Marie Amular-Bantog

Where are you from?

I was an international student and am from the Philippines.

What motivated you to pursue the LLM?

Getting an LLM in a prestigious institution, either in the US or in the UK, had been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. When I was still starting my legal career working as a court attorney at the Philippine Supreme Court, I applied and was offered a place in NYU School of Law for the Master of Laws. That was in 2007.

For some twist of fate, I met my husband and ended up planning a wedding and getting married that year instead. Life happened. I had kids. Climbed the corporate ladder. But the dream of living independently abroad while pursuing my LLM remained.

Fast forward, 12 years later, with 2 children, a supportive husband, and a well-established career in energy law, I felt it was the right time to pursue the LLM. This time however, I knew it must be in the UK, with international energy law as my specialism.

The University of Aberdeen and QMUL also offered me a place in their LLM Programs for Energy Law, but I chose City, University of London. My motivations for pursuing the LLM in International Energy Law and Regulations are three-fold.

Firstly, I wanted to learn as much as I can about energy laws, policies, and regulations of the UK and other European nations as the forerunners in renewable energy. I wanted to examine the evolution of their regulatory policies and evaluate the extent by which these policies could be appropriately adopted by the Philippines as best practices.

I wanted to gain knowledge and be able to contribute towards the development of renewable energy policies in the Philippines, especially in the Philippine offshore wind industry which is very nascent.

Secondly, I wanted to gain a basic understanding of English law, especially around contract law, as I have observed that more and more of our foreign counterparties in the company I work in, would insist on English law as the governing law.

Lastly, I wanted to explore and experience living independently in the wonderful city of London, study in one of the best universities for law, expand my network, make new friends, and benefit from the teaching and mentorship of professors who are experts in their fields of study.

What were you doing before studying the LLM?

I have been in the practice of law in the Philippines for more than 15 years with nearly a decade of experience working as an energy lawyer and in-house counsel for leading power generation companies in the Philippines.

I have been working with ACEN CORPORATION (“ACEN”), which is the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group, as Vice President, Legal & Regulatory, and Head of Legal Operations (Philippines).

In this role, I lead a team of lawyers in overseeing and managing the legal, regulatory, contractual, permitting, and environmental compliance requirements of twenty (20) power plants, across a wide range of technologies from renewables (wind and solar), conventional (CFB and Diesel-Fired), and Battery Energy Storage System.

I also oversee the Litigation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Management Unit for Philippine Operations and provide legal support as the lead lawyer for the Risk and Insurance Group.

Prior to finding my niche as an energy lawyer, I have worked as a Court Attorney at the Supreme Court of the Philippines (Office of Associate Justice Conchita Carpio Morales), where I assisted in the drafting of resolutions and decisions on complex and diverse points of law (constitutional law, criminal law, civil law, remedial law, commercial law, tax law, administrative cases against judges and court personnel) including cases with no precedents in local or foreign jurisprudence.

I have also worked in Ernst & Young Philippines (Sycip Gorres & Velayo) as a senior associate in the International Tax Services where I was responsible for the planning and implementation of tax effective alternatives in the structuring of local and foreign investments, which included M&As, transfers to controlled corporations, and equity and corporate reorganizations.

For a time, I was also a professional faculty member at De La Salle – College of St. Benilde, where I taught business law subjects, particularly the Law on Obligations and Contracts and the Law on Partnership ad Private Corporations.

What opportunities and experiences did City, University of London offer you whilst you studied, or still offers you?

Apart from my excellent and world-class academic experience owing to having top-calibre professors, well-known academic authors, and experts as my tutors (Professors Jason Chuah, David Collins, Stuart Sime, Katherine Reece-Thomas, and Michael Denison), the support I received as an international student especially from my personal tutor was extraordinary and this allowed me to perform exceptionally in my LLM.

Coming from a tropical country, I remembered having a rough time adjusting to the gloomy winter weather in London. At that time, most of my friends were all down with COVID and it was a challenge for me to focus on my summative assessments.

My personal tutor, Katherine Reece-Thomas expressed genuine concern and encouraged me to go outdoors, find green spaces to walk locally to lighten my mood, and even assigned places where I should visit with frequent check-ins. I remembered having a call with her at the Millennium Bridge a proof that I did the assigned walk.

The Student Welfare Office at City, University of London also provided me with additional support. The tutors and staff at City would really go out of their way to support the mental health and well-being of the students.

So even if I had a difficult time, I never felt alone, which allowed me to pull myself together and perform well in my summative assessments.

After graduation, I have kept in touch with my tutors especially through LinkedIn, continue to engage on topics of interest, and would receive professional support and career advice.

Just this week for example, Professor Jason Chuah shared an article on climate change “wind droughts” and the implications for wind energy, which I also shared with my colleagues, resulting to a lively discussion on the topic.

