When researching lawyers in the Philippines, you may find it quite difficult to decide on which firm or office is the best one to go with. Partly due to a mix of positive and negative reviews for the same office, and on the other hand you may find a particular office that has nothing but negative feedback from their clients which is more often times than not most common here. There is a long list as to why finding decent lawyers in the Philippines is quite a challenge here on the islands, and in this article, we will dig deeper into this topic as to the reason this is. Watch below and find out why Philippines lawyers make it harder to resolve things, rather than easier.
Attorneys and lawyers in the Philippines
One thing to think about when you’re in the Philippines is that there’s not a lot of oversight committees. There are not many agencies that will protect you, your rights, or your investments oftentimes whether or not you have contracts that bind the parties in agreements and this is negligible in the realm of a third world country oftentimes. This stands in stark contrast to the Western world. In the typical Western country, we get used to having everything rubber padded for us along with agencies whose sole purpose is to make sure these types of things don’t happen and everyone is on an even playing field. There are watchdogs keeping track of everything and a series of checks and balances. We don’t have to be overly careful, because the system is designed to protect us.
In the Philippines, nothing could be further from the truth. In a poor country like the Philippines, you have got to watch your own back because no one else will. For example, take lawyers. One of the things you have to understand about lawyers is that they don’t make money once they fix your problem. If you’re a foreigner, they know you have a lot of money (relatively speaking). Suppose you have a situation that you need to be resolved and you bring in a lawyer. You have money and you’re willing to pay. Unfortunately, the lawyers in the Philippines know this and the longer they can drag out your case, the more money they can make in the long run. They know when your case is resolved, the money stops as well and for them, they don’t want this to happen. When you look at it like this, you see that there is no motivation for them to fix your problem.

What do Philippine lawyers do then?
They drag your case out for as long as possible as they make more money this way instead of resolving your issue in a quick and timely manner. They will actively try to avoid reaching a resolution, simply to keep making money from you. In some cases, they will even give you bad advice to create more problems for you, as this puts more money in their pocket. Conversely, if you get the right lawyers in the Philippines, they can go in and sit down with the judge to negotiate the terms of the resolution. They can work it out in your favor (cash in hand). In the end, corruption goes both ways. There are two things to remember:
- Be careful, because you have no protection.
- If you have money, you can buy your way out of problems.
Often times there are a few cases where there is just no way around hiring a lawyer to handle certain business paperwork and government required forms where a lawyer is the only option for making sure these items are completed correctly. There are also various types of lawyers in the Philippines that may be of use when you are unable to solve some issues by simply paying the first person in the food chain to resolve your problem. Below I will discuss some of the most common types of lawyers in the Philippines people will use to resolve their issues, however, keep in mind the same problems mentioned above are still an inevitable occurrence regardless of the task being conducted by these individuals.
Types of lawyers commonly used
In the Philippines, there are a few common types of attorneys used for certain issues that offer no other way around using a lawyer. Filing annulment in the Philippines is one of the most common cases where a lawyer is oftentimes required to make sure that all the proper paperwork is received and filled out correctly to ensure the case is completed. Not very common until recent years based on the Philippines is a strong Catholic influenced country and divorce still highly frowned upon. The lawyers in the Philippines know this, and thus can make the process an expensive one. Criminal lawyers are oftentimes sought after for cases where a very bad crime has been committed and paying off the first person is no longer an option and however, these rarely see any early ending in resolving the case as these problems offer the most potential income for attorneys and lawyers alike.
If you ever require the assistance of lawyers in the Philippines, do your research and find a lawyer who will be able to help you get the resolution you seek. If you have any further questions or would just like some more general information on anything discussed in this article feel free to stop by and say hello and any of our amazing BADLADZ Adventure resorts and we would be more than happy to help assist you with your questions or concerns.
Cheers,
Sean