Court-Annexed Mediation & Judicial

Dispute Resolution
I. INTRODUCTION
We have learned in our discussion of the R.A. No. 9285 or the ADR Act of
2004 the Policy of the State:
to actively promote party autonomy in the resolution of
disputes or the freedom of the parties to make their own
arrangement to resolve disputes. Towards this end, the
State shall encourage and actively promote the use of
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an important
means to achieve speedy and impartial justice and de-clog
court dockets.
To give practical effect to this State Policy we have what we call now the
DIVERSION OF PENDING COURT CASES.

II. THREE (3) STAGES OF DIVERSION

1. Court-Annexed Mediation (CAM) - where the judge refers the parties to
the Philippine Mediation Center (PMC) for the mediation of their dispute
by trained and accredited mediators.
2. Judicial Dispute Resolution Stage - the JDR judge sequentially becomes a
mediator- conciliator-early neutral evaluator in a continuing effort to
secure a settlement.
3. Appeal Stage - covered cases are referred to the Philippine Mediation
Center (PMC)-Appeals Court Mediation.

III.
MANDATORY
COVERAGE
FOR
COURT-ANNEXED
MEDIATION (CAM) AND JUDICIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION (JDR)
The following cases shall be referred to Court-Annexed Mediation (CAM)
and be the subject of Judicial Dispute Resolution (JDR) proceedings:
BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

(1) All civil cases and the civil liability of criminal cases covered by the
Rule on Summary Procedure, including the civil liability for violation of B.P. 22,
except those which by law may not be compromised;
(2) Special proceedings for the settlement of estates;
(3) All civil and criminal cases filed with a certificate to file action issued
by the Punong Barangay or the Pangkat ng Tagapagkasundo under the Revised
Katarungang Pambarangay Law;
(4) The civil aspect of Quasi-Offenses under Title 14 of the Revised Penal
Code;
(5) The civil aspect of less grave felonies punishable by correctional
penalties not exceeding 6 years imprisonment, where the offended party is a
private person;
(6) The civil aspect of estafa, theft and libel;
(7) All civil cases and probate proceedings, testate and intestate brought
on appeal from the exclusive and original jurisdiction granted to the first level
courts under Section 33, par. (1) of the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980;
(8) All cases of forcible entry and unlawful detainer brought on appeal
from the exclusive and original jurisdiction granted to the first level courts
under Section 33, par. (2) of the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980;
(9) All civil cases involving title to or possession of real property or an
interest therein brought on appeal from the exclusive and original jurisdiction
granted to the first level courts under Section 33, par.(3) of the Judiciary
Reorganization Act of 1980; and
(10) All habeas corpus cases decided by the first level courts in the
absence of the Regional Trial Court judge, that are brought up on appeal from
the special jurisdiction granted to the first level courts under Section 35 of the
Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980;

Cases Covered by the Rule on Summary Procedure

A. Civil Cases:

(1) All cases of forcible entry and unlawful detainer, irrespective of the
amount of damages or unpaid rentals sought to be recovered. Where attorney's
fees are awarded, the same shall not exceed twenty thousand pesos
(P20,000.00).
(2) All other civil cases, except probate proceedings, where the total
amount of the plaintiff's claim does not exceed ten thousand pesos
(P10,000.00), exclusive of interest and costs.

BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

B. Criminal Cases:
(1) Violations of traffic laws, rules and regulations;
(2) Violations of the rental law;
(3) Violations of municipal or city ordinances;
(4) All other criminal cases where the penalty prescribed by law for the
offense charged is imprisonment not exceeding six months, or a fine not
exceeding (P1,000.00), or both, irrespective of other imposable penalties,
accessory or otherwise, or of the civil liability arising therefrom: Provided,
however, that in offenses involving damage to property through criminal
negligence, this Rule shall govern where the imposable fine does not exceed
ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00).
Note: Although included in the list of cases under summary procedure,
criminal cases involving traffic rules and those where the penalty prescribed by
law does not exceed one (1) year imprisonment or a fine not exceeding Five
Thousand Pesos (Php 5,000.00) should not be mediated for the following
reasons:
i.
ii.
iii.

There are criminal offenses which cannot be compromised;

It is unpractical to compel agents of the state(e.g. policemen) to
pay mediation fees; and
iii. It might be a source of corruption if mediation pushes through.

