Representative Fidel Nograles is one of the youngest legislators in the Philippine House of Representatives where he serves as Assistant Majority Leader and Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Higher and Technical Education and Committee on Justice. A lawyer by profession, he obtained his bachelor of arts and juris doctor degrees from the Ateneo de Manila University and his Master of Laws, LL.M from Harvard University. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: Legal Empowerment of Jail Paralegals in the Philippines

As a jail decongestion measure, this project aimed to implement capacity-building strategies and legal workshops for 2,000 jail paralegals or prison legal officers from all over the Philippines. In particular, the project involved the publication of a legal handbook and a series of "writeshops" to gain relevant feedback from the paralegal community throughout the revision process. The goal was to enhance the legal skills of jail paralegals or prison legal officers in the aspect of case documentation, data-mining, evaluation and providing free legal assistance. Another goal was to improve access to justice for indigent and marginalized prison inmates. The legal handbook, last updated in 2012, now contains pertinent and up-to-date resource materials on criminal law, procedure, and administrative law for all jail paralegals or prison legal officers.

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Fidel was a participant in the IVLP Project: Human and Civil Rights for Marginalized Populations for the Indo-Pacific, organized by the U.S. Department of State and Cultural Vistas.

Fidel's exchange experience led to the development of his IVLP Impact Award Project: "The IVLP experience provided me with a cross-cultural insight into different human rights-based approach to servant-leadership."

U.S. Communities Visited Virtually

Washington, DC; Orlando, FL; Atlanta, GA; Honolulu, HI

Country: Philippines

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