Castillo Laman Tan Banking & FinancePantaleon & San Jose Capital Markets Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A Dispute Resolution Intellectual Property Labour & Employment Tax
Puno & Puno Corporate/M&A Energy & Natural Resources
Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & CruzBaranda & AssociatesCarag Jamora Somera & VillarealCastillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia Del Rosario & Del Rosario Esguerra & Blanco
Kapunan Garcia & Castillo Law OfficesOcampo Manalo Bernabe Valdez & LimPicazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos PJS LawPlaton Martinez Flores San Pedro LeañoPoblador Bautista & Reyes
Puno & PunoQuiason Makalintal Barot Torres Ibarra & SisonRomulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los AngelesSiguion Reyna Montecillo & OngsiakoSyCyp Salazar Hernandez & GatmaitanZambrano Gruba
Romulo Mabanta Banking & FinanceBuenaventura Sayoc & Capital MarketsDe Los Angeles Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A Dispute Resolution Energy & Natural Resources Intellectual Property Tax
Siguion Reyna Montecillo Corporate/M&A& Ongsiako Dispute Resolution Labour & Employment
SyCip Salazar Hernandez Banking & Finance& Gatmaitan Capital Markets Corporate/M&A Dispute Resolution Energy & Natural Resources Intellectual Property Labour & Employment Shipping, Maritime & Aviation Tax
Zambrano & Gruba Tax
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 481
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Asialaw firm highlightsAngara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz (ACCRALAW) has a solid team of experienced lawyers capable in a range of specialised fields.
“I am very pleased with the level of their per-formance and will certainly continue using them,” says a client.
The firm has over forty years of experience in the Philippines. Its partners provide advice on a range of matters, including corporate and commercial work, litigation and dispute resolution, antitrust, banking and finance, capital markets, construction, immigration, infrastructure and foreign investment, intellectual property, labour and employment, tax, and telecommunications.
The ACCRALAW team handles business projects for multinational clients as well as landmark litigation cases on for prominent corpora-tions. The firm’s clients come from a wide range of businesses and industries. The firm has assisted the Philippine Congress, Supreme Court of the Philip-pines, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Asian Development Bank, the World Bank.
“We extensively work with them on litigation matters. Patricia Prodigalidad is our key partner, and she is great: competent, good in terms of the strategy. She has been handling very complex matters, including those with a cross-border component. The interaction with foreign parties is always seamless,” a client says.
Partners Ramon Samson, Victor Lazatin and co-managing partner Francisco Ed Lim focus on litigation matters. The team has advised on various disputes involving the country’s major multina-
tional oil companies, its largest telecommunications company, leading wireless service provider, largest power distribution utility, prominent banks, business process outsourcing entities, the largest residential developer, mining companies, and major manufacturing companies.
In the capital markets space, the team, including Lim and partner Judy Hao, acted as Philippine counsel for underwriters in connection with a US$1 billion stock rights offering of BDO Unibank. The transaction was the largest equity offering on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The firm’s banking practice advises on syn-dicated loans, cross-border loan and security agreements, regulatory matters, and project finance. Managing partner Eusebio Tan, senior partner Tadeo Hilado, Lim and partner Brigida Aldeguer have a focus on public-private partnership projects. Founding partner Teodoro Regala and Tan have been advising and assisting on the purchase of assets and assumption of liabilities of a leading bank.
Partner Gilberto Gallos is a leading lawyer in restructuring and insolvency work. He acted for Export Development Canada and other secured creditors in the rehabilitation proceedings of Bayan Telecommunications, which was valued at US$611 million.
The firm has a strong labour and employment practice headed by the well-regarded Emerico O De Guzman. Senior partner Alex Ferdinand S Fider heads the firm’s well-known intellectual property practice.
Asialaw recommended individualsBrigida Aldeguer | Alex Ferdinand S Fider | Emerico O De Guzman | Gilberto Gallos | Judy Hao | Tadeo Hilado | Victor Lazatin | Francisco Ed Lim | Patricia Prodigalidad | Teodoro Regala | Ramon Samson | Eusebio Tan
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 482
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A Dispute Resolution •
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Labour & Employment Life Sciences •Private Equity Restructuring & Insolvency Shipping, Maritime & Aviation Tax
Asialaw recommended individualsEdmund Jason Baranda
Asialaw firm highlightsBaranda & Associates benefits from its associa-tion with global intellectual property firm Rouse, regularly assisting clients from their global network. The firm advises on various areas of IP, including trade marks and copyright.
It also acts on portfolio maintenance, pros-ecution and oppositions before the Bureau of Legal Affairs. It has worked closely with the Phil-ippines National Police, the National Bureau of Investigations and Department of Justice (State Prosecutors) and the Bureau of Customs.
