Who can seek assistance of PAO?

In the Philippines, the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) provides free legal assistance to individuals who meet specific criteria. PAO services are generally available to indigent persons, or those who cannot afford to hire private lawyers. Here are the key groups who can seek assistance from PAO, along with the requirements:

 Who Can Seek PAO Assistance?

1. Indigent Individuals:

   - Persons whose net income does not exceed the following ceilings based on the 2021 PAO Revised Operations Manual:

     - Metro Manila: ₱24,000/month

     - Other Cities: ₱22,000/month

     - Other Municipalities: ₱20,000/month

   - The income ceilings may be adjusted periodically, so checking with PAO is advised.

2. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs):

   - PAO can assist OFWs in specific cases, such as those involving labor disputes or repatriation.

3. Abused Women and Children:

   - Under Republic Act No. 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act), PAO provides legal assistance to victims of abuse, regardless of financial capacity.

4. Senior Citizens:

   - Senior citizens may avail of PAO services, especially in cases related to abuse or disputes over benefits, subject to certain requirements.

5. Persons with Disabilities (PWDs):

   - PAO provides legal services to PWDs, particularly in cases involving their rights and welfare.

6. Victims of Human Rights Violations:

   - Individuals who have been victims of government abuses or other forms of human rights violations may seek assistance from PAO, regardless of financial status.

 Requirements for Seeking PAO Assistance

1. Proof of Indigency:

   - To qualify for free legal assistance, an applicant must present a Certificate of Indigency from the barangay or Income Tax Return (ITR), if applicable, to demonstrate that they meet the income threshold.

2. Valid Identification:

   - Applicants are usually required to present a valid government-issued ID (e.g., voter’s ID, SSS, PhilHealth).

3. Documents Related to the Case:

   - For specific legal issues, applicants may need to present supporting documents like complaints, summons, or legal notices.

4. Special Cases (e.g., Senior Citizens, Victims of Abuse):

   - Individuals who do not meet the income requirements but fall under specific categories like victims of abuse or human rights violations may also avail of PAO’s services, subject to certain proof of their situation (e.g., police reports for abuse victims).

PAO lawyers may also provide assistance in cases of criminal defense, civil cases, labor disputes, administrative cases, and other matters involving public interest. However, PAO does not represent clients in cases where there is a conflict of interest with the government.

Source: Ziggurat Real estate

Marcos signs Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act

President Marcos on Thursday signed a law he had proposed when he was still a senator to improve the country’s tax collection by streamlining and digitalizing what he called an “outdated” real property valuation and assessment system.

Marcos expressed optimism that Republic Act No. 12001, or Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act (RPVara), will “change our real estate landscape” and raise bureaucratic efficiency through transparency, digitalization and innovation.

“This new law is borne out of necessity and the realization that there is a need to enhance the country’s tax collection system so we can generate revenues, generate jobs and investments all over the country. No longer will we rely on the outdated valuation system,” he said in a speech in Malacañang.

Multiple benefits

Marcos said the law “streamlines and enhances the real property valuation and assessment system through a uniform real property appraisal that is compliant with international standards.”

“It also adopts the prevailing market value as the single real property valuation base for the assessment of real property tax. Furthermore, the law complements our efforts to modernize the services in our local government units (LGUs) through the creation of a Real Property Information System—a comprehensive, digitalized real property tax administration,” he added.

RA 12001 will also “instill and encourage long-term and consistent tax compliance by providing a two-year amnesty on interests and penalties for taxpayers with unpaid real property tax” as a strategy toward efficient tax collection.

Standardizing valuations, plugging tax leaks, and ensuring transparency are among the biggest expected benefits of the newly enacted RPVara, according to industry stakeholders.

In a statement, the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations Inc. (Creba) said the new law would hopefully “introduce the needed reforms in real property valuation and assessment.”

“It is a timely opportunity to overhaul the current system of Schedule of Market Values (SMV) formulation which has, for many years, been prone to compromise and corruption and wanting of direct participation by the private sector and professionals with the requisite technical know-how and training,” Creba said.

For real estate investment management firm Colliers Philippines, it will provide “much-needed transparency” in a volatile industry on a post pandemic rebound.

Paul Vincent Ramirez, senior director and head of valuation at Colliers, said that while the law would likely raise acquisition and disposal costs, as well as the real property taxes of all property players across the spectrum, from developers to investors and end-users, “we see its implementation as providing much-needed transparency to the current opacity of the Philippine real estate market.”

IRR up for scrutiny

“The game-changing details will be in the law’s yet-to-be finalized and published implementing rules and regulations (IRR) which all property players need to prudently scrutinize,” he added.

Ovialand Inc. president Pammy Olivares-Vital welcomed the passage of the RPVara, saying it would lead to a balanced property assessment across areas and regions.

“We have seen progressive local city assessors adjust their recent methods in assessing which was beneficial for the municipality or city. Standardizing this method, I believe, will benefit areas that are not yet practicing this,” Olivares-Vital said.

Sharon Saclolo, associate director and head of Research at Leechiu Property Consultants Inc., added that the RPVara would improve the ease of doing business and enhance the country’s appeal to investors.

