DFA Welcomes Secretary General of Permanent Court of Arbitration, Cites PCA’s Significant Contributions to Peaceful Settlement of Disputes

Photo by DFA-OPD James Ryan Artiaga

MANILA 27 August 2024 – Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo welcomed Secretary General of the Permanent Court Arbitration (PCA), Dr. Marcin Czepalak, who is undertaking a visit to the Philippines in line with the PCA’s customary visits to Member States in efforts to further promote its services in the peaceful resolution of international disputes.

Dr. Czepelak called on Secretary Manalo at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City on Tuesday morning, to kick off his visit to the Philippines. 

The visit, which forms part of the PCA’s activities this year on the occasion of its 125th year anniversary, is the first official visit by the PCA Secretary General to the country. 

In his call on Secretary Manalo, Dr. Czepelak recognized the Philippines' support for the international organization, including with the role of Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands J. Eduardo Malaya as acting President of the PCA Administrative Council, the PCA’s policymaking body, for term 2023-2024.

Secretary Manalo congratulated Dr. Czepelak on the PCA’s 125-year milestone. “The Philippines appreciates the PCA’s significant contributions to the peaceful settlement of disputes and the development of international law. The adoption via consensus by the U.N. General Assembly of a resolution in August last year welcoming the PCA’s 125th anniversary reflects the high regard the international community has for the organization,” he said. The Philippines was the penholder of the resolution which was co-sponsored by 122 UN member-states. 

In addition to offering dispute resolution services, arbitration, conciliation, mediation, commissions of inquiry, and other peaceful means of dispute resolution, the PCA outreach to the Philippines seeks to promote the organization as a center for legal scholarship and education, participating in and hosting seminars, workshops, and conferences on international law and dispute resolution.  


During the visit, Dr. Czepelak will meet with the country’s arbitration community in a forum hosted by the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, and speak before law practitioners, the academe and students at a forum at the Ateneo School of Law.

The PCA is the oldest existing international organization devoted to the peaceful settlement of disputes, having been established in 1899 by the Convention on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. In operations for the last 125 years, the PCA has developed into a modern, multi-faceted arbitral institution well situated to meet the evolving dispute resolution needs of the international community. It has one of the heaviest caseloads of all international courts and tribunals, supporting in 2023 alone a record 218 registry cases. The PCA is composed of 124 Member States, with the Philippines joining it in 2010.

Dr. Czepelak is joined in his outreach visit to the Philippines by Senior Legal Counsel Julian Bordacahar (the PCA Representative in Argentina/Latin American region), and Legal Counsel Neil Nucup (the PCA Representative in Vietnam/ Southeast Asian region). END 

Photo by DFA-OPD James Ryan Artiaga