Before a Filipino can sue a neighbour, there is often a stop to make at the barangay hall.
Disputes over a boundary wall, an unpaid debt or a noisy argument may not be heard by a judge until the people involved have first sat down with community mediators and tried to settle things themselves.
The requirement comes from Katarungang Pambarangay, also known as the Barangay Justice System. For eligible disputes, completing that process is generally a condition for filing a case in court.
How the Barangay Justice System Works
The system rests on Republic Act No. 7160, the Local Government Code of 1991, whose Sections 399 to 422 set out who handles these disputes and what steps they must follow.
Every barangay, the smallest local government unit in the Philippines, has a Lupong Tagapamayapa. Its 10 to 20 appointed members are led by the punong barangay, or barangay chairperson, who also takes the first turn at mediating. When a qualifying dispute comes in, the chairperson generally tries to bring both sides to terms.
Read here to learn more: What Is a Barangay? The Story Behind the Philippines’ Smallest Government Unit
If that fails, the matter can move to a conciliation panel drawn from the lupon. Any settlement reached is put in writing and becomes binding under the conditions set by law.
The barangay is not a court. Its role is to help the parties settle, not to rule on every kind of dispute.
Which Disputes Must Go Through Mediation?
Under the Local Government Code of 1991, barangay conciliation generally covers disputes between individuals who actually reside in the same city or municipality, including residents of different barangays within it.
People living in adjoining barangays in different cities or municipalities can also use the process if both sides agree.
Section 408 sets out what falls outside the system. Cases in which the government is a party, disputes over public officers’ official functions, offenses punishable by more than one year in prison or a fine above ₱5,000 (roughly US$85), and offenses with no private offended party are all excluded.
So are certain real property disputes and cases between residents of different cities or municipalities, subject to specific exceptions. Corporations and other juridical entities generally cannot be parties either.
If mediation fails, the parties can be issued a certification that lets the case move on to court. The law also allows some people to skip the barangay entirely, such as when a party is detained, when the case needs provisional remedies, or when waiting could let the claim become time barred.
A Community Level Approach to Justice
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 468,682 cases were recorded under the Katarungang Pambarangay system in 2018. These comprised 217,498 civil cases, 156,447 criminal cases, and 94,737 cases in other categories. Of the total, 355,392 cases were settled through mediation, conciliation, or arbitration.
These figures are historical and should not be interpreted as current annual totals.
A 2026 study titled “Dispute Resolution Effectiveness and Settlement Rates in the Katarungang Pambarangay System in General Santos City” published in the International Journal of Sustainability and Advanced Integrated Research, looked at six high volume barangays in General Santos City from 2020 to 2024 and reported cumulative settlement rates between 76.1% and 100%.
The 100% rate, recorded in Barangay San Isidro, covers only 2022 to 2024, since the study lists no data for the earlier years. The findings apply only to those barangays. The figures come from case records provided by the barangays’ own Lupon clerks, and the study does not describe any independent audit of them.
In the study’s survey of 84 Lupon members, record keeping got the lowest implementation rating, and the authors recommended improving recording and filing systems.
