ULAS Portal to Launch in 2026: What Lawyers and Firms Must Prepare For

The Supreme Court, through A.M. No. 22-11-01-SC, has established the Rules on Unified Legal Aid Service (“ULAS”), requiring covered lawyers to render a minimum of 60 hours of pro bono legal aid service within a 36-month compliance period. For registered organizations and private law firms, compliance may be met through the aggregate creditable hours of all covered lawyers, calculated by multiplying the 60-hour requirement by the number of practitioners in the firm. A compliance report must be submitted within one month following the end of the 36-month compliance period. 

ULAS Portal (Phase 1) will be formally launched on March 3, 2026 to facilitate implementation. Access to the portal requires an active account on the Philippine Judiciary Platform (“PJP”). Lawyers must therefore create their PJP accounts on or before February 27, 2026 to ensure readiness and uninterrupted access. The platform will serve as the primary mechanism for reporting and monitoring compliance.Applications for post-accreditation of legal outreach programs must be filed within 60 calendar days from the launch of Phase 1. Features such as direct logging of services and applications for exclusion are not yet available in Phase 1.