The Provincial Government of Nueva Vizcaya (PGNV) held its first Flag Raising Ceremony for the month of June on Monday, June 2, 2025. The ceremony was sponsored by the Public Attorneys Office, who took the opportunity to extoll their accomplishments from January 2024 to May 2025.
The Public Attorneys Office relayed their activities and responsibilities as public lawyers, which included not just court attendance but the dispensation of legal advice to clients, especially indigent and marginalized people. From January 2024 to May 2025, the PAO has served over 5, 666 clients, with 1, 500 of those being in the Bayombong district alone. The clients ranged from those in need of defense at court hearings, to oath-takers for service positions, and walk-in clients seeking advice. The Bayombong District was awarded at the Regional Public Attorneys Conference for the Most Number Clients Served, last December 2024.
PAO also detailed the growth of their advocacy with the number of offices now serving a smaller group of municipalities with increased accessibility. With the support of the late Governor Carlos M. Padilla, three additional PAO district offices were built in Kasibu, Aritao, and Villaverde, with the District Offices subdividing the various municipalities among themselves: Bayombong for itself, Solano, and Ambaguio; Villaverde for itself, Quezon, and Diadi; Aritao for itself, Santa Fe, and Kayapa; Bambang for itself, Dupax del Sur and Dupax del Norte, and Alfonso Castaneda; and Kasibu as a standalone.
The PAO Villaverde District also showed a 43.2% growth in their client base from 2022 to the present; Villaverde has served 1813 clients in the January-May period, with over 900 cases handled and 422 of them resolved. This marks a 140% increase in cases won with favorable decisions for the PAO. PAO also conducted outreach services on the municipal and barangay levels by invitation: legal education such as lectures on special laws, especially on Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC). They also conduct home visitation for special cases, and jail visitation for clients in the PNP and Provincial Jail. The PAO expressed their gratitude to the provincial government, led Governor Atty. Jose V. Gambito, for their continued support to their office.
The Governor’s Office (GO) then took the floor to recognize the national achievement of Senior Fire Officer 3 Daisy Leal-Cabauatan from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), who had been named an Outstanding Woman in Law Enforcement and National Security (OWLENS), the only non-commissioned officer and from the BFP to be named so. SFO3 Cabauatan dedicated her recognition to her fellow rank-and-file officers and thanked all who supported her from the private and government sectors, especially Gov. Gambito. “Let us continue to serve not for recognition, but for transformation.”
More recognitions came from the Provincial Tourism and Culture Office (PTCO), with the planning and executive committees of the Grand Ammungan Festival being given Certificates of Commendation. The awardees included but were not limited to Director General Marichelle O. Costales, Assistant Director Generals Kathyleen Marcelo, Rhoda Moreno, and Virginia Iglesias, the various chairpersons for the different events of the Grand Ammungan Festival, security agencies such as the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), etc.
With the new semester approaching, the achievements of the PLGU are welcome reminders of the responsibilities of government service workers of their impact to the clients of the government, and their fellow Novo Vizcayanos, with their hard work providing not just essential services, but entertainment, culture, and inspiration. /igmb
