The absence of a clause for arbitration in the Megaworld contracts to quickly resolve conflicts instead of going through a tedious court process should not prevent the feuding construction firm Datem and property giant Megaworld to settle through the usual process, Datem president Lesley Villanueva said.

"That was what we wanted from the start," Villanueva told Daily Tribune. Datem had sued over P873 million in arrears on five Megaworld projects.

Villanueva cited a column of Megaworld independent director Jess Varela that appeared 20 November on the Money page of Daily Tribune suggesting an arbitration path.

"We completely agree with the statement of Varela, 'Datem could have opted to go on arbitration whereby both parties can thresh out claims and counterclaims outside of the courtroom rendering a more neutral space for negotiations'," Villanueva said.

"Yes, arbitration is the ideal venue to settle any construction disputes. Arbitration is a special way of settling disputes, which in the Philippines is done through the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission. However, Megaworld's standard form of contract has a 'No arbitration clause,' which Datem has been attempting to negotiate to revise for the past few years," she explained.

"The standard construction contract of major developers and project owners conforms to the international practice which has a common provision of settlement of disputes through arbitration," according to Atty. Rufino Policarpio, Datem counsel, said.

"Arbitration is a special way in the construction industry to settle disputes. There's a special law that created an arbitration commission that takes the place of regular courts."

"The people who comprise the special body are actually technical people like engineers and architects that will look into the cases."

"Resolution of disputes through these bodies is very fast unlike the regular courts."

"In the regular courts, the judges normally do not have the expertise in appreciating the cases," he said.