Category Archives: Senior Partners

Tranquil G.S. Salvador III (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board who co-heads the Litigation & Arbitration, and Environment & Natural Resources departments. His practice focuses on litigation, arbitration, and natural resources.

Tranquil is involved in civil litigation, criminal litigation, natural resources, aviation, arbitration, labor, general corporate law, and other matters which include regulatory and transactions advice.

Tranquil is currently the holder of the Justice Jose Colayco Professorial Chair in Remedial Law in the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law. He teaches Remedial Law review in a number of law schools in the Philippines, including the UP College of Law, Ateneo de Manila University School of Law, and Centro Escolar University.

Tranquil, in the years of 2001 and 2005, was named as the Awardee in Law by the Huwarang Pilipino (Exemplary Filipino) Foundation. He was the President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Quezon City Chapter from 2009 to 2011. In 2013, he was appointed by the Supreme Court Associate Justice Abad as a member of the Topical Working Group on the Revisions of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Tranquil received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Santo Tomas in 1987 and his bachelor of laws degree from Ateneo de Manila University in 1991. He then received his master of laws degree in Global and International Business Law from Suffolk University in 2009. He joined the firm in 1991 and was admitted to the Philippine bar in 1992.

Louie T. Ogsimer (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board who Co-Chairs the Dispute Resolution Department and heads the firm’s arbitration practice. 

Louie has handled ad hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and institutional arbitrations administered by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), Philippine Dispute Resolution Centre Inc. (PDRCI), and the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission of the Philippines (CIAC), among others. 

Louie’s litigation experience includes appearing and orally arguing before the Philippine Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, Constitutional Commissions, Sandiganbayan, and trial courts all over the Philippines. He has also appeared before various quasi-judicial agencies under the Executive Department and in inquiries in aid of legislation before the Philippine Congress. He has handled high-impact cases before the Supreme Court in the areas of alternative dispute resolution, constitutional law, commercial disputes, government regulation, securities trading, and environmental law. 

He is a passionate advocate of alternative dispute resolution and has settled more than eighty percent of his cases to the satisfaction of the firm’s clients. The arbitration and litigation cases he has won or settled in favor of the firm’s clients cut across various matters like banking, construction, concession and distribution agreements, energy and power, estate settlement, project finance, government regulation, public and private infrastructure, insolvency and rehabilitation, insurance, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions, mining, oil and gas, public utilities, real property, securities trading, shareholders’ agreements, telecommunications, and white-collar crimes.

Louie was a member of the National Competitiveness Council Working Group on the Judicial System under the Office of the President, which formulated policies and proposals to improve the Philippine judicial system. He has been consistently cited by various local and international publications for his arbitration and litigation practice. He is a court member of the ICC Court of Arbitration and a member of the SIAC Panel of Arbitrators. He is a faculty member of the Ateneo de Manila School of Law teaching International Commercial Arbitration and Private International Law.

Louie received his bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from the University of the Philippines in 1993 and his bachelor of laws from the same university in 1997. He was admitted to the Philippine bar in 1998 and joined the firm in 1999.

Agustin R. Montilla, IV (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board and a member of the Securities department. His practice focuses on securities, and corporate law.

Agustin helps solve problems for domestic and foreign clients and corporations. His experience is built on international securities offerings, restructuring, takeovers, take-privates, and cross-border acquisitions. He also serves as an advisor to various charitable and non-profit organizations devoted to education and the care of those affected by cancer.

Agustin was involved in the groundbreaking Pilipino Telephone Corporation debt restructuring, which remains to be the largest in the Philippines to have ever been successfully concluded on a consensual basis. He has represented the then NASDAQ-listed eTelecare Global Solutions, Inc. in an unprecedented auction requiring concurrent tender offers in the Philippines and the United States which necessitated compliance with incongruent laws and regulations.

Agustin has been named as a leading lawyer in Chambers Asia Pacific, AsiaLaw Profiles, and Asia Pacific Legal 500.

Agustin received his bachelor’s degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1991 and his juris doctor degree from the same university in 1995, with honors. He received his master of laws degree from Columbia University in 2002. He joined the firm in 1996.

Enriquito J. Mendoza (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board who chairs the Labor & Immigration department and is affiliated with the Litigation & Arbitration department. His practice focuses on labor, litigation, and corporate law.

Quito leads the Labor department in assisting employer-clients in collective bargaining negotiations and disputes before labor agencies and courts of law. He gives comprehensive advice on workers and employer rights, including the ramifications to such rights as a result of mergers, consolidations, acquisitions, and other modes of corporate restructuring. His advice covers the effects on security of tenure and possible claims over statutory and contractual benefits resulting from such restructuring.

