Social License

The Firm has pioneered the Social License Practice, the first and only one of its kind in the country, as part of its total solutions approach. It responds to the investors’ need to gain social acceptability and broad approval from host communities to facilitate the long-term sustainability of their operations. A team of lawyers trained to apply a holistic, well-integrated and multi-disciplinary approach creates a network of stakeholders with a sense of co-ownership to protect an investment and minimize any socio-economic, political and cultural risks to the investors.

To this end, the Firm has facilitated the compliance with the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from various indigenous peoples (IPs) throughout the country, including helping IPs obtain their Certificate of Ancestral Domains Title (CADT) and Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development and Protection Plan (ADSDPP) in order to strengthen the long-term partnership between the investors in mining, energy and infrastructure projects and their host communities.

The Firm has also utilized the Social License in effectively handling crisis management for its clients. In 2005, a flagship green-field mining project was fined, suspended and issued a cease-desist order by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“DENR"). The Firm represented the client in investigations conducted by Congress and the Presidential Fact-Finding Commission and by acting as spokesman before local and foreign media. The Firm successfully reversed the public opposition to the project and restored its social license by obtaining favorable endorsements from the concerned congressional representatives, the executive and legislative councils of various local government units affected, the business and religious sectors, non-governmental organizations and other sectors of society to allow the project's full and permanent resumption of operations.

Mr. Julito R. Sarmiento leads the Firm’s Social License Practice.