Of Counsel

Custodio O. Parlade

Custodio O. Parlade is a leading authority on construction and international commercial arbitration. He is the President Emeritus of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center; Vice Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce Philippines, Inc. and Chairman of its International Arbitration Commission; Secretary and Member, Board of Trustees, Foundation for the Enhancement of Legal Education; Accredited arbitrator of the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission and Trustee, Philippine Institute of Construction Arbitrators, Inc.; and Accredited by the Supreme Court as Mediator, Court of Appeals. He regularly lectures on "International Commercial Arbitration" in Mandatory Continuing Legal Education [MCLE] Seminars sponsored by the University of the Philippines Law Center, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, or its chapters, the Pamantasan ng Lunsod ng Manila, Ateneo de Manila, Chan Robles, Legis Forum and other MCLE service providers. He regularly serves as arbitrator of international or domestic disputes.

He was Vice President-Legal of the Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Company of Manila, Inc. from 1973 to 1991. This company, which at that time was the largest construction company in the Philippines, negotiated and entered into contracts for construction or fabrication projects in the Philippines, South East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It also entered into various project joint venture agreements, technology transfer agreements and agreements to establish manufacturing companies. He advised the Company in these matters including those involving the usual normal commercial transactions, both domestic and international, which were numerous, entered into by this Company, during this period.

He has also held the positions of President, Legal Management Council of the Philippines (1983); President, FEU Law Alumni Association (1989); Chairman of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines National Committee on the Settlement of Disputes (1998); Chairman of the Committee on Arbitration of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (1987-1996); President, Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. (1996 to 2002); and Managing Partner, Benitez Parlade Africa Herrera Parlade and Panga from 1993-2004. He was appointed in 2004 by the Department of Justice as a member of a Committee which drafted the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004 [Republic Act No. 9285]. He was Vice Chairman of the Supreme Court's Sub-Committee, headed by Justice Leonardo A. Quisumbing as Chairman, which prepared the proposed Special Rules of Court on Alternative Dispute Resolution.. In 2008, he was one of two Filipinos included in "The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers" for Arbitration.

Mr. Parlade has been the resource person or paper writer for domestic and international seminars and conferences on alternative dispute resolution, submitted, various papers on arbitration. He has written articles on arbitration in domestic and foreign publications.

He is the author of the books "Construction Arbitration" (Rex 1997) and "The Law and Practice of Conciliation and Arbitration of Construction Disputes" (Rex 2002); and was contributor of the Chapter on Arbitration in the Philippines in "Arbitration in Asia" published by Butterworth/ Freshfields edited by Mr. Michael Moser as well in its 2008 edition published by JurisNet; contributor of a Chapter on "The Arbitral Award" in "The Asian Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration" edited by Michael Pryles and Michael J. Moser and published in 2008 by JurisNet and the "Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004, Annotated" (Central Professional Books, Inc).

Mr. Parlade was a regular lecturer of the University of the Philippines Law Center Continuing Legal Education Program generally on various subjects in remedial law. He taught Remedial Law, Corporate Law and Commercial Laws. He was Dean of the College of Law of the San Sebastian College from 1969 to 1976.