What are the most significant cases or transactions that you have recently been involved in?

As a member of the Asia-Taiwan leadership team for the consumer business group as well as the local leadership team in the Philippines, I help identify and address key policy, enterprise, and other risks to protect the company’s brand and operations and to support growth.

Recently, we adapted to changes in Indonesia regulations on importation to minimise business disruption from new requirements. Also, we just completed the successful spin-off of the healthcare business into a new, publicly held company called Solventum, and I worked on the local implementation and execution of said spin-off. I’ve assisted in creating a legal and operational framework for a regional e-commerce model for all subsidiaries in Southeast Asia, including a mechanism to help flag counterfeits and unauthorised (regulated) products flooding the marketplaces. Basically, I handle all legal (and regulatory) touchpoints of the business vis-a-vis internal and external stakeholders.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

Over the past several years, 3M has gone through significant organisational and operational alignment globally. This change brought about career opportunities for individuals that did not exist prior to alignment. Among these were appointments of officers and directors that were not “local” to the countries hosting the various 3M subsidiaries.

Because the office of the general counsel partners with its internal clients for their success and protection, I led a project that launched a virtual SEA directors and officers handbook. Hosted on SharePoint, the handbook is intended to be a living document that is easily accessible and can be used to train and onboard directors and officers who may not be familiar with the duties and obligations of officers and directors in the respective countries in SEA. Initial launch in the Philippines was met with great success, and was followed by SEA-wide launch that was met with equal acceptance and enthusiasm by the SEA operating committee. Because of this, the handbook is being shared as a best practice to the global 3M organisation and served in part as a model for a global playbook rolled out earlier this year to all 3M subsidiaries.

How do you see the general counsel role evolving in the Philippines over the next five-ten years?

Business direction and policy are often discordant with local laws in varying degrees. As general counsel, one of my main tasks is harmonising corporate priorities and government regulation. I think this is an evolving issue that will increase in complexity in the future, especially given advances in technology (such as the use of AI and increasing digitalisation). In that regard, one should strike a balance between being a “generalist” and a “specialist”, to move with emerging technologies and evolving laws and regulations.

General counsels will become even stronger partners for business to help companies navigate these developments. More than just complying with mandatory continuing legal education units, we’ll have to keep ourselves updated on legal and customary trends in the markets we serve. I am grateful for the open lines of communication both within the company and the government that afford me the capability to effectively perform my duties and maintain this delicate balance.

Which recent political, economic or regulatory changes have impacted your work the most in recent years?

It’s been four years, but the pandemic continues to impact our lives and the work we do. It’s helped identify priorities to stop, start, and continue. In 3M, for example, we’ve permanently adopted what we call “Work Your Way”, wherein employees can choose whether to work fully remote, mostly onsite, or adopt a hybrid approach. It’s led to changes in workplace footprints and benefits, to name a couple, and has been positively received by most employees. From political, economic, and regulatory perspectives, here in Asia it’s made countries more inward-focused. It demonstrated the need for countries to be more self-sustaining and independent. As such, there appear to be more laws and regulations protective of local industries and local innovations, which have provided challenges for multinational companies to overcome. At the same time, foreign investments are quite beneficial to developing and emerging economies in the area. These have made my work for the company even more interesting and gratifying.