Short answer. Yes, if you cannot afford one. When a woman or her child asks for counsel in the application because she lacks the means to hire a private lawyer, the court shall immediately direct the Public Attorney's Office to represent the petitioner in the hearing on the application.
What the law says
the court shall immediately direct the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) to represent the petitioner in the hearing on the application
RA 9262, Section 13 — Legal Representation Of Petitioners. Read the full provision →
Free legal representation is written into the law
Cost should not be what keeps an abused woman from court, and the law says so. If the woman or her child requests counsel in the application because she lacks the economic means to hire a private lawyer, the court shall immediately direct the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) to represent the petitioner in the hearing on the application. The direction is mandatory and immediate — the court does not weigh whether to help; it orders the PAO to step in. So a petitioner who cannot pay is not left to face the hearing alone. Free representation is part of how the protection-order system is meant to work.
How to ask for it
The request is made in the application itself. The standard protection-order form includes a place to request counsel and to state the reasons, so you flag your need for a lawyer at the same time you seek protection. You do not have to file a separate motion or navigate a complicated side-process; raising it in the application triggers the court's duty to direct the PAO. That design keeps the help within reach of someone who may be filing in a hurry, under stress, and without legal training — the very person the provision is meant to protect.
When the PAO decides you can pay
The PAO's role is for those who genuinely need it. If the PAO determines that an applicant can actually afford a private lawyer, it will instead facilitate representation by counsel of the applicant's own choosing rather than represent her itself. This is not a refusal of help so much as a sorting of resources toward those without means. Importantly, a private lawyer offering services without charge is not barred from representing a petitioner — so pro bono help from a private counsel remains an option alongside the PAO.
What free counsel does for your case
Having a lawyer matters because a protection-order hearing, though meant to be swift, still turns on presenting facts clearly and asking for the right reliefs. Counsel can help you describe the abuse, request the specific protections you need, and respond if the other side contests the application. To make the most of it, bring whatever evidence you have — medical records, messages, reports — and be candid with your lawyer about the situation. Representation does not promise any particular result, but it puts a trained advocate beside you at the moment it counts, which is exactly what the law intends for a petitioner without means.