Acosta wants PAO budget cut vetoed

Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda Acosta has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to veto the proposal to slash her agency’s budget, saying it was unconstitutional.

“The deletion of the budget for the PAO Forensic Laboratory Division’s equipment, and the prohibition on the use of PAO’s MOOE (maintenance of operating expenses) for its operations — effectively intended to stop the PAO Forensic Laboratory Division’s operation, are unconstitutional,” she said in a letter to the Chief Executive.