Scarcely three months after its maiden launch in Taytay, Rizal, the Committee on Justice on Wheels’ (JOW) Court-Annexed Mediation on Wheels (CAMOW) program has been getting glowing performance reports for the year 2007. The numbers tell the story.

In the province of Rizal, where the CAMOW program was first launched, the cities of Taytay and Antipolo registered a success rate of 91 percent and 100 percent, respectively.  In Taytay, out of the 241 cases referred for mediation, 219 cases were successfully mediated; in Antipolo, 39 out of 39 cases.  In San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, where the CAMOW program was launched on December 17, 2007,  a laudable success rate of 99 percent was achieved, with only two unsuccessfully mediated cases out of 203 mediated cases.  Based on the overall performance indicators for 2007, the CAMOW program achieved an average success rate of 97%.

Assistant Court Administrator Nimfa C. Vilches, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on JOW and Chair of the CAMOW Technical Working Group is understably elated about the performance reports. “These recent figures demonstrate that people in these communities now have a better appreciation of the concept of justice, unlike before where it was just a remote idea to them.  The ease of being able to board the bus and work out their problems by themselves within the court system, even without the assistance of a lawyer, is the best symbol of real justice for these people,” she says. 

Vilches emphasizes this initial triumph of the CAMOW program was realized because of the strong partnership between the local community and the local government unit.  “The mayors were involved every step of the way,” she enthuses.

Vilches says the current performance report reinforces JOW’s two-fold social thrusts – to give ordinary people more access to justice and to strengthen the Judiciary’s commitment to bring justice to the people by providing them with a real peace-building mechanism. 

A Backgrounder
In 2004, when the JOW project was launched featuring the country’s first mobile court in the form of a large bus, the JOW Committee headed by Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna prioritised the hearing of cases involving minors who were either victims or suspects of various crimes and also those cases in certain areas in the country where there were no circuit court judgments.  By the latter part of 2007, these issues were already resolved. The Committee, now headed by Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, decided it was time to focus on court-annexed mediation. 

Under the definition of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Law (ADR Law), court-annexed mediation is “any mediation process conducted under the auspices of the court, after such court has acquired jurisdiction of the dispute. It is mandatory, being part of pre-trial.”  It is therefore a component of the Philippine court system.

On September 21, 2007, the CAMOW program was launched in Taytay, Rizal.  Following its successful run in Taytay, the mobile court has since been transferred to Cainta, Rizal on January 14, 2008.

The Committee uses the following criteria in deploying the buses for court-annexed mediation: caseload base, presence of Supreme Court-accredited mediators and the absence of mediation units in the area. 

Challenges Ahead
Vilches says while the CAMOW program is enjoying a successful run in its first quarter of operations, she believes that the Committee must set a boundary system for its future undertakings.  She stresses, “We will function as long as we are needed; and while we are here to address the immediate needs of the people, we must be careful not to send a wrong signal to the judges.  They must continue to hear and decide cases conscientiously and expeditiously and must not wait on the mediators to take over their cases.  Our main task is to efficiently redirect the transfer of mediatable cases which have already been filed in court and clog the dockets.”
Roadmap
Vilches says the Committee intends to implement the CAMOW program in various parts of Luzon – Batangas, Cagayan Valley, Tuguegarao, Pangasinan, La Union, and Bicol. 

Furthermore, plans are underway to use the JOW bus deployed in Bohol to hear and mediate environmental cases.  She shares, “The Visayan triangle is renowned the world-over for its rich marine life, which is why it has been suggested to station the said mobile court in Cebu City.  We are hoping that the deployment of the third mobile court will serve as an effective deterrent for those who wish to exploit our natural resources in that island.”