An Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Philippine Single Entry Approach (SEnA)

Melgen Jamito Sarra1

The justice system in the Philippines was said to crawl like a very old snails pace. In
extrajudicial killings alone, the report said, of the 305 incidents recorded for the years 2000
to 2010, only 56 percent of the cases reached the prosecutorial level2. A barely over one
percent of the cases have attained a conviction. According to Judge Paul Mahoney, of the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), courts must continue to change if it is to remain
effective. But fair enough, based on the United Nation data3, world conviction rate is 0.65
percent on filed cases.

The purpose of this study then is to describe how other parts of the world strategize to ease
the legal cases clogged in the Courts and the very means employed thereon.

In United Kingdom4, cases are taking up to 19 months to reach trial in the court because of
increasing courtroom backlogs. In greater United States, for a case to be disposed of by
settlement, dismissal for want of prosecution, default, or verdict is 35.3 months and the
average time from the filing of the lawsuit to verdict is 51.9 months. In Los Angeles, there
is a backlog of 72,000 cases with a wait of 5 years to get to trial. In Detroit, 3 years, the
Bronx of New York City, about 4 years, to cite only a few. The delay is so catastrophic that
were it not for the contingent fee system, many tort cases would die on the vine5. All is true
in other developing countries also.

In his study, Professor H. Zeisel of the University of Chicago has observed: "Delay in the
courts is unqualifiedly bad. It is bad because it deprives citizens of a basic public service, it
is bad because the lapse of time frequently causes deterioration of evidence and makes it
less likely that justice be done when the case is finally tried; it is bad because delay may
cause severe hardship to some parties and may in general affect litigants differentially; and
it is bad because it brings to the entire court system a loss of public confidence, respect and
pride.

This paper can sites multitudes of professional note on the causes of these delays and
backlogs in every court, but since the author choose to focus on one of the doable panacea
1

A Student of Law, Xavier Law School, Xavier University, for Legal Research work, Law105A SY 2016

See, Report on Philippine Extrajudicial Killings from 2001-August 2010 / Al A. Parreo, author. Makati City: The Asia Foundation, c2011 at
http://www.asiafoundation.org/resources/pdfs/ReportonPhilippineEJK20012010.pdf (last visited August 24, 2016)
2

See, EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR CRIME PREVENTION AND CONTROL, AFFILIATED WITH THE UNITED NATIONS, INTERNATIONAL
STATISTICS on CRIME AND JUSTICE
Edited by S. Harrendorf, M. Heiskanen, S. Malby at https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crimestatistics/International_Statistics_on_Crime_and_Justice.pdf (last visited August 24, 2016)
3

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/mar/07/court-cases-19-months-appeal-court-backlogs, (last visited, September 9, 2016)

https://www.iatl.net/files/public/82_court_i4a.pdf by by Francis H. Monek, Dean, (last visited, September 9, 2016)

to remedy this delay, as seasoned around the globe, the Alternative Dispute Resolution is
one of the better answer. ADR can help the justice system in a country to function more
efficiently. It often saves costs and time and increases user satisfaction. For cases that go
back to court, however, the total cost and time may increase. Alternative dispute resolution
can also have indirect benefits. It can increase the effectiveness of courts by reducing
bottlenecks. And it can improve trust in the legal system, which may increase local or
foreign investment. In a Worldbank Report, countries using ADR have cost savings, like in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, saves 50% litigation cost in resolving cases
through mediation. In Colombia, where ADR is mandatory, 40-50% cost saves, and in
United States and Canada, an average of US$ 6,000 per case being save by the parties.
Stream downing the resolution of each case at an average of five months the most6.

In the Philippines, there were attempts in the past to ease the backlog. At the level of the
Supreme Court, for example, then Chief Justice Hilario Davide ordered a faster processing
of cases before the high tribunal. The creation of the barangay quasi-courts also took care
of smaller cases or legal dispute, involving residents of villages, thus barangay judicial
system plays a great role7.

