Philippine Community Mediation, Katarungang Pambarangay
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Journal of Dispute Resolution Volume 2008 Issue 2 Article 5 2008 Philippine Community Mediation, Katarungang Pambarangay Gill Marvel P. Tabucanon James A. Wall Jr. Wan Yan Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr Part of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons Recommended Citation Gill Marvel P. Tabucanon, James A. Wall Jr., and Wan Yan, Philippine Community Mediation, Katarungang Pambarangay, 2008 J. Disp. Resol. (2008) Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2008/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Dispute Resolution by an authorized editor of University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tabucanon et al.: Tabucanon: Philippine Community Mediation Philippine Community Mediation, Katarungang Pambarangay Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon,*James A. Wall, Jr.,** and Wan Yan*** I. BACKGROUND In a recent article contemplating the challenges society will face to survive the next half century, Joel Cohen surmised that one requisite for survival is find- ing domestic and international institutions to resolve conflicts.' Currently, media- tion appears to be the frontrunner for domestic resolutions. It is applied to a wide variety of conflicts, including labor-management negotiations, community dis- putes, school conflicts, and marital problems. Moreover, there is evidence-from China, Taiwan, India, Britain, Australia, Japan, and Turkey-indicating that med- iation is being utilized worldwide.2 When applied worldwide to a variety of conflicts, mediation assumes diverse forms. This article reports on a type of mediation that is probably unknown to most readers-the three-person "Katarungang Pambarangay" panel utilized in the Philippines. First, we present a brief overview of the process, followed by a delineation of the history, purpose, operational structure, jurisdiction, venue, procedure, and time frame for this mediation approach. Finally, we report on interviews we conducted with mediators who have served on these panels. Their accounts reveal intriguing details as to how the mediation process unfolds and the benefits of this dispute resolution process. Our goals in this article are threefold: (1) to describe this grassroots mediation approach; (2) to expand our knowledge about mediation; and (3) to reflect on the advantages of this approach so as to improve mediation in other arenas. The report begins with a succinct overview of the Katarungang Pambarangay institution. * Gil Marvel P. Tabucanon is the Dean of the College of Law of the Western Leyte College in Ormoc City, Philippines. Recently he received a Fulbright Scholarship to obtain a Master of Laws in Dispute Resolution at the University of Missouri. ** James A. Wall, Jr. is a Curators' Professor and a Fellow in the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution in the School of Law at the University of Missouri. *** Wan Yan has worked for Colgate Palmolive and Deutsche Bank, China. Currently, she is a doctoral student at the University of Missouri. 1. Joel E. Cohen, Human PopulationGrows Up, SCI. AM., Sept. 2005, at 48-55. 2. DAVID W. AUGSBURGER, CONFLICT MEDIATION ACROSS CULTURES: PATHWAYS AND PATTERNS (Westminster/John Knox 1992); Dania A. Dialdin, & James A. Wall, Third Parties and Cultures. 15 NEGOTIATION J. 381-87 (1999); James A. Wall, et al., Mediation: A Current Review and Theory Development. 45 J. OF CONFLICT RESOL. 370-91 (2001). Published by University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository, 2008 1 Journal of Dispute Resolution, Vol. 2008, Iss. 2 [2008], Art. 5 JOURNAL OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION [Vol. 2008 II. KATARUNGANG PAMBARANGAY: OVERVIEW The Katarungang Pambarangay is a three-person mediation in which the me- diators are drawn from volunteers in the barangay. In rural communities, "baran- gay" refers to "village," while in cities "barangay" refers to the smallest political unit. Currently, in the Philippines there are 40,000 barangays and therefore 40,000 Katarungang Pambarangay mediation centers. 3 This tri-party approach to mediation has its counterparts in various other countries. In India, the village panchayat-group of five-mediates in public to resolve any dispute brought before them. 4 The chotei (conciliation) system in Japan has been the preferred method for resolving disputes since the seventeenth century.5 It is the favored method for reconciliation because the Japanese highly value community harmony, 6 and taking someone to court is seen as a breach of such7 harmony. In Spain, labor disputes are mediated by a four-party mediation team. III. HISTORY Like most traditional community systems in other countries, the origins of the Katarungang Pambarangay are rather uncertain; yet, for centuries, elders from neutral barangays served as mediators of conflicts arising between members of different barangays. 