V&A LAW CENTER, 11th Avenue corner 39th Street, Bonifacio Triangle, Bonifacio Global City 1634, Metro Manila, Philippines | T: +632.8988.6088 | F: +632.8988.6000 | E: litigation@thefirmva.com | www.thefirmva.com
Our team
The litigation and dispute resolution group of Villaraza & Angangco provides excellent and exceptional service, consistent with the standards it has developed over more than four decades of representing clients in complex disputes, offering unmatched expertise and experience in maintaining sustained, coordinated, and multi-pronged litigation campaigns. Its proven track record of successfully representing clients in their most challenging legal issues, complex multijurisdictional and cross-border disputes, and significant business transactions is renowned and respected by clients and peers alike. From breaking apart telecommunication monopolies; assisting in the rehabilitation of essential Philippine companies during the global financial crises; questioning the qualifications of electoral candidates and impeaching a sitting President and Supreme Court Justice; vindicating the Philippines’ claim in the West Philippine Sea; to championing the entry of cheaper medicines in the Philippines, the firm has earned the distinction of being at the forefront of historic cases that shaped the future of the nation. Recognised and acclaimed for its consistent excellence, the firm has garnered awards from well-respected publications and has been consistently listed as a leading litigation and dispute resolution firm.
The firm
Founded in 1980, Villaraza & Angangco is a decorated full-service law firm with recognised expertise in the areas of litigation and dispute resolution, corporate and commercial law, and intellectual property law. Each of its departments and many of its lawyers have been recognised as among the best in their respective fields by well-respected publications. With decades of experience serving at the forefront of the ever-changing landscape of Philippine law, politics, commerce and everyday life, coupled with its drive to innovate and evolve to suit the reality of the times, the firm is well-equipped to continue its mission to provide excellent legal service that truly matters. The firm’s top-drawer practice has attracted the Philippines’ most consequential companies across different sectors, such as: Ayala Land, ABS-CBN, Banco de Oro, Manila Water, Petron and RCBC.
Our people
Alejandro Alfonso E. Navarro
Senior partner
E: ae.navarro@thefirmva.com
Mr Navarro heads the firm’s labour department. With over 33 years of experience in appearing before courts, including the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, Mr Navarro is lauded for his sharp analytical mind and penchant for crafting precedent-setting legal strategies that solve the most intricate and complex conundrums faced by the firm’s clientele. Chambers and Partners, Asia Business Law Journal, Asialaw, and Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific have recognised Mr Navarro as a leading individual, distinguished practitioner, and lawyer of the year. Mr. Navarro specialises in litigation and dispute resolution and arbitration. His fields of practice also include bank and securities law, election law, criminal and tax litigation, intra-corporate disputes, and mediation proceedings and negotiations for collective bargaining agreements. He has defended high-profile clients charged with non-bailable crimes, arising from intra-corporate and commercial disputes. He has appeared before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre on behalf of a foreign client embroiled in a cross-border commercial dispute with a US$1.5bn claim at stake.
Augusto A. San Pedro, Jr.
Senior partner
E: aa.sanpedro@thefirmva.com
Mr San Pedro, a pillar in the firm’s dispute resolution department, specialises in commercial disputes relating to joint ventures, banking and finance, restructuring and insolvency, insurance, product liability, commercial and corporate law, and competition law. He has over 33 years of experience in trial and appellate practice in Philippine courts and commercial arbitration. He is a founding member and former trustee of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Centre, Inc. A titan in the field of litigation and dispute resolution, Mr San Pedro has been recognised as lawyer of the year by Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific and a distinguished practitioner by Asialaw. He is consistently ranked as a top 100 lawyer in the Philippines by Asia Business Law Journal and as a band two practitioner in dispute resolution by Chambers and Partners.
Joseph Anthony P. Lopez
Senior partner
E: ja.lopez@thefirmva.com
Mr Lopez was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2007 and graduated from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law with Honors and received the Silver Medal for Best Thesis. As a student of the same university’s prestigious management engineering programme, he was merit scholar and dean’s lister. In the 2005 Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition, he was the best oralist in the national rounds and among the top oralists in the international rounds. Among his many accolades, Mr Lopez has been recognised as a Leading Individual in dispute resolution by The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific. Mr Lopez specialises in commercial and intra-corporate disputes involving multibillion-peso companies, as well as banking, rehabilitation and restructuring, fraud litigation, estate disputes and white-collar crimes. Mr Lopez has handled cases involving the largest financial default (US$1.5bn), the largest tax claim (US$1bn) and the largest mass tort claim (with over 35,000 claimants) in Philippine history. He also secured the acquittal of financial officers for money laundering charges involving a US$81m cyberheist. Well-recognised for the depth of his knowledge across various fields of law, Mr Lopez was recently engaged by UNICEF to discuss estate and succession planning for high-net-worth individuals. Mr Lopez serves as director of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Makati Chapter and as head of the Legal Education Committee.
Ruth Nicole R. Ureta
Senior partner
E: rn.ureta@thefirmva.com
Ms Ureta is a partner in the litigation and dispute resolution department and heads the arbitration practice group. Her fields of expertise include litigation on procurement contracts and intra-corporate disputes.
During her 17 years of legal practice, she has successfully prosecuted high-stakes criminal actions and obtained numerous favourable arbitral awards in favour of her clients.
Ms Ureta represents the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, BDO Unibank, SM Development Corporation, and JTI International Philippines, Inc, among others.
