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First Person

Photo: USAID/Virginia Foley

“I do it because I’m older now -- at that phase where I want to give back.”
- Emilia A. Garong, Suba Community Captain, asked why she donates so much of her time to the Barangay Justice System.

The people of Cebu City’s Barrio Suba have access to justice thanks to Barangay Captain Emilia Garong who hears two to three hundred community disputes a month as masses of cases continue to clog Filipino Courts. She turns those she can’t personally resolve over to a local three-person panel for mediation.

The USAID-funded Barangay Justice Service System, (BJSS) services provided by Ms.Garong and others like her have brought 85% - 95% of 1,512 total cases to resolution, cutting in half the backlog of cases coming to local courts in just two years.

The BJSS has mobilized 1,150 community volunteers as Barangay Justice Advocates push the success of their mediation services forward as a model for the national justice system.

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