This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 11, April 22-28, 2007
Making Alternative Dispute
Resolution Work in Highlands and Lowlands
Under the alternative dispute resolution program, which is hoped to declog
Philippine courts, mediators are tasked to bring the parties together and to
neutrally arrive at settlements of the cases out of court. This program was
introduced in Benguet recently. BY
ACE ALEGRE © 2007 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Contributed to Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY (246 kms. north of Manila) –
Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez led the inauguration of the Philippine
Mediation Center at the third floor of the Hall of Justice on Friday signaling
perhaps alternative dispute resolution working here and even in the lowlands.
Thirty-eight mediators from Baguio-Benguet and La Union under the Court-Annexed
Mediation (CAM) program of the Justice Reform Initiatives Support (JURIS)
project also took their oath before Sandoval-Gutierrez. They included 22
lawyers, five gospel ministers, 3 tribal NGOs (non-government organizations)
officials, a bank manager, a housing cooperative manager, a realtor, a Barangay
Lupong Tagapamayapa (village peacekeeping council) member, a retired court
employee, a pre-charge officer, a national training commissioner and a
marriage counselor.
Under the alternative dispute resolution program, which is hoped to declog
Philippine courts, mediators are tasked to bring the parties together and to
neutrally arrive at settlements of the cases out of court.
Cases that may be mediated include civil cases, settlement of estates and cases
covered by the Rule on Summary Procedure, except those which by law may not be
compromised; cases cognizable by Lupong Tagapamayapa under the Katarungang
Pambarangay (Village Justice) Law; the civil aspect of the Bouncing Check Law;
theft and the civil aspect of quasi-offenses under Title 14 of the Revised Penal
Code (Reckless Imprudence).
From July to September 2006, before the introduction of CAM and Judicial Dispute
Resolution (JDR) in Baguio City, 339 cases were disposed by way of compromised
agreement.
This number increased to 420 cases from October to December 2006, after the
introduction of CAM and JDR, resulting in a 23.9-percent increase in the actual
number of cases disposed.
Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno said the mediation
center promotes the implementation of JDR as an institutionalized alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism in the judicial system which is under the
program of the Supreme Court in expanding the role of judges as conciliators in
promoting access to justice by court litigants.
Puno hopes that with the introduction of JDR in Baguio City and Benguet, the
process of mediation and conciliation at the level of judge would contribute
significantly to the fair resolution of cases. "We are hopeful this will result
in the increased satisfaction of litigants in the court process as well as in
the decongestion of the court dockets which would mean greater access to justice
by our people especially by the poor."
With JDR and CAM, an efficient and effective court system is envisioned not only
in the five model court sites but in the entire country. “It is also considered
as an important part of the Supreme Court's Action Program for Judicial Reform (APJR)
to improve the quality and delivery of judicial services to the people,” Puno
added.
Also present during the April 14 opening of the Baguio Mediation Center were
Associate Justices Conchita Carpio Morales and Ma.Alicia Austria-Martinez,
Supreme Court Officials, Judges from Bacolod City, Pampanga, Makati City, City
of Manila, representatives of the Canadian Internationl Development Agency (CIDA);
officials of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; leaders of Alternative Law
Groups; and officers of the National Judicial Institute (NJI) of Canada.
JDR and CAM are implemented under the JURIS Project of the Supreme Court
supported by the CIDA. Contributed to Bulatlat