MANILA — The Supreme Court has upheld the arbitral ruling ordering Camp John Hay Development Corporation to vacate a portion of the John Hay Special Economic Zone it leased from the Bases Conversion Development Authority.

In a statement, the Supreme Court said the en banc granted the petition for review on certiorari filed by BCDA assailing the rulings of the Court of Appeals which had reversed the Regional Trial Court’s confirmation of the arbitral ruling on the dispute.

The Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. or PDRCI arbitral tribunal found that both the CJH DevCo and the BCDA were guilty of breaches of their obligations under their lease agreement which warranted its mutual rescission.

CJH DevCo was specifically ordered to return to BCDA the 247-hectare leased property together with all improvements and the BCDA in turn must refund to CJH DevCo its total  rent paid amounting to P1.4 billion.

“Thus, as a rule, the arbitrator’s award cannot be set aside for mere errors of judgment either as to the law or as to the facts. Judicial review is hence confined strictly to the limited exceptions under arbitration laws for the arbitration process to be effective and the basic objectives of the law to be achieved,” the court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao.

The high court noted that judicial interference is restrained under the Special Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules since arbitration, as a private alternative to court proceedings, is meant to be an end, not the beginning of litigation.

“In the present case, without a showing that any of the grounds to modify the award exist or that the same amounts to a violation of an overriding public policy, the RTC was thus correct in confirming the final award,” the SC said.

The Supreme Court also stressed that the obligation of CJH DevCo to vacate the leased property is not contingent upon BCDA’s full payment of the amount in the award.

The court also said it did not find grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Commission on Audit when it dismissed CJH DevCo’s money claim pending resolution of the BCDA petition.