Short answer. Ask for one in the application itself. Where a woman or her child requests the appointment of counsel because she lacks the economic means to hire her own, the Act directs the court to immediately have the Public Attorney's Office represent her at 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 →

The request belongs in the application

This is the part people miss, and it is the part that triggers everything else. The provision is framed around a request made in the applications for a protection order, and the standard form has a field for exactly that: whether counsel is requested, and the reasons. So it is not a separate errand to run afterwards or a matter to raise for the first time at the hearing. If someone is helping you prepare the form, make sure that field is completed rather than left blank.

What the court is directed to do

The wording is mandatory and immediate: on such a request, the court shall immediately direct the Public Attorney's Office to represent you at the hearing on the application. That is a direction to the court, not an invitation to you to go and find PAO yourself, and the word immediately is doing work given how short the interval between filing and hearing can be. Note the scope as written — representation in the hearing on the application. What happens in any other case you have is a separate conversation.

If PAO assesses that you can afford counsel

You are not simply turned away. Where PAO determines that an applicant can afford to hire a counsel de parte, the Act directs it to facilitate the applicant's legal representation by a counsel de parte instead. So the assessment redirects rather than ends the matter. And if the reason you cannot pay is that the household's money exists but is not within your reach, say so plainly, because the Act deals with that situation specifically rather than leaving it to a general means test.

Other help that does not depend on this

A private lawyer acting without charge is not barred from representing you, so an offer of that kind does not conflict with the provision. Separately, the Act lists among a victim's rights the ability to avail of legal assistance from the Public Attorney's Office or any public legal assistance office. Prosecutors and court personnel are directed to inform you of your rights, the remedies and procedure available, and the privileges for indigent litigants — which is a question worth asking them directly.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.