CALSIYAO, GHISLEEN A.

2-D
ADR

The Evolution of Arbitration in the Philippines by Arthur P. Autea

(Reaction paper)

Historically, Arbitration, as a voluntary dispute resolution process, in which one

or more arbitrators appointed in accordance with the agreement of the parties or
the rules resolve a dispute by rendering an award, was not preferred by filipinos
in settling their disputes when such disputes could have been settled in
arbitration. This is because filipinos are generally litigous in culture. They have
been so used in litigation that they only trust the presiding authority of a judge
or an administrative officer. Furthermore, the Arbitration Law enacted in 1953 was
so broad that it fails to satisfy some disputes because of its lack of precision.
Hence, arbitration proved to be unsuccessful, until 2004 when the Alternative
Dispute Resolution Law was passed. Finally, arbitration has become a solid viable
solution in settling disputes. It gained the integrity it deserves. Filipinos has
now started to recognize arbitration as a solid means in settling disputes.
But what is the reason why filipinos started to trust arbitration under the ADR
Law? I believe that the main reason is privacy and confidentiality. The dispute
shall be settled in a private process and such proceeding shall be confidential. Of
course filipinos would prefer this kind of proceeding to avoid public attention
that might result in their reputation being tarnished.
However, there was a problem in arbitration before. It is that the filipinos don't
trust the presiding officer in an arbitration because the arbitrator is a private
individual. Filipinos had trust issues with arbitrators taking into account their
competence in settling disputes. But this dilemma was resolved by the ADR law
through party autonomy, wherein the parties are free to choose their neutral
arbitrator, one who they believe is competent in settling their dispute.
Since the passing of the ADR law in 2004, arbitration has solved the issues of
arbitration thr filipinos have seen before. Arbitration, in itself, has now formed
part of a standard resolution of disputes outside litigation.

Arbitral Autonomy Principle in Philippine Jirisprudence by Kristoffer James E.

Purisima
(Reaction paper)

In this article, contractual agreement has been given emphasis. Under the civil
code, comtract has beem simply defined as "a meeting of minds between two persons
whereby one bimds himself, with respect to the other, to give something or to
render some service." In a contract, good faith and good will on the part of both
parties to perform the agreed terms of the contract mist preside over its
consummation. Furthermore, a contract is governed by appropriate laws regulating
contractual agreements such as the civil code. A contract must conform to the
requirements of such laws. Even the State, a juridical person, is bound by these
laws when it enters into a contract. This means that the law prevails over the
stipulations in a contract whoever enters into such contract, the State not
excluded. But what does this have to do with arbitration?
Well, of course, there are disputes also in contractual agreements, especially
contracts enetered into by the government. Just like the norm, the State encourages
the use of ADR as an important means of settling disputes to achieve speeady and
impartial justice and to declog court dockets. This means that such policy applies
to contractual agreements also. In this aspect, there are two prevailing statutes
namely the RA 9285 and RA 876. But there are certain contracts not covered by such
laws like marriage contracts and others.
Arbitration in contractual disputes also follow thr standard procedure in ADR,
wherein both parties have the autonomy in choosing a neutral third party to act as
an arbitrator. In contractual disputes involving a foreign party, there are certain
international bodies that may act as arbitrators. This is allowed because the
Philippine law accepts the general principles of international law.
In conclusion, ADR is also effective and standardized in contractual disputes. This
just proves the effectiveness and scope of ADR.