Barangay Justice Showcasing LGU Gains in Conflict Management

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Barangay Justice Showcasing LGU Gains in Conflict Management Gerry Roxas Foundation 1 LGU Initiatives in Barangay Justice Showcasing LGU Gains in Conflict Management AUTHORS: Zamboanga Sibugay - Engr. Venencio Ferrer Tawi-Tawi - Farson Mihasun Pagadian - Rosello Macansantos Dipolog - Arvin Bonbon Davao del Sur - Danilo Tagailo and Atty Arlene Cosape Maguindanao - Mastura Tapa South Cotabato - Bernadette Undangan and Danny Dumandagan Sarangani - Evan Campos and Jocelyn Kanda EDITOR: Ms. Gilda Ginete DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Glen A. de Castro Jacquelyn A. Aguilos Copyright @ All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission from GRF. Published by: Gerry Roxas Foundation 11/F Aurora Tower, Araneta Center Quezon City 1109, Philippines Tel: (632) 911.3101 local 7244 Fax: (632) 421.4006 www.gerryroxasfoundation.org Disclaimer: This study is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through Cooperative Agreement AID 492-A-00-09-00030. The contents are the responsibilities of the Gerry Roxas Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the United States Government and the Gerry Roxas Foundation. Gerry Roxas Foundation 2 Table of Contents Davao del Sur Initiatives from the Ground 7-14 Dipolog A Recipe for Lasting Peace in the Bottled Sardines Capital 15-26 Maguindanao GO-NGO Partnership in the Sustainability of the BJPP in Maguindanao 27-33 Pagadian “Handog ng Pagadian sa Mundo” an inspiring story of a community’s journey towards the revival of citizen volunteerism in community service 35-49 Sarangani Public-Private-People’s Partnership 4Peace Promotion 51-66 South Cotabato Mainstreaming the BJPP for Sustainability in the Province of South Cotabato 67-73 Tawi-Tawi Leadership: Key to BJPP Sustainability The Tawi-Tawi Experience 75-82 Zamboanga Sibugay Institutionalizing the LGU BJPP Initiatives 83-92 Gerry Roxas Foundation 3 Gerry Roxas Foundation 4 Introduction he Barangay Justice Service System (BJSS) is the flagship project under the Justice and Peace Program of the Gerry Roxas Foundation. It promotes governance and rule of law through community participation Tand citizen empowerment. The BJSS model bridges the gap between communities, the formal justice system and alternative systems of dispute resolution. It also strengthens the Katarungang Pambarangay (KP) system. In the past 11 years, the GRF has developed technical and administrative capacities to implement the BJSS model of alternative dispute resolution and has achieved significant gains as a service provider in peace building in the communities. The Project started in Panay Island in 1998 and eventually covered Mindanao in the ARMM areas in 2002 with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). To date, GRF has assisted 24 provinces in the whole country covering 15,159 peace advocates in 196 municipalities and 2015 barangays. More than 60 percent of the provinces covered are in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. Under the Project, GRF mobilizes and trains community-endorsed citizen volunteers called Barangay Justice Advocates (BJAs) on mediation, peace counseling and various aspects of the law. Once trained, a BJA functions as mediator, peace counselor, network-builder and educator. As a peace advocate, a BJA facilitates the conflict settlement process appropriate to the nature of the dispute between parties to prevent conflict from escalating into violence. The project also supports the use of popular education as a means of promoting peace messages and expanding and sustaining the gains of community-based justice and peace advocacies. The BJSS evolved into what is now the Barangay Justice for Peace (BJP) Project. This is a 2-year project funded by USAID ending in December 2011, which aims to reduce violent conflicts in 8 conflict-affected areas in Mindanao. By design, local government units and resource partners are engaged in all phases of the project to sustain the gains in conflict reduction. Under the current project, BJAs have successfully managed more than 11,000 cases over a 12-month period with a 94% resolution rate. Gerry Roxas Foundation 5 Introduction The BJSS model is implemented with Local Resource Partners (LRPs) numbering more than 20 to date, the provincial and municipal local government units where the project operates and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The strong partnership between GRF, LRPs and LGUs opens up a lot of opportunities in conflict reduction through the expansion of BJSS models in non-project areas utilizing LGU resources. Other sustainability initiatives include the organization of the Mindanao Consortium for Barangay Justice Advocacies by local resource