Late last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines (“SEC“) issued its Memorandum Circular No. 8 (s. 2022) (“MC 8″). MC 8 gives effect to Section 181 of the Revised Corporation Code (“RCC“) and, among other things, specifies the role of the SEC in arbitrations involving intra-corporate disputes. Section 181 of the RCC…

The year 2019 was a milestone year for alternative dispute resolution (“ADR“) in the Philippines. It saw the inaugural Philippine Arbitration Convention organized by the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (“PIArb“) on 25 November 2019 (the “Arbitration Day“), the signing of the Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the “Singapore Convention“), the implementation of…

On the 60th year of the signing of the New York Convention, the Philippines’ Supreme Court, for the first time, declared its adoption of a narrow definition of “public policy” under the said convention. In Mabuhay Holdings Corporation v Sembcorp Logistics Limited, G.R. No. 212734, 5 December 2018, it held that “[m]ere errors in the interpretation of…