ECIJA, NORMAN JOYE A

Reaction Paper
The Evolution of Arbitration in the Philippines

This article presented the development of arbitration in our country. At the start, there
was no concrete provision supporting arbitration, only the Civil Code of the Philippines.
However, it is not sufficient to promote and give comprehensive program to enforce such
system. The provisions of the Civil Code is not an effective tool to form a complete system for
resolving disputes through arbitration. During this time, Filipinos are very litigious. Whenever
there are disputes, they rely on court intervention. People repose confidence on judicial
authorities such as the judge. This was proven by the number of cases which are filed and
recorded daily. Indeed, arbitration is not a choice for the people during the time. The reason
for this, I believe, is that arbitration is still young and people don’t know much about the
benefits of arbitration. Also, there is no definite method of settling disputes through arbitration.

After some time, Arbitration Law was enacted. It vastly improved arbitration in the
country. However, there are still loopholes and it is still lacking. The mindset of Filipinos for
litigation is still intact. People still goes to court rather than relying on arbitration. Also, another
problem is that the Arbitration Law only pertains to Domestic arbitration. This means that the
Philippines cannot cope with the demands of the complexities of issues posed by the people.
Hence, Filipinos would rather resort to court intervention rather than going to arbitrate the
dispute out of courts. If I were a Filipino with dispute during the time, I would also prefer to go
to court because since arbitration is not yet fully developed and comprehensive, I would think
that the settlement is doubtful and not reliable.

Things changed during 2004 when ADR Act came into effect. It bolstered arbitration
and solved the loopholes of Arbitration Law. ADR Act gave chance to arbitration as a resort to
settlement of dispute. People has changed its mindset. Now, more people has resorted to
alternative dispute resolutions before going to the courts. There was transition from court
litigation to arbitration. Since, the system of arbitration is more stable and more
comprehensive at the time, people is now more enticed to use arbitration before going to the
courts considering its advantages and benefits.

ADR Act recognized the use of private party as arbitrator. Also, a special rule for ADR
was passed promoting the judicial restraint by the court whenever arbitration proceedings
happen. Now, arbitration tribunal is given the first preference to solve issues and to give
judgments. The court paves way to arbitration as an independent body with its own authority
to promulgate decisions with minimal court intervention.

The evolution of arbitration in the Philippines is subtle. Moreover, arbitration in the

country is also very young. There are still many problems that are being encountered
especially with the rules of procedure. However, it has become more reliable and more
utilized by the people. What is needed to be done in the present should be information
dissemination about arbitration and that people should be educated about what arbitration is,
the benefits and advantages of arbitration, and the future face of what arbitration is.