The firm has particular expertise and expe-rience in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, and acts for a number of global phar-maceutical companies.
Baranda & Associates has developed a notable practice acting for international clients, especially after the Philippines’ accession to the Madrid Protocol. Clients include Paramount
Pictures, Shell, Allergan, GSK, Viacom, SVP Worldwide, BP Singapore, and Garmin.
Name partner Edmund Jason Baranda is an IP lawyer and patent agent. He has extensive expe-rience in drafting patent specifications, advising on freedom-to-operate searches and prosecuting local and international patent applications. He is also involved in patent litigation, particularly patent cancellation and patent infringement actions in the pharmaceutical field, and trade mark and copyright litigation.
Baranda & Associates recently acted on a suc-cessful raid action against an importer warehouse in Quezon City. Over 500 pieces of fake SUVA refrigerants were seized from the target. The team also obtained a favourable decision from the Bureau of Legal Affairs in an opposition action in relation to YSS Laboratories’ application for registration of the mark of Clarithrocid.
Baranda & Associates
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 483
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A Dispute Resolution
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Labour & Employment Life Sciences Private Equity Restructuring & Insolvency Shipping, Maritime & Aviation 3•Tax
Asialaw recommended individualsElpidio Jamora | Maria Trinidad Villareal
Asialaw firm highlightsCarag Jamora Somera & Villareal is well-known for its work in intellectual property protection and maritime law.
The firm advises on a broad range of trade mark and patent portfolios for large companies and provides advice on licensing and fran-chising agreements. It has acted on major enforcement work for multinationals, including Nike and Gucci. In addition, the firm has repre-sented Nintendo, Bosch and Warner Bros.
Maria Trinidad Villareal leads the firm’s IP practice and is highly regarded in the market, particularly on copyright matters. She was promoted to senior partner at the firm in 2009.
Villareal has served as Philippine legal counsel to the Motion Picture Association since 1998 and is a board member of the Optical Media Board
of the Philippines, the Philippine government body tasked to implement the provisions of the Optical Media Act of the Philippines.
She worked as a facilitator in the trademark/copyright mock trial portion of the training programme for the Second Advanced Course on Intellectual Property Law for Commercial Court Judges, which was co-sponsored by the Philippine Judicial Academy and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
Carag Jamora Somera & Villareal also has a well-known shipping team. It has assisted with the codifying of maritime laws in the country. Clients include Pandiman Philippines, which it has advised on a range of claims relating to individuals and cargo. Elpidio Jamora is the key partner for maritime advice.
Carag Jamora Somera & Villareal
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 484
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance 3•Capital Markets 3•Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate 3•Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory •Insurance Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Asialaw recommended individualsRoberto Dio | Noel Laman | Dina Lucenario | Mel Macaraig | Paulino Petralba | Polo Pantaleon
Asialaw firm highlightsCastillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose has a large practice with expertise in a number of areas. The firm is especially well-regarded for its capital markets work.
Partner Mel Macaraig is well-known for his expertise in both capital markets and project finance. He has advised clients including the Asian Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, Nomura International, Citibank and Jardine Matheson.
The firm’s real estate and construction practice is led by name partner Polo Pantaleon, who has advised clients such as the Fuego Development Corporation, the Greenfield Development Cor-poration, and the Ascendas Property Holdings Corporation.
The firm acts on both litigation and arbitra-tion matters. Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose represent local and international clients
in a range of sectors, including energy, mineral, chemical, and pharmaceuticals.
The team advised TVI Resources Develop-ment on its bid to secure an interim injunction against the implementation of a provincial ordinance that disallows the use of open pit and surface mining methods. Roberto Dio is the key litigator at the firm.
Senior partner Noel Laman and managing partner Paulino Petralba are leading lawyers in the firm’s intellectual property practice. Dina Lucenario is a respected expert in IP, particularly in licensing.
The team handles various aspects of IP, including trade marks, patent and copyright registration and enforcement and prosecution. Key clients include Ajinomoto, Akzo Nobel, and Sony.
Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 485
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance Capital Markets •Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A •Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources •Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media •
Asialaw recommended individualsAvelino Cruz | Simeon Marcelo | Joe Nathan Tenefrancia | Susan Villanueva
Asialaw firm highlightsFull-service Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia was founded in 2013, after Villaraza Cruz Marcelo & Angangcoor (CVCLAW) split into two separate firms: Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia and Villaraza & Angangco.
Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia is headed by former defence secretary Avelino Cruz, former ombudsman and now World Bank advisor and international arbitrator Simeon Marcelo and former chief presidential counsel Joe Nathan Tene-francia. The new team consists of 15 partners.
