PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Ricardo Ma P G Ongkiko, John Christian Joy A Regalado and Ma Patricia B Paz-Jacoba, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan
directing them to file an opposition thereto within 15 days of receiving the petition. The court will then determine whether the issue is one of law or if there are issues of fact. • When the issues are of law, parties will be required to submit legal argument briefs within 15 days of receiving the order. • When there are issues of fact, the court will require the parties to submit their: (a) witness affidavits (attaching all documents relied upon) within the same 15-day period; and (b) reply to affidavits within 10 days of receipt of the affidavits to be replied to. If the court finds, on the basis of the pleadings and the affidavits, that there is a need to conduct oral hear - ings, the court shall set the case for the hearing. At such hearing, the witnesses’ affidavits constitute their direct testimonies, and these witnesses will immedi - ately undergo cross-examination. The court shall have full control over the proceedings to ensure that the case is heard without delay. Unless a ground to set aside has been fully estab - lished, the court shall dismiss the petition to set aside. If, in the same proceedings, a petition to recognise and enforce the arbitral award was filed in opposition to the petition to set aside, the court shall recognise and enforce the arbitral award. The decision of the regional trial court in the petition to set aside can be reviewed by the Court of Appeals via a verified petition for review filed within 15 days from notice of the court’s decision or denial of petitioner’s motion for reconsideration. The decision of the Court of Appeals may be reviewed by the Supreme Court – not as a matter of right, but only of sound judicial discretion – if there are serious and compelling reasons resulting in grave prejudice to the aggrieved party, as per those grounds listed in Rule 19.36 of the Special ADR Rules or those closely analogous thereto. The appeal by certioriari to the Supreme Court must be made within 15 days from notice of the court’s decision or denial of the peti -
tioner’s motion for reconsideration. For compelling or justifiable reasons, the Supreme Court may grant an extension of 30 days within which to file the petition. 11.2 Excluding/Expanding the Scope of Appeal Philippine laws provide that recourse to the court against an international commercial award may only be made by an application to set aside in accord - ance with the provisions in the UNCITRAL Model Law, which also sets out the specific grounds on which the arbitral award may be set aside. It is generally accepted that the grounds to set aside/ vacate an arbitral award are exclusive. Rule 12.4, in relation to Rule 19.10, of the Special ADR Rules pro - vides that any ground for setting aside an interna - tional arbitral award other than those expressly enu - merated therein, which reflect the grounds under the UNCITRAL Model Law, shall not be considered by the court unless the same amounts to a violation of public policy. Although there has been no Supreme Court decision on this point, it is reasonable to conclude that parties may not exclude or expand the grounds on which an arbitral award may be challenged through a contractual agreement. 11.3 Standard of Judicial Review In Fruehauf Electronic Philippines Corporation v Tech- nology Electronics Assembly and Management Pacific Corporation (GR No 204197, 23 November 2016), the Supreme Court ruled that courts cannot delve into the merits of an arbitral award and substitute their judg - ment with regard to the findings of fact and the inter - pretation and application of laws. The same principle was reaffirmed by Supreme Court in Bases Conver- sion and Development Authority v CJH Development Corporation (GR No 219421, 23 April 2024), where the Court emphasised that a contrary rule would render an arbitral award the commencement, rather than the end, of litigation. Specifically, as regards construction disputes resolved through CIAC arbitration, as held by the Supreme Court in Global Medical Center of Laguna, Inc v Ross Systems International, Inc (GR No 230112, 11 May 2021), such awards rendered may be appealed to:
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