Tacloban City (October 18) -- In cognizance with the ever increasing number of cases being filed against government officials and employees, the Department of Agrarian Reform in Eastern Visayas decided to hold its Second Annual Legal Enhancement Seminar with Administrative Justice as the focus.

Mr. Jose Alsmith Soria, DAR Information Officer informed that the Enhancement Seminar which started on Monday, October 15, is being conducted at the Leyte Park Hotel, Tacloban City and is hosted by the Eastern Samar Provincial Agrarian Reform Office headed by PARO Oscar Reloj.

Regional Director Homer Tobias declared that this seminar is important as it will allow paralegal officers to have the opportunity to hone further their skills in drafting pleadings and other Adjudication Board or Court processes especially in cases they handle before the said fora.

Although DAR officials/employees from this region are not spared from administrative cases, Tobias disclosed that based on the report from the Legal Affairs Office of DAR Central Office, cases of this kind from Region-8 is now dwindling.

The seminar is designed to address the need for legal officers to be armed with the appropriate knowledge on matters like administrative procedures before the different administrative bodies.

This, according to DAR-Eastern Samar legal chief Resty Osias, is in consideration of the fact that more often than not, the advice of the legal officers is sought by co-employees who become the subject of administrative cases.

For his part, Regional Legal Chief Geronimo Peque said that the seminar is aimed at preventing the development into full blown cases, the complaints filed against DAR personnel by teaching DAR lawyers as well as paralegal officers how to address such cases in their initial stages.