About

Huawei Technologies Philippines’ legal affairs department supports the entire Huawei Philippines operation with three in-house lawyers. It is headed by the ‘highly efficient and competent’ legal affairs director Maria Rowena Espiritu who, according to peers and colleagues, ‘acquires consistent trust in the company’. The Huawei Technologies Philippines legal affairs department also supports Huawei’s Southern Pacific regional office based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and headquarters in Shenzhen, China on various legal matters. The team have been faced with the cultural nuances of operating in various countries and between regions: ‘Chinese and western cultures are very different. Technical people and businessmen talk and write differently from lawyers, and their respective manner of doing things are opposite in a lot of instances. How can a legal department thrive in this diverse environment? This is our legal affairs department’s “constant battle” within the company but we are very elated to witness that we have been “winning battles” for the company’s protection and benefit’, explains Espiritu. 2017 was a formative and eventful year for the legal team in regards to business and commercial transactions. Amongst its largest business commercial transactions in 2016 and 2017, the team negotiated various network, non-network and VAS projects with major telecommunication companies in the Philippines and their respective subsidiaries. The network and VAS projects were completed and formally closed in the last two years. In 2017, Huawei Phils was awarded a contract by PLDT Group, a major telecommunications company in the Philippines, on a major transformation project. Contract signing was completed in January 2018. ‘The Huawei Phils legal affairs department adds value (business and organisationally) for the company in the most efficient, effective and holistic manner that a non-legal person in a fast paced, technical and multi-cultured environment can easily understand, embrace and celebrate’, adds Espiritu. Under the team’s watch, Huawei Philippines continues to enjoy success, mainly because Espiritu and the team relates very well with customers at all levels. ‘Huawei’s sales and solutions teams will attest that Espiritu works well with them and greatly supports them in working with Huawei customers to balance opportunities and risks and to quickly respond to customer needs and achieving sustainable growth’, says one nominator.