UK backs RP for commercial arbitration

The United Kingdom has assured it would support efforts to transform the Philippines into a favored site for commercial arbitration, along with Hong Kong and Singapore, in Southeast Asia.

This assurance was made as the Philippine Supreme Court recently concluded a UK government-funded roundtable discussion on international commercial arbitration (ICA) designed to enhance alternative dispute resolution as part of a series of discussions on public and private international law issues.

The series is the second project supported by the British Embassy under the UK’s Strategic Programme Fund (SPF), and implemented by the Supreme Court, Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) and the Ateneo Centre for International Economic Law.

The initiative underlines the British government’s confidence in the capability of local jurists and legal professionals to engage in modes of commercial dispute resolution that promotes arbitration rather than lengthy court disputes.

The project underscores the British government’s support for the High Court’s vision to transform the Philippines into a favored site for commercial arbitration in Southeast Asia.

British Ambassador Peter Beckingham said the Philippines is one of only 10 priority countries under the economic governance strand of the UK SPF, indicating the importance which the UK places on the economic development of the Philippines.

Other priority countries such as Argentina, Brazil, China and India have taken equally significant strides to enhance their institutional climate for economic growth under this global initiative.

Beckingham used the occasion to hand over a manual for capacity building on public and private international law issues for the Philippine judiciary to PHILJA.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Manuel Teehankee, Philippine Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), thanked the UK for the timely assistance in enhancing arbitration knowledge within the local legal profession to improve the country’s investment and trading policies.

The Philippines favors the use of arbitration as a mode of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for speedy and impartial justice under RA 9285 or the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act. Arbitration enables the courts to unclog their dockets by settling disputes outside the regular courts.  

However, PHILJA vice-chair for alternative dispute resolution Eduardo Delos Angeles said few avail of arbitration in the Philippines most companies would rather undergo arbitration in Hong Kong or Singapore.

SC Associate Justice Adolfo Azcuna said there are pressing issues regarding international commercial arbitration that need to be addressed, especially when ICA awards or orders are in conflict with Philippine laws and court decisions.