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RULING:
The petition must be denied.
Rule 45 is not the remedy available to petitioners as the proper mode of appeal assailing
the decision of the RTC confirming as arbitral award is an appeal before the CA pursuant to Sec.
46 of Republic Act No. (RA) 9285, otherwise known as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of
2004.
The Court Will Not Overturn an Arbitral Award Unless It Was Made in Manifest Disregard of
the law. Errors in law and fact would not generally justify the reversal of an arbitral award. A party
asking for the vacation of an arbitral award must show that any of the grounds for vacating,
rescinding, or modifying an award are present or that the arbitral award was made in manifest
disregard of the law. Otherwise, the Court is duty-bound to uphold an arbitral award.
The instant petition dwells on the alleged manifest disregard of the law by the ICC-ICA.
The US case of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Jaros18 expounded on the
phrase "manifest disregard of the law" in the following wise:
This court has emphasized that manifest disregard of the law is a very narrow standard of
review. Anaconda Co. v. District Lodge No. 27, 693 F.2d 35 (6th Cir.1982). A mere error in
interpretation or application of the law is insufficient. Anaconda, 693 F.2d at 37-38. Rather, the
decision must fly in the face of clearly established legal precedent. When faced with questions of
law, an arbitration panel does not act in manifest disregard of the law unless (1) the applicable
legal principle is clearly defined and not subject to reasonable debate; and (2) the arbitrators
refused to heed that legal principle.
Thus, to justify the vacation of an arbitral award on account of "manifest disregard of the
law," the arbiters findings must clearly and unequivocally violate an established legal precedent.
Anything less would not suffice.
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