Twenty-five years ago, two young Filipino lawyers decided to establish a business amid a crisis. 1997 was the height of the Asian financial crisis, and while the situation threatened businesses in the Philippines, Atty. Carlos “Caloy” Ocampo and Atty. Manolito “Manix” Manalo launched The Ocampo & Manalo Law Firm (OMLAW), currently known as The Law Firm of Ocampo, Manalo, Valdez, and Lim.
Ocampo, the founding partner of OMLAW, recalled: “I still remember the moment when with the idea of establishing a firm. I was in my previous work in Makati looking at the sky literally. I was thinking: ‘Those are a lot of offices in those buildings, excluding those in Ortigas and Manila. How come there are only about 15 to 20 honest-to-goodness commercial law firms?’ Others do anything that moves. However, the ones focusing on business could not count more than 15 or 20 at the time. These are not enough to put a population approaching 100 million. With so many large and medium-sized companies, they cannot possibly do all of that. There is a headroom here. That is when I contacted Manix and said: ‘Let us put our experiences and different backgrounds together’.”
Manalo, the managing partner of OMLAW, came from a different law firm. Nevertheless, both lawyers joined forces in setting up Air Philippines. They left their active law practice for about two years to set up their law firm from scratch. Seeing their potential and combined experiences, airlines immediately show interest in their team during the early years, even though their professional backgrounds and formal training have always been in corporate commercial law and litigation.
“We had just established Air Philippines. It was operating and making money. When it was sold to Lucio Tan, it was sold for a handsome profit. We were involved in getting the administrative franchise and operating permits, setting the internal structure, and dealing with the local and foreign regulators. We had that kind of exposure outside from our different law firms and then from the inside. That immediately had an impact on regional airlines,” Ocampo narrated.
He continued: “Because we were quite young and we were able to get a full-fledged commercial, regional airline, truth be told, I was not thinking of the crisis so much. Looking back, I think I was confident that the fundamentals were there. I had been practicing corporate law for three years during that time. Our banking sector had some of the best people in the world. Our laws, if anything, if there is a flaw, are too comprehensive that we need to streamline things. We have all the ingredients for success. It was an Asian crisis and not just a Filipino crisis. I figured it was not going to be permanent. Since we had the last project, it allowed us to take the risk and gamble. Now maybe, if I were to be faced with the same set of circumstances because I am 57 now, I might not push through with it because the security and risk aversion would be greater as you age. During that period, I learned a lot of new tricks. We had restructuring with the banks; it was not all bad. We picked up some valuable skills along with it.”
Two years before the establishment of OMLAW, former President Fidel “FVR” Ramos signed Executive Order 219, titled “Establishing the Domestic and International Civil Aviation Liberalization Policy”. The law served as an opportunity for Ocampo and Manalo to set up their law firm amid the financial crisis and establish a solid reputation in aviation and transportation law.
“There was a bit of luck, of course. Since we were concentrating on aviation, and during that time, at least FVR deregulated the industry. There were a lot of new investments coming into the aviation sector and the allied businesses, which were enough for the firm as a startup to take on. That helped, and like what Caloy said, there was restructuring. I remember our former boss, Mr. Gatchalian, saying that among the Chinese, during a hard time, that is when you should put up a business. More opportunities are coming in during a crisis,” said Manalo.
“The world was opening, and we were still closed. We were about to burst off. Our economy was on the upswing under Ramos, but our aviation sector was not allowing the transport of brain power. You need that to fuel an active economy. It was not happening, but we knew it would happen, and it was just a matter of time. When the executive order came out, that was it. We could no longer stop those willing to pick up the slack because Philippine Airlines could not service everybody and cover all. It chose us more than we chose aviation,” Ocampo added.
Aviation incidents and safety
During the first three years of OMLAW, two fatal accidents shocked the local aviation industry: the Cebu Pacific Flight 387 crash in 1998 that killed 104 people, followed by the Air Philippines Flight 541 crash in 2000 that killed 131 people.
“That has personal relevance to me. I will limit it to the Air Philippines incident. For one, we knew some of the crew members there. They were colleagues in the company management, and two were cabin attendants who perished in the crash. At the same time, our client, our insurance company client at that time, was also the insurer of the incident. We were involved in several ways. We still do aviation insurance involving some of the more recent incidents, thankfully not fatal in the last three or four years. We have been handling some of them on behalf of the insurance company,” said Manalo.
The two incidents made the stakeholders in the local aviation industry look closer into the safety of aircraft flying over the Philippine territory.
“It brought the different aviation stakeholders together as a community. We needed to figure out how to minimize these kinds of mishaps and events because we are all affected. The community is not big. When something happens, we work with the regulators and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to make things safer and find a compromise on meeting the different safety requirements. While corporate interests are important, they should not be more important than the airworthiness of the aircraft. After those terrible incidents, I immediately saw different parts of the aviation industry banded together,” Ocampo continued.
“Speaking of safety for the broader transportation sector, we lobbied for the enactment of the Philippine Transportation Safety Board law. Congress passed the bill but was unfortunately vetoed by the president due to a lack of funds. However, because of the January 1 airport glitch, there is a reactivation of the same bill,” Manalo added.
From aviation, OMLAW successfully expanded the sectors it covers through the years. The law firm heavily skewed in favor of airlines three to four years ago. Today it is much more balanced. It now has a good portfolio of clients, ranging from mutual funds, insurance, manufacturing, construction, retail, telco, and energy companies.
