Press Release: ERC acquires fresh perspective and added skills on ADR
Three (3) legal experts from the National Judicial College (NJC) in Nevada, U.S.A. conducted training for thirty (30) key ERC personnel regarding best practices in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) at the Linden Suites in Ortigas Center on November 8-10, 2010. The major focus was on the prompt and timely handling of consumer complaints against electric utilities’ service. The ERC is mandated under Sec. 41 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to handle consumer complaints and ensure the adequate promotion of consumer interests. The training was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Climate Change and Clean Energy Project (C-Energy).
The legal experts who conducted the training include the Honorable Marchall A. Snider – a retired administrative law judge who has served the Colorado Office of Administrative Courts; the Honorable Kristena A. LaMar – a retired country circuit judge who has been with the Multnomah County bench for 25 years and remains as chair of its Mediation Commission; and Ms. Kelly E. Tait – a judicial branch communication consultant with international experience in the design and conduct of communication skills seminars. The training team discussed modern practices in the areas of mediation, problem solving and negotiation and enhancement of communication skills.
The ADR is an alternative mechanism to litigation in resolving a dispute between two parties. Party litigants are given the freedom to make their own arrangements to resolve their dispute. The methods used in ADR include, among others, arbitration, mediation and conciliation. Republic Act No. 9285 (An Act to Institutionalize the Use of an Alternative Dispute Resolution System in the Philippines and to Establish the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution, and for Other Purposes) or simply known as Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004 was promulgated to regulate the administration of ADR in Philippine jurisdiction. The law encourages and actively promotes the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an important means to achieve speedy and impartial justice and declog court dockets
“The ERC benefited a lot from NJC’s infusion of fresh perspectives and insights on internationally-accepted best practices. This session has helped sharpen ERC’s capability to mediate and settle disputes promptly among the electric power industry participants as it performs its quasi-judicial function,” ERC chairperson and CEO Zenaida G. Cruz-Ducut stated. “The ERC has always been conscious of capacity building and institutional strengthening. The ERC firmly believes that the ADR can substantially reduce the cost and time of resolving disputes both for the party litigants and the ERC,” chairperson Ducut added.
November 22, 2010