OVERVIEW:

Barangay conciliation is a precondition to the filing of an action in court,

whenever the
controversy/parties are covered by the rules.

However, this is not a jurisdictional requirement. Non-compliance will not
result in automatic dismissal of an action, but will only make it vulnerable
to a Motion to Dismiss, without prejudice to the refiling thereof in court,
after compliance with the conciliation requirement.

Objections to the filing of the complaint based on the ground of lack of
prior conciliation must be raised at the earliest opportunityeither in a
Motion to Dismiss or in an Answer. Otherwise, the concerned party shall
be deemed to have waived this requirement.

Applicable Laws:

1. RULE 16, RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

Section 1. Grounds. Within the time for but before filing the answer to
the complaint or pleading asserting a claim, a motion to dismiss may be
made on any of the following grounds:
(a) That the court has no jurisdiction over the person of the defending
party;
(b) That the court has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of the
claim;
(c) That venue is improperly laid;
(d) That the plaintiff has no legal capacity to sue;
(e) That there is another action pending between the same parties for
the same cause;
(f) That the cause of action is barred by a prior judgment or by the
statute of limitations;
(g) That the pleading asserting the claim states no cause of action;
(h) That the claim or demand set forth in the plaintiff's pleading has
been paid, waived, abandoned, or otherwise extinguished;
(i) That the claim on which the action is founded is enforceable under
the provisions of the statute of frauds; and
(j) That a condition precedent for filing the claim has not been
complied with.

2. RA 7160 or LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF 1991

SECTION 412. Conciliation. - (a) Pre-condition to Filing of Complaint in
Court. - No
complaint, petition, action, or proceeding involving any matter within the
authority of the lupon
shall be filed or instituted directly in court or any other government office
for adjudication, unless
there has been a confrontation between the parties before the lupon
chairman or the pangkat,
and that no conciliation or settlement has been reached as certified by
the lupon secretary or
pangkat secretary as attested to by the lupon or pangkat chairman or
unless the settlement has
been repudiated by the parties thereto.

(b) Where Parties May Go Directly to Court. - The parties may go directly
to court in the
following instances:
(1) Where the accused is under detention;
(2) Where a person has otherwise been deprived of personal liberty
calling for habeas
corpus proceedings;
(3) Where actions are coupled with provisional remedies such as
preliminary injunction,
attachment, delivery of personal property, and support pendente lite; and
(4) Where the action may otherwise be barred by the statute of
limitations.
(c) Conciliation among members of indigenous cultural communities. -
The customs and
traditions of indigenous cultural communities shall be applied in settling
disputes between
members of the cultural communities.

SECTION 408. Subject Matter for Amicable Settlement; Exception
Thereto. - The lupon of
each Barangay shall have authority to bring together the parties actually
residing in the same city
or municipality for amicable settlement of all disputes except:
(a) Where one party is the government, or any subdivision or
instrumentality thereof;
(b) Where one party is a public officer or employee, and the dispute
relates to the
performance of his official functions;
(c) Offenses punishable by imprisonment exceeding one (1) year or a
fine exceeding Five
thousand pesos (Php5,000.00);
(d) Offenses where there is no private offended party;
(e) Where the dispute involves real properties located in different cities
or municipalities
unless the parties thereto agree to submit their differences to amicable
settlement by an
appropriate lupon;
(f) Disputes involving parties who actually reside in Barangays of
different cities or
municipalities, except where such Barangay units adjoin each other and
the parties
thereto agree to submit their differences to amicable settlement by an
appropriate lupon;
(c) Such other classes of disputes which the President may determine in
the interest of
justice or upon the recommendation of the secretary of Justice.
The court in which non-criminal cases not falling within the authority of
the lupon under this Code are filed may, at any time before trial, motu
proprio refer the case to the lupon concerned for amicable settlement.

