Corporate Conversations: From Reluctant Lawyer to a Filipina GC Star

Key Takeaways
Career Journey and Reflections:

• Started her legal career unintentionally, persuaded by a friend’s $10 bribe to take law school exams together.
• Spent 27 years in law, with a diverse path from litigation to corporate law, and now tech, including 13 years at Accenture.
• Initial training at Becca Bar law firm, handling complex cases like kidnapping and arson, which built her skills in agility and quick thinking -qualities valuable in today’s tech-driven legal field.

Notable Cases and High-Stakes Litigation:

• Early Case with Senator Juan Ponce Enrile: Provided protection during a post-Martial Law coup attempt, learning valuable lessons about legal protections and due process.
• People Power Revolution Arson Case: Represented a broadcasting client after rebels burned their van; took extra safety measures after some defendants escaped.
• Swan Song Case – Kidnapping Prosecution: Successfully prosecuted high-profile officials linked to the kidnapping of a journalist; the intense experience, involving bomb threats and covert operations, led her to shift away from high-risk litigation.

Key Lessons and Transitions:

• Transitioned to corporate law for a better work-life balance while maintaining an appreciation for the adaptability gained from her litigation background.
• Advocates for balanced use of technology by young lawyers, emphasizing that while AI aids in efficiency, over-reliance can undermine legal rigor.

Full Transcript:

Can you talk us through your career so far?

It’s funny because just before this, we discussed the length of time I’ve been a lawyer. I didn’t realise it’s been 27 years. I was admitted to the bar in 1997. I was a person who never wanted to be a lawyer. And I talked about this at the Legal 500 event, and everyone laughed at how I became a lawyer because I just wanted that $10 bribe, which was, at the time, a lot of money. I mean, enough money to go out and party. And so I had a friend who wanted to attend law school but was too intimidated to take the exams alone. So basically, she bribed me into taking the test with her for $10, and it’s been a very interesting career.

I’ve been in litigation, I’ve been in corporate, and now I’m in tech, and I’ve been in Accenture for almost 13 years now. I didn’t realise it until my daughter had a birthday. She was born the year I joined Accenture and is a teenager. I’m a teenager in Accenture anyway, so a lot of my work involved litigation for the first 15 years, and I think that brings. I always value people who come to us from a law firm because that was my background.

I used to be with Becca Bar, the law firm that was at the time run by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Renato Chaitan. Both have, you know, so it’s still there. It’s an institution. And that’s where I started. And they threw me into the pool of litigation.

And I was this new young lawyer with stars in her eyes and fear in her heart because I was faced with all these more senior, seasoned litigators. And it was a very influential firm. So, the cases we handled were not simple cases that young lawyers cut their teeth on. You know, it was like kidnapping and arson. And there was a coup d’etat at one point, and we were representing the soldiers who incited the coup, for example.

So, it’s been a very challenging career for me. I think I slowed down a bit in my 30s when I remembered that, at some point, I had to start a family. But moving to the corporate world made me appreciate what I learned from the law firm because it helps you to be someone who thinks on your feet and who can adapt and be agile. And now, in this modern world, I’m so envious of the young lawyers because they have all this technology at their fingertips.

You know, like research is made very simple by the Internet. AI Gen AI is now there if you’re too lazy to draft a contract yourself. But of course, you know, the training you get as a young lawyer in a law firm becomes invaluable when you’re older because you’re more able to look at the, I mean, I celebrate technology, but I also know as drawbacks and the dangers of overuse.

As I heard, there’s this one case in New York where a lawyer was disbarred because he had an AI-generated pleading submitted to the court. And I think there’s a danger of that. The thing is, technology is a neutral tool. So it depends on how you use it. And I think young lawyers must remember that while you can use AI, you shouldn’t be overly reliant on it. And that’s something I’ve always advocated. So, I’m nearing my 30th year of being a lawyer. And I must say, even if it wasn’t a career I chose, it’s given me a wonderful, fulfilling professional life that I wouldn’t trade for anything else.

What are some of the most memorable cases or projects you’ve been apart of during your career?

I would point to my litigation years because it’s always where the action is right. I mean, contracts are great and involve big money, but there’s nothing like the adrenaline rush or the thrill you get when you’re in court. I especially love cross-examination because everyone sees me as this short girl who looks harmless. And then, you know, amid cross-examination, the shark comes out and surprises them every time. And that trick worked for a while until people got to know me. And it didn’t work quite as well.

But I do remember when I was a young lawyer, Senator Juan Ponce Emile was arrested. This was post martial Law. I’m very lucky, and I’m also very old that I lived through. It’s a revolution in my life. Growing up, I was under martial Law, which was a transition. It was such an exciting period for the country, and you had to live through it. They changed the constitution, and they changed everything just because they wanted to depart from the old regime, which is not necessarily, I mean, a completely good idea because there were highlights of the Marcus dictatorship that did bring value to the country. But I think in our zeal and our excitement to be entering a brave new world, I think people kind of forgot that. But I remember we were centred at one point and really were arrested.

I think it was one of the many coups that happened post-Martial Law. It was a revolution against the Aquino administration, and we had to stay in the campground and guard him every night. There were always two lawyers there just to make sure that none of the things that happened during martial Law would happen again because, during Martial Law, the writ of habeas corpus was suspended.

So you could be arrested and whisked away somewhere, and nobody would know where you went. So there was that fear. And so, you know, we would stay there overnight and just basically guard senator and relay. And he was such an interesting, intelligent, really brilliant mind. And just talking to him and learning from him, I think, made those sleepless nights valuable to me.

But another memorable experience was one of the enduring people’s power revolutions after the first one. I think this was two people’s Part 2 with then-President Estrada. A microwave broadcasting van of our client, which was at the time one of the top two stations in the country, was burned by rebels.

Like it seemed that it had been into input, the people power revolution at the time had been, you know, infiltrated by dissidents. And so we were thinking, what do you, what case do you file for burning a van? And eventually, after many sleepless nights and study, we said, OK, we file an arson case. And the interesting bit is that the people that were arrested, I mean, they caught the people and arrested them. And at every hearing, they would sit in the gallery looking at you. And at some point, we got a call, and they said 02 of the four have escaped, and they’re at large, and you should be careful. And my associate, who’s now my number two in a century, by the way, we go a long way back. She said, oh, my God, they know what we look like. And the first thing we did was go to a salon and cut off all our hair in an effort to look different. But that was exciting and interesting.

And my swan song before I left litigation altogether was a kidnapping case. A very prominent journalist from the same network who was our client. She was very active in women’s advocacy. She was one of the great early female reporters during the incubation of what we now have as a country.

So she decided against advice to go into MILF during the Islamic Revolution, the MILF prohibited areas and because she wanted to interview one of their leaders. And, of course, as expected, she was kidnapped.
Eventually, when she got back, they were able to tie the case to two very prominent government officials in that province as the masterminds of the kidnapping because, obviously, their loyalties lay elsewhere than Malacañang Palace. I was a private lead prosecutor for the criminal case for kidnapping against these two prominent government officials.

It was nerve-wracking because we had to change cars, kind of like a James Bond film where you have a secret code: let’s meet at this place at 2:00 and switch cars and bomb threats and all of that.

But you know, we succeeded in a conviction, and then that made me realise that I was still young. I had a life to live. I had a very young daughter. And maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to expose myself to super controversial cases, but God, the rush. It was like, like I said, it was my swan song because after that, I resigned. I moved into a house. But I’ll always remember those days.