Barangay justice saved gov’t P3B in litigation cost

Getting barangay (village) officials to settle neighborhood disputes instead of bringing them to court saved the government nearly P3 billion in litigation expenses last year, according to Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento.

“The Lupong Tagapamayapa (barangay justice committees) is a big help not just in the speedy administration of justice in the barangays. It has also been a big aid to unclog our courts and allowed the government to save billions,” said Sarmiento in a press statement congratulating the 24 winners of the annual Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentives Awards (LTIA).

Records from the DILG showed that out of 461,489 recorded neighborhood disputes nationwide in 2014, 76 percent, or 350,554, were settled by the barangay justice committees, and only 18,199 had to be filed in the courts, leading to estimated savings of almost P3 billion for the government.

According to the DILG Public Affairs Office, the estimated government savings were calculated by multiplying the total number of disputes settled by the barangay justice committees in 2014 by P9,500, the adjudication cost per case estimated by the Supreme Court.

The LTIA, established in 1997, grants economic benefits to outstanding lupon. A committee composed of officials from the DILG, Department of Justice, Supreme Court, National Police Commission and the Liga ng mga Barangay chooses the winners from around 40,000 lupon nationwide.

For 2014, the national winners were Barangay Cataming in Balanga City, Bataan, for the component cities category; Barangay Poblacion, Polomolok, South Cotabato, for the first-to-third-class municipalities category; and Barangay Hingatungan Silago, Southern Leyte, for the fourth-to-sixth-class municipalities categories.

“My special congratulations also goes to Barangay San Vicente in Butuan City for bagging the LTIA National Award in the highly urbanized cities category for two consecutive years, and becoming the sole Hall of Fame Awardee,” Sarmiento added.