3. Administrative Circular No. 14-93 : Guidelines on Katarungang
Pambarangay Conciliation Procedure
I. All disputes are subject to Barangay conciliation pursuant to the
Revised Katarungang Pambarangay Law [formerly P. D. 1508, repealed
and now replaced by Secs. 399-422, Chapter VII, Title I, Book III, and
Sec. 515, Title I, Book IV, R.A. 7160, otherwise known as the Local
Government Code of 1991], and prior recourse thereto is a pre-condition
before filing a complaint in court or any government offices, except in the
following disputes:
[1] Where one party is the government, or any subdivision or
instrumentality thereof;
[2] Where one party is a public officer or employee and the dispute
relates to the performance of his official functions;
[3] Where the dispute involves real properties located in different cities
and municipalities, unless the parties thereto agree to submit their
difference to amicable settlement by an appropriate Lupon;
[4] Any complaint by or against corporations, partnerships or juridical
entities, since only individuals shall be parties to Barangay conciliation
proceedings either as complainants or respondents [Sec. 1, Rule VI,
Katarungang Pambarangay Rules];
[5] Disputes involving parties who actually reside in barangays of
different cities or municipalities, except where such barangay units
adjoin each other and the parties thereto agree to submit their
differences to amicable
settlement by an appropriate Lupon;
[6] Offenses for which the law prescribes a maximum penalty of
imprisonment exceeding one [1] year or a fine of over five thousand
pesos (P5,000.00);
[7] Offenses where there is no private offended party;
[8] Disputes where urgent legal action is necessary to prevent injustice
from being committed or further continued, specifically the following:
[a] Criminal cases where accused is under police custody or detention
[See Sec. 412 (b) (1), Revised Katarungang Pambarangay Law];
[b] Petitions for habeas corpus by a person illegally deprived of his
rightful custody over another or a person illegally deprived of or on acting
in his behalf;
[c] Actions coupled with provisional remedies such as preliminary
injunction, attachment, delivery of personal property and support during
the pendency of the action;
[d] Actions which may be barred by the Statute of Limitations.
[9] Any class of disputes which the President may determine in the
interest of justice or upon the recommendation of the Secretary of
Justice;
[10] Where the dispute arises from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law (CARL) [Secs. 46 & 47, R. A. 6657];
[11] Labor disputes or controversies arising from employer-employee
relations [Montoya vs. Escayo, et al., 171 SCRA 442; Art. 226, Labor
Code, as amended, which grants original and exclusive jurisdiction over
conciliation and mediation of disputes, grievances or problems to certain
offices of the Department of Labor and Employment];
[12] Actions to annul judgment upon a compromise which may be filed
directly in court [See Sanchez vs. Tupaz, 158 SCRA 459].
II. Under the provisions of R. A. 7160 on Katarungang Pambarangay
conciliation, as implemented by the Katarungang Pambarangay Rules
and Regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Justice, the
certification for
filing a complaint in court or any government office shall be issued by
Barangay authorities only upon compliance with the following
requirements:
[1] Issued by the Lupon Secretary and attested by the Lupon Chairman
(Punong Barangay), certifying that a confrontation of the parties has
taken place and that a conciliation settlement has been reached, but the
same has been subsequently repudiated (Sec. 412, Revised
Katarungang Pambarangay Law; Sec. 2[h], Rule III, Katarungang
Pambarangay Rules);
[2] Issued by the Pangkat Secretary and attested by the Pangkat
Chairman certifying that:
[a] a confrontation of the parties took place but no conciliation/settlement
has been reached (Sec. 4[f], Rule III, Katarungang Pambarangay Rules);
or
[b] that no personal confrontation took place before the Pangkat through
no fault of the complainant (Sec. 4[f], Rule III, Katarungang
pambarangay Rules).
[3] Issued by the Punong Barangay as requested by the proper party on
the ground of failure of settlement where the dispute involves members
of the same indigenous cultural community, which shall be settled in
accordance with the customs and traditions of that particular cultural
community, or where one or more of the parties to the aforesaid dispute
belong to the minority and the parties mutually agreed to submit their
dispute to the indigenous system of amicable settlement, and there has
been no settlement as certified by the datu or tribal leader or elder to
the Punong Barangay of place of settlement (Secs. 1,4 & 5, Rule IX,
Katarungang Pambarangay Rules); and
[4] If mediation or conciliation efforts before the Punong Barangay
proved unsuccessful, there having been no agreement to arbitrate (Sec.
410 [b], Revised Katarungang Pambarangay Law; Sec. 1, c. (1), Rule III,
Katarungang Pambarangay Rules), or where the respondent fails to
appear at the mediation proceeding before the Punong Barangay (3rd
par. Sec. 8, a, Rule VI, Katarungang Pambarangay Rules), the Punong
Barangay shall not cause the issuance at this stage of a certification to
file action, because it is now mandatory for him to constitute the Pangkat
before whom mediation, conciliation, or arbitration proceedings shall be
held.
III. All complaints and/or informations filed or raffled to your sala/branch
of the Regional Trial Court shall be carefully read and scrutinized to
determine if there has been compliance with prior Barangay conciliation
procedure under the Revised Katarungang Pambarangay Law and its
Implementing Rules and Regulations as a pre-condition to judicial action,
particularly whether the certification to file action attached to the records
of the case comply with the requirements hereinabove enumerated in
Par. II;
IV. A case filed in court without compliance with prior Barangay
conciliation which is a pre-condition for formal adjudication (Sec. 412 [a]
of the Revised Katarungang Pambarangay Law) may be dismissed upon
motion of defendant/s, not for lack of jurisdiction of the court but for
failure to state a cause of action or prematurity (Royales vs. IAC, 127
SCRA 470; Gonzales vs. CA, 151 SCRA 289), or the court may suspend
proceedings upon petition of any party under Sec. 1, Rule 21 of the
Rules of Court; and refer the case motu proprio to the appropriate
Barangay authority applying
by analogy Sec. 408 [g], 2nd par., of the Revised Katarungang
Pambarangay Law which reads as follows: "The court in which non-
criminal cases not falling within the authority of the Lupon under this
Code are filed may, at any time before trial, motu proprio refer case to
the Lupon concerned for amicable settlement.