The CVCLAW IP department of three partners, including Susan Villanueva, now senior partner, and its IP associates and paralegal staff joined Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia. A majority of CVCLAW associates joined the newly formed firm.
Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia offers advice on a range of issues, including litigation and dispute resolution, IP, corporate and commercial law, labour and immigration, telecommunications and
IT, tax, power and energy, mining and natural resources, tourism and leisure, infrastructure, transportation and public utilities, gaming law and capital markets and securities regulation.
Susan Villanueva was involved in a patent infringement case where there was an application for a preliminary injunction filed by plaintiffs Warner Lambert and Pfizer against the firm’s clients, United Laboratories and Therapharma, for the alleged infringement of patents over Ator-vastatin calcium, the active ingredient for the top selling anti-cholesterol product Lipitor. The trial court denied the plaintiffs’ application for preliminary injunctive relief. In January 2013, the Court of Appeal denied Warner Lambert and Pfizer’s motion for reconsideration.
On the corporate side, the team worked on the sale of the assets of Solid Broadband Cor-poration to Sky Cable Corporation, as well as the sale of the assets, licences and permits of Uni-Cable TV and Destiny Cable to Sky Cable.
Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 486
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance •Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A •Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory Insurance •Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Asialaw recommended individualsArturo Del Rosario | Ruben Del Rosario
Asialaw firm highlightsFounded in 1977 by Arturo Del Rosario Sr, Del Rosario & Del Rosario is now overseen by sons and co-managing partners Arturo Del Rosario Jr and Ruben Del Rosario.
The firm focuses on arbitration, shipping and labour matters and is best known for its out-standing shipping practice.
Clients include international ship owners and their P&I clubs, who seek the firm’s advice on issues involving labour, collisions, oil pollution, charter party or bill of lading disputes, ship sale and purchase, ship finance, ship mortgage and ship registrations.
Domestic clients include the International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) and the Asian Terminals, (ATI), the two largest terminal operators in the country.
The corporate practice of Del Rosario & Del Rosario acts on direct foreign investment, company formation, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and general corporate work.
The firm’s client base has grown to include international companies engaged in manufactur-ing, banking, advertising and cruise ship catering. The team has advised the Royal Embassy of Norway and the Panamanian Consulate in Manila on matters involving local law.
With the expansion of its corporate practice to include non-shipping clients, the firm’s labour practice has expanded to include industrial relations. The practice acts on a full range of disputes involving local seafarer’s claims.
The firm’s disputes practice spans various disciplines including labour laws, shipping and admiralty laws, civil laws and corporate, insurance, criminal and administrative law.
In the IP space, Del Rosario & Del Rosario has advised Sony and major pharmaceutical companies.
Del Rosario & Del Rosario
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 487
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A •Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources •Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media •
Asialaw firm highlightsEsguerra & Blanco is a multi-practice firm which has been recognised for its particular strengths in litigation and intellectual property. Its core practice areas also include corporate and com-mercial work and tax.
The firm’s IP practice provides a range of services relating to patents and trademarks, as well as advising on matters such as technology transfers. It handles filings at the IP Office and the Bureau of Food and Drugs. Lawyers from the firm are members of the Licensing Executives Society and the IP Association of the Philippines.
Ramon Esguerra, an expert in contentious IP matters, is a highly-regarded litigator. Managing partner of the firm since 2004, he previously worked at Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose Law Offices, holding positions including senior partner and IP department co-head.
Senior partner Aime Blanco Jr’s areas of practice cover corporate law, tax and estate
planning, foreign investment, labour and real property matters. He was previously the partner of Blanco Law firm from 1980 to 2003 and is director and corporate secretary of several companies.
The firm’s litigation and dispute resolution team handles mediations, arbitrations and court proceedings, acting on a wide range of matters for individuals, companies and government entities.
The firm’s tax practice assists clients with rulings, treaty relief applications, tax audits, tax assessments and refund claims, including customs duty assessments and refund claims.
Esguerra & Blanco also advises clients on employment and labour relations matters, including employment contracts, manuals, col-lective bargaining agreements, and transition issues. It also acts on mediation and arbitrations concerning labour relations.
Esguerra & Blanco
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 488
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance •Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A •Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources •Financial Services Regulatory •Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Asialaw firm highlightsFormed in 2006, Kapunan Garcia & Castillo is a multi-practice firm led by five partners.
Best known for its dispute resolution work, the firm has been expanding its financial and corporate law practices. Deanna Melissa Lorenzo-Singian and Lino Chris Kapunan were recently promoted to the partnership.
The firm also handles a wide variety of liti-gation matters before multiple quasi-judicial and judicial offices in the Philippines. The firm acts for both local and international clients from various sectors. Clients include Air Asia, BMS Bank, ESPA-FIL Import & Export, and Manila Broadcasting.