Relationship with the government
During the past 25 years, six different administrations came. With the country now under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., OMLAW continues its support for the government through various activities.
“We are always in touch with the agencies that affect client businesses. The environment is conducive for a strong year. We can see that some quality people have been positioned, especially financial people whom I highly respect. I think our international face is improving. It is a little bit early to tell if it will be dividends yet, but the government is taking the right steps, and we are supportive of that. We are all Filipinos, and we want this government to succeed. It must succeed,” said Ocampo.
“I do not know if you are familiar with the term ‘political law firm.’ Early on in the life of OMLAW, we made a conscious effort not to be as one. Of course, sometimes you cannot avoid professional and personal relationships with people involved in the government. But as much as possible, in terms of association, we are very keen on maintaining a professional relationship. We are stakeholders as far as our involvement with the government is concerned because of our involvement in certain practice areas or sectors. Sometimes they would ask us informally to help in policy formulation, or if some of their regulatory processes are not in line with how things should be, we would tell them, but of course, these are all informal. In terms of legislation, we do some lobbying,” Manalo added.
“We also are active in some professional associations where the purpose of our existence is for legal development. They hold events where they invite government officers from as high as the president to the cabinet secretaries. That is how we can have a healthy exchange. There might not be a direct involvement on the part of the firm or a formal relationship with any of our government agencies, and we take an active role in making sure the government is going in the right direction,” he continued.
OMLAW is also promoting the country by familiarizing affiliates in other countries with how business is done in the Philippines.
“We made a deliberate move about six or seven years ago where we started to speak for law conferences. We learned through our colleagues and affiliates in Asia that there is a great interest in the Philippines. However, they do not know anything about our business laws. They do not know enough about the business climate to move and become a foreign direct investor. Hence, we went out and shared what we know about the Philippines. It felt like we were promoting the Philippines like in a trade show. It felt good, and what we picked up in the last seven years of doing, something is stopping them from coming in because they do not know if they would get help when they come in here. Another discovery, we should embrace the fact that we are a developing country. We have a lot of activities over the next several years, given our very young workforce. Most of our population will be producers. We owned our skills and made ourselves better at industries that have to do with development,” said Ocampo.
Digitalization and the COVID-19 pandemic
With a workforce of approximately 50 people and a growing client base, OMLAW has embarked on a digital transformation journey to make things more efficient.
“When I learned the potential of digitalization, which is not just to store information but to provide solutions by using platforms, I was blown away. I started to research on what were the best practices. We have a system that reduces the need for a mindless activity or makes things quicker, nimbler, and more accurate. We can arrange information any way we want. We are still looking for areas for improvement. By leveraging our technology, we can keep up with the best practices abroad. We can keep up with the demands and requirements of our clients abroad. It is a reflection that the Philippines is on the cutting edge, so we like to stay sharp,” said Ocampo.
“One of our partners goes through no less than two to three contracts per week for one client in the health sector because they are transitioning. This whole group is converting to digital platforms. Everything changed, and now she must review the contracts per week. It was just an idea two years ago,” he added.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, OMLAW adjusted its work setup to ensure business continuity. It became possible given the right size of the law firm and the help of digitalization.
“We have each other. Clients do not see what happens behind the scenes. There is always checking and rechecking, and collaboration which I thought was impossible because we were not in the same place during the lockdowns. We can still collaborate without being in the office, so we tend to keep the work-from-home setup. The lawyers have proven their trustworthiness and worth in the darkest times when we do not see each other. We trust them enough that they work from home one day a week. It is not much, but it is our token that we trust them enough that the collective output will not suffer,” Ocampo explained.
“We had clients who were having trouble paying wages, and we had to update them with the latest issues with the Department of Labor and Employment regarding work arrangements. With that advice, we avoided any possible lawsuits because what they were doing was according to a DOLE memorandum. Later on, we told them: ‘OK, when it is open already, we cannot do this anymore, so we have to ease back to the new normal,” said Atty. Juan Victor Valdez, a partner at OMLAW.
“I think we are just the right size, and over the years, it served us well and offered us some flexibility if we need to adjust somewhere. One of our clients, the chief legal officer of Ayala Corporation, Atty. Mon Hermosura, referred a client to us by e-mail. In his introductory message, he called us a nimble law firm, which is a good quality to have for their needs,” Manalo added.
Moving beyond 25 years, OMLAW commits to doing its share for the country’s nation-building process amid the ongoing pandemic. The law firm wants to share the same vision with other law firms and businesses in the country.
“We that we can be a part of recovery after the pandemic. The impact we make is not on a one-to-one basis or one person-to-one lawyer. When we do things, it can affect hundreds to thousands of people. When we do something, chances are there is a multiplier effect. We would want more law firms to share our mission, and maybe law students can also take this approach. There is more than enough room, and this is not a cutthroat competition. When everybody succeeds, we also succeed. It is not a zero-sum game,” said Ocampo.
“We are very open to collaborating with other friends. We have a good number of projects where that is happening. There might be this impression that lawyers are combative. There is a lot of room for collaborative work among lawyers,” Manalo continued.
“To get the economy on its feet right now, it helps us if we are more because we cannot do it alone. We need the companies to work on their corporate governance, and the law firms to up their game and get the companies more viable in this environment. We need more firms like this to attract more investors,” Ocampo concluded.