School of Law, and the Local Government of Laoac will enter into a
venture for the sustainability of the Free Legal Aid Program. Further, the UCU
School of Law will adhere to the policies and guidelines of A.M. No. 19-03-24-SC in
the mandatory establishment of the University Legal Clinic.

ATTY. SAMSON E. FLORENDO HON. RICARDO BALDERAS

Acting Dean, School of Law Municipal Mayor
Urdaneta City University Laoac, Pangasinan