The enactment RA 9285 or the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004 (ADR)8,
promotes party autonomy in the resolution of disputes or the freedom of the party to make
their own arrangements to resolve their disputes. The State encourage and actively promote
the use of ADR as an important means to achieve speedy and impartial justice thus declog
court dockets. Its effectivity been tested in some other countries after the cold war who long
used this kind of resolutions, but some countries like Japan and China are also slowly
slipping to adapt this mode of dispute resolutions.9

The Single Entry Approach (SEnA) of the Department of labor and Employment is a point
of interest and a success story of the States effort of an ADR yielding better results. Former
DOLE Secretary Baldoz has approved and signed the rules of procedure of the single entry
approach (SEnA), an administrative mechanism aimed at providing a speedy, impartial,
inexpensive, and accessible settlement procedure to major labor issues or conflicts, thereby
preventing them from turning into full-blown disputes.

The National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB), an attached agency of the DOLE
had settled more labor issues through the 30-day conciliation-mediation services under the
SEnA, benefitting the workers due to its various advantages aside from being inexpensive,

6
7

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/FINANCIALSECTOR/Resources/282044-1307652042357/VP329-Setting-out-of-court.pdf
See The Manila Times at http://www.manilatimes.net/slow-pace-of-justice-worsening (last visited August 24, 2016)

Republic Act No. 9285 (April 2, 2004) at http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2004/ra_9285_2004.html (last visited August 24, 2016)

INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION AFTER THE COLD WAR, at http://www.nap.edu/read/9897 (last visited August 24, 2016)

most accessible, most fair, and fastest mode of obtaining labor justice without going through
the agony and hassle of long and drawn-out litigation.10

The Duterte administration has directed all its labor dispute resolution and settlement
agencies to push through the action in reducing and eventually eliminating case backlogs,
because some parties to a labor controversy tend to strongly rely on third party intervention,
particularly compulsory arbitration, to resolve their issues.

In one of the landmark case in United Kingdom, in Dunnette case11, the court penalized a
party for rejecting ADR when recommended by the latter. In DENR v. United Planners
Consultants, Inc. (UCPI),12 the court explains that while the Special ADR Rules does not
explicitly provide a procedure for execution of a confirmed arbitral award, the Special ADR
Rules extends to a confirmed awards execution in light of the doctrine of necessary
implication, which states that every statutory grant of power, right or privilege is deemed to
include all incidental power, right or privilege, and the principle of ratio legis est anima,
which provides that a statute must be read according to its spirit or intent. Thus, the courts
power to confirm an award includes the power to order its execution. Consequently, the
Special ADR Rules should be made to apply not only to the proceedings on confirmation
but also to the confirmed awards execution. The Supreme Court clarified that resort to the
Rules of Court even in a suppletory manner is not allowed by the Special ADR Rules13.

On my personal note and a sort of realization, while it is true that ADR had some exception
as to its application such as; the civil status of persons; the validity of a marriage; any ground
for legal separation; the jurisdiction of courts; future legitime; criminal liability; and those
which by law cannot be compromised; the concept of DOLEs SEnA can be best copied or
be adopted in terms of the time or period of its resolutions when such cases is at their
preliminary stage, or when one can be settled in such alternative resolutions. Although its
hard to imagine of any super rich party or a corporation or even a conglomerate to bow
down or agreeing to settle legal differences over their properties with their barangay
chairman or SEnA in NCMB considering their vast legal contingent .On a greater note,
might as well this ADR be made compulsory on stated qualification herein, benchmarking
of the Dunnette case. Indeed, with this amicable settlements or the same in justiciable forms,
ADR is aimed in obtaining justice or rebuilding relationship again without much leaving
bad taste on both sides in the fastest mode.

10

http://dole.gov.ph/news/view/1897, (last visited August 24, 2016)

11 See

Dunnett -v- Railtrack Plc CA (Bailii, [2002] EWCA Civ 302) available at http://www.chrismakin.co.uk/case-law/14-dunnett-v-railtrack-2002-ewca-civ302.html (last visited August 24, 2016)
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES (DENR), Petitioner,
vs.
UNITED PLANNERS CONSULTANTS , INC. (UPCI), Respondent., G.R. No. 212081 February 23, 2015 available at
http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2015/feb2015/gr_212081_2015.html (last visited August 24, 2016)
13 A.M. no. 07-11-08-SC "Special rules of court on alternative dispute resolution, available at http://oadr.doj.gov.ph/index.php/pages/item/14-a-m-no-07-1108-sc-special-rules-of-court-on-alternative-dispute-resolution (last visited August 24, 2016)
12