AMONG THE JUDGES

Each year, ALB invites an independent judging panel of senior and expert legal industry leaders from various sectors corresponding to the diverse list of award categories.

ALB is pleased to introduce some of the distinguished judges who reviewed the submissions, together with the rest of the panel who will be revealed on the evening of the awards.

Daisy P. Arce
President, Capital Markets Integrity Corporation

A corporate lawyer with extensive experience in organizing and restructuring business corporations, mergers, divisions and acquisitions, capital restructuring, and their customized documentations, Ms. Arce was a partner in Quasha Ancheta Pena and Nolasco, one of the oldest law firms in the Philippines and had charge of its Banking and Corporate Finance group handling diverse and complex financial transactions of local and international investors covering syndications, FX loans and facilities, project financing, structuring security and collateral arrangements, remedial strategy and asset recovery. As legal counsel to and negotiator for foreign and local investors, she handled financial arrangements and restructuring agreements involving IT, power generation, telecommunications, steel manufacturing.

She subsequently set up her own practice, concentrating on arbitration, securities and special projects for foreign banks. She was legal advisor to the Philippine Stock Exchange and the latter’s wholly-owned subsidiary and regulatory arm, the Capital Markets Integrity Corporation.

Currently she is President of the Capital Markets Integrity Corporation.

An active member of Zonta International, she lectures on the Rights of Women, the Rights of Children, Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children and spearheaded for Zonta, together with like-minded organizations, the building of sustainable housing for survivors of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

Dante Miguel V. Cadiz
General Counsel and Vice-President, San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation

Dante Miguel V. Cadiz is the General Counsel and Vice-President of San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation (“SMYPC”) and a Professor in Ateneo de Manila University Law School.

SMYPC provides total packaging solutions across the globe. It has a wide range of quality products - glass, plastics, metal, flexibles, PET, molds, and paper, as well as reliable services and technical expertise. Its plants and facilities provide a dynamic, strategically accessible, and world-class supply base, creating a sustainable competitive advantage in its global business. SMYPC combines the competencies of two recognized Asian brands - one of Southeast Asia's biggest conglomerates, San Miguel Corporation and Japan's Nihon Yamamura Glass Company, Ltd., and has facilities all over the Philippines, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, China, Vietnam, and Malaysia. 

By providing strategic and innovative legal advice and management to SMYPC, Dante ensures that the needs of the business are balanced with its legal compliance.

Before joining SMYPC, Dante was a legal consultant to the World Bank and was previously a labor and litigation lawyer with Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & Delos Angeles Law Offices and Angara Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices. He is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania (Law School & Wharton Business School), Ateneo de Manila University Law School, and University of Sto. Tomas.

Ferdinand M. Casis
Professor, Ateneo de Manila University School of Law

Ferdinand M. Casis is a public sector reform advocate with years of leadership experience in development work. A pioneer of alternative legal practice in the Philippines, he co-founded the Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panlegal (SALIGAN) in 1987 and helped lay the foundation of the Alternative Law Groups, Inc., a nationwide coalition of law groups engaged in the practice of developmental law. He is a member of the Board of Trustees and Council of Advisers of SALIGAN. He is also the Board Secretary and Legal Officer of the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), the biggest network of credit and savings cooperatives in the Philippines. He is also the Corporate Secretary of the Caucus of Development NGO Networks, Inc. (CODE NGO), the largest coalition of civil society organizations in the country.

Atty. Casis is a recognized expert in agrarian law, administrative law, labor relations and trade unionism. He held key position in the Philippine Government, serving as Director and Legal Consultant at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). He also served as Chief of Staff and Adviser of Legislators at the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Atty. Casis is a Professor at the Ateneo College of Law, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Institute of Law and the Ateneo de Manila School of Management. He is also a Lecturer of Center for Global Best Practices.

Atty. Casis is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, where he finished Bachelor of Laws in 1986 and Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering in 1981.

Jose Maria G. Hofileña 
Dean, Ateneo de Manila University School of Law

Jose Maria G. Hofileña (“Joey”) is Dean of the top-tier Ateneo de Manila University School of Law, a Jesuit educational and research institution in the Philippines, and is likewise a member of its Commercial Law and Intellectual Property Department.  His areas of instruction include Corporation Law, Banking, Insurance and Foreign Investment Laws.  He is at the same time a Visiting Professor for Commercial Law at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University's College of Law.

Joey obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo de Manila in 1983 and proceeded to the Ateneo Law School where he completed his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1987 as Class Valedictorian. In 1990, he was conferred a Master of Laws degree by Harvard Law School.  One month after taking the November 1987 national Bar Examinations (ranking 10th), Joey joined SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan and became partner thereat from 1996 through 2012, practicing within the firm’s Corporate department, focusing on general corporate law, banking, finance, securities and capital markets. He also had stints as a foreign attorney at Johnson & Gibbs in Dallas, Texas and at McDermott, Will & Emery in New York City.  