Name partner Irene Joy Besido-Garcia leads a team that has acted for mining and exploration companies, including four companies operating
in the Provinces of Negros Occidental, Dinagat Islands, Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur.
Senior partner Lorna Patajo-Kapunan and partner Sonya Margarita Benemerito-Castillo are key lawyers in the firm’s intellectual property practice. Patajo-Kapunan has served as president and chairman of the Intellectual Property Asso-ciation of the Philippines.
The firm has been engaged by Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, to assist with labour litigation issues. Kapunan Garcia & Castillo has been advising the client on several contentious and non-contentious matters concerning its employees in the greater Luzon area. Benemerito-Castillo, whose practice encompasses intellectual property and labour law, has been the lead partner on the matter.
Kapunan Garcia & Castillo Law Offices
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 489
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A •Dispute Resolution •
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory •Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Labour & Employment Life Sciences Private Equity Restructuring & Insolvency Shipping, Maritime & Aviation 3•Tax
Asialaw recommended individualsJohannes Bernabe | Manolito Manalo | Carlos Ocampo
Asialaw firm highlightsOcampo Manalo Bernabe Valdez & Lim is well-known for its aviation practice and also handles M&A, litigation, and telecommunications work.
It acts for both domestic and foreign clients. International clients have included Qatar, Korean, and Chinese airlines. The firm has a disputes practice that covers a broad range of areas, including white collar crime, fraud, and arbitration, for construction companies and developers.
Co-founder and managing partner Manolito Manalo specialises in civil, administrative and commercial law. Manalo has extensive experience in handling matters before the Civil Aeronautics Board, Air Transportation Office, Bureau of Immigration, Land Transportation Franchis-ing and Regulatory Board, Intellectual Property
Office and the Securities Exchange Commission. He is legal consultant to a number of local and national elective officials and is a director of The Legal Information Network Corporation, a Filipino-Japanese consultancy firm established primarily for Japanese investors. Carlos Ocampo acts on commercial and transportation matters, as well as handling IP cases. Both partners assisted Ayala Hotels & Resorts in the acquisi-tion of two ATR aircraft and helped another client secure regulatory permits to operate non-scheduled domestic flights.
Senior partner Johannes Bernabe focuses on corporate matters. Bernabe has been advising a client in the financing of the construction of a health facility in Guam through subsidiary secured loans valued at US$150 million.
Ocampo Manalo Bernabe Valdez & Lim
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 490
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance 3•Capital Markets 3•Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate 3•Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution •
Energy & Natural Resources 3•Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media •
Labour & Employment Life Sciences Private Equity Restructuring & Insolvency Shipping, Maritime & Aviation Tax •
Asialaw recommended individualsGabriel Dee | Alex Fider | Estrelita Gacutan | Adelina Gatdula | Antonio Picazo | Gemma Santos
Asialaw firm highlightsPicazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos is a highly-regarded firm which has an outstanding practice in banking and capital markets.
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Com-mission (SEC) regularly mandates the firm to assist with proposed rules and regulations and the firm has advised the SEC on new rules regarding warrants and derivatives. The firm’s clients have included the Asian Development Bank, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Chartis Insurance and the Jardine Group.
Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos has a strong corporate and M&A practice. Name partner Antonio Picazo has a standout reputation among peers. He heads the firm’s corporate and banking group and is considered one of the most respected corporate practitioners in the Philippines, with recognised expertise in corporate, securities and banking laws.
Leading practitioner Gemma Santos has acted for buyers and sellers on a number of landmark M&A deals.
Gabriel Dee is well-known for both corporate and capital markets work, while Alex Fider is regarded as another top corporate and M&A partner at the firm. He has extensive experience in mining and media.
Estrelita Gacutan handles corporate work for Mitsubishi, San Miguel and Kirin Brewery.
Partner Adelina Gatdula is known for her real estate expertise. The firm’s real estate practice advises and assists on matters including the acqui-sition, lease, development and sale of real estate.
The firm is also strong in telecommunica-tions and mass media matters. It acted on the financing of the Mabuhay Satellite and has advised high-profile clients such as PLDT and Smart Communications in the Philippines.
Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 491
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance 3•Capital Markets •Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution •
Energy & Natural Resources 3•Financial Services Regulatory •Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media •
Asialaw recommended individualsRamil Bugayong | Maria Raquel Chavez | Monalisa Dimalanta | Regina Jacinto-Barrientos | Roy Enrico Santos | Virginia Viray
Asialaw firm highlightsPuyat Jacinto & Santos Law Offices (PJS Law) is a full-service firm praised by peers for its out-standing expertise in project finance, energy and natural resources.