Quito counsels clients in strike situations on the best ways of resolving labor disputes by way of practical solutions as well as through conciliation, mediation, arbitration, and other extrajudicial processes encouraged by the Labor Code. He also handles labor litigation before the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

Quito, with his 40 years of labor law experience, has consistently been cited as a Band 1 labor and employment counsel by reputable law reviews, most recently by the 2013 edition of Chambers and Partners.

Quito received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines in 1968 and his bachelor of laws degree from the same university in 1973. He was admitted to the Philippine bar in 1974 and joined the firm in the same year.

Wilma M. Valdemoro Cua (Senior Partner), is member of the Executive Board and head of the Corporate department. Her practice focuses on corporate law and intellectual property.

Wilma specializes in providing foreign investors, particularly multinational corporations, providing them with a broad range of services in all phases of doing business in the Philippines, may it be in the applicable laws on the various business forms and alternative structures open to investors, in fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, or in the legal procedures and documentations for conducting business.

Wilma also assists local and international clients in the establishment of corporations, branch offices, partnerships, regional headquarters, regional operating headquarters, and other business entities such as foundations, proprietary membership clubs, and non-stock corporations. She has extensive practice in joint venture agreements, consultancy agreements, and international licensing and technology transfer agreements.

Wilma counsels clients in regulatory and transactional matters. She advises ongoing operations of companies engaged in a wide range of activities, such as forestry and mining, car assembly and manufacturing, domestic and international freight forwarding, semiconductors, and real estate development. She has represented both Philippine and foreign clients in dealings before the Securities and Exchange Commission, Board of Investments, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and other government regulatory agencies.

Wilma  received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Santo Tomas in 1969 and her  bachelor of laws degree, from the University of the Philippines in 1973 . She was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1974 and the New York State Bar in 1990. She joined the firm in 1974.

Rogelio Nicandro (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board and the head of the Intellectual Property group. His practice focuses on intellectual property, litigation, and arbitration.

Roger started practicing law immediately after the bar when he was invited by his professor, William R. Veto, a commercial law authority and senior counsel of Tañada Carreon Tañada, to be his legal assistant. He handled civil and commercial litigation at the trial and appellate level. He also handled insurance and intellectual property, variegated contracts, and prepared opinions for his banking clientele.

Roger joined the firm in 1969. In his early years, his practice was concentrated on litigation, civil and commercial, with some criminal cases. He was also into contracts, banking, corporations, intellectual property, and condominiums. He is a pioneer in condominium law practice, having been counsel for the earliest condominium projects in the Philippines.

Roger has acted as panel chairman and arbitrator in significant cases and has been elected since 1996 as trustee of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, the country’s foremost arbitration center.

In 1999, he became the head of the intellectual property department of the firm. He regularly attends international IP congresses where he often contributes country reports and position papers. He is currently Vice-President of the Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Association of the Philippines and is past president of the Licensing Executives Society International, Philippine Group.

From 1987 to 2011, Roger was a legal consultant of the Asian Development Bank. He also taught Election Law in Ateneo Law School for eight years. He was lead counsel of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), particularly, for its successful accreditation as the citizen’s arm for the snap presidential elections of 1986 before the Marcos-controlled Commission on Elections. He likewise handled human rights cases and became Counsel General of the Brotherhood of Nationalistic, Involved and Free Attorneys to Combat Injustice and Oppression (BONIFACIO), a human rights lawyers’ group. He is past president of the Legal Management Association of the Philippines.

Roger received his A.B. Philosophy degree from San Beda College and is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila School of Law.

Jose Salvador Y. Mirasol (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board and the head of the Corporate Banking & Finance group. His practice focuses on banking and finance, corporate law, and real estate.

Zaldy is particularly consulted by corporate clients on structuring, nationality compliance, capital raising, counterparty negotiation, and other difficult corporate issues. He is likewise engaged by major foreign banks, multilaterals, and financial institutions on derivatives and structured products, cross-border advisory and investments, franchise expansion, multi-creditor cross-currency refinancing, and other complex financial transactions. His advice is sought for its comprehensiveness, creativity, and practicability.

