Organization

Legal Department

GENERAL PRINCIPLE

Loyalty to his Company. Justice to those with whom he deals. Faith in his profession ...

GENERAL FUNCTIONS

1
Render legal opinions upon the request of concerned PNOC department, official employee, or subsidiary corporation. If it appears that the legal issue or question involved will be more appropriately addressed by another agency, a verbal/formal query shall be made and forwarded to said government agency through the Legal Department, e.g. Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Finance (DOF), etc.

2
Attend PNOC Board meetings and assist the Corporate Secretary in the preparation of the minutes and in providing information to other departments regarding matters taken up at the Board meeting. In the absence of the Corporate Secretary, a duly designated member of the Department shall act as such.

3
Draft, review and notarize contracts, loan and omnibus credit line agreements, secretary's certificates, and other transactions and documents pertaining to PNOC;

4
Assist the concerned PNOC Department in the preparation of government reportorial requirements, if any;

5
Assist in the drafting and preparation of Articles of Incorporation of PNOC subsidiaries and in the dissolution of PNOC subsidiaries;

6
Handle all criminal, civil and administrative cases for or against PNOC, singly or in coordination with the Office of the Solicitor General, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, PNOC subsidiaries’ Legal Department or retained outside counsel;

7
Participate in Pre-qualification Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC) deliberations and meetings concerning PNOC contracts;

8
Attend to the legislative requirements of the Company. This includes the attendance in Congressional hearings, preparation of position papers on specific concerns, drafting of legislative proposals, monitoring of bills, and participation in technical working groups in relation to legislative measures;

9
Perform special assignments for PNOC including but shall not be limited to the attendance of meetings and conferences such as the ASCOPE.

10
Certify to the fact that any resigning/retiring employee has no pending administrative case.

Litigation Division

This division is tasked to handle all cases, criminal, civil and administrative, for and in behalf of PNOC. All cases are handled by PNOC lawyers singly or in close coordination with the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, or retained outside Counsel, as well as the respective Legal Departments of the PNOC subsidiary involved, as the nature of the cases will require. Its basic functions include, among others:

1
Preparation and filing of cases on behalf of PNOC and when requested, its subsidiaries;

2
Conducting interview of witnesses and resource persons;

3
Coordinating with the Office of the Solicitor General , the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel as well as retained outside Counsel in cases where PNOC's interest, directly or indirectly may be affected, as well as coordinate with counsels of subsidiaries in common cases or where PNOC is a party;

4
Assist the Estate Management in the compliance with the documentary requirements for titling of PNOC properties;

5
Appearing before courts, quasi-judicial and administrative bodies;

6
Assisting, discussing and consulting with foreign counsels retained by PNOC in international cases.

Legislative and Research Division

This division acts as the active representative of PNOC in legislative proceedings, as well as technical working groups pertaining to legislative measures. As an active participant, the division conducts interviews, consultations, meetings, research and prepares position papers on issues which are the subject of legislative or executive discussions and affect PNOC and its subsidiaries. Monitoring of the progress or status of legislative bills is also a basic function of this division.

Contracts and Accreditation

Contract drafting, review and evaluation is the basic function of this division. Consequently, all contracts in which PNOC is a party and/or will affect PNOC's interest are coursed through this division for appropriate action. In addition, this division participates in accreditation process, through the Prequalification, Bids and Awards Committee (PBAC).

Tax and Corporate Law

The Tax and Corporate Law Division is charged with providing tax and corporate services to the other PNOC departments and subsidiaries. The services rendered includes responding to queries and conducting research on issues involving the value added tax (VAT), income tax, withholding taxes (WHT), documentary stamp taxes (DST) customs duties, real estate taxes and local government taxes, among others. Correspondences with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Local Government Units (LGU) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) are also handled by this division. The division also renders opinions and evaluates tax implications of various corporate actions.

In addition, from the conceptualization up to the dissolution of any PNOC subsidiary, the tax and corporate division renders assistance in all stages of this process.