The lawyers from the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services Inc., or IDEAL, are expected to be here in October but they are now available for legal consultation online, Tantiado said.
She said IDEAL will help guest workers on their planned class suit over unpaid administrative orders and initiate other legal remedies.
Although they will serve Filipino workers, IDEAL, a non-profit organization in the Philippines will also extend legal services to other nationalities, Tantiado said.
“Online counseling is the minimum that we can do, taking into account the limitations on our representation and financial constraints. If [your] group prefers a face-to-face consultation, deployment of a lawyer is the optimum option,” Julyn Ambito of IDEAL told Tantiado in an e-mail.
Ambito said their group can answer questions and assist nonresident workers through online counseling and mentoring.
“We could draft and prepare complaint forms via online interview,” she added.
Tantiado said the IDEAL lawyers are now studying CNMI laws to prepare themselves before assisting guest workers.
The United Workers Movement, NMI will be holding fundraising activities for the accommodations of the IDEAL lawyers who will be on Saipan, Tantiado said.
They will not be asking for fees, she added.
