Ma. Carla P. Mapalo

Creating The Legacy

The Firm was founded in 1980 under the leadership of young lawyers including now-Supreme Court Justice Antonio T. Carpio and F. Arthur L. Villaraza, student leaders and top graduates from the University of the Philippines. Imbued with the passion for excellence of its founding partners, the law firm has grown to establish a sterling reputation for practising law with the highest standards and providing unparalleled legal representation that helps ensure the success of its clients and shape the history of a nation.

V&A LAW Today

Beginning the year 2016 the stewardship of the Firm is transferred to Alejandro Alfonso E. Navarro as Managing Partner and Augusto A. San Pedro Jr. as Co-Managing Partner, with F. Arthur Villaraza as Chairman and CEO. Our partners and associates contribute their capabilities and work as one Firm in providing our clients with a full range of legal services drawn from our collective experience and expertise in areas such as Corporate & Commercial Law, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property Law, Labor & Immigration, Taxation, Power & Energy, Mining & Natural Resources, Mergers & Acquisition, Foreign Investments, Property & Development, Infrastructure, Transportation and Public Utilities, Capital Markets, Securities Regulation and Finance, and Immigration. With lawyers recognized by their peers to be at the top of the legal profession and with highly trained non-legal staff, the Firm offers professional service of the highest calibre. Through the years, we have practised law with an intimate knowledge of the issues that corporate decision-makers face and deliberately employed tailored strategies that help our clients see opportunities in adversities. With decades of experience in serving a full spectrum of our client's interests, our lawyers are equipped to skillfully handle the most intricate problems and provide comprehensive solutions that deliver results.

Atty. Mapalo has more than seven years of experience in corporate and commercial law specializing in securities, project financing, and mergers and acquisitions of companies engaged in highly regulated industries, such as telecommunications, real estate, energy, banking, mass media, and logistics. She has extensive experience in structuring investments and setting up acquisition vehicles and related financing. She has also devoted a special focus on competition law where she advises on antitrust concerns and represents clients before the Philippine Competition Commission.

Her notable works include handling the successful entry of the third national major player in the Philippine telecommunications industry, advising one of the leading real estate developers in Japan in its first development project in the Philippines, and successfully representing one of the largest conglomerates in the country before the Philippine Competition Commission in securing approval of its acquisition of a participating interest in the service contract for the development of the biggest natural gas project in the Philippines.

Carla was also a lecturer at the University of the Philippines College of Law and Philippine Law School.

She received her Master of Laws (“LLM”) in Corporation Law from New York University School of Law, where she was a Dean’s Graduate scholar and editor of the Journal of Law and Business. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Philippines in 2014, where she was awarded the Dean's Medal for Academic Excellence.  She also received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the same university, where she graduated cum laude