Enrique V DELA CRUZ JR.

Introduction

Enrique V Dela Cruz Jr is a senior partner and data protection officer at DivinaLaw. He is also the head of the firm’s arbitration, data privacy, IP and fintech groups.

He has nearly 25 years of experience in litigation, arbitration, public-private partnership contracts and election law practice.

He is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration-Asia Users’ Council and an accredited arbitrator of the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission. In 2023, he was appointed as a member to the Advisory Council of the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution under the Department of Justice.

He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in AB Legal Management (cum laude) in 1996, and earned his Juris Doctor (with honours) in 2000. In 2001, he obtained a Master in Public Management from the Ateneo School of Government. In 2002, he completed an executive programme on Leadership and Public Policy at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In May 2005, he obtained his Master of Laws in International and Comparative Business Law (with distinction) from the London Metropolitan University as a Chevening scholar. He also completed a single master’s course in International Trade Law from the University College London. In March 2020, he was awarded a fintech certification by Harvard University.

He was recently appointed as the dean of the Baliuag University College of Law. He teaches law at the University of Santo Tomas and is a lecturer at the University of the Philippines Centre for Local and Regional Governance. He was a municipal councilor of Baliwag, Bulacan from 2001 to 2010 and a board member of the Province of Bulacan from 2010 to 2019.

Dela Cruz has been in Asia Business Law Journal’s Top 100 Lawyers in the Philippines from year 2020 to 2025. He was recognised as an ALB Asia Super 50 Disputes Lawyers (2025) and Philippines Client Choice Lawyers (2022) by Asian Legal Business. He was also honoured as a Commended External Counsel of the Year (2022, 2023 and 2024) by the In-House Community.