Meaning of Venue

     The term "venue" is defined " as the place provided by law for filing an action or proceeding."  As it is generally understood, an action or proceeding is filed in a place designated as venue for trial thereof by the panel of jurors furnished by said place". (Black's Law Dictionary, Revised Fourth Ed., 1968, p. 1727). Applying this definition to the barangay system of settlement of disputes, where the proceedings do not constitute a trial in the strict sense but merely an informal confrontation between the parties, and where the body given the authority to officiate at the settlement is not a panel of jurors but a panel of conciliators, the Lupon, subject provisions in referring to the barangay where the respondent resides as the venue of a dispute, contemplate that the dispute shall be filed with the Punong Barangay of said barangay and shall be heard and settled therein by its Lupong Tagapayapa.

     The Philosophy underlying Section 409 of RA. 7160 is that as the Lupon members of the barangay where the respondent resides and the respondent are neighbor or at least members of, the same barangay, the former would be best positioned to persuade the latter to settle his dispute with the complainant.