The firm’s energy practice has secured a strategic position in the sector. Partner Monalisa Dimalanta leads the group. Formerly an associate with Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose, she was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1998. Dimalanta advised the Secretary of Energy on drafting policies regarding implementation instru-ments relating to the downstream oil, natural gas and electric power industries.
She has been advising an energy development company on the development and implemen-tation of its renewable energy projects in the Philippines. This includes providing assistance on equity structuring, Philippine law and regulatory requirements governing the energy sector, and drafting and negotiations of project contracts including investment agreements, energy supply and fuel purchase contracts.
In addition to acting on labour and litiga-tion matters, Roy Enrico Santos, formerly an associate with Quisumbing Torres, focuses on energy projects.
PJS Law has been acting as counsel to the Philippine subsidiary of an international wind power company that is developing over 450MW
of wind projects in the Philippines and its first 80 MW project in Northern Luzon.
It has also been advising companies looking to engage in the assessment, exploration and devel-opment of wind power resources in the Ilocos Region, Casiguran, Aurora and San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. This has involved advising on the Philippine regulatory framework for wind energy projects, particularly on the requisite gov-ernment approvals and procedures for entering into a contract with the Philippine government.
The firm also has an established banking and finance practice. Ramil Bugayong leads the practice group. The team has been acting as counsel to a foreign client seeking to establish the Philippines’ first bank to operate exclusively as an e-bank utilising the mobile network technology platform.
Partners Regina Jacinto-Barrientos, Virginia Viray and Maria Raquel Chavez focus on M&A transactions that often relate to the energy sector.
The firm, with Jacinto-Barrientos and Viray as team leaders, is also active in the area of real estate and construction. PJS Law has been acting as counsel to Masinloc Power Partners, the project company of AES, operating the Masinloc coal-fired thermal power plant, in conducting the land inventory and due diligence in connection with the site acquisition for power generation facilities and acquisition of rights of way.
PJS Law
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 492
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance •Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory Insurance •Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Asialaw recommended individualsPeter Bantilan | Hector Martinez | Carlos Platon | Grace Quevedo-Panagsagan | San Pedro | Rachelle Santos | Arturo Selim
Asialaw firm highlightsPlaton Martinez Flores San Pedro Leaño is a full-service firm with practices covering the areas of litigation, intellectual property, taxation, banking, insurance, immigration, labour, and environmental protection, among others.
Established in 1996, the firm has quickly gained recognition from peers, particularly for its aviation practice. Clients include China Airlines, Philippine Airlines, DHL, Thai Airways, KLM and Cathay Pacific. Partners Peter Bantilan and Arturo Selim are leading lawyers for the area and also advise on litigation matters.
The firm is well-regarded for its expertise in dispute resolution, handling a wide range of civil, commercial, shipping and administrative cases, including intra-corporate and stockholders’ derivative suits, at both the trial and appellate levels. Platon Martinez Flores San Pedro Leaño has extensive experience in construction arbitra-tion and mass tort litigation and product liability cases.
Managing partner Carlos Platon, a former president of the Philippine Bar Asso-ciation, focuses on litigation and leads the firm’s corporate practice. In its corporate work, the firm specialises in foreign direct investment and the setting up of wholly-owned or joint venture businesses in the Philippines, and advises on a broad range of corporate and M&A transac-tions. Partner Rachelle Santos is also a member of the corporate team.
Senior partner Grace Quevedo-Panagsagan handles a full range of labour-related work, from collective bargaining agreement negotiations to wrongful dismissal proceedings.
Platon Martinez Flores San Pedro Leaño is also strong in the area of IP. Partner Augusto San Pedro is a registered trade marks and patents attorney. Partner Hector Martinez heads the tax department and is recognised as “a bright lawyer”.
Platon Martinez Flores San Pedro Leaño
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 493
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance •Capital Markets •Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory •Insurance •Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media •
Asialaw recommended individualsMario Luza Bautista | Alexander Poblador | Gilbert Raymund Reyes | Raymund Rodriguez | Marie Cecile Roque-Quintos
Asialaw firm highlightsFounded in 1994, Poblador Bautista & Reyes is a full-service partnership which focuses on litiga-tion and arbitration.
It also covers corporate and M&A, real estate, insurance, employment and immigration, industrial and intellectual property, telecommu-nications, banking and securities matters.
Clients include local and international entities, such as Manila Water, Alltech Contractors and Luisita Industrial Park.
The firm is led by co-founding partner Alexander Poblador, who focuses on litigation and arbitration, corporate, banking and finance work. Co-founding partner Mario Luza Bautista has experience in a wide range of practice areas and is particularly acclaimed for his work in dispute resolution, banking and finance and capital markets.
