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As the global legal chief of the 47-year-old Jollibee Group, whose ubiquitous smiling red bee can now be seen in many parts of the world, Valerie Feria Amante is as busy as that bee, managing a team of 33 lawyers and paralegals across six countries along with the legal affairs of the conglomerate’s 19 domestic and overseas brands. It’s a far cry from 2007, when she started out at Jollibee Group. At that time the existing legal team consisted of one lawyer and two paralegals.

Amante, a former lawyer at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, has witnessed and helped achieve the Filipino fast-food giant’s leaps in global market penetration, including the recent complete takeover of Hong Kong’s Michelin-rated restaurant chain, Tim Ho Wan.

It’s the evolution of a Philippine success story, and her role in that success cannot be underestimated, accentuated as it is by her pride in and dedication to an iconic national brand. But don’t be fooled into thinking Amante is sitting on her laurels. She harbours a burning ambition for her company and, given her track record, this may just be a matter of time.

Speaking to Asia Business Law Journal, Jollibee’s legal guardian talks about how she and her team of 33 lawyers and paralegals protect the “red bee” from legal harm as it makes a beeline for more deals and projects around the world, her own personal journey from private practice to in-house, and her goal for this international company.

Asia Business Law Journal: How and why did you start your legal career back in the early 2000s?

Valerie Feria Amante: I believed that being an in-house lawyer would be the best way to leverage my strengths into a meaningful career aligned with my vision for my future. To this end, I chose to start my career at a top-tier law firm with the intention of learning from the best for the first few years and transitioning to corporate thereafter.

ABLJ: How did your in-house career begin at Jollibee Group some 18 years ago?

Amante: I jumped at the rare opportunity for extraordinary growth that Jollibee Group offered. As a proud Filipino, I wanted to be part of an iconic homegrown brand’s rise on the world stage. As an eager young lawyer aspiring to make an impact, I was excited by the prospect of gaining international experience, and the possibility of building and leading a global legal team someday.

ABLJ: As the global chief legal, ethics and compliance officer of Jollibee Group, what are your primary roles and responsibilities?

Amante: My role is to champion governance, legal, ethics and compliance, and ensure that these are embedded in strategic decision-making at the enterprise level, and throughout our business operations. This includes setting the company’s legal strategies and driving the legal team’s efforts to co-create value through legal enablers, and to protect value through legal risk management and governance as we pursue the company’s business objectives.

ABLJ: With 19 domestic and overseas brands, as well as regional offices, how do you run your cross-border legal team to protect Jollibee Group from legal and compliance risks in the current global business environment?

Amante: Lawyers from our different offices learn from diverse viewpoints, harnessing the best of each other’s expertise to develop global standards, ones that we all own and uphold because we co-created them. By earning trust and building strong relationships, both within our multinational team and with internal and external stakeholders, we foster collaboration that delivers results.

ABLJ: On a regular or daily basis, as well as in cross-border transactions, in what ways and on what areas do you work with Philippine-based and overseas-based general counsel or heads of legal within the group?

Amante: All legal heads in Jollibee Group report to the global chief legal, ethics and compliance officer (CLECO), either directly or functionally, and align with the CLECO on deliverables. We are aligned on our global standards, as well as on the matters that are to be localised. There is a clear approval framework and escalation process, applicable globally, that outlines matters requiring CLECO approval, those that require consultation with the CLECO, and those where the CLECO only needs to be informed.

All cross-border and global work for Jollibee Group is done by global legal, by either the general counsel, corporate and commercial for matters such as M&A and investments, and capital markets, or by the general counsel, intellectual property, digital and privacy global, for matters such as management of our IP portfolio and cross-border digital initiatives, and by the legal business partners of our global functions for all other matters.

On the other hand, the legal heads for regions such as the Philippines, North America and the People’s Republic of China, as well as the legal heads of brands such as The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Smashburger, focus on work within their specific regions or brands.

The legal aspect of all relationships with our partners for non-wholly owned brands, regardless of location, and all board meetings of such brands are also managed by global legal.

ABLJ: As both the global legal and ethics chief and compliance officer, how do you manage both roles, and how do you reconcile any differences in the nature of the two positions?

Amante: All my roles ultimately serve a shared purpose: safeguarding the company while enabling business success. My primary legal role is to champion good corporate governance and legal compliance, and to co-create value through legal strategies and enablers, and protect value through legal risk management and governance.

My primary ethics and compliance role is to establish and promote standards of ethical behaviour and legal compliance, embed ethics and compliance into business practices and ensure risks are identified, owned and managed, as well as to implement mechanisms that alert management to breaches or potential risks, among others. Rather than conflicting, these roles reinforce each other in building trust, protecting value, and ensuring the company operates responsibly.

ABLJ: What have been your biggest challenges and achievements since joining Jollibee Group, and why?

Amante: I joined as a senior manager and “officer in charge” in 2007. For my first few months, our team consisted of one lawyer and one paralegal in the Philippines, with some co-ordination with a paralegal from an acquired company in China.

Today, our legal team has grown to 33 lawyers and paralegals with offices in six countries. I collaborated with human resources in structuring the organisation, hiring every lawyer, and onboarding and working closely with each head.

Lawyers that joined us a few years out of law school as managers are now leading as general counsel within Jollibee Group, and some Manila-based lawyers have been individually recognised as top in-house counsel in the country.

The expansion of our beloved homegrown brands onto the world stage, the inclusion of new brands in our portfolio, and every investment and innovation celebrated along the way have, at some point, involved the work of one or more lawyers from our team. From the boardroom to each store, legal is around as an enabler and guardian. On a personal note, I am particularly proud to have led the legal work to acquire 14 of the company’s current 19 brands, along with all our other investments and projects.

In addition to the legal roles I had been performing since 2007, I was appointed as ethics head in 2016, and as compliance officer in 2022. The company supported me in these roles by ensuring I received appropriate international certifications on best practices, and empowering me to implement my learnings within the organisation.