30 JANUARY 2023
PRESS RELEASE

PCC welcomes leading IP, trade lawyer as new Commissioner

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) welcomes legal expert Lolibeth Ramit-Medrano as Commissioner under a new administration beginning this year until 2030.

Commissioner Medrano’s 22-year public service record spans different technical and leadership roles, most recently as Undersecretary of the Office of the President and prior to that as Director of the Bureau of Patents at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL).

As Patent Director, she was bestowed the 2020 Presidential Gawad Career Executive Service (CES) Award for her exemplary performance in government service. She spearheaded the Philippines’ designation as one of only 23 international search and preliminary examination authorities for patents in the world by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Under her leadership, the Philippines was cited by the WIPO as among the top 3 most efficient international authorities in 2019.

She was also instrumental in successfully amending copyright provisions of the 2014 IP Code in Republic Act 10372 and is a member of the Supreme Court Sub-Committee for the Revision of the Rules of Procedure for the Intellectual Property Rights Cases.

Atty. Medrano served as the pioneer Chairperson of the ASEAN Industrial Design Task Force and represented the Philippines in the international IP circuit such as the WIPO, World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation IP Experts Group, and the ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation Task Force, among others.

She is a professor on intellectual property at the Ateneo De Manila Law School, San Beda Alabang College of Law, and the UP Open University, and a lecturer for trainings and workshops here and abroad.

Commissioner Medrano graduated cum laude, earning a degree in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines Diliman and her law degree from San Beda College of Law. She pursued her Masters in Politics and Public Policy as an Australian Development Scholar in Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia and Master of Laws specializing in Intellectual Property as an IPO scholar at the the Ateneo De Manila Law School. This is complemented by her advanced IP and trade courses received from the WIPO and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The appointment of Commissioner Medrano forms part of the new administration at the PCC with a seven-year term or until 2030. She is joined by fellow Commissioners Marah Victoria S. Querol and Michael B. Peloton who will hold office for five years or until 2028. As members of the Commission en banc, they decide on the different market competition cases.

As the PCC anticipates renewed appetite for mergers, acquisitions, and post-pandemic restructuring among firms this year, Commissioner Medrano’s expertise in trade, IP, and commercial law is seen to champion robust merger reviews, competition cases, and market policies in aid of the recovering economy. This comes at a time after the PCC Mergers and Acquisitions Office regained its merger review powers in September 2022. PCC-MAO has since resolved three merger transactions and launched a motu proprio case in the pharmaceuticals sector last year.

The PCC is mandated to promote competition among businesses and enforce the broad powers of the Philippine Competition Act (PCA). Through fair competition, the PCC aims to foster business innovation, increase global competitiveness, and expand consumer choice to improve public welfare.

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Link: https://www.phcc.gov.ph/press-releases/pcc-comm-lrmedrano/