Abstract:
The barangay justice system was devised during an era when the Philippines1 justice system was viewed as slow and unresponsive. The initial motivating factor for its creation had been the observation that most cases that
clogged up court dockets were indiscriminately filed cases, which could have
easily been dealt with before reaching the Philippine courts, thereby avoiding
costly legal battles that could even drag on for years. The foremost rationale for the creation of the Barangay Justice System
was to take justice to the grassroots level. The Barangay Justice System was a
mechanism that gave to the people, the power to sort out their own legal
squabbles.
However, nearly thirty years after the idea of a barangay-based and
community-centered conciliatory body was conceived, significant changes in the
rate at which justice is administered remains to be quite out of reach.
Years after the formulation of the Presidential Decree 1508 which serves
as the BJS' legal mandate, the system has slowed to near unresponsiveness and
disuse as some would say. A number of people do not even know the system
exists, much less how it works and the crimes, which fall within its jurisdiction.
With this, there have risen, proposals to abolish the Katarungang Pambarangay
altogether.
The challenge therefore, is to somehow determine the level of awareness
of the people in the community and to compare their knowledge with the actual
principles and guidelines of the Barangay Justice System. The aim of this
research then, is not merely to gauge their knowledge but also to inform the
reader that such a unique Filipino system of dispute resolution exists. This
research, aside from informing, seeks the rejuvenation of the system so that it
can meet the demands of the time. After all, it would be such a waste if the
concept and system of Katarungang Pambarangay would simply whither away to
irrelevance and eventually to disuse.