Co-founding partner Gilbert Raymund Reyes practises litigation, IP, real property law, labour insurance, and admiralty law. He has advised Metro Rail Transit Development Corporation (MRTDC) in an arbitration dispute over the
advertising rights contract over the entire Metro Rail Transit 3, which spans the entire length of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, one of the main roads of Metro Manila.
Senior partner Raymund Rodriguez is well-known for his expertise in banking and capital markets, while Marie Cecile Roque-Quintos has extensive experience in corporate and M&A work.
They advised Funai Electric in its acquisi-tion of Lexmark International (Philippines). Roque-Quintos also advised on a $950 million conditional sale and purchase agreement between the client, leading manufacturer and supplier of cocoa ingredients Petra Foods, and a manufac-turer of cocoa and chocolate products – Barry Callebaut.
On the banking and finance side, the team prepared counsel’s opinions for a global bank as lender for a grant of facilities to a local petroleum corporation. The firm also advises various banks and financial institutions on regulatory and com-pliance issues.
Poblador Bautista & Reyes
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 494
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance •Capital Markets •Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution •
Energy & Natural Resources 3•Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media •
Labour & Employment Life Sciences Private Equity Restructuring & Insolvency •Shipping, Maritime & Aviation Tax •
Asialaw recommended individualsHelena Calo | Justice Ricardo Puno Sr | Regis Puno | Ricardo Puno Jr | Roderico Puno | Julito Sarmiento
Asialaw firm highlightsPuno & Puno, founded in 1984 by retired Justice Ricardo Puno Sr, a recognised authority in Phil-ippine civil, commercial and procedural law, has significantly diversified its areas of practice.
Initially a litigation firm, it now offers a range of legal services to local and international clients.
The firm has extensive experience in litigation and international commercial arbitration. It acts on behalf of various clients in dispute resolution cases involving international and domestic arbi-trations.
Puno & Puno has acted as co-counsel for the respondent in an international arbitration that has been adjudicated by an arbitration panel of three members whose chairman was appointed by the International Chamber of Commerce.
The firm has acted as counsel to an interna-tional telecommunications company in a dispute arising from a shareholder agreement governed by Philippine law. Lead partners for the dispute resolution practice are Regis Puno and Helena Calo.
Aside from the firm’s litigation practice, it also has a solid reputation in the areas of energy, secu-rities law, taxation law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate rehabilitation and project finance.
Many of lawyers, including senior partner Regis Puno, who served as Undersecretary of the Department of Justice from 1998 to 2001, have extensive experience in government service, having previously occupied notable positions in government agencies and departments. This has enhanced the firm’s strong relations with the Philippine government.
Other senior partners, particularly Ricardo Puno Jr, Roderico Puno and Julito Sarmiento, pre-viously worked at leading Philippine companies in the broadcast and print media, power genera-tion and mining industry, respectively.
Puno & Puno is known for its expertise in energy and natural resources. Senior partner Roderico Puno is a prominent figure in the project finance area. Peers note that the firm is active in M&A, banking and capital markets transactions.
The firm has advised domestic and foreign mining companies on their acquisition of mining claims and rights covered by existing projects with the objective of rehabilitating the projects. Puno & Puno has represented leading copper exporters and large publicly-listed copper mining companies.
Puno & Puno
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 495
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance 3•Capital Markets •Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A •Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources 3•Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds •IT, Telco & Media •
Asialaw firm highlightsFounded in 1974 by Camilo Quiason and Eduardo Makalintal, Quiason Makalintal Barot Torres Ibarra & Sison is a well-established full-service firm.
The firm is organised into practice groups including corporate (banking and finance, invest-ments and trade, securities regulation), energy and public utilities, immigration, intellectual property, labour, litigation, taxation, telecom-munications and mass media. Most of the firm’s lawyers practice across different areas.
Quiason Makalintal Barot Torres Ibarra & Sison has a strong project finance team, led by co-managing partner Ruel Soriano. It frequently acts for project sponsors such as the Energy Development Corporation, Manila Electric Company and Cagayan Electric Power & Light Co. Partner and head of securities Enrique Quiason has a diverse practice, working for a prominent clients such as First Philec Nexolon and First Philec Solar Corporation.
Quiason Makalintal Barot Torres Ibarra & Sison is well-known for its strong tax group, led by Ruel Soriano and Wilfrido Sanchez, a tax counsel and former managing director of an
auditing firm. Clients include Levi Strauss, Rizal Commercial Banking and Lopez Holdings.
The firm’s corporate clients have included Cagayan Electric Power and Light and First Gen Corporation. Soriano is also engaged in capital markets deals.
The litigation group has experience in handling all legal aspects of filing, maintaining and defending civil and criminal cases in trial and appellate courts or administrative bodies. The team, led by partner Orencio Ibarra Jr, has acted for individual and corporate clients in a number of commercial litigation matters, including petitions for rehabilitation, suspension of payments and liquidation of corporations, intra-corporate and stockholders’ derivative suits, actions involving enforcement of contracts, cases for damages based on tort, and real estate suits.
