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.

Mr. Galacio heads the firm’s Arbitration Practice Group. He acts either as arbitrator or lead counsel in arbitration proceedings.  He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb), a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Institute of World Business Law and of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). He obtained his Oxford (CIArb) Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration in London. In the Philippines, he is accredited arbitrator with the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC), Philippine International Center for Conflict Resolution (PICCR), Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (PIArb), and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP). He has extensive practice in construction and commercial arbitration, both domestic and international, and both ad hoc and institutional arbitration, spanning almost 20 years now.

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 cum laude in 1992.

Mr. Elmar Galacio was Deputy General Counsel of the IBP.

Recent Publications

• Q/A: Private Employer Options and Remedies on Personnel Tenure and Movement Amid Quarantine
• Global Legal Insights – International Arbitration – 2021 (Philippines)