A case study on the practices of the

Katarungang Pambarangay in the

administration of the barangay justice system
in barangays Old Centro Uno, San Mateo,
Isabela.

INTRODUCTION

This study was conducted to find out the first hand experiences of Punong Barangays in the
implementation of the Katarungang Pambarangay or Barangay Justice System as mandated by
Republic Act No. 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, Katarungang
Pambarangay Rules were promulgated by the Department of Justice on June 1, 1992, providing
guidelines for the Katarungang Pambarangay. The Katarungang Pambarangay System is intended to
improve the access to justice to those who would opt not to go through the traditional, adversarial,
and adjudicative litigation in the court and to allow petty disputes arising from the Barangay level to
be immediately resolved. It has four-fold benefits: to unclog court dockets, achieve speedy
disposition of cases, enhance access to justice, and to involve the community in dispute resolution.
The Katarungang Pambarangay System benefits the parties by affording them the discretion to
make their own arrangements to resolve their dispute in the Barangay without resorting to filing a
case in court. Thus, the Barangay serves as a government unit that not only involves executive and
legislative functions but also judicial functions as well. The Appropriate Research Design is a
qualitative method based on interviews regarding the experiences of Punong Barangay in Old Centro
Uno, San Mateo, Isabela about common practices of the Katarungang Pambarangay and its
implication upon the legal system. Results of the interviews, review of related studies and the
provisions of the law are examined through a narrative analysis. The design used was qualitative
descriptive phenomenology.Results revealed that parties to the case would only resort to Lupon
proceedings as a last resort, in fact our Punong Barangay interviewed stated that disputes are
resolved as discreet as possible so as to avoid reaching the stage wherein Lupon proceedings would
now be necessary and would ultimately lead to court proceedings.

Review Related Literature

The establishment of the ,atarungang Pambarangay System underPresidential 8ecree Do.294: is

signi’cant even in our national life. Thesystem see#s to enrich custom of setting disputes amicably to
rescuethe Courts of remembers time to the ad&udication of cases. The successfulimplementation of
this system will depend to a great e%tent upon the(arangay Captains and Lupon )embers who are
called lupon to serve in theconciliation panels very much will depend too on how intelligently they
willunderstand the system. Thus 0ccording to Onendain”(arangay Fustice to repeat is a splendid
idea. It holds brightpromises for the establishment of a fast and orderly society under a newpolitical
order. (ut much of its success must depend upon the peoplethemselves and the o-cial who will
administer the system and the citiEenwho will participate in it. In one way or another on how
responsibly they willperform their respective role and more basically how clearly and
intelligentlythey read the law. This is pursuant to section of Presidential 8ecree Do 29:4 the rulesand
regulation are hereby promulgated for the amicable settlement of disputes at the (arangay level
without &udicial recourse.Lawson de’nes &ustice as fair treatment under the law this mean thatthose
who are authoriEed to enforce the law must treat people family ande;ually by showing respect for the
role of law. Only by applying the lawe;ually to all rich or poor high or low cannot be legitimacy0nd
acceptance from those people over whom they rule Lawson further saidthere can be no &ustice
without the prior establishment of the principle of the rule of law. There can be no &ustice without
the body of law to guide the &udges. The more e%istence of a body of law and competent &udges
does not;uarantine that &ustice will prevail. There can be no doubt that do who have been given the
authority to determine what is &ust may commit errors of &udgment.0s former 0ssociate Fustice
/oberto /egala of the Supreme Court saidmany years ago >;ual &ustice under the law is more than
an abstraction. It isa way of life It is essential on our part to carry or demonstrate this thought to the
street so that our people will have a better understanding of the rule of law.0 desire for smooth
interpersonal relationships is not an e%clusive trait. It isin fact universal it being in the nature of man
in civiliEed societies at least toavoid conHicts for all the dangers and inconvenience they involve as
Ta#eyoshi a Fapanese professor of law aptly observed. There is probably nosociety in which
legislation is the normal means or resolving disputes. /arelywill both parties press their claim so far as
to re;uire to a court! Instead one of the disputants will probably o5er a satisfactory settlement or
propose theuse of some e%tra &udicial in normal procedure.In professor ,washimas own country the
principle of mediation is verymuch a part of the legal system especially in the settlement of disputes
of contractual nature. 0pparently di5erent countries have di5erent method isinformal settlement of
cases but their ob&ectives are in variably the samewhich are to a5ord the contending parties speedy
&ustice with the lastinconvenience and e%penses and to relieve the courts of minor cases toimprove
the ;uality of &ustice dispensed by them. These are precisely theob&ectives of Presidential 8ecree
Do.294. The review literature are related tothis present because it discuss the implementation
of ,atarungangPambarangay Law and what is he similar of this.

Discussion

The interview questions consisted of three questions issue Encountered in Katarungang Pambarangay
to determining the readiness of the Barangay to utilize an information system. The succeeding results
of the Interview question for the representation of Barangay Official during the consultative meeting
and the results Of the survey questionnaires answered by the punong barangay and officials.

Conclusion

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has played a vital role in enhancing the Quality of
government processes and/or services particularly in the smallest unit of the Philippine Political
system which is the barangay. This study determined that there are pressing issues and Problems
being encountered in implementing the Katarungang Pambarangay. Barangay Old Centro Uno can
adopt an information system because there Are resources and equipment readily available in their
offices. Moreover, the result shows that Some of the officials, as well as the staff of the barangay, are
equipped with the essential Knowledge and skills in using a system. However, it is still recommended
to conduct Seminars/workshops/training to further enhance their skills and knowledge. The study
further Shows that integrating an information system in the government process will benefit not just
the Agency but also the community. The study only considered the problems and issues collected
from the qualitative assessment. Any Issues not mentioned in the interview are not considered in the
recommended design of the System. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed system was not
considered in this study. Thus, a follow-up study is recommended.

Recommendations

Half of the barangay officials are knowledgeable in handling ICT Operations which indicates that room
for improvement is necessary, hence, it is recommended to Have in-depth training. Because of the
arising problems in the local government due to Voluminous paper works required by the Department
of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the proponents believed that developing an information
system for the services that Require a lot of effort and time such as the services under the
Katarungang Pambarangay in Old Centro Uno is a Must. The barangay secretary or any barangay
official who will administer the Procedures of Katarungang Pambarangay will serve as the end-user of
the recommended system While the developer will be the administrator. It is assumed that all
identified problems Encountered in the processes in Katarungang Pambarangay in Old Centro Uno will
be resolved if this system will Materialize.

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