Member Profiles

Atty. Rashel Ann C. Pomoy is a Partner with more than six years of experience in litigation and dispute resolution. She is a member of the Firm’s Labor Group and Arbitration Practice Group.  Her noted representations with the Firm include securing back-to-back multi-million arbitral awards in domestic construction and international commercial arbitration; causing the dismissal of multiple cases filed against the Firm’s clients with the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan; appearing as counsel for an heir in, arguably, the largest estate settlement case in the Philippines; and working with foreign counsel to have a case filed in New York against one of the biggest Philippine banks thrown out of court.  Rashel has extensive experience litigating single and multi-plaintiff cases before the National Labor Relations Commission. She also renders advisory work on employment concerns of various multi-national corporations and works closely with law firms in other jurisdictions.  She has written in a variety of legal publications particularly the Law Reviews and The Legal 500, and has conducted various seminars in labor and employment in the Philippines and abroad. She has also taught remedial law and civil law at the Centro Escolar University. Rashel is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Young International Council for Commercial Arbitration, the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, Inc. and the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators. She obtained her law degree from the University of the Philippines with a Dean’s Medal, and completed her undergraduate degree in Philosophy at the same university as magna cum laude.

Editha R. Hechanova leads the intellectual law practice of the HECHANOVA Group comprising of of Hechanova & Co., Inc. an intellectual property consulting firm handling trademark and patent prosecution, copyright and domain name registrations, product registration, management, valuation, searches, and other non-contentious aspect of intellectual property, where she is President/CEO. The contentious IP practice is handled by the other member firm, Hechanova Bugay Vilchez & Andaya-Racadio which specializes in enforcement, litigation, alternative dispute resolution, licensing corporate, immigration law and taxation. Editha graduated from the University of the East with a business degree, major in Accounting, magna cum laude. She is a Certified Public Accountant. She obtained her law degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, and a Certificate in Strategic Business Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific. She is a Certified Patent Valuation Analyst (CPVA) by the Business Development Academy based in New Jersey, USA. She passed the Patent Agent Qualifying Examination (PAQE) in 2008 conducted by the IPOPHL, and is the immediate past president of the Association of PAQE Professionals, Inc. consisting of PAQE passers. She is an alumna of the South East Asia Patent Drafting Course (SEAD) conducted by the Federation des Conseils en Propriete Intellectuelle (FICPI), an international organization of patent and IP practitioners. She is currently the Vice-President of the IP Collegium, an organization of IP experts mainly in the ASEAN region, India and Brazil, sponsored by the Japan Institute for Promoting Invention and Innovation (JIPII). She is the Asia Pacific sub-committee chairperson of the Trademark Office Practice Committee (TOPC) of the International Trademark Association (INTA) for 2022-2023. Editha Hechanova has been cited by AsiaLaw as leading lawyer in IP in the Philippines from 2002-2018 and as Distinguished Practitioner for 2021 and 2022, ASIA IP Expert from 2013-2022, IP Star from 2014- 2022, Who’s Who Legal Trademarks from 2012-2022, Edition of World Trademark Review 1000 as the World’s Leading Trademark Professional for Enforcement and Litigation, and Prosecution and Strategy, and Asia Business Law Journal Philippines Top 100 Lawyers from 2019-2022. She was also named as Copyright Law Expert of the Year and Intellectual Property Law Representative in the Philippines by the Global Law Experts in 2022; and Trademark Prosecution Services Expert of the Year in the Philippines during the 2022 Lawyer Network Annual Awards. The Hechanova Group has been cited as winner of Philippines Law Firm Award for 2022/2023 for Intellectual Property Enforcement from the Asia Business Law Journal. For 2021/2022 the Hechanova Group won two Philippines Law Firm Awards for: Intellectual Property Enforcement and Intellectual Property Protection from the same publication. On March, 2022, HECHANOVA & CO., INC. was honored by the IPOPHL with a Special Citation as the Top Agent for Patent (2017-2021) and Top Industrial Design Agent (2017-2021) during THE 25th Anniversary of the IP Code. The Hechanova Group is ranked Tier 1 for the Philippines jurisdiction in the Copyright survey of Asia IP for 2023; the Philippines Patent Firm of the Year for the years 2020 & 2021, Asia IP Awards. In 2019, it was awarded the Philippines Copyright Firm of the Year, and in 2017, the Philippines Trademark Firm of the Year.

