Villaraza & Angangco was built on the legacy of former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio. The firm is a recognised name in litigation relating to commercial, government and regulatory and employment disputes. The team is also active in the banking, telecoms, real estate, energy and infrastructure sectors.
Some of the key names for commercial and regulatory disputes include Alejandro Alfonso Navarro, Augusto San Pedro and Thea Daep. Joseph Anthony Lopez heads the litigation team. In intellectual property, Bienvenido Somera and Katrina Doble are the names to note.
The firm is currently representing Manila Water, a private contractor engaged by the government’s Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, in defending against an $18 million fine arising from its supposed failure to establish a complete centralised sewerage system within five years from the Clear Water Act coming into effect. The team successfully convinced the Supreme Court that Manila Water had substantially complied in good faith with the provisions of the Clean Water Act. With this, the Supreme Court modified its previous decision by substantially reducing Manila Water’s daily fine, thereby reducing the total liability of Manila Water by almost $18 million.
The firm also successfully represented the directors and officers of Fountel Corporation and Felicitas Antoinette in a shareholder dispute against multiple intra-corporate and criminal litigations. The matter involved the corporation’s acquisition of shares in Professional Services and control of Medical City, one of the Philippines’ premiere medical institutions, where a set of shareholders claimed that such acquisitions were acquired through fraudulent means. This is one of the most well-publicised and anticipated corporate battles in the country.
The firm is representing the key officers of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), one of the Philippines’ leading universal banks, in a criminal case for money laundering involving the unprecedented cross-border cyberheist allegedly perpetrated by North Korean hackers, which involved the remittance of $101 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to accounts in Sri Lanka and to RCBC. The outcome of this case is precedent-setting because it has charted the course of defences that can validly be raised by banks and their officers against money laundering allegations, and clearly shows how anti-money laundering standards develop in the region.
In another case highlight, the firm is representing the majority of a consortium of major local banks in the rehabilitation proceedings of the shipbuilding firm Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Philippines before the Regional Trial Court of Olongapo City. The matter marks the largest financial default in Philippine history, involving claims of more than $1.5 billion.
Partner Karla Regina D Valera-Chua departed the firm in March 2022. Later the same year, Via Monina C Valdepeñas got promoted to partner.
The firm counts esteemed companies as litigation clients: BDO Unibank, F&CO, Philippine Association of Steelformers, Philippine Investment One and Tagum Resources Agri Industries.