Strict observance of these guidelines is enjoined.

JURISPRUDENCE:

Librada Aquino vs. Ernest Aure, February 18, 2008, 3rd Div

* The precise technical effect of failure to comply with the requirement of
Section 412 of the Local Government Code on barangay conciliation
(previously contained in Section 5 of Presidential Decree No. 1508) is
much the same effect produced by non-exhaustion of administrative
remedies -- the complaint becomes afflicted with the vice of prematurity;
and the controversy there alleged is not ripe for judicial determination.
The complaint becomes vulnerable to a motion to dismiss. Nevertheless,
the conciliation process is not a jurisdictional requirement, so that non-
compliance therewith cannot affect the jurisdiction which the court has
otherwise acquired over the subject matter or over the person of the
defendant.

* Citing the landmark case of Royales vs. Intermediate Appellate Court,
Ordinarily, non-compliance with the condition precedent prescribed by
P.D. 1508 could affect the sufficiency of the plaintiff's cause of action
and make his complaint vulnerable to dismissal on ground of lack of
cause of action or prematurity; but the same would not prevent a
court of competent jurisdiction from exercising its power of
adjudication over the case before it, where the defendants, as in
this case, failed to object to such exercise of jurisdiction in their
answer and even during the entire proceedings a quo.
While petitioners could have prevented the trial court from exercising
jurisdiction over the case by seasonably taking exception thereto, they
instead invoked the very same jurisdiction by filing an answer and
seeking affirmative relief from it. What is more, they participated in the
trial of the case by cross-examining respondent Planas. Upon this
premise, petitioners cannot now be allowed belatedly to adopt an
inconsistent posture by attacking the jurisdiction of the court to
which they had submitted themselves voluntarily.

Leticia Agbayani vs. CA, June 25, 2012, 2nd Division

* The compulsory process of arbitration is a pre-condition for the filing of
the complaint in court. Where the complaint (a) did not state that it is
one of excepted cases, or (b) it did not allege prior availment of said
conciliation process, or (c) did not have a certification that no conciliation
had been reached by the parties, the case should be dismissed.

**However, procedure in this case was:

-complaint filed with prosecutor

-prosecutor found probable cause

-petition for review with DOJ re no conciliation=no cause of action