The Philippine National Police (PNP) plans to outsource law firms to help cops who are facing charges linked to their duties, its top official said Tuesday.

In an interview with reporters, PNP Chief General Francisco Marbil said that police officers, especially those in the lower ranks, lack legal assistance.

“That’s the biggest problem of each lowly policeman, even us here in the ranks. When we arrest big persons, we do not have legal assistance. Our legal assistance is good but not enough to help all policemen,” Marbil said.

Marbil said a financial institution committed to donating P300 million to give legal aid worth P10,000 per cop facing charges.

“I said that’s going to be hard, it’s not sustainable. What we really need right now is to get a firm that will defend the police so that they can easily go to that legal firm that will help them, especially when it comes to countercharges. Because the cases that are filed are being assisted by our legal service but when there is a counter charge, the police have a hard time and they have to shell out from their pockets,” he said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS