Upon the filing of certain pleadings, the P500.00 mediation fee will be collected by the Clerk of Court. After your case is determined to be mediatable, the Branch Clerk of Court will issue a Notice of Order of Pre-Trial. Both parties and their counsel will be required to appear before the judge. The court will order you both to the Philippine Mediation Center (PMC) Unit for an orientation on mediation.

The Daily Supervisor (DS) of the unit will explain the mediation process. The mediation proceedings are cheduled at your earliest convenience, usually within five to seven working days.

The DS then presents a list of accredited mediators for both parties to choose and agree on. If you can not select one, the DS will assign the mediator to your case and will notify the mediator through a Notice of Mediation validated by the
judge. This makes the mediator an Officer of the Court.

The mediation session then proceeds on the scheduled date in an open and informal setting to encourage ommunication. You will have 30 days for the proceedings, extendible to another 30 days.

Consult your lawyer for a thorough briefing on mediation and how it will affect your case. Have all the necessary documents regarding your case at hand. Be ready to confront possibly deep-seated issues at the heart of the dispute.

Mediation sessions are held in private rooms in the PMC unit of the trial court.

The sessions can not take place in private offices like the law office of the mediator.

If one of the parties is not available due to health reasons, for example, proper authorization has to be made.

An individual mediation session can last from one hour to three hours on the average.

As a litigant, you can be accompanied by as many people you feel will help you in the mediation proceedings. However, considering space limitations, you might consider bringing only your lawyer and perhaps one other companion.

There is no official language for mediation proceedings. The disputing parties and the mediator can use their native language provided that everyone can understand each other.

When a settlement can not be reached through court-annexed mediation, the case is referred back to the pre-trial judge. This begins the JDR process. If this still fails, the case is moved to another judge for trial.

You must inform the court that approved the compromise agreement immediately for them to issue an order to comply. Sanctions will be imposed for non-compliance. The aggrieved party may also apply for a writ of execution.

Since mediation proceedings are confidential, violations made by either party or even the mediator will be sanctioned.

Your lawyer may be one of your best resources on mediation. The Philippine Mediation Center may have additional information. Mediation is a global experience and can also be researched extensively on the web.