Marie Francesca Luz Olalia dela Cruz
Founding and Managing Counsel
With almost two decades of experience, Francesca has established herself as an emerging luminary in tax and commercial law practice within the Philippines and the Southeast Asian region. Prior to founding Olalia dela Cruz Law, she served as an associate at Salvador and Associates, a member of Taxand; as a tax manager at SGV & Co., a member of Ernst and Young (EY); and as a Court Attorney at the Court of Tax Appeals.
Francesca has handled tax litigation cases before the Court of Tax Appeals and the Supreme Court that have led to the invalidation, nullification, and cancellation of numerous tax assessments collectively amounting to billions of Philippine pesos. Some of the decisions in the cases she handled, particularly tax refunds before the Supreme Court, remain landmark cases often cited by tax practitioners, lecturers, and professors up to this day.
At the administrative level, Francesca is highly experienced in successfully reducing tax assessments, including the preparation of position papers, protests, requests for reconsiderations, and tax reconciliation of working papers with the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Additionally, she secured favorable rulings and opinions regarding the estate of prominent businessmen and mergers and acquisitions of some of the country’s biggest corporations.
Francesca is tireless and responsive and works across multiple time zones. She also serves as a lecturer on tax-related matters of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education for lawyers; as a general counsel for Asia of two of the largest Information Technology – Business Process Outsourcing (IT – BPO) companies in the world; as a tax counsel of three of the biggest construction and real estate companies in the Philippines; and a tax consultant for numerous professional organizations, non-governmental organizations, and other law firms.
Aside from her extensive tax and commercial law experience, Francesca also boasts impressive credentials in emerging practice areas of law, particularly intellectual property law and alternative dispute resolution. She achieved a dual degree of Juris Doctor and a Master in Business Administration from De La Salle University and Far Eastern University, with electives in international intellectual property law and international negotiation at Syracuse University.
Francesca has handled tax litigation cases before the Court of Tax Appeals and the Supreme Court that have led to the invalidation, nullification, and cancellation of numerous tax assessments collectively amounting to billions of Philippine pesos. Some of the decisions in the cases she handled, particularly tax refunds before the Supreme Court, remain landmark cases often cited by tax practitioners, lecturers, and professors up to this day.
At the administrative level, Francesca is highly experienced in successfully reducing tax assessments, including the preparation of position papers, protests, requests for reconsiderations, and tax reconciliation of working papers with the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Additionally, she secured favorable rulings and opinions regarding the estate of prominent businessmen and mergers and acquisitions of some of the country’s biggest corporations.
Francesca is tireless and responsive and works across multiple time zones. She also serves as a lecturer on tax-related matters of the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education for lawyers; as a general counsel for Asia of two of the largest Information Technology – Business Process Outsourcing (IT – BPO) companies in the world; as a tax counsel of three of the biggest construction and real estate companies in the Philippines; and a tax consultant for numerous professional organizations, non-governmental organizations, and other law firms.
Aside from her extensive tax and commercial law experience, Francesca also boasts impressive credentials in emerging practice areas of law, particularly intellectual property law and alternative dispute resolution. She achieved a dual degree of Juris Doctor and a Master in Business Administration from De La Salle University and Far Eastern University, with electives in international intellectual property law and international negotiation at Syracuse University.
