The Experience on Barangay Wakas South, Pilar, Bataan in Administering the Katarungan Pambarangay as a Rural Peace Building Tool

Abstract

The Katarungan Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System) is a mechanism of rural peace building tool in a community. Katarungan Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System) was establish as a way of decongesting the courts of dockets of cases being filed in them. It is also a time-honored tradition of amicably settling disputes among family and barangay members at the barangay level without judicial resources. The researchers seek to answer this question, “through the experiences of the Lupong Tagapamayapa (Peace-making Council), how does the Katarungan Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System) function to contribute rural peace building tool of Barangay Wakas South, Pilar, Bataan?” This research is a qualitative research that utilized the logbook of cases filed in the barangay hall and the researchers also interviewed members of Katarungan Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System) and residents from Brgy. Wakas South of the Municipality of Pilar, Bataan. Ethical principles were followed and implemented on the conduct of this research. The findings of the study shows the Kataraungan Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System)was established for a peaceful and harmonious resolution of conflicts within the barangay. That this Katarungan Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System) is composed of the three (3) components, namely: Lupong Tagapamayapa (Peace-making Council), Pangkat ng Tagapagsundo (Conciliation Panel), and Legal Advisers. Of the 72 cases filed on the span of this study, 68 cases were settled amicable by the warring parties. The members of the Katarungan Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System) encountered these following problems: the lack training in the technical know, lack of supervision system, and lack of cooperation from either party. Overall, the Katarungan Pambarangay or the Barangay Justice System is beneficial to the community for it preserves of relationship among neighbors, it gives faster resolution to the problems, it is economically beneficial, and it offers practical agreements between warring parties.