Hail the mediators
One of the very good innovation introduced by the Supreme Court a couple of years ago is the establishment of a Philippine Mediation Center or PMC in certain pilot areas and eventually encompassing the whole country.
For those not so familiar yet (for those who have had no cases yet that reached the courts) the PMC is a very effective tool in unclogging the dockets of the courts.
The idea really is simple. All civil cases have to pass through the PMC for mandatory mediation. It means that the parties have to appear in person at the PMC wherein they are assigned a trained Mediator to attempt to bring the contending parties into an amicable settlement.
The PMC in Cagayan de Oro serves not only the courts of this City but also the courts in Camiguin, Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental. The mediators underwent two weeks of intensive training on the techniques and the art of mediation. It is not an easy task, mind you. It requires patience, the ability to communicate, to read the feelings of the litigants and to maneuver a settlement acceptable to both parties.
And I have gone through several mediation proceedings with the PMC of Cagayan de Oro and I am amazed of how the mediators are able to have a high batting average of cases solved with amicable settlements. Given the fact that the PMC is a new institution, they have succeeded, with perseverance and dedication, to settle disputes and saved the courts of protracted litigation.
And the PMC settles also criminal cases if they are mediatable ones. Cases involving bouncing checks, minor estafa, traffic incidents resulting to damage to property or injuries, theft cases, oral defamations, malicious mischiefs, physical injuries and a long list of minor cases and misdemeanors were settled successfully by the good men and women of the Cagayan de Oro PMC. These are the unsung heroes of of our judicial system. They are not even paid salaries since they are all volunteers and they only get a meager honorarium. These mediators are professionals in their own fields. Some are bank managers, corporate executives and supervisors, government officials, field professionals and mothers, wives, husbands and workingmen. They just got the urge to continue to be of service to the people by helping ease the pains of a lawsuit.
And I have witnessed the perseverance of the mediators struggling to strike a settlement between the protagonists. They begin by explaining the mediation process. Then they begin to portray the losses and risks of a long lawsuit. Then they project the advantages of settling the case. More often than not the parties see through the difficulty of a long court battle and they settle on a win-win solution.
I had a case once involving bounced checks amounting to more than three hundred thousand pesos. My client, the complainant, was persuaded to accept a settlement of P5,000.00 per month. At the least that was P60,0000.00 a year and in a little over five years she was paid in full and she spent less for lawyer’s fees. It was a welcome settlement as she now can go on with her businesses instead of coming to court twice a month with no hope of ever getting paid by the accused.
There was also this vehicular accident which was settled and the parties eventually became good friends and later business partners. Had it not been for the PMC, many litigants are locked in a mutually-destructive and economically draining lawsuit.
Imagine the cases settled by the PMC and see how paperwork is saved, the time of the judge, the savings of stenographic notes and the time transcribing them, the court personnel also are relieved of overtime work which do not get paid.
So we have to be so thankful of the mediators who, with their low honorarium, make the world a better place to live in. They resolve conflicts and ease the bruised egos and repair the wounded feelings of the litigants. These the mediators do.
All we could do as lawyers or litigants is to help facilitate mediations instead of becoming stumbling blocks to settlements. All we could also do is to commend the mediators and inform the community that in this one cramped room at the Hall of Justice of Cagayan de Oro are the persevering, humble, sincere and dedicated men and women we know very little of but who contribute so greatly in the administration of justice.
So the next time you hear of the adage justice delayed is justice denied, think of the mediators. They are people who work every day of the week trying to ease the burdens of the judges and comforting the litigants and solving their problems. They are the mediators. They are the heroes of today’s world.
If you appreciate their deeds, then volunteer to become one. There is always room for good men in their breed.
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