SATURDAY last week, I had the chance to attend an event organized by the University of San Agustin (USA) College of Law Batch 2020 dubbed “Revamping Disputes.” This was in cooperation with the college itself as well as with the Philippine Arbitration Center in the Visayas headed by Atty. Joenar D. Pueblo.
The event was organized to educate and inform the public, most especially students of law, about how arbitration works in resolving conflicts and disputes both in private and public sectors.
According to Atty. Pueblo, this was the second time that this kind of event was organized in Iloilo City. However, this was the first time that they invited a speaker from abroad – an adjudicator by profession.
There were two invited speakers. First was Atty. Earl Joyce Rivera-Dolera, an International Arbitrator based in Singapore. The second was Atty. Ricardo Ma. P.G. Ongkiko, senior partner at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCip Law) and president of the Philippine Institute of Construction Arbitrators and Mediators.
I want to express my appreciation to this event. As a practicing lawyer and counsel of construction companies, this gave me more knowledge on what procedures and remedies are available, speedy and cost-efficient.
Arbitration is a procedure where a dispute is submitted. A dispute can be referred to arbitration by means of a submission agreement agreed by both parties and there are one or more arbitrators who decide the dispute. This happens when the parties enter into a contract and they insert an arbitration clause.
The advantage of choosing arbitrations is that the parties are availing themselves a private dispute resolution instead of going to court. Additionally, disputes may be resolved within six months from referral to arbitration.
Commercial cases and contract disputes are included in cases that can be resolved in arbitration. However, matters like labor cases, jurisdiction of the court, civil status of a person, validity of marriage, legal separation, and the like are not allowed in arbitration.
It is encouraged to submit commercial cases into arbitration to help the courts of justice focus and expedite criminal and other civil cases. (ayindream.aplasca@gmail.com/PN)