The group also handles judicial or extra-judicial foreclosures of chattel and real estate mortgages, as well as judicial enforcement of other types of creditor’s liens or rights. Ibarra has considerable experience in handling cases governed by the Philippine Arbitration Law and the law on Corporate Rehabilitation.
Quiason Makalintal Barot Torres Ibarra & Sison
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 496
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance 3•Capital Markets 3•Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate 3•Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources 3•Financial Services Regulatory •Insurance •Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds •IT, Telco & Media •
Asialaw recommended individualsCynthia Roxas del-Castillo | Eduardo de los Angeles | Jacinto Jimenez | Jose Salvador Mirasol | Agustin Montilla | Rogelio Nicandro | Perry Pe | Priscilla Valer
Asialaw firm highlightsRomulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles (Romulo) is a highly-regarded full-service firm and the sole Philippine member of Lex Mundi, a worldwide network of about 160 independent law firms.
Romulo offers a full range of legal services with its team of highly experienced experts. Areas of the firm’s practice include mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, securities, banking, foreign investment, dispute resolution, taxation, mining, oil and gas, infrastructure, environment, immigration, insurance, labour and employment, aviation and admiralty, real estate, intellectual property, art and antiquity, and family law.
The firm, established over 100 years ago, remains a leading player in the Philippine market for corporate and finance work. It is frequently mandated by local and international banking clients, on a range of transactional and regulatory finance work. Areas of expertise include foreign loans, capital markets, structured products and derivatives.
Partner Perry Pe heads the project develop-ment and finance group. Partner and head of the banking and corporate practice Jose Salvador Mirasol is counsel to leading banks in the Philip-pines, including Citibank, ING and the Bank of China. Agustin Montilla is a capital markets and
M&A lawyer, who represents NASDAQ-listed clients and advises on SEC-registered offerings in addition to Rule 144A and Regulation S transac-tions. Cynthia Roxas del-Castillo leads the firm’s securities department and advises on IPOs.
Romulo represented Globe Telecom in its international public tender offer and acquisition of restructured financial debt, including 13.5% senior notes originally due in 2006, issued by Bayan Telecommunications and its subsidiary Radio Communications of the Philippines. The team worked together with deal parties in the US and Singapore advising Globe in relation to the simultaneous offer for loans and notes. The transaction, valued at US$497 million, closed successfully in December 2012, with Globe acquiring over 96% of the total debt.
Romulo also has a solid disputes practice which covers both litigation and arbitration. Senior partner Eduardo de los Angeles is a “great litigator”, according to peers, while Jacinto Jimenez is esteemed for his capabilities in arbitration.
The IP practice undertakes a wide range of matters, especially with regards to copyright, patent protection, licensing and technology transfer agreements, and trade mark matters. Rogelio Nicandro is known for his expertise in IP.
Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 497
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance Capital Markets Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources •Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Asialaw recommended individualsMario Andres | Luisito Lantin | Antonio Pido
Asialaw firm highlightsEstablished in Manila in 1901, Siguion Reyna, Montecillo & Ongsiako (SRMO) offers a broad range of legal services to a variety of clients.
Its client base includes local clients, large cor-porations, eminent individuals and families and the Philippines, and overseas clients.
It has acted for large companies from places including the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Clients have included airlines, international banks, man-ufacturers, telecommunication companies, media, and power and utility companies.
The firm has one of the largest private law libraries in the Philippines, recognised by the Supreme Court as one of three Centennial Law Libraries.
The firm is actively engaged in M&A, labour, intellectual property, and dispute resolution
matters. SRMO’s disputes practice is mainly noted for its expertise in labour litigation and arbitration cases. The firm represents both local and international clients. Mario Andres is the key lawyer for dispute resolution.
The firm has also extensive experience in collective bargaining negotiations, strike contingency and strike handling, labour litiga-tion arising from termination, wage claims, unfair labour practice acts and other employer-employee disputes, both trial and appellate, as well as assumption-of-jurisdiction cases, compul-sory and voluntary arbitration, and certification election proceedings.
SRMO advises its corporate clients on labour standards, occupational health and safety, and labour relations issues. Antonio Pido and Luisito Lantin are the leading labour lawyers at the firm.
