To litigate or to settle: Is Alternative Dispute Resolution the answer?

There has already been a lot of debate as to the efficiency of Alternative Dispute
Resolution(ADR) on settling disputes. Alternative Dispute Resolution is a field in Remedial
Law that basically promotes resolution without resorting to the tedious court proceeding.
This system of resolving problems between parties is already recognized and highly
recommended in various countries. In the Philippines, ADR is put into law by the virtue of
Republic Act No. 876 and it is also recognized under the Civil Code of the Philippines.

In my opinion, ADR should be given higher credence in our legal system. For a third
world country like the Philippines, instituting legal action in a court of justice is already
burdensome to most Filipinos; notwithstanding the existence of voluminous number of
pending cases in the courts. Hence, the delay of justice is inevitable. With the use of ADR,
many conflicting parties may resolve issues expeditiously in a more efficient manner which
does not necessarily require a longer proceeding, higher legal fees and other expenses.
Many conflicts amongst people may be resolved without the need of the formalities vested
and required by the courts of justice, whereas, settlement may be acquired through
conciliation or mediation.

This method is not only helpful to claiming individuals but this is also an aid to our
courts and those who work in the judiciary. Instead of continuously clogging our courts
with pending and new cases, some may resort to the more peaceful method of ADR and
resolve the issues within them and not on the merits of a claim in the courts. Conflict is
inevitable amongst human beings, thus, a number of cases are filed each day which does
not match the number of people within the judiciary. Therefore, the effort of our courts to
resolve all cases is not sufficient enough to declog the courts of pending cases. More so,
many of the cases filed in court may be resolved between individuals by settling their
indifferences since most involves question of facts and this may be done with a neutral
third party who may hear and mediate between conflicting parties.

The importance of ADR is apparent, it is only within the will of the people that it
may be substantiated and used further in our legal system. Declogging the courts of
numerous cases needs the cooperation and the will of the people to resort in a more
peaceful and easier method provided in ADR. Various contracts fails each day, many people
violate the law and inflict damage to another, thus, cases multiply each day and we must
resort to other method to help our legal system.