Rogelio Nicandro (Senior Partner), is a member of the Executive Board and the head of the Intellectual Property group. His practice focuses on intellectual property, litigation, and arbitration. Roger started practicing law immediately after the bar when he was invited by his professor, William R. Veto, a commercial law authority and senior counsel of Tañada Carreon Tañada, to be his legal assistant. He handled civil and commercial litigation at the trial and appellate level. He also handled insurance and intellectual property, variegated contracts, and prepared opinions for his banking clientele. Roger joined the firm in 1969. In his early years, his practice was concentrated on litigation, civil and commercial, with some criminal cases. He was also into contracts, banking, corporations, intellectual property, and condominiums. He is a pioneer in condominium law practice, having been counsel for the earliest condominium projects in the Philippines. Roger has acted as panel chairman and arbitrator in significant cases and has been elected since 1996 as trustee of the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center, the country’s foremost arbitration center. In 1999, he became the head of the intellectual property department of the firm. He regularly attends international IP congresses where he often contributes country reports and position papers. He is currently Vice-President of the Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Association of the Philippines and is past president of the Licensing Executives Society International, Philippine Group. From 1987 to 2011, Roger was a legal consultant of the Asian Development Bank. He also taught Election Law in Ateneo Law School for eight years. He was lead counsel of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), particularly, for its successful accreditation as the citizen’s arm for the snap presidential elections of 1986 before the Marcos-controlled Commission on Elections. He likewise handled human rights cases and became Counsel General of the Brotherhood of Nationalistic, Involved and Free Attorneys to Combat Injustice and Oppression (BONIFACIO), a human rights lawyers’ group. He is past president of the Legal Management Association of the Philippines. Roger received his A.B. Philosophy degree from San Beda College and is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila School of Law.

Mr. Ferdinand Hidalgo joined SRMO in 1989 as an Associate lawyer handling tax, corporate and related labor matters. In 1996, he was promoted to the partnership where he concentrated on handling tax and related issues before the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, Court of Tax Appeals and the Supreme Court. Mr. Hidalgo is currently the Head of SRMO’s Tax Practice Group which is composed of lawyers focused in providing tax and related services on matters involving start-up business operations, corporate structures, fiscal incentive applications, customs and tax investigations and other government compliance requirements. He also heads the Mining Practice Group. Mr. Hidalgo earned his Bachelor of Science Major in Accounting at San Beda College in 1983 and his law degree at the Ateneo Law School in 1988. He is also a member of the Tax Management Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a member of the Tax Academic department and a professorial Lecturer of the Philippine Judicial Academy. Practice Areas Tax Law Corporate Law Mining Law Admission to the Bar Admitted, 1989 Education Ateneo de Manila University (LLB)  Professional Activities and Memberships Member, Integrated Bar of the Philippines Member, Tax Management Association  Member, Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants Professorial Lecturer (Tax), Philippine Judicial Academy of the Philippines.

Marcin Kolasiński is a Partner and Co-owner of the KRK Kieszkowska Rutkowska Kolasiński Law Firm. He is a legal counsel and a renowned expert in competition law, consumer protection law and public procurement law. Marcin advises major international companies on the development of market strategies, including the assessment of distribution programmes, loyalty programmes and competition-restricting contractual obligations. He provides support to clients during public or private tender proceedings. He has extensive experience in submitting merger control notifications to competition authorities in EU Member States or the European Commission. He represents clients in investigations and anti-monopoly proceedings conducted in various industry sectors. His focus is also on compliance issues and preparing training for entrepreneurs. Before starting advisory work for business, Marcin was Deputy Director of the Competition Protection Department at the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.