Professional Background
Mr. Elmar B. Galacio is the Firm’s primary litigator in banking fraud cases. His Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) license a most sought-after expertise in the field, exemplified by his being lead external counsel representing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), among other notable clients and some major banks, in their must-win complex cases.
He heads the firm’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Arbitration Practice Group. He acts as arbitrator or lead arbitration counsel. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), accredited arbitrator at Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC), and member of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Institute of World Business Law, International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Asia Pacific Institute of Experts (APIEx), and Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF). He is also Faculty Tutor of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), U.K and East Asia Branch.
Mr. Galacio obtained an Oxford (CIArb) Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration (London, U.K.), Certificate in International Investment Arbitration (Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, D.C.), Certificate in International Maritime Disputes Resolution (Lloyd’s Academy, London), Harvard Negotiation Masterclass (Harvard University School of Law Executive Education Program on Negotiation, U.S.A), and ICC Arbitration Masterclass (U.S.A.).
In the Philippines, he is a Fellow of the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (PIArb), arbitrator at the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC), Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), arbitrator-trustee at Philippine International Center for Conflict Resolution (PICCR), arbitrator at Philippine Dispute Resolution Center (PDRCI), arbitrator-mediator-negotiator accredited with the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution (OADR), and arbitrator-mediator at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB-DOLE). He is also a Professorial and Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Lecturer on ADR and Arbitration Law and Practice.
Mr. Galacio has extensive practice in various fields of commercial arbitration, both domestic and international, and both ad hoc and institutional arbitration, spanning over 20 years. His expertise covers diverse subjects in business, finance and investment, including commercial contracts, construction and infrastructure, information technology, mining, energy, intellectual property, maritime, and labor.
He graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1997 where he was member of the Order of the Purple Feather Honor Society, his Master in Public Policy from Saitama University (now Graduate Research Institute for Policy Studies) in Japan in 2000 as Monbusho scholar, and his Bachelor of Arts from the Holy Name University in Bohol where he graduated summa cumlaude in 1992.
Mr. Elmar Galacio was Deputy General Counsel of the IBP. He is proficient in English, Filipino, Cebuano, and Nihongo languages.
Elmar Galacio – Curriculum Vitae