Raquel has been a practicing lawyer in the fields of Banking, Securities, Energy, Corporate and Commercial Law and Information Technology.  Among other relevant work, she is presently the legal consultant to the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (“PEMC”) in relation to the commercial operations of the Philippine Wholesale Electricity Spot Market ("WESM"). Formerly an associate attorney at Ortega del Castillo Bacorro Odulio Calma and Carbonell Law Office. She served as legislative aide to the Secretary of Finance from January to March 2001. She also served as corporate counsel for Banco de Oro Universal Bank from 1999 to 2000. She was admitted to the Philippine bar in 1997. . In 2006, she completed the course on Trust Operations and Investment Management from the Trust Institute of the Philippines and graduated with distinction.

• Currently serves as lead legal advisor to the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) in its preparation of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and during the WESM commercial operations. Work involves assisting the Department of Energy in drafting the constitutive documents and in the incorporation and institution building of PEMC; providing assistance to the PEMC in legislative deliberations at the Philippine Senate on proposed amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA); preparation of documents required for registration and participation of industry participants  in the WESM; drafting of market instruments, including contracts, agreements and market manuals embodying the commercial arrangements required upon commencement of the spot market; providing legal assistance to the Market Operations Unit in the preparatory work for the WESM, particularly with regard to the price determination methodology, structure of the market fees and the development of a market management system; drafting of the relevant guidelines on the constitution and composition of PEM Board standing committees and of the manuals of procedure; review of the WESM Rules, Grid Code and Distribution Code for purposes of effecting rules changes and harmonizing such rules and regulations in light of developments in WESM; preparation of a Code of Corporate Governance for PEMC.

• Currently serves as Philippine counsel to several international petroleum companies in relation to its exploration, development and operating contracts with the Department of Energy. Work includes review of the service contracts, farm-in arrangements including enforceability and assignability of the same; structuring and implementation of investments in the Philippine subsidiary.

• Currently serves as Philippine counsel to several international financial institutions in relation to the cross border financing of petroleum exploration, development and production of service contractors operating in the Philippines.  Work includes review of service contracts and other project documents, review and drafting of finance documents and security arrangements and assistance in closing.

• Currently acts as local legal adviser to several international financial institutions and investment funds on the purchase and sale of distressed assets or collateralized loan obligation whether through single asset transaction or portfolio transactions. Work includes review and drafting of sale and purchase documentation, due diligence review of portfolio and assistance in closing.

• Currently serves as lead transaction adviser to a publicly listed holdings corporation for the proposed acquisition of a planned integrated ethanol plant with dedicated sugar cane farm to be located in Southern Philippines. Work includes conduct of due diligence on the viability of the biofuels project; review and preparation of transaction and relevant project documents.

• Served as lead transaction adviser for a proposed PhP2 Billion Fixed Rate 7 Year Corporate Notes Issuance of a government owned and controlled corporation.

• Served as legal advisor for the Department of Energy and Department of Finance of the Republic of the Philippines in negotiating a US$163 Million Deferred Payment Facility for the purchase and sale of natural gas between the National Power Corporation and an international consortium of natural gas suppliers.

• Assisted the Philippine Senate in the drafting of a primary legislation on Asset Securitization in the Philippines.  Work included review of the legislative bill, advice on asset-backed securitization, and comparative review of securitization models adopted in other jurisdictions.

• Assisted in the proposed P6 Billion asset securitization of a non-stock savings and loans association, and provided legal advisory on securitization structure, compliance with laws and regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities & Exchange Commission.  Also assisted the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in preparing regulations governing asset-backed securitization of non-stock savings and loans associations.

• Acted as advisor to a local banking institution on the implementation of its rehabilitation plan approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

• Handles general corporate matters for the local bank. Work ranges from compliance with regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission to review and preparation of various credit and syndicated loan documentation.

• Serves as Philippine corporate counsel to the securities brokerage subsidiary of a Fortune 500 multinational investment banking group. Work includes regulatory securities compliance, contract drafting and review, general legal advisory on securities operations

• Serves as Philippine counsel to an international venture capital fund. Work includes negotiations with foreign and local counsel on cross border investment transactions and document drafting for corporate acquisitions.

• Serves as corporate counsel to a Customer Relationship Management ("CRM") company and other business process outsourcing companies. Work performed includes corporate structuring, preparation and review of agreements relating to asset purchase, sale of securities, development and formation of stock options and incentive plans, drafting of service agreements and alliance agreements with international corporations.

• Serves as corporate counsel to several publicly listed corporations involved in mining and in the oil and gas industry. Work includes implementation of corporate restructuring, regulatory compliance and disclosure and other corporate housekeeping services.

• Handles general corporate matters for clients belonging to diverse industries including emerging information technology companies, service companies, and financial institutions.