Fritzzie Lyn F. Español
Senior partner
E: ff.espanol@thefirmva.com
Ms Español is a partner in the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution department. A highly regarded litigator, Ms Español specialises in complex commercial, criminal and tax litigation, including corporate rehabilitation and insolvency, banking, securities, anti-money laundering, and trade disputes, among others. Ms Español has represented a consortium of creditors in a rehabilitation proceeding involving the largest default in Philippine corporate history and litigated the largest tax protest case. She has also defended the officers of a top financial institution in an anti-money laundering case and a petroleum company against multibillion-peso smuggling charges. Ms Español also represented a group engaged in financial services in a novel tax case before the Supreme Court, and led a team to simultaneously foreclose properties in various jurisdictions of a high-profile company with a multibillion-peso loan obligation.
Raquel Wealth A. Taguian
Senior partner/head of the litigation and dispute resolution department
E: rw.taguian@thefirmva.com
With over 20 years of litigation experience, Ms Taguian’s practice focuses on international commercial and construction arbitration, cross-border executions, disputes involving public utilities and government infrastructures, intra-corporate disputes, corporate rehabilitation, and estate settlement. Ms Taguian was successful in overturning a Supreme Court decision by tempering imposed fines on Metro Manila water concessionaires. She has repeatedly secured favourable multimillion arbitral awards before the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission. She has appeared before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre to defend a client in a multibillion intra-corporate dispute over government projects. She is also a Philippine Dispute Resolution Center trained arbitrator. Ms Taguian’s clients include Ayala Land, E. Zobel, Inc, Manila Water Company, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, Makati Development Corporation, MDC Buildplus and Alveo Land. She has contributed to several international publications on arbitration, labour law, and contracting agreements, and has partnered with UNICEF to provide lectures on substantive areas of law, such as estate and succession planning. Ms. Taguian is among The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific rankings’ Recommended Lawyers for 2024.
Leah Glenda J. Quesada
Partner
E: lj.quesada@thefirmva.com
Ms Quesada, a partner in the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution department, is a highly experienced trial attorney whose practice focuses on commercial disputes, white-collar crimes, and family law.
She has been sought by clients for disputes arising from international trade issues, intra-corporate controversies, tax assessments, and regulatory conflicts. She has counselled and defended captains of industry, multinational corporations, real estate corporations, domestic and foreign telecommunications companies, international aviation firms, and commodity importers.
Ms Quesada has broad experience in complex dissolutions of high-net-worth estates and of marital ties between Filipino citizens and foreign spouses involving cross-border litigation. She has navigated paternity and child custody disputes and the enforcement of spousal and child support orders, litigated cases of violence against women and their children, and mastered the drafting, negotiating and enforcement of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.
Dianne Marie V. Roa-Oarde
Partner
E: dr.oarde@thefirmva.com
Ms Roa-Oarde, a partner in the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution department, specialises in commercial, tax and civil matters. She is a member of the firm’s arbitration practice group and a Philippine Dispute Resolution Center trained arbitrator. Among the notable cases and disputes she has handled are an intra-corporate dispute over the control of one of the country’s largest healthcare corporations and its subsidiaries, insolvency proceedings for one of the country’s largest foreign investors, and a series of multijurisdictional disputes relating to a cyber crime attack on banks in 2016. She regularly renders advisory work for clients and foreign counsel on issues relating to Philippine law on arbitration, contractual breach, engineering and construction, and insurance, among others. Highly recognised for her skill in dispute resolution, Ms Roa-Oarde has been consistently named a future star in the field of litigation and dispute resolution.
Rashel Ann C. Pomoy
Partner
E: rc.pomoy@thefirmva.com
Ms Pomoy is the deputy head of the firm’s labour and employment practice group and a trained arbitrator with a decade of experience in litigation and dispute resolution. She has secured back-to-back multimillion-peso arbitral awards in domestic construction and international commercial arbitration, caused the dismissal of multiple cases filed against the firm’s clients with the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan, appeared as counsel for an heir in arguably the largest estate settlement case in the Philippines, and worked with foreign counsel to secure the dismissal of a case filed in New York against one of the biggest Philippine banks. Besides litigating single and multi-plaintiff cases before the National Labour Relations Commission, she also renders advisory work on employment concerns of various multinational corporations and works closely with law firms in other jurisdictions. She has written a variety of legal publications and has conducted various seminars in labour and employment in the Philippines and abroad.
Via Monina C. Valdepeñas
Partner
E: vc.valdepenas@thefirmva.com
Ms Valdepeñas is a partner in the firm’s litigation department and a member of the firm’s arbitration practice group. Her practice includes corporate rehabilitation and insolvency, intra-corporate disputes, construction arbitration, energy, and anti-graft and corruption laws.
She has appeared before multiple-level courts and quasi-judicial agencies, including the Tariff Commission, the National Police Commission, and the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission, where she won million-peso awards in various cases. She secured dismissals and acquittals in proceedings against high-ranking officials before the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan. In the Supreme Court, she was part of the team that obtained on appeal a decision in favour of a major banking institution client involving a multibillion-peso claim and another decision that significantly reduced the penalty imposed against a major public utility.
Leon Maria Angel P. Caguioa
Partner
E: lp.caguioa@thefirmva.com
Mr Caguioa’s practice covers various disputes, ranging from criminal prosecution and defence, civil cases including family and estate matters, graft and corruption, and suits against the government.
He was a key contributor to the firm’s victory in the first-ever case against the Philippine Competition Commission involving an unprecedented PHP69-billion merger deal. He helped secure the acquittal of several officers of a leading Philippine bank of money laundering charges in relation to an US$81m cyber heist, as well as the victory for another leading bank in the Philippines all the way up to the Supreme Court in relation to the collection of a longstanding multibillion-peso loan. He was instrumental in handling and securing a PHP 82-million arbitral award against the Philippine government.