partners. The consortium consists of a network of LRPs trained as barangay justice service providers under the BJSS. Recognizing the impact of the BJSS in conflict reduction, the LRPs saw the consortium as a mechanism for assisting LGUs in sustaining project gains. The GRF is currently assisting the consortium in its organizational development. In 2011, GRF became an accredited service provider of the Local Government Academy for the Foundation’s barangay justice training modules. With the increasing demand for training from LGUs that have not been served by the Project, GRF shall continue its work in conflict affected areas to help reduce violent conflicts and promote community peace through the BJAs. As a show of support to the BJP project, 8 LGU partners from Maguindanao, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Davao del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Tawi-Tawi, Pagadian City and Dipolog City provided close to P8 M additional budget for expansion of project and to sustain project gains in conflict reduction. The LGU stories in this compendium showcase strategies and innovations of local partners to strengthen BJP implementation and continue project gains in other conflict affected communities. The GRF extends its gratitude and appreciation to many who have contributed to the documentation of these LGU initiatives. We hope other LGUs will be inspired to support the BJSS model as an ADR model of conflict reduction. Gerry Roxas Foundation 6 Davao del Sur Initiatives from the Ground Gerry Roxas Foundation 7 LGU Initiatives in Barangay Justice Showcasing LGU Gains in Conflict Management Gerry Roxas Foundation 8 LGU Initiatives in Barangay Justice Davao del Sur Showcasing LGU Gains in Conflict Management I. Introduction A. Situationer The Barangay Justice for Peace Project was introduced at the height of election fever. Hence, almost everyone was busy preparing for the elections. Moreover, with the name Gerry Roxas as an integral part of the project, there was a strong perception on the part of the government officials of political color. On the part of the DILG, the project was perceived as redundant because the Katarungang Pambarangay Program was already strongly in place. Thus, the project was not given priority. B. Rationale of the Initiative With the circumstances prevailing at that time, time and priority could not be expected from the provincial government and from the DILG. Thus a bottoms-up approach to the project evolved. This was true in the initial stages of the project implementation. II. Implementation of the BJPP A. Project Activities/Steps and Outcomes “In Davao del 1. Social Marketing of the Project Sur, the Barangay Justice for Peace A courtesy call to the provincial government was made by the representatives of the Gerry Program (BJPP) Roxas Foundation and of the Ateneo Resource Center for Local governance (ARCLG). has empowered the On that occasion, the Provincial Legal Officer, Atty. John Tracy Cagas, was appointed as people in the baran- the BJPP focal person from the province. The launching of the project on the provincial gays, regardless of gender, educational level followed. Present during the provincial launching were representatives from the background, ethnic different municipalities. affiliation and religion, to promote There were also some representatives from the other sectors of society. However, some community peace Local Chief Executives were not able to attend the launching purportedly because they through participa- were not able to receive invitations to it. tion in alternative dispute mecha- During the launch, the ARCLG as the Local Resource Partner Institution was introduced. nisms. In effect, community devel- On that occasion, ARCLG appealed for help from all those present and the ten opment intensifies municipalities were identified. The ARCLG next conducted the courtesy calls to the as peace envelopes identified municipalities, namely: Bansalan, Digos, Hagonoy, Kiblawan, Magsaysay, the community. Matanao, Padada, Sta. Cruz, Sta. Maria and Sulop. The success of the program is During the Municipal Orientation and Project Launching, ARCLG again appealed for overwhelming that our only choice is help from all those present. Much time was given to discussing with the Local Chief to carry on through Executives their roles in the project. Unfortunately, only two of the ten LCEs attended the creation of the the launching due to other scheduled activities. In all instances, the Municipal Local Peace and Develop- Government Officers (MLGOO) were present as most of them were the chosen focal ment Unit in the province” persons for the identified municipalities. The ten barangays to be the locale for the BJPP trainings were also identified.
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