In July 2013, then Senator Marcos introduced Senate Bill No. 415 to revamp what was considered a flawed land valuation system.

High cost to gov’t

He then noted that with 23 national government agencies, almost 1,300 LGUs and private appraisers performing valuation using different methods and standards, the property sector had been riddled with inconsistent real property values.

As a result, many government-led projects and investments were delayed due to compensation issues and lengthy court litigations, particularly on right-of-way issues.“Such condition has crippled the government, both at the local and the national levels, to fully tap the potential of the land sector, and resulted in foregone revenues from national and local real property-related taxes,” Marcos said.

He also noted that the valuations used for governmental purposes were outdated.

A later version of Marcos’ bill noted that as of 2018, only 38.8 percent of LGUs had updated SMVs, with 93 noncompliant cities and 46 provinces, while only 50.4 percent of Revenue District Offices (RDOs) had updated zonal values, with 65 RDOs still in the process of revising.

Single system for all

According to a briefer from the Bureau of Local Government Finance that was released prior to the signing of the law, the RPVara will provide a single system of valuation to be used by all LGUs and other government agencies for taxation and other purposes.

The new law also transferred the approval of the SMVs from the local government council to the finance secretary, hence insulating the technical function of valuation by local assessors from the political function of setting assessment levels and tax rates by LGUs.

It also mandated the creation of an electronic and comprehensive Real Property Information System which will serve as a database of all real property transactions with the Registry of Deeds, Bureau of Internal Revenue, notaries public, and other agencies.

2-year amnesty program

The new law also provides for a real property tax amnesty lasting two years and will cover penalties, surcharges, and interests from all unpaid real property taxes.

Delinquent owners may settle their dues through a one-time payment or installment payment.

The amnesty does not cover delinquent real properties already disposed of through a public auction, real properties with tax delinquencies being paid under a compromise agreement, and those that have pending court cases on tax delinquencies.

For the first year of effectivity of the approved SMVs, increases in real property taxes will be capped at 6 percent of the real property taxes assessed on such properties prior to the effectivity of the law.

Source: Inquirer

Government claiming properties from a person who died without a will

“Death is not the end,” said American journalist Ambrose Bierce. “There remains the litigation over the estate.”

This applies, whether the decedent or owner of the estate died with or without a will.

The Supreme Court has consistently held that from the moment of the decedent’s death, the heirs become absolute owners of his property, subject to his rights and obligations thereon, and even before judicial declaration of their being heirs in the corresponding proceedings.

Where the decedent died intestate, or without a will, his heirs shall inherit in the prescribed order under the Civil Code. Absent any of these heirs, the Philippine State shall inherit the entire estate pursuant to the law governing escheat proceedings.

In Republic v. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court defined escheat as a proceeding where the State, by virtue of its sovereignty, steps in and claims the real or personal property of a person who has died intestate, leaving no heir. Absent any lawful owner, a property is claimed by the State to forestall an open “invitation to self-service by the first comers.”

Since escheat is one of the incidents of its sovereignty, the State may prescribe conditions and limits the time within which a claim to the estate may be made.

Under the Rules of Court, the Solicitor General or his representative may file a petition instituting escheat proceedings before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) where the decedent last resided or if he resided out the Philippines, where he had estate.

If the petition were sufficient in form and substance, the RTC shall issue an order fixing a date and place for the hearing thereof. This date shall not exceed six months after the entry of the order. Meanwhile, a copy of that order shall be published before the hearing at least once a week for six successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation published in the province, as the court shall deem best.

At this hearing, the court shall pass on the sufficiency of proof that: (a) its earlier order was published, as directed; and (b) the decedent died intestate, seized of real or personal property in the Philippines, leaving no heir or person entitled to the same.

Afterwards, no sufficient cause being shown to the contrary, the RTC shall adjudge that the decedent’s estate in the Philippines shall escheat, after payment of just debts and charges. Moreover, pursuant to the applicable law, the RTC shall assign the personal estate to the municipality or city where he has last resided in the Philippines, and the real estate to the municipalities or cities, respectively, in which the same is situated.

If the decedent never resided in the Philippines, the whole estate may be assigned to the respective municipalities or cities where the same is located, for the benefit of similarly located public schools and public charitable institutions and centers. In this regard, the Civil Code authorizes the RTC, at the instance of an interested party, or on its own motion, to order the establishment of a permanent trust so that only the income from the property shall be used.

A devisee, legatee, heir, widow, widower, or other person entitled to the decedent’s estate should file a claim thereto with the same court within five years from the date of such judgment. Afterwards, this claimant shall have possession of and title to the same, or if sold, the municipality or city shall be accountable to him for the proceeds after deducting reasonable charges for the care of the estate.

A claim not made within this five-year period shall be forever barred, even when as alleged in the Republic case, the supposed claimant, a donee of a property belonging to the decedent’s estate, has only discovered the purported deed of donation beyond said period.

A judgment in escheat proceedings, when rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction, is conclusive against all persons with actual or constructive notice, absent dishonest intent on the part of petition to deprive such persons of any right, or in any way injure him.

Source: Inquirer