In the Philippines, the practice in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including arbitration, has dramatically expanded with the passage of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004 and the issuance in 2009 of its implementing rules and regulations as well as the Supreme Court’s Special Rules of Court on Alternative Dispute Resolution.  The Philippines has adopted the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law on Commercial International Arbitration to govern international commercial arbitration in the Philippines as the seat of arbitration. The 1958 New York Convention governs the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards covered by it and for those that are not, the procedural rules promulgated by the Supreme Court shall apply. On grounds of comity and reciprocity, the Court may recognize a non-convention award as a convention  award.  In case of construction disputes, arbitration is subject to the original and exclusive

jurisdiction of the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission pursuant to the Construction Industry Arbitration Law.

Our ADR practice traverses both domestic and international arbitration.  We were collaborating counsel of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. in an UNCITRAL arbitration process commenced in October 2013 involving a rate rebasing dispute with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, that resulted in a final award in favor of Maynilad in December 2014.  We continue to assist Maynilad in the process of judicial confirmation and implementation of this final award.  We also assisted a client in an international commercial arbitration in Singapore as seat of arbitration.