Joey serves on the Editorial Board of the Law Journal of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

Marianne Malate-Guerrero
Senior Vice President and Group Head for Legal Services, United Coconut Planters Bank Philippines

Atty. Marianne (“Ianne”) Guerrero carries with her almost thirty years of legal experience, having started her legal career in 1989 as an associate in one of the top ranking law firms in the Philippines, Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon and San Jose. During those nine years with the firm, she honed her skills in corporate litigation, contract drafting and negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, labor and intellectual property.  Subsequently, she began her career as an in-house counsel when she was invited by a banking institution, Solidbank Corporation, to be its first General Counsel.  Two years into that role, Ms. Guerrero moved on to a senior role in a Singaporean bank, United Overseas Bank, as Senior Vice President and Legal Head for its Philippine operations.  After five years with UOB, Ms. Guerrero joined the largest conglomerate in the Philppines, the SM Group.  There she took on the role of Senior Vice President and Legal Head of its mother company, SM Investments Corporation.  During her eleven years  with SM, her legal team serviced almost all the subsidiaries and affiliates of the SM Group.

Currently, Ms. Guerrero is the Senior Vice President and Group Head for Legal Services in United Coconut Planters Bank Philippines, one of the larger banks in the Philippines, which focuses on consumer loans.

Mario E. Valderrama
General Counsel, (Philippine) Construction Industry Arbitration Commission 

Atty. Valderrama is the General Counsel for the (Philippine) Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC).

He is the Chairman of the Philippine Chapter of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators East Asia Branch.

He is a Fellow, the Founder and First President of the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators where he is currently President Emeritus. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators. 

He is a Member of the Faculty of the Arellano University School of Law, where he handles Alternative Dispute Resolution and Arbitration.

His practice areas include ADR and Arbitration, Corporate Law, Contract Law, Civil Law, Special Contracts, Insurance Law, Credit Transactions, Law on Sales, Transportation, Political and Constitutional Law, others.

He obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree at the Far Eastern University Institute of Law, from where he graduated valedictorian and magna cum laude in 1982. He thereafter passed the 1982 Philippine Bar Examination, placing 12^th, and was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1983. 

Oscar Franklin Tan
Legal Opinion Columnist, Philipppine Daily Inquirer

Oscar is a New York/Philippine-qualified M&A and capital markets lawyer focusing on Southeast Asia cross-border transactions with the Singapore office of DLA Piper, one of the world's largest law firms. He handles various types of acquisitions and financings, including private equity acquisitions, late stage venture capital rounds, high yield bond issues and liability management, and blockchain/cryptocurrency issues. 

He holds law degrees from Harvard Law School and the University of the Philippines (where he chaired the Philippine Law Journal) and a double-major in BS Management Engineering/AB Economics Honors from the Ateneo de Manila University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst Level III candidate.  

Senate Resolution No. 73 (2015) honored Oscar as one of the Philippines' outstanding young lawyers. He previously won the JCI "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World" (TOYP of the World), JCI Philippines "The Outstanding Young Men" (TOYM), "Singapore's most promising legal luminaries aged 40 and under," Singapore Business Review, and "Young Lawyer of the Year," Asia Legal Business SEA Law Awards (finalist). Oscar writes "Sisyphus' Lament," the legal opinion column of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Roel Arco Refran
Chief Operating Officer, Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc

Atty. Roel Arco Refran is the chief operating officer of The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc, (PSE), recognized as the Best Stock Exchange for 2016, 2015 and 2013 by Alpha Southeast Asia Deal Awards. He is co-chairperson of the Philippines’ National Market Practice Group (PH NMPG), and chairs the Capital Market Development Committee of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Philippine Fulbright Scholars Association. He is the Vice Chairperson of the Commercial Law Department of the Ateneo Law School, where he is also a professor of law. He was awarded the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of the Philippines (UP) Virata School of Business where he is a professorial lecturer 1.  Atty Refran is a lecturer at De La Salle University College of Law and Adjunct Faculty at the Asian Institute of Management. Atty. Refran holds an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School (USA) where he was a Fulbright scholar. While at Emory University, Atty. Refran worked at the Emory Center for Alternative Investments. He earned his business administration and accountancy degree, magna cum laude, from UP, and his Juris Doctor degree, Second Honors, from Ateneo Law School. 

