President’s Corner

 

 

 

WELCOME to the Philippine Institute of Construction Arbitrators and Mediators (PICAM) Website circa 2018-19.

I am elated that the number of construction disputes filed with the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC) now tops 1,000 with their total Sum-in-Dispute already hitting the Php65 Billion mark, most of which have been resolved in record time.

I thus can only take pride that the PICAM Membership has lived up to the mandate, given by Executive Order No. 1008 s. 1985 to its accreditor and appointing authority the CIAC, of effectively and efficiently relieving the construction industry of disputes that only tend to hinder its growth and impetus to national goals, noting that it provides employment to a large segment of the national labor force and is a leading contributor to the gross national product.

I salute the able leadership of Dean Custodio O. Parlade, now Dean of the College of Fellows, in “raising the bar” of construction industry arbitration and mediation.

I am grateful that Atty. Eduardo R. Ceniza, Chairman of the Thought Leadership Committee, continues to share his experience and expertise from his many stints as arbitrator/practitioner in foreign and international arbitrations.

I am also grateful to Atty. Victor P. Lazatin for obliging to be the Editorial Board Chair for the CIAC Arbitration Handbook which we hope to put together, God willing, by next year.

Of course, we would not be where we are at now if not for the many who, without media adornments and despite their high stature in the arbitration profession, are serving the Institute, among them the able PICAM Vice-President Atty. Ricky PG Ongkiko,  Prof. Mario E. Valderrama, Engr. Salvador P. Castro,  Prof. Arthur P. Autea, etc.

I am also grateful to the OADR,  PIArb, PDRCI and PCAB for partnering with PICAM in providing a platform where practitioners from different walks of ADR have shared their insights and have well learned from each other.  We hope not only to continue to do so, but to progress to an even higher level of institutional fellowship to acquire new learnings, to accomplish their respective mandates, and to further strengthening and improving our ADR practices as best serve the needs of the time.

This PICAM Website aims to disseminate information on CIAC Arbitration and promotes its use.  It is hoped that the contents of this website can prove not only to be a useful tool to the PICAM Membership but also to start a conversation with the public on matters that might interest them.

 

Atty./Engr. Jesusito G. Morallos, CE, JD, MCIArb

President