[Opinion] Tulfo and Chill

It’s a Thursday night, drained from your 9:30 pm class and you still have to study for the next class tomorrow, but can’t seem to find the urge to open your book. You lay down on the bed, giving yourself 30 minutes to browse Facebook when suddenly a video caught your attention- Raffy Tulfo’s Wanted sa Radyo. You ask yourself, can this be a modern form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)?

Wanted Sa Radyo is a program hosted by Raffy Tulfo and Sharee Roman, which focuses on helping the poor battle the red tapes of society. It is a public affairs show that airs on weekdays from 2:00 to 4:00 pm on Radyo5 92.3 News FM. The most common segment of the show is Sumbong at Aksyon, where complainants tell Tulfo about their situation and seek assistance to resolve it. Tulfo puts the other party on the air to get their side of the story and encourages both parties to talk to each other on the air. After hearing both sides of the story, Tulfo may contact someone in a position (e.g. high-ranking police officials, social workers) to further assist the aggrieved party.

ADR is the procedure for settling disputes without litigation, such as arbitration, mediation, or negotiation. It typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that act as a means for disagreeing parties to come to an agreement short of litigation: a collective term for the ways that parties can settle disputes, with the help of a third party. In the Philippines, there are two laws which govern ADR- the Republic Act 9285 or Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004 (R.A. 9285) and Republic Act 876 (R.A. 876) or The Arbitration Law.

The increasing number of cases before the courts gave rise to the popularity of ADR. Furthermore, it is the declared policy of the State to actively promote party autonomy in the resolution of disputes or the freedom of the party to make their own arrangements to resolve their disputes. Likewise, according to RA 9285, the State shall enlist active private sector participation in the settlement of disputes through ADR without prejudice to the adoption by the Supreme Court of any ADR system.

Some opine that with the growing publicity of Raffy Tulfo and positive reviews from the public with the show, this can be considered as a modern form of ADR with the program as the third neutral party. This public program presents how people can use a social media platform to express their grievance over an issue and reach a mutual agreement before it ripens into court action. It offers the public an easy access to reach a compromise agreement which would benefit both parties with less expenses and effort, speedy negotiation, practical solutions, flexibility of the process, a wider range of issues are being considered, and the shared future interests may be protected.

It is undeniable that the show produces a positive outcome in the settlement of disputes of the parties, however, this alone does not give the show arbitrary power to rule on such. The show must still comply with the provisions of R.A. 9285 and R.A. 876 in order to classify it as a modern form of ADR. It must be put into mind that the freedom of the parties to personally settle the dispute on their own is not absolute and so, must be within the constraints of the law. ■

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