Solomon M. Hermosura
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Ayala Corporation

Solomon M. Hermosura has more than three decades of solid experience in legal services. Currently with Ayala Corporation (“Ayala”), one of the largest and most respected business groups in the Philippines, Mr. Hermosura holds various senior leadership positions: Chief Legal Officer, Corporate Secretary, Compliance Officer, Data Protection Officer and Corporate Governance Group Head of Ayala, CEO of AG Legal (the shared legal center of Ayala and its affiliates), Group General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Ayala Land, Inc. and Corporate Secretary of Globe Telecom, Inc., Manila Water Company, Inc., and Integrated Microelectronics, Inc.  He has been a member of the Management Committee and Investment Committee of Ayala and has taken an expanded role as a member of the Ayala Group Management Committee, with 19 directorial positions in various operating subsidiaries of Ayala.

As head of Corporate Governance of Ayala, he provides guidance and promotes thought leadership in areas of good governance, corporate and business law, and leads the council on regulations which monitors and analyzes regulatory matters affecting the business of Ayala. He is also a faculty member of the San Beda College of Law, a teaching initiative he has taken as part of his personal advocacy to support legal education.

Hermosura graduated valedictorian with degree of Bachelor of Laws from San Beda in 1986 and ranked third in the 1986 bar examinations.  

Teodoro C. Pascua
Deputy Director General, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines 

Atty. Teodoro C. Pascua is currently the Deputy Director General (DDG) for Management Services, External Relations and Policy of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL). As Deputy Director General, he oversees the Documentation, Information, and Technology Transfer Bureau or the Innovation Bureau; Bureau of Copyright and Other Related Rights; Financial, Management and Administrative Services; Management Information Service; and Office for Strategy Management. He is responsible for Policy Formulation, International Relations, Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements, and Free Trade Negotiations, among others. Additionally, he is in charge of the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Office.

Atty. Pascua was previously Undersecretary for the Consumer Protection Group of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), from August 2016 to January 2018.

He was formerly Deputy Director General for Technical Education and Skills Development Operations of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) from 2010 to 2016.

He also served as a legal assistant in the Bureau of Employment Services of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in 1981. He had been involved in the legal matters of several private entities like the City land Development Corporation where he served as legal counsel. Until his engagement with government in 2010, he has been in active practice of law since 1983 in various law firms notably Bito Misa Lozada Law Offices, Misa Law Office & Pascua & Zuñiga Law Office and Yulo Aliling Pascua & Zuñiga Law Offices.

Atty. Pascua completed his Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila in 1978 and finished his Bachelor of Laws from the UP Law School in 1982.   

Teodoro Kalaw IV 
President Emeritus, Philippine Institute of Arbitrators

Teodoro Kalaw IV is the first and only Filipino to be installed as a Chartered Arbitrator as well as certified as an Accredited Mediator by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) of the United Kingdom. A President Emeritus of the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (PIArb), he is among the youngest to be elected a Fellow of CIArb, PIArb, the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators, and the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution. In legal practice for nearly two decades, he is admitted to the Philippine Bar, the New York State Bar, and the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. 

As Director of the Center for the Amicable Resolution of Disputes of the Lyceum of the Philippines University, a joint initiative with PIArb, he is responsible for designing and delivering the first graduate degree in professional dispute resolution in the ASEAN region. He also teaches corporate governance and intellectual property management at the Ateneo Law School.

Atty. Kalaw obtained his Bachelor of Science in Management and his Juris Doctor degrees from the Ateneo de Manila University, his Master in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines, his Master of Business Administration jointly from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University of the United States and the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology Business School, and his Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.

Valerie Feria Amante
Vice President & Head of Corporate Legal and Corporate Ethics, Jollibee Foods Corporation 

Valerie Feria Amante was awarded In-House Lawyer of the Year at the inaugural ALB Philippine Law Awards in 2016.  She is the Vice President & Head of Corporate Legal and concurrent Head of Corporate Ethics of Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC).  As Head of Corporate Legal since 2007, she leads the global legal organization that is responsible for managing legal risks across the businesses of JFC, which span multiple jurisdictions.  As Head of Corporate Ethics since the office was established in 2016, she is responsible for designing and implementing JFC’s global ethics program. Before joining JFC, Atty. Feria Amante was legal counsel for Ayala Land, Inc., and prior to that, she was an associate at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan.  She graduated Salutatorian from the University of the Philippines College of Law, and placed 7^th in the Philippine Bar Examinations.

Jollibee Foods Corporation is the largest Asian food service company, with a worldwide store network of more than 4,300 stores, under the following brands: Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Burger King (Philippines), Pho24, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Dunkin Donuts (China), Highlands Coffee, and Smashburger.  JFC also recently signed agreements to invest in the Tortas Frontera business in the US, and to bring Panda Express to the Philippines.