Siguion Reyna Montecillo & Ongsiako
AsiAlAw Profiles 2014 www.asialawprofiles.com
PhiliPPines 498
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance 3•Capital Markets 3•Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A 3•Dispute Resolution 3•
Energy & Natural Resources 3•Financial Services Regulatory •Insurance Intellectual Property 3•Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media •
Asialaw recommended individualsNelson Antolin | Vicente Amador | Hector De Leon Jr | Mia Gentugaya | Emmanuel Lombos | Carlos Roberto Lopez | Rolando Medalla Jr | Rafael Morales | Emmanuel Paras | Ramon Songco | Lozano Tan
Asialaw firm highlightsSyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, or SyCipLaw, established in 1945, is the largest law firm in the Philippines, with a principal office in Makati City, the financial and business centre of Metropolitan Manila, and branch offices in Cebu City, Davao City, and the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
SyCipLaw is widely recognised by peers. “SyCip is our peer firm; we meet frequently on complex transactions,” says one. “Rafael Morales is extremely effective, a leading figure in the field”. Morales is the managing partner of the firm. He spe-cialises in corporate, banking and finance areas with a focus on financing, securities, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions.
SyCipLaw acted as local counsel to Coca-Cola FEMSA, SAB de CV (KOF) in its acquisition of 51% of the outstanding capital stock of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines (CCBPI). Since then, the firm has been advising KOF and CCBPI in developing its labour policies.
On the banking side, SyCipLaw has represented clients in a number of lending, securities offering, financing and credit deals, in addition to restructur-ing and financial workouts. The team offers advice on regulatory matters affecting banking institutions.
It has assisted in major bank acquisitions and mergers and represented owners, lenders and advisors in large project finance transactions, including the financing of power plants, airports, mass transit railroads, toll roads, and telecommuni-cations facilities. Mia Gentugaya is a leading lawyer for banking and corporate transactions.
Partner Emmanuel Paras leads the firm’s corporate services department. He has experience
in real estate, mergers and acquisitions, securities registration, foreign investments, joint ventures, corporate restructuring and reorganisation, and commercial law.
SyCipLaw has acted on a large number of liti-gation and arbitration cases. The team is frequently instructed by international and domestic clients to handle matters ranging from product liability to constitutional challenges. Emmanuel Lombos leads the practice group and has an excellent reputation among his peers.
Its partners, including Carlos Roberto Lopez, represent clients before regular courts, administra-tive and quasi-judicial agencies, as well as arbitral tribunals and other bodies.
The firm is well-known for its expertise in com-mercial and business litigation. Its work has involved mass tort actions filed against fruit plantation companies and chemical manufacturers, tobacco product liability cases, cybersquatting, as well as WTO cases. Of counsel Nelson Antolin specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration.
The team, including Antolin and partner Ramon Songco, has been representing a foreign mining corporation in a Writ of Kalikasan case filed by residents of a Philippine province involving a mining incident that occurred in the 1990s. The Writ of Kalikasan case seeks for the remediation and reha-bilitation of a Philippine body of water.
Whilst the firm has a business law focus, it also offers a broad and integrated range of legal services that cover areas such as family, constitutional issues and other non-commercial areas of law.
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan
www.asialawprofiles.com AsiAlAw Profiles 2014
PhiliPPines 499
Practice areas Asialaw highly recommends 3 Active practice areas •
Banking & Finance •Capital Markets •Competition & Antitrust Construction & Real Estate •Corporate/M&A •Dispute Resolution •
Energy & Natural Resources Financial Services Regulatory Insurance Intellectual Property •Investment Funds IT, Telco & Media
Asialaw recommended individualsAngelo Patrick Advincula | Antero Jose M Caganda | Lily Gruba
Asialaw firm highlightsZambrano & Gruba is a mid-sized multi-practice law firm led by managing partner Lily Gruba.
The firm advises clients on general corporate and commercial matters, taxation, disputes, capital markets, and foreign investments. It has acted for a broad range of clients, from start-up businesses to multinationals. It has assisted foreign businesses and companies in setting up their investments in the country.
It is well-known for its expertise on conten-tious and advisory tax expertise. Partner Antero Jose M Caganda has been acting on several petitions before the Philippine Court of Tax Appeals in relation to value-added tax, expanded withholding tax and documentary stamp tax. Other recent clients of the practice include Apo Cement Corporation, Puregold Duty Free and Victorias Milling Company.
The firm has been acting for Philippines Airlines, Philippine National Bank and Filipinas Mining Corporation on various disputes matters.
In the capital markets space, the firm has been acting for domestic clients on initial public offerings. In 2012, Angelo Patrick F Advincula acted for Lucio L. Co and Susan P. Co in relation to a private placement involving the offer and sale of shares where UBS and Religare Capital Markets (Hong Kong) were placement agents.
Clients have included companies in the power generation and supply, banking, retail and manufacturing industries, among others. The firm has also acted for restaurants, colleges and educational institutions, trade associations, cooperatives, religious institutions, export enter-prises and individuals.