8 This process was simple, perhaps crude, but it was more efficient than taking the conflict to court. In addition, the decision makers in the process9 were individuals who knew the customs of the people better than robed judges. The current official Katarungang Pambarangay system is based upon these time-honored traditions of amicably settling disputes among family and barangay members without court involvement. On January 27, 1978, Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos created, through Presidential Decree 1293, a Presidential Commission with Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro as Chairman.10 The Commis- sion was charged with the responsibility of instituting a dispute resolution system, at the barangay level, which did not involve the courts.' Chief Justice Castro, in 3. The Official Web Site of the Republic of the Philippines, http://www.gov.ph/catjlocalgov/default.asp (last visited Nov. 19, 2008). 4. JIM V. LOPEZ, THE LAW ON ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION: PRIVATE JUSTICE IN THE PHILIPPINES, How To SOLVE LEGAL DISPUTES WITHOUT A CouRTRooM TRIAL, 59 (Rex Book Store, Inc. 2004). 5. Id. 6. Id. at 60. 7. Roberto Martinez-Pecino et al., Labor Conflict Mediation in Andalusia, presented at the Interna- tional Association for Conflict Management Conference at Montreal on June 28, 2006. In this ap- proach, two individuals are selected by the union and two are selected by management. Id. 8. LOPEz, supra note 4, at 2. 9. Id. 10. Pres. Dec. No. 1293 (1978). This law was the precursor of the original Katarungang Pambaran- gay Law Pres. Dec. No. 1508 (1978). 11. Id. The chairman was Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorenzo R. Relova. The members were Loma L. de la Fuente (Assistant Secretary of Justice); Brig. Gen. Samuel M. Soriano (Assistant Secre- tary of Defense); Gadioso C. Sosmena Jr. (Bureau of Local Government Director), Antonio G. Dumlao (Bureau of Higher Education Director); Cecilio L. Pe (Integrated Bar of the Philippines President); and Alfredo F. Tadiar (Director of University of the Philippines Law Center). Pres. Dec. No. 1293 (1978). https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2008/iss2/5 2 Tabucanon et al.: Tabucanon: Philippine Community Mediation No. 21 Philippine Community Mediation turn, issued Administrative Order No. 12 appointing the leader and members of the technical committee,' 2 who were tasked: (1) to study and formulate a system or systems of resolving disputes among family and barangay members, as well as among persons belonging to different barangays at the barangay level without the intervention of lawyers and the courts; (2) to determine the different categories of disputes that may be settled under the system or systems; and (3) to formulate and recommend policies, rules and regulations, and procedural guidelines that will be followed in the settlement of such disputes. 13 The technical committee approved and submitted the final draft to the presi- dent. On June 11, 1978, President Marcos signed the innovative proposal into law as Presidential Decree 1508, otherwise known as the Katarungang Pambarangay Law. 14 Since then, P.D. 1508 has been amended somewhat by Republic Act 7160, but the intent and15 original concept as envisioned under P.D. 1508 remain essen- tially the same. The law establishing the Katarungang Pambarangay system, Presidential De- cree 1508 (as amended), does not claim to introduce a new concept of dispute settlement in the Philippines. Instead, it recognizes and formalizes the tradition of village-centered dispute resolution. The avowed purpose, expressly stated in the law itself, is to: (1) promote the speedy administration of justice; (2) implement the constitutional mandate to preserve and develop Filipino culture; and (3) strengthen the family as a basic social institution. 16 The preliminary statement of the law's intent laments the indiscriminate filing of cases in the courts of justice and how this has contributed heavily and unjustifiably to the congestion of court dockets, effectively causing the deterioration of the quality of justice in the coun- try- 7 It is thus the express intent of the law to help relieve the courts of such crowded dockets and8 to institutionalize a system of amicably settling disputes at the barangay level.' IV. OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE The Republic Act 7160 relegated the administration and implementation of the Katarungang Pambarangay to the local government units, particularly the Mu- nicipal Mayor's office. 19 Although the structure of the Katarungang Pambarangay varies somewhat from barangay