The Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. (PDRCI) is exploring potential tie-ups with the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF), an international non-profit organization that promotes the use of Dispute Boards to resolve disputes in construction projects.
DRBF, which was founded in 1996, has more than 700 members throughout the world.
PDRCI Trustee Salvador P. Castro Jr. met with key officers of DRBF in September on the sidelines of the FIDIC Centenary Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Among the key officers of DRBF present during the meeting were James Perry, President of DRBF Region 2, and Christopher Miers, President Elect of DRBF Re- gion 2.
The parties informally discussed the possibility of designating PDRCI as partner of DRBF in the Philippines and establishing a protocol for cooperation.
DRBF was also open to collaborating with PDRCI to conduct an International Dispute Board Training in the Philippines. This is a four-day advanced skills interactive course for users and potential chairs/members of CONTENTS Dispute Boards in construction projects.
DRBF is a recognized leader in the training of Dispute Board practitioners and users. PDRCI is also looking into becoming an official affiliate of DRBF’s 14 th Annual International Conference and Training Workshop in May 2014 at Singapore. The event attracts top Dispute Board practitioners, employers, funding institutions, contractors and legal professionals, and it is the first time it will be hosted in Asia.
A short history of ADR
in the Philippines
When the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) promulgated the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Act of 2004 on November 9, 2010, I took the occasion to go into the history and development of ADR in the Philippines from my perspective.
I acknowledged certain individuals whom I thought were in the forefront of the development of various ADR modes or institutions, among them DOJ Undersecretary Jose Vicente B. Salazar, Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Zenaida N. Maglaya, Department of the Interior and Local Government Director Nelda D. Leda, Dean Custodio O. Parlade representing the arbitration profession, Prof. Alfredo F. Tadiar and Prof. Annabelle T. Abaya represent- ing the mediation profession, Atty. Mario E. Valderrama representing the ADR organizations, and myself, representing the President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
I recalled my first experience in one International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration in Switzerland with Dean Gonzalo T. Santos as our party-nominated arbitrator. At that time, other than labor arbitration in employer employee disputes, there was hardly November 2013 A short history of ADR in the Philippines hen the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) promulgated the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Act of 2004 on November 9, 2010, I took the occasion to go into the history and development of ADR in the Philippines from my perspective. any organized or institutional effort to pursue ADR—whether mediation or arbitration.
This situation prevailed despite the fact that the Civil Code of the Philippines, approved on June 18, 1949, contained provisions on arbitration and the Philippine Arbitration Law came into force on June 19, 1953. Whatever ADR activities were then going on, if any, were meager, sporadic and ad hoc. But Dean Santos continued to be active in the ICC and in arbitration. He attended several international conferences on arbitration.
Sometime in 1984, Dean Santos asked me to help him draft a Presidential Decree (PD) to promote the compulsory arbitration of disputes in the construction industry under the proposed “Construction Industry Arbitration Commission” (CIAC). The CIAC was intended to be for construction disputes, much like the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) was for labor disputes.
However, there was resistance from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). So the proposed PD became an Executive Order and became voluntary instead of compulsory. To achieve this, a sentence was added at the end of the first paragraph of Section 4 of the draft Executive Order, which now reads as follows:
Jurisdiction – the CIAC shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising from, or connected with, contracts entered into by parties involved in construction in the Philippines, whether the disputes arises before or after the completion of the contract, or after the abandonment or breach thereof. These disputes may involve government or private contracts. For the Board to acquire jurisdiction, the parties to a dispute must agree to submit the same to voluntary arbitration.
Ultimately, the CIAC proposal became law and was promulgated as Executive Order No. 1008 on February 4, 1985. However, the CIAC became functional only in 1989 when CIAC rules were adopted and promulgated with Dean Santos as the first Chairman of the CIAC.
I was part of the team that drafted the Rules. I was also a member of the original faculty that trained the first batch of CIAC arbitrators. Thus, the father of construction arbitration in the Philippines is undoubtedly the late Dean Gonzalo T. Santos.
Dean Custodio O. Parlade was in the second batch of arbitrators trained by CIAC. Dean Parlade saw a vacuum in the development and growth of commercial arbitration in the Philippines. Aware of other international and regional arbitration institutes like the ICC, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and Singapore International Arbitration Centre, among others, he organized the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. (PDRCI) which he nursed and nurtured in his own office.
Dean Parlade pooled a number of lawyers and businessmen who shared his vision and belief in ADR as a better mode than litigation to resolve commercial disputes. He then prepared and finalized the PDRCI Rules and promoted PDRCI as an alternative and viable ADR institution for Filipino parties.
He further forged cooperation agreements with other ADR institutes within the region and was a charter member of the Asia Pacific Regional Arbitrator Group (APRAG). Thus, Dean Custodio O. Perlade is unquestionably the fa- ther of PDRCI and of commercial arbitration in the Philippines.