GC Summit – Philippines 2019

Event Report

The Legal 500 partnered with Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia, ACCRALAW, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, Latham & Watkins, MOSVELDTT Law and King & Spalding to host the inaugural GC Summit: Philippines in Manila on 3 October 2019.

While it is true that in-house counsel around the world are bound together by common challenges and experiences, precise, relevant and bespoke advice requires particular awareness of a specific regional context when supporting their businesses. Each respective industry sector and jurisdiction presents a unique sets of challenges – and it is those counsel who deal best with existing and emerging relevant threats that are truly among the in-house elite.

Evoking this principle as well as fulfilling The Legal 500’s goal of bringing in-house communities together around the world, we convened a summit involving some of the region’s top legal minds in the Philippines. Here, these challenges and opportunities were dissected and examined in front of an audience of approximately 165 people, in the form of six in-depth panel discussions and relaxed networking in Manila’s Dusit Thani hotel.

The first of the event’s panel discussions was hosted by Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia, and it saw the challenges related to energy security and energy self-sufficiency in the Philippines and Southeast Asia discussed in detail. Moderated by Patricia A. O. Bunye of Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia, panellists grappled with the predominant themes on this topic from the point of view of both private practice and in-house lawyers based in the Philippines, including Dr. Carlo A. Arcilla, director of the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, who provided insights related to his organisation’s experience and response to these challenges.

ACCRALAW hosted the second session, which saw a presentation conducted by Emerico O. De Guzman, managing partner, ACCRALAW; Erwin V. Filio, partner – Labour and Employment Department, and Jose-Mari H. Roco, senior associate – Labour and Employment Department. This panel saw participants speak of the contracting arrangements and labour inspections in the changing employment law landscape in the Philippines.

The third panel was hosted by SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, and the discussion – moderated by Rose Marie M King-Dominguez, partner, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan – centred on the subject of data privacy, protection and localisation challenges under the new data privacy framework in The Philippines. Insights were brought from the perspective of experienced in-house counsel including Pia Lacson, Country Legal Head, Citibank Philippines and covered a range of matters within the data privacy space including best practice and saw a number of questions come from the audience.

The fourth panel was hosted by Latham & Watkins, and the discussion – moderated by Latham & Watkins’ partner Benjamin Carale – centred on the subject of demystifying capital markets. Insights were brought from the perspective of experienced in-house counsel including Mary Rose R. Tan, assistant vice president and assistant corporate secretary, San Miguel Corporation, and a healthy amount of debate surrounding managing regulatory and execution risks in financing transactions. Highlights including real life examples and each practitioners usage of them, all of which were discussed in detail by the panel.

The fifth panel was hosted by MOSVELDTT Law, and the discussion – moderated by firm partner Jerry S. Coloma III – centred on the subject of navigating the M&A regulatory landscape. Insights were brought from the perspective of experienced in-house counsel as well as Krystal Lyn T. Uy, director at the Mergers and Acquisitions Office of the Philippines Competition Commission (PCC) and a healthy amount of debate surrounding new laws, trends and topics in Philippines’ M&A deal management took place. Highlights including real life examples and each practitioner’s usage of them, all of which were discussed in detail by the panel.

Rounding off the day’s events was the sixth and final panel, hosted by King & Spalding and moderated by Jun Bautista, counsel, King & Spalding, which covered another of the region’s most pertinent in-house topics – managing international disputes: the selection of arbitral forums among competing centres; electronic discovery; and third party funding. With panellists including Pui-Ki Emmanuelle Ta, counsel, Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration – Hong Kong Office as well as in-house lawyers from international companies, this lively panel saw several themes explored both the panellists and the counsel in the audience.

The Legal 500 would like to thank all those who attended as well as our partners for this event: Cruz Marcelo & Tenefrancia, ACCRALAW, Latham & Watkins, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, MOSVELDTT Law and King & Spalding. A special thanks goes to the expert moderators and panellists, whose contributions and insights made the event a valuable experience for all attendees.