What opportunities and experiences did The City Law School offer you whilst you were studying?

Even when I was working full time while studying the LLM full time, I wanted to make the most out of my LLM experience, so I joined as many activities as I could. There are a lot of opportunities and experiences offered to the students at The City Law School.

On the fun side, there’s the Legal London Walking Tour where we visited the Inns of Court and enjoyed the history and stories of the inns as told by Ms. Wolfgarten, who is a barrister at the Middle Temple and a lecturer at City Law School. It was also fun volunteering at the parade for the Lord Mayor’s Show!

The Careers Service also provided excellent support and I was able to book a one-to-one career guidance session. I also joined the six-month Professional Mentoring Program where I was paired with a brilliant solicitor-mentor who helped me explore my career options.

There is a wide number of external LLM speaker events and topical webinars spread across the year, ranging from the European Green Deal, global tax, investment banking, space tourism, Ukraine discussions, human rights, UK competition law, among others, to pique students’ interest.

There are the Wine and Cheese events for students and tutors to unwind, and of course the regular City Café where LLM students can give input and raise concerns on issues affecting their studies. Definitely, a lot of things to keep LLM students busy the whole year!

What was your favourite aspect of the LLM? And why?

I enjoyed doing my dissertation, entitled “The Wind is Blowing, but is the Philippines’ Offshore Wind Ready? A Critical Assessment of the Philippine Legal and Regulatory Frameworks for Offshore Wind” where I did a review of Philippine energy laws and regulations and identified gaps and challenges that could potentially inhibit the deployment of offshore wind.

I had the opportunity to study the regulatory framework for wind energy of UK, Germany, and the EU’s strategies on offshore renewable energy, and identified best practices which the Philippines may adopt, as I focused on marine spatial planning, support schemes, and the challenges in the development of grid infrastructures.

I was able to provide the Philippine Department of Energy and the World Bank (ESMAP) copies of my dissertation, to hopefully contribute to the on-going policy-making initiatives for offshore wind in the Philippines.

I believed that by undertaking my dissertation in offshore wind, I was able to express my deep interest in wind energy which paved the way to another fantastic opportunity - being selected as a participant along with other women in 13 different countries, in the year-long Women in Wind Global Leadership Program (2022) of the Global Wind Energy Council and Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition.

Were there any challenges affecting your decision to study the LLM? If so, how did you overcome them?

The greatest challenge for me was in managing my time as a full-time LLM student in London, while working full-time as Head of Legal Operations (Philippines) in ACEN CORPORATION and supervising my legal team back in the Philippines.

Our team provides legal support to around 20 operating companies (wind, solar, coal, diesel-fired, and bulk waters) and should ensure that all legal, regulatory, contractual, permitting, and environmental compliance requirements are addressed, and the legal risks well-managed.

It is particularly challenging because of the time difference between Manila and London. Manila is ahead by 8 hours. As I am about to sleep (12 midnight), businesses in Manila are in full swing. So, there are times when I have meetings and contract negotiations in the ungodly hours of 2-4am (London time) and have my lectures at the university by 9am.

I am also a wife, and a mom to two kids, and my son aged 8 would request “virtual play” where I had to be online, talk, and watch him play for hours on end. I was able to overcome these challenges by having the right mindset.

I remembered that on the night of my flight, my son was crying, and my daughter, aged 11 said to him “Please stop crying, our mom worked hard for this, and this is good for her, so you should instead be happy for her.” That stuck with me the entire time I was in London. That gave me strength.

On the work-front, I could say I am lucky that our team works in cadence despite the time differences, and it helped that there are already internal processes in place for routinary work, and the escalation of issues would usually be done through Viber/WhatsApp for faster communication.

I was able to have a knack and learned to review contracts through my phone. My physical absence also allowed members of my team to step up and shine.

At the end of day, I knew that getting an LLM was on my bucket list for such a long time. So, I was prepared to stretch myself and work hard as a way of thanking: (1) the City Law School for seeing my potential and offering me a scholarship; (2) my legal team for stepping up; (3) my company for allowing me to work full-time without any diminution of benefits; and (4) my family for providing me with full support during the time when I was away.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone considering studying an LLM?

I had this note stuck at the wall of my flat that says, “She believed she could, so she did.” So, for those aiming to study an LLM at The City Law School - believe that you could create many happy memories as an LLM student there, memories which you could always look back on and smile! Believe you could make new friends.

Believe you could live independently in the vibrant and multi-cultural City of London. Believe you could establish not only professional but meaningful relationships with your peers and tutors.

Believe you could enhance your student experience by participating and volunteering in university activities (Lord Mayor’s Show, Legal London Walking Tour, Professional Mentoring Program).

Believe you could be awarded the City Law Prizes for your modules. Believe you could get a Distinction in your Dissertation and the City Law School Prize for Excellence. I believed I could, and I did!