Biography

Sarah has been with the Philippine government since 2005, having served as a Foreign Service Officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and now as a Senior State Solicitor at the Office of the Solicitor General.

As a government lawyer, Sarah has been involved in various international commercial and investment arbitration cases and has received intensive training in these areas from the International Law Institute, The Hague Academy of International Law, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, and Singapore International Arbitration Academy. Sarah was part of the very first all-Filipino legal team that successfully defended a landmark international commercial arbitration case for the Republic of the Philippines. She is also a delegate to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law's Working Group III on Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform.

Her participation in the Working Group has spurred her interest in human rights reform in the international investment treaty system, which is also the topic of her Fellowship study.

Sarah holds a Dual Master's Degree in Public Policy from University of Tokyo and Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, Germany, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy and a Juris Doctor from Ateneo de Manila University.

Fields of expertise