Sig, as he is known to his friends, is a Founding Partner of the Firm. He is a proud product of the public school system, having graduated from University of the Philippines starting from secondary school until securing his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1983. Prior to establishing the Firm in June 1993, Sig worked as an associate in one of the biggest law firms in the Philippines for almost nine years, where he honed his skills as a trial lawyer.
Sig believes that lawyering is like a religion because it demands a lot of passion. And for the past 25 years as Senior Partner of the Firm, Sig has been constantly going the extra mile for each of his clients to ensure victory in their cases. His mark of excellence is known in almost all areas of law, from criminal and civil litigation, arbitration, environmental law, Presidential impeachment, intellectual property, environmental and historical site preservation actions, and corporate rehabilitation and insolvency work.
It is no surprise that in July 2018, Asia Business Law Journal recognized Sig as one of the Top-100 Lawyers in the Philippines. Chambers Asia Global also considered him as a Leading Lawyer for Dispute Resolution – Philippines from 2009 to 2018. Asia Pacific Legal 500 consistently ranked Sig as a Leading Lawyer for Dispute Resolution – Philippines from 2006 to 2018. BluPrint Magazine likewise acknowledged Sig as a “Heritage Hero” for Saving the Taal Basilica in 2013.
Outside the office, Sig assumes his role as Bureau of Fire Protection-trained volunteer fire fighter and a Philippine Red Cross first aider. He also tries to squeeze in some rounds of golf in his spare time with his UP Vanguard ‘brods’ and Philippine Military Academy Class ’82 ‘mistahs,’ usually in between disaster risk reduction management trainings for cadets of the UP Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.