Ricardo Ma PG Ongkiko

Education

• LLM (master of laws) (1992), University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA;
• LLB (bachelor of laws) (1988), cum laude, class salutatorian, University Of The Philippines, College of Law, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines;
• AB Economics (1984), Magna Cum Laude, University Of The Philippines, School Of Economics, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Professional career

• I have spent my entire legal career in SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, the biggest and premiere full-service Philippine law firm, which I joined immediately after graduating from law school and taking the Philippine Bar Examinations in 1988, occupying the following positions during the dates indicated:
• Member, Executive Committee (2016 – present),
• Head, Litigation Department (2012 – present),
  Partner (1997 – present),
  Senior Associate (1994-1996), and Junior Associate (1988-1993).
• My practice areas include international and domestic arbitration, construction arbitration, mediation, civil and commercial litigation, corporation law, and contract law.
• I have handled and tried a broad range of cases involving contract disputes, corporate restructuring, debt recovery, infrastructure and engineering disputes, intra-corporate controversies, insurance cases, and tort. I also have extensive experience in international and domestic arbitration dealing with commercial and construction disputes. I have also provided corporate compliance services, having served as director and corporate secretary of several corporations.

Arbitration experience

• I am a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (East Asia Branch) and a member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration. I am a Trustee and President of the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (PIArb) (a learned society organized by members of the Philippine Chapter of the CIArb East Asia Branch), a Trustee and Assistant Corporate Secretary of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. (PDRC) (the primary commercial arbitration institution in the Philippines), and a Trustee of the Philippine Institute of Construction Arbitrators and Mediators, Inc. (the organization of accredited construction arbitrators and mediators). I am an accredited arbitrator of the PIArb, PDRC, the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC), the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, the Philippine Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. I am also listed in the panel of arbitrators of the National Arbitration and Mediation (NAM) (New York), the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), and the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC). I was also a Philippine Supreme Court-accredited mediator for the Philippine Court of Appeals.
• I have been appointed as an arbitrator in TWELVE (12) arbitrations—THREE (3) international commercial arbitrations and NINE (9) domestic arbitrations. The THREE (3) international commercial arbitrations were all under the NAM COMPREHSIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION RULES AND PROCEDURES. Of the NINE (9) domestic arbitrations, SEVEN (7) were under the CIAC REVISED RULES OF PROCEDURE GOVERNING CONSTRUCTION ARBITRATION, and TWO (2) were under the PDRC ARBITRATION RULES.
• I have been appointed as Chairman of an Arbitral Tribunal in FOUR (4) CIAC arbitrations. I have acted as Sole Arbitrator in THREE (3) NAM arbitrations.
• I have acted as Co-Arbitrator in FIVE (5) arbitrations—TWO (2) PDRC arbitrations and THREE (3) CIAC arbitrations.
• I have been counsel in FOURTEEN (14) arbitrations – NINE (9) international commercial arbitrations and FIVE (5) domestic arbitrations. Of the NINE (9) international commercial arbitrations, SIX (6) were under the RULES OF ARBITRATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (ICC), and THREE (3) were under the CIAC REVISED RULES OF PROCEDURE GOVERNING CONSTRUCTION ARBITRATION. Of the FIVE (5) domestic arbitrations, FOUR (4) were under the CIAC REVISED RULES OF PROCEDURE GOVERNING CONSTRUCTION ARBITRATION, and ONE (1) was an ad-hoc arbitration under the Philippine Arbitration Law.

Membership in organizations

• Fellow, The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CI Arb);
• Member,nInternational Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA);
• President (2016-present), Trustee (2007-present), Senior Vice-President (2007-2013), Executive Vice-President (2014) – The Philippine Institute of Arbitrators;
• Trustee (2007-present),  Assistant Secretary (2009-present), Member (since 2006), Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc.;
• Trustee (2014-present), Member (2012-present), Philippine Institute of Construction Arbitrators and Mediators, Inc.;
• Director (1997-1999) Secretary (1999-2001), and Member (since 1989), Integrated Bar of the Philippines Makati City Chapter.

Publications

1. Co-Author, Philippine Chapter, Getting the Deal Through: Mediation 2013 and 2015, published by Law Business Research;
2. Contributor, Philippine Chapter, The Guide to Dispute Resolution in Asia, published by Herbert Smith, 2005 – 2013;
3. Co-contributor, Philippine Chapter, A Multi-Jurisdictional Review – Guide to Dispute Resolution in Asia Pacific, published by Herbert Smith Freehills, 2013;
4. Co-Author, Philippine Chapter, Digest of Commercial Laws of the World, published by Multilaw and Oceana Publications, Inc., 2010 and 2004;
5. Contributor, Philippine Chapter, Arbitration in Asia, published by Norton Rose, 2005;
6. Co-author, Philippine Chapter, in Winning Legal Strategies: International Litigation: A Country-By-Country Look at Negotiations, Trials, and successful Dispute Resolution in Major Markets Around the Globe, published by Aspatore, Inc., 2005.