The Philippine Arbitration Center in the Visayas (PACV), the first for the Visayas and Mindanao, opened in Iloilo City.

“This is also the first school-based arbitration center in the whole Southeast Asia,” said PACV President Joenar Pueblo.

PACV is within the campus of the University of San Agustin (USA) and established in cooperation with the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. and the USA College of Law.

Pueblo said PACV is pushing commercial arbitration as an alternative to undergoing disputes in courts of law.

Pueblo noted that PACV can hasten resolution to ordinary cases, which would take five to 10 years in an ordinary court.

PACV is seen to serve not only commercial establishments, but also government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs)./WDJ