By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Laoag City—After Brgy. 1’s (San Lorenzo) induction into the Hall of Fame of the national Lupong Tagapamayapa Incentives Awards (LTIA), this city’s Brgy. 3 (Nuestra Sra. Del Rosario) is following its path as it won the 2017 regional LTIA.
Laoag’s Brgy. 1 won three consecutive awards from 2014 to 2016.
Dept. of Interior and Local Government regional director James F. Fadrilan personally handed over the Certificate of Recognition and a check worth PHP50,000 to Brgy. 3 punong barangay Suzanne Bueno at the City Hall auditorium on June 27, 2018 in the presence of Laoag mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas and the city DILG employees.
Mr. Fadrilan congratulated Brgy. 3 and Ms. Bueno for their “commitment in the steadfast resolution of conflicts” in their barangay that made them the regional winner in the LTIA for CY 2017.
He added that Brgy. 3 will represent Region I in the national level.
Katarungang Pambarangay, or the Barangay Justice System is a local justice system in the country operated by the smallest of the local government units, the barangay, and with the punong barangay, the highest elected official of the barangay and its executive, overseeing it.
The barangay chief sits on the Lupon Tagapamayapa along with other barangay residents, which becomes the committee that decides disputes and other matters. They do not constitute a court as they do not have judicial powers.
The LTIA exists to help decongest the regular courts and works mostly as “alternative, community-based mechanism for dispute resolution of conflicts”, which the law describes as a “compulsory mediation process at the village level.”
“Napaka importante ito kasi it solves a lot of barangay cases dahil kung walang lupon ay mapupunta sa husgado and the court will be congested with a lot of cases,” Mr. Fadrilan explained.
In behalf of the Brgy.3 and its officials, Ms. Bueno thanked the DILG for recognizing their accomplishments in terms of their barangay justice system.
Likewise, she also thanked her barangay mates for their full cooperation in all the programs and activities especially in the field of the system.
According to Ms. Bueno, Brgy.3 records show there are no unresolved barangay cases filed based on the innovations the barangay officials and the LTIA committee made.
Ms. Bueno added that they also adopted the “Agserbi 24/7” program of the city government, wherein barangay officials with the lupon members personally go to every sitio/purok for them to give the barangay services closer to them and at the same time to know what the people wants and problems through an open forum.
Mrs. Fariñas, for her part, also congratulated Brgy.3 for their job well done.