DESEO, CATHERINE P.

ENRILE, ROCHELLE S.

LAS MARIAS, SHEILA MAE R.

RIVERA, SHIELA LYN L.

VALDEZ, VIA MARIE ANGELA M.

College of Law – 1F

KATARUNGANG PAMBARANGAY: HARMONIZING THE COMMUNITY

THROUGH A JUST, SPEEDY AND INEXPENSIVE AMICABLE SETTLEMENT

Katarungang Pambarangay (KP) is an ancient Filipino custom of dispute resolution by

amicable settlement between disputing members of the family or of the barangay during the pre-

Spanish era1. In recognition of the successful implementation of KP in the past years, it was

further strengthened and revitalized through a revised KP Law which was incorporated in the

Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 which took effect on January 1,

1992. KP is an alternative community – based mechanism instituted at the barangay level which

aims to promote the speedy administration of justice 2, and to discourage indiscriminate filing of

cases in court in order to decongest its clogged dockets and, in the process, enhance the quality

of justice dispensed by it3. Some of the cases that are within the jurisdiction of the barangays are

less serious physical injuries, light threats, light coercion, giving assistance to

consummated suicide, unlawful arrest, abandonment of a person in danger and

abandonment of one’s own victim, abandonment of a minor by person entrusted with his

custody, qualified trespass to dwelling (without the use of violence and intimidation), and

other similar offenses, these cases were defined by the Revised Penal Code.

1
Teresita Leonardo De Castro, Katarungang Pambarangay Primer and Guidebook: Step-By-Step Guide to Katarungang Pambarangay (1999)
2
A Guide to the Katarungang Pambarangay System (Philippine Center for Civic Education and Democracy (2012)
3
Morata v. Go, 125 SCRA 444, 449, (October 27, 1983)
 One of the long – standing problems in the Philippine justice system is the docket

congestion in our courts which, in effect, delays the administration of justice. In 2017, De La

Salle University (DLSU) College of Law Founding Dean Jose Manuel Diokno said that their

research shows that most of the courts in the country have congested proceeding schedules with

50 cases per day, resulting to a slow pace of litigation that usually runs over ten years or longer.

In 2013, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said that the

government had an estimated savings of P3.1-billion in court litigation costs through the

implementation of the KP.

Finally, this paper will provide for a comprehensive discussion of the KP and the LTIA in

order for the researchers and the public to be aware and to appreciate the importance of amicable

settlement at the barangay level; for the local government units (LGUs), especially those which

do not have organized Lupons yet, to utilize and improve such mechanism, and; for the

concerned National Government Agencies (NGAs) to consider policy

interventions/developments.