Zaldy is regarded for his ability to innovate and design legal solutions that eventually became industry standards. He pioneered the structure that enables foreign condominium ownership beyond 40%. He created concepts like “unsolicited offer to purchase”, “nominated subcontracting”, “shared areas”, and “concomitant interest”. His proposed statutory amendment enabled foreign bank branches to become universal banks. He designed the legal framework of the Philippine Central Depository, which modernized the settlement of equity trades in the stock exchange, and the Philippine Dealing System, which formalized the marketplace and support infrastructure for fixed-income securities. The documentation he developed for Tier 2 issuances became an industry template for Basel-compliant quasi-equity instruments for banks.

Zaldy has been cited as a Band 1 leading individual in corporate and commercial law, banking and finance, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions by various international legal publications for several years now. He is a faculty member of Commercial Law of the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court, and the College of Law of the University of the Philippines.

Zaldy earned his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Mathematics, cum laude and department awardee, from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1980, joining the Philosophy faculty the same year. He received his bachelor of laws degree, cum laude and class valedictorian, from the University of the Philippines in 1988. He was admitted to the Philippine bar and joined the firm in 1989.

Cynthia Roxas-Del Castillo (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board and head of the Securities group. Her practice focuses on securities and corporate law.

Cynthia is responsible for projects of the firm involving securities law practice, capital market transactions, registration of securities, and offerings of securities to the public. She is also involved in major investment projects of foreign companies in the Philippines, organization and operation of mutual funds, acquisitions, joint ventures, mergers, and structuring and executing capital-raising activities.

Cynthia headed teams handling major projects involving the flotation of equity and debt securities and listings with The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). These projects involve domestic and international initial public offerings of leading Philippine-registered companies. She has advised major merger and acquisition transactions in the Philippines, including investments of foreign companies and start-up projects. She also contributed in the formulation of rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and PSE which affect the capital markets.

Cynthia became the Dean of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law from 1990 to 2000; currently, she is distinguished as the youngest and only female dean. She is a professorial lecturer in Securities Regulations and Practice, Civil Law Review, Obligations and Contracts, and Credit Transactions. She was also a bar reviewer in Civil Law. Aside from her various awards in the fields of civil and commercial law, she is recognized as a Recommended Lawyer in various legal publications for capital market transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial law.

Cynthia received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science, with honors, from the University of Santo Tomas. She then obtained her bachelor of laws degree, Valedictorian, from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1976 where she also received several gold medals and awards for academic excellence. She was admitted to the Philippine bar in 1977, placing 11th in the bar exam. She joined the law firm in the same year.

Jose F. Buenaventura (Senior Partner), is the vice-chairman of the Executive Board and the Chief Financial Officer of the firm. His practice focuses on corporate law.

Chito is President and Director of Consolidated Coconut Corporation. He sits as an Independent Director of Banco de Oro Universal Bank, and is a member of the board of BDO Securities Corporation. He is likewise a Director and Corporate Secretary of 2B3C Foundation, Inc. and Peter Paul Philippines Corporation.

Chito serves as director of Capital Managers & Advisors, Inc., Cebu Air, Inc., GROW, Inc., GROW Holdings, Inc., Hicap Properties Corporation, Himap Properties Corporation, La Concha Land Investment Corp., Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp., Philippine First Insurance Co., Inc., Philplans First, Inc., Techzone Philippines,Inc., The Country Club, Inc., Total Consolidated Asset Management, Inc. and Turner Entertainment Manila, Inc.

Chito holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the Ateneo de Manila University. He has a master of laws degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Ricardo J. Romulo (Senior Partner), chairs the Executive Board. His practice focuses on corporate law.

Mr. Romulo was, from 1987 to 2006, Chairman of the Makati Business Club, which is composed of more than 400 of the top Philippine corporations. His Holiness Pope John Paul II conferred on him the Order of St. Gregory the Great with the rank of Knight in 1997. He was also appointed Consul General in 2002 by Her Majesty Queen Margethe II of Denmark, who conferred on him the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Dannebrog in 2010.

Mr. Romulo has worked on a number of commissions for the Philippine government, including the 1986 Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Constitution and the Fact-Finding Commission that investigated the 1989 attempted coup d’etat. He also served in Committees established by the Supreme Court that dealt with Legal Education, Revision of the Judicial Code, and Revision of the Canons of Judicial Ethics, Small Claims, and Judicial Management. The Supreme Court appointed him Bar Examiner in taxation in 1974 and commercial law in 1992, and member of the Executive Committee for the Supreme Court’s Centenary Celebrations. He was also appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as one of the five members of the Governance Advisory Council in 2001.

Mr. Romulo received his bachelor of laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1958 and his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, graduating cum laude in 1955. He joined the law firm in 1960, the same year he was admitted to the Philippine bar.