IV. CASES NOT TO BE REFERRED TO CAM AND JDR

1. Civil cases which by law cannot be compromised.
These include:
a. The civil status of persons;
b. The validity of marriage or legal separation;
c. Any ground for legal separation;
d. Future support;
e. The jurisdiction of courts; and
f. Future legitime (Article 2035, New Civil Code);
2. Habeas Corpus petitions;
3. All cases under Republic Act No. 9262 (Violence against Women and
Children);
Sec. 33 of RA 9262:
A Punong Barangay, Barangay Kagawad or the court
hearing an application for a protection order shall not order,
direct, force or in any way unduly influence he applicant for a

BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

protection order to compromise or abandon any of the reliefs

sought in the application for protection
4. Cases with
Injunctions.

pending

application

for

Restraining

Orders/Preliminary

Note: In cases covered under 1, 4 and 5 where the parties inform the court
that they have agreed to undergo mediation on some aspects thereof, for
example, custody of minor children, separation of property, or support
pendente lite, the court shall refer them to mediation.

V. COURT-ANNEXED MEDIATION PROCEDURE

A. Pre-Mediation Activities
1. Marking of the Cases as Mediatable
a. Duty of the Party/Parties to Tag Case
The plaintiff, petitioner has the principal responsibility to tag the case as mediatable.
The plaintiff, petitioner, applicant or principal party seeking relief in the complaint, petition,
application or other initiatory pleading shall indicate on the right side of the caption (under the case
number) of such original pleading whether the case is referable to mediation by stamping or writing
MEDIATABLE on the right side of the caption, below the case number.
Complaint and Other Initiatory Pleadings:
original civil complaint
counterclaim
cross claim
third-party(fourth, etc.) complaint
complaint-in- intervention,
petition, or application wherein a party asserts his claim for relief.
b. Duty of the Office of the Clerk of Court to Screen and Mark Case
It shall be the duty of the Office of the Clerk of Court (OCC), upon the filing of all
complaints, petitions and initiatory pleadings in all courts other than the Supreme Court, Court of
Appeals, Sandiganbayan and Court of Tax Appeals, to determine if the plaintiff, petitioner, applicant
or principal party has indicated on the right side of the caption (below the case number) of the
pleading whether the case is referable to mediation by stamping or writing Mediatable.
c. Duty of the Branch (Deputy) Clerk of Court in relation to marking of
MEDIATABLE cases.
Upon receipt of the cases raffled to a specific branch of the court, the Branch Clerk of Court shall
make monthly inventory of all mediatable cases. These cases must be segregated from the rest of
the other cases and be properly marked MEDIATABLE. The inventory must be signed by the
Branch Clerk of Court and noted by the Presiding Judge. The PMC unit must be furnished with a
BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

copy of this monthly inventory. Also, copies must be sent to the Office of the Court Administrator
(OCA) and PHILJA.
2. Payment of Fees
Mediation fees are separate from the filing fees. Mediation Fees should be
based on the filing fee of the case on the year it was docketed. In cases where
only a particular issue in a case is referred for mediation, mediation fee should
be based on the filing fee of the original case. Where there is consolidation of
cases, mediation fees should be based on the consolidated amount. In case of
quasi-offenses under Title 14 and there is no filing fee, the mediation fee
should be the minimum flat rate depending on the level of Mediators. After the
payment of fees, the mediatable fees shall than be raffled.
3. Referral of Mediatable Cases to the PMC at the Pre-Trial Conference
If the case is MEDIATABLE and upon appearance of the parties during
pre-trial, the Trial Judge/Court shall immediately order the parties to appear
before the PMC Unit located in the courthouse for initial mediation conference.
This act of referring the parties to appear before the PMC Unit by the Trial Judge
is mandatory.
On the pre-trial date, the Branch Clerk of Court must be ready with the
Order of Referral to the PMC Unit of the mediatable cases. Once signed by
Judge, a copy of said Order shall be furnished to the Office of the Clerk of Court.
It shall be the duty of the parties and their counsel to appear at the pretrial. The non-appearance of a party may be excused only if a valid cause is
shown therefor, or if a representative shall appear in his behalf fully authorized
in writing to enter into an amicable settlement, to submit to alternative modes
of dispute resolution, and to enter into stipulation or admissions of facts and of
documents. (Sec. 4, Rule 18, Revised Rules of Court)
If a party is absent but his counsel is representing him in the pre-trial
conference, he is required to present a special authority from the former. A
Special Power of Attorney (SPA)is required, if the party being represented is an
individual; or, if a corporation, an appropriate resolution of the Board of
Directors (Republic vs. Plan, 116 SCRA 702), specifically authorizing the counsel
to enter into an amicable settlement, and authenticated by the corresponding
certificate of the secretary of the corporation. (Sec. 4, Rule 18, Rules of Civil
Procedure)
Failure of the plaintiff and counsel to appear for pre-trial shall cause the
dismissal of the action with prejudice, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
Failure on the part of the defendant and counsel shall be cause to allow the
plaintiff to present his evidence ex parte and the court shall render judgment
on the basis thereof (Sec. 5, Rule 18, Revised Rules of Court.)
4. Records of the Case

BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

The records/ expediente are kept by the Branch Clerk of Court.

Photocopies of the complaint,
answer and pre-trial brief, shall be provided the Mediator at the expense of the
parties.
B. MEDIATION PROCESS
1. Orientation of the Parties on the Mediation Process
Immediately upon presentation of Order of Referral by the parties, the
PMC Unit Clerk records the case in the logbook of incoming cases. The parties
shall be directed by the PMC Unit Clerk to appear before the Daily Supervisor
(DS) for an orientation on the mediation process and fees. The DS shall see to it
that the parties, including their counsels, are given proper orientation for them
to be able to decide on whether they would want to pursue mediation as an
alternative mode of dispute resolution. At this point, the voluntariness of
mediation comes in.
2. Selection and Scheduling of the Mediator/ Non-agreement on a
Mediator
The daily supervisor assigns mediator based on roster of mediators.
Roster of Mediators is an alphabetical listing of mediators with their
corresponding available schedule. For a fair and equitable distribution of cases,
the DS shall assign a number to each mediator in the order in which they arrive
at the PMC Unit. Their names and numbers shall be posted daily. The mediator
who first arrived will be assigned to handle the first case. When the parties and
counsels agree on the mediators schedule, the DS shall inform the mediator
and reserves a mediation room. A mediation room register is maintained by
the DS to ensure availability of rooms on scheduled conference dates. If the
parties do not agree on the mediators schedule, the DS assigns the next
mediator on roster of mediators. Once the parties agree on a mediator, the
parties pay the mediation fees.
3. Opening Statement/Caucuses
After the opening statement of the mediator and the parties, the
mediator conducts separate caucuses. Caucuses are meetings that mediators
hold separately with each side of a dispute. They can be called by the mediator
or by one of the parties to work out problems that might occur during the
mediation process.
After this, the mediator conducts the mediation
proceedings.
4. Settlement/Non-Settlement of Mediation
There are only two (2) possible outcomes of mediation. First, would be a
SETTLED MEDIATION, ending up with a Compromise Agreement or withdrawal
of complaint or counterclaim, if any. The second would be a NOT SETTLED
MEDIATION.
BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

