Chairman

Larry received his Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo Law School in 1996, where he graduated with honors and in the top 5 of his batch. Graduating valedictorian in high school at the Divine Word College of Bangued (Abra), he went on to pursue his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science often making it to the Dean’s List at the Ateneo de Manila University, which he completed in 1992. He also completed in 2023 a course on Public Policy from the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore.

He passed the 1996 Bar Examinations and became a lawyer at the age of 24. He has been a practicing lawyer for the last 28 years specializing in the fields of Corporate Law, Infrastructure and Government Projects specializing of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), toll roads and railways, Information / Operational Technology and Telecommunications, Banking and Corporate Finance, Energy, Immigration law, Litigation and Real Estate Law. He gained extensive experience in these fields of practice from the various work and assignments he engaged in. Initially, while in law school, he interned at the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City presided by then Judge Lucas P. Bersamin, who would later on become the Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court and Executive Secretary of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. After law school, he joined the Law Office of Atty. Alan F. Paguia and later on worked as an Associate Lawyer at the Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose Law Offices from 1998 to 1999. He then joined the Law Firm of Puyat Jacinto & Santos Law Office (PJS Law) in 2000 and became the youngest partner of PJS Law, just 3 years after joining the firm. While with PJS Law, he served as legislative aide to the Secretary of Finance Alberto G. Romulo in 2001, who became the Executive Secretary and Secretary of Foreign Affairs. In 2006, he set out to establish the Paredes Law Group, with a classmate and a former associate in PJS Law, to pursue his vision and practice his own brand of lawyering.

From 2001 to 2012, he was a general counsel and assistant corporate secretary of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Inc. [FINEX], advising the Board and its various Committees on various legal matters presented to it and assisting the Capital Markets Development Committee in its advocacy relating to then pending legislative initiatives such as Securitization, SPAV Law, DST, VAT, PERA, FCDU Law, etc. As such, he served as the Council Secretary of the Capital Market Development Council (CMDC), co-chaired by the Secretary of Finance, composed of government agencies (DOF, SEC, IC, BSP, AMLC) and non-government associations (Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Inc.(FINEX), Investment House Association of the Philippines (IHAP), Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA), Pre-Need Association of the Philippines, Fixed Income Exchange (FIE), among others.

Aside from being a lawyer, Larry is also an astute and innovative businessman, being the Chairman and President of Paredes Holdings, Inc., Asian Center for Legal Excellence, Inc. (ACLEx), Northel Trading, Inc., Centel Trading, Inc., Prime Logistics Group Consultancy, Inc., and other companies, with investments in real properties, telecommunications, retail and distribution, information / operational technology and education. He credits his involvement and experience in business as complementary to, and a good foundation for, his practice as a lawyer, giving him and his team meaningful and valuable insight on the business of the Firm’s clients.          

On 29 October 2024, he was appointed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), after serving as a Director since 2023. BCDA is a government agency under the office of the President, with the principal mandate to transform former military bases into smart cities and centers of growth and national development. He is also the Chairman of the Finance and Investment Committee of the BCDA, which oversees the operations and finances of BCDA’s subsidiaries such as Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), Poro Point Management Corporation (PPMC) and John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC). He also sits on the Board of Directors of Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation (FBDC), Bonifacio Communications Corporation (BCC) and Filinvest BCDA Clark, Inc. and various private companies.