Our history speaks for itself – we’ve never lost a case!
At Smiths & Doe, we view the attainment of diversity at all levels of our firm as crucial and as a natural result of building a cohesive, successful law firm.
About ISM:
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Corporate History
ISM Communications Corporation (“ISM”) is a listed Philippine holding company.ISM is led by its Chairman, Mr. Eric O. Recto. It is owned by Monfortino Holdings, Inc., funds managed by Ashmore Investment Management Limited (a subsidiary of the Ashmore Group plc) as well as other strategic partners.
1925 – JANUARY
Itogon-Suyoc Mines, Inc. (“ISM” later renamed ISM Communications Corporation) was incorporated to engage in the mining business.
2001 – JUNE
The Board and Stockholders of ISM approved an agreement between the Company and PhilWeb Corporation for the latter to manage the transformation of ISM from a mining company to a company engaged in information technology, multimedia telecommunications, and other similar industries.
2002 – APRIL
The Stockholders of ISM approved a Restructuring Plan for the Company, which involved the change in its corporate name to ISM Communications Corporation and a change in its primary purpose.
2002 – JUNE
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved ISM’s Restructuring Plan.
2002 – OCTOBER
In accordance with the Restructuring Plan, ISM ceased its mining operations and assigned all of its rights of its two mining properties (“Sangilo” and “Suyoc”) to Itogon-Suyoc Resources, Inc.
2005 – JULY
ISM acquired 17.7% of Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc. (“ETPI”) from Aerocom Investors & Managers, Inc. in exchange for 6,816,761,093 new shares of ISM with par value of PhP 0.01 per share.
2005 – NOVEMBER
ISM acquired an additional 40% of ETPI through its acquisition of A.G.N. Philippines, Inc., a subsidiary of Australian Gigahertz Network International Pty. Ltd.
2006 – DECEMBER
The SEC approved the increase in authorized capital of ISM from PhP 300 million divided into 30,000,000,000 shares with par value of PhP 0.01 per share to PhP 1.2 billion divided into 120,000,000,000 shares at the same par value.
2007 – OCTOBER
ISM purchased 9.8% of Eastern Telecommunications’ total outstanding shares from Smart Communications, Inc.
2008 – MARCH
ISM purchased 10.2% of ETPI’s total outstanding shares from the Republic of the Philippines, through the Privatization and Management Office, which brought ISM’s total holdings of the company to 77.69%.
2008 – AUGUST
The SEC approved the increase in the authorized capital of the Company from PhP 1.2 billion divided into 120,000,000,000 shares at a par value of PhP 0.01 per share to PhP 1.8 billion divided into 180,000,000,000 shares with a par value of PhP 0.01 per share.
2010 – JANUARY
The Stockholders of ISM approved a Restructuring Plan for the Company, which involved the change in its corporate name to ISM Communications Corporation and a change in its primary purpose.
2011 – JUNE-JULY
ISM led a group of investors (the “ISM Group”) in acquiring approximately 97.28% of the Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCOM or the “Bank”). The ISM Group purchased a total of 47,909473 common shares and 120,000,000 preferred shares or a total of 167,909,473 voting shares of the Bank (the “Sale Shares”). The ISM Group acquired the Sales Shares at a purchase price of Php27.88 per share, regardless of class, or for a total purchase price of Php4,681,316,107.24. This includes the Company’s share of approximately 37.11% of the Bank. The acquisition of the Bank was subject to the appropriate regulatory approvals.
2011 – OCTOBER
ISM sold its remaining 37.7% stake in ETPI to San Miguel Corporation, which consisted of a total of 9,800,555 Class “A” common shares of ETPI for a total consideration of PhP 1,507,777,692.00.
2011 – DECEMBER
The ISM Group obtained all the necessary regulatory approvals for the acquisition of its 97.28% of the Bank. The acquisition was completed via special block transactions at the local stock exchange.
2013 – NOVEMBER
PhilWeb Corporation, Boerstar Corporation, and Uscon Limited sold their respective shareholdings in the Company to Monfortino Holdings, Inc. (MHI), a private company owned and controlled by Mr. Eric. O. Recto. In view of the sale to MHI, Messrs. Roberto V. Ongpin, Dennis O. Valdes, Walter W. Brown and Mario A. Oreta, resigned as members of the Board of Directors of the Company during the meeting of the Board of Directors held on December 3, 2013. On the same meeting, Messrs. Colin Keogh, Eugene Ellis, Luis Benitez were elected to replace the resigned directors. Mr. Ongpin also resigned as Chairman and CEO of the Company. Likewise, Messrs. Rafael B. Ortigas and Ignacio R. Ortigas resigned as Vice Presidents; Mr. Rodolfo Ma. A. Ponferrada resigned as Corporate Secretary; and Mr. Ponferrada, Ms. Josephine A. Manalo and Mr. Jonathan T. Altubar resigned as Corporate Information Officers. The following were appointed as the current corporate officers of the Company:
Chairman and CEO: Eric O. Recto
Vice Chairman: Craig Ehrlich
President: Mario J. Locsin
interim CFO and Treasurer: Zaldy M. Prieto
Corporate Secretary and Corporate Information Officer: Jovita D.S. Larrazabal





Mayra Smith
Mrs. Mayra Graham Smiths, Senior Partner, has been the driving force of our Legal Offcie for many years.