If the parties reach a settlement, the mediator, with the assistance of the
parties counsel, prepares a compromise agreement which will be included in
the Mediators Report. The lawyers or the mediator or both in collaboration may
prepare the Compromise Agreement. The Compromise Agreement must be
signed by the parties themselves, or the party(ies) authorized to sign, the
lawyers, the mediator, and the PMC unit supervisor.
5. The Compromise Agreement
The Compromise Agreement that will be entered into or reached by the
parties shall be submitted to the court of origin for approval. Once approved,
the same shall be made the basis of a decision that will be rendered by the
Judge. Remember that said decision is final. No motion for reconsideration,
neither a notice of appeal can be filed.
The Compromise Agreement must truly express the will of the
contracting parties. The same must not be contrary to law, morals, good
customs, public order and public policy.
If one party does not comply with his undertaking under the Compromise
Agreement, a Motion for Execution may be filed by the other party immediately
before the Court for the enforcement of the decision.
If a mediation case is returned to the court because an amicable
settlement has been concluded, the court shall forthwith render judgment
embodying the Compromise Agreement, unless it finds it or any part thereof
contrary to law, morals, good customs and public policy.
6. Appearance/None-Appearance of the Party (ies)
Where the parties fail to reach a settlement and agree to terminate the
mediation proceeding and do not want to pursue the mediation, this will be
reflected in the Mediators Report. If the parties want to reset the meditation
within 30 days, the mediator then resets the case which shall also be reflected
in the Mediators report. If the parties want to reset the case beyond 30 days,
they are required to file a joint motion for extension which shall be subject to
the approval of the judge.
Where the party, either the defendant or the plaintiff fails to appear on
the scheduled mediation conference, the mediator sends notice of mediation
hearing to parties who did not appear despite the order of referral. Or, upon
the directive of the PMC unit, the party who is present my undertake to serve
the notice of mediation hearing. It is the duty of the mediator to issue a notice
to the absent party, to appear at the PMC Unit on a fixed date and time and to
show cause why no recommendation shall be made to the judge for the
imposition of proper sanctions. The party present may be authorized to serve
the notice.
If both the parties appear in the mediation proceeding, then the
proceeding shall push through as already discussed. Otherwise, the mediator
BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

shall send the case back to the court and it is for the judge to decide whether
to sanction the parties or refer the case back to PMC.

Sanctions:
o

Censure, reprimand, contempt, requiring the absent party to reimburse the

appearing party his costs, including attorneys fees for that day up to treble
such costs, payable on or before the date of the re-scheduled setting.
Sanctions may also be imposed by the referring judge upon his own initiative
or upon motion of the interested party.

7. Failure of the Court-Annexed Mediation

If court-annexed mediation fails, the case is returned to the court for the
continuation of the pre- trial proceedings. Recommendations for sanctions may
be included.
The case shall immediately be set for continuation of the pre-trial and all
pertinent processes and reglementary period are ipso jure reactivated,
including the implementation of case flow management, when available.
It is the duty of the Branch Clerk-of-Court to send proper notices to
parties/counsel setting the dates for the continuation/resumption of pre-trial
and such other details that the court may order included in the notice.
Appearance of parties and counsel at the resumption/continuation of pretrial conference is mandatory. Failure of the plaintiff to appear when ordered
and with notice, shall be cause for the dismissal of the case. A similar failure on
the part of the defendant to appear when required and with notice, shall be
cause to allow the plaintiff to present evidence ex parte and for the court to
render a judgment on the basis thereof.

VI. JUDICIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE

A. PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES
The Daily Supervisor forwards a copy of the Mediators Report to the
Branch Clerk of Court (BCC) of the Pre-trial Judge. The BCC records the case.
The BCC then informs parties and their respective Counsels on the set date for
the resumption of the pre-trial.

BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY

B. SETTLEMENT OF THE DISPUTE

The Pre-Trial Judge conducts the settlement conference. The Judge, as the
situation warrants, may act as conciliator or mediator. If the dispute is resolved
at this stage the Pre-Trial Judge directs the parties and their counsels to
immediately draft and submit a compromise agreement. In case the terms of
the Compromise Agreement are immediately complied with, formal
Compromise Agreement is no longer required. Instead, the parties through
their counsel may choose to submit either a statement on satisfaction of claims
and mutual withdrawal of a counterclaim.

C. NON-SETTLEMENT OF THE DISPUTE

The Pre-Trial Judge conducts the Pre-Trial in accordance with Rule 18 of
the Rules of Court to consider the simplification of the issues; amendments to
the pleadings; admissions of facts and such other matters. At this stage, the
Pre-Trial Judge may take the role of an Early Neutral Evaluator and informs the
parties who will likely win/lose the case. The Pre-trial Judge shall issue a PreTrial Order and likewise refers the case to the Pairing Judge for Trial. Meanwhile,
the Branch Clerk of Court immediately records the case and sends the case
folder to the Office of the Clerk of Court (OCC). The OCC records the case and
sends the case folder to the Pairing Judge. The BCC of the Pairing Judge
records the case for trial and sets the case for trial at an appropriate time. At
this point, the Trial Stage starts following the appropriate court proceedings.
The Pre-Trial Judge and stenographer shall not take any notes on the entire JDR
proceedings.

BY:

MANZANO, SHEERA LAINE V.

BALINGAO, JIMMY