The Localization of the United States-China Rivalry: Cases from the Philippines

PHILIPPINE STUDIES PROGRAMME HYBRID SEMINAR

About the Seminar

Changes in foreign policy under the Marcos Jr. administration have highlighted the significance of protecting Philippine security interests amid an intensifying United States-China rivalry. The Marcos Jr. administration has reinvigorated the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the United States and adopted more assertive responses to Chinese intimidation in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). Behind these policy shifts, however, is the important role played by subnational political units or local governments as critical arenas of superpower competition.

In some provinces in the Philippines, the U.S.-China rivalry has become a salient issue that has affected even the relationship between particular local governments and the central government. In the fight for access to prime geopolitical real estate, superpowers have increased their presence and activities that could politically influence local elites. The decentralized and dispersed nature of politics in the Philippines opens many paths for superpower influence. Local political elites can also leverage U.S.-China competition to benefit their parochial political interests.

This seminar will present research findings on how US and China activities in two geostrategic provinces in the Philippines have affected local political dynamics and also the foreign policy of the country. Cagayan province is located in northern Philippines near the Taiwan, while Palawan is proximate to the South China Sea.

This event is supported by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

About the Speakers

Edcel John A. Ibarra is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman where he also obtained a Master in International Studies degree. He is also the managing editor of the Philippine Political Science Journal. Edcel is a Young Leader and US-Philippines Alliance Next-Generation Leader at the Pacific Forum in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. In 2024, he was awarded the Aileen San Pablo Baviera Prize by the Graduate Research and Development Network on Asian Security, based at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Aletheia Kerygma B. Valenciano is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines. She obtained her Master of Arts in International Politics (Chinese Politics and Diplomacy) from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She is currently the Managing Editor of Asian Politics & Policy, and a fellow at Pacific Forum’s Young Leader’s Program. Aleth was also a fellow of the U.S. Department of State’s Quad-ASEAN Exchange Program in 2024 and a visiting fellow at SIRPA-Fudan’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Program in 2023.

Miguel V. Hermo is a research assistant at the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman. His research interests include: Indo-Pacific geopolitics, minilateralism, and US-China rivalry. He is also taking a Master in International Studies in the same university. Miguel was apreviously a faculty member at Miriam College and a former research fellow at the International Development & Security Cooperation.
Moderator

Moderator

Dr Aries Arugay is Visiting Senior Fellow and the Coordinator of the Philippine Studies Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He is also Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman and Editor-in-Chief of Asian Politics & Policy. His research interests are comparative democratization, civil-military relations, international relations of the Asia-Pacific, and social media. He obtained his PhD in political science from Georgia State University as a Fulbright Fellow.

Registration

This is a hybrid event which will be held at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS).

Attending the Event In-person at ISEAS

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Attending the Event Virtually via Webinar

To join the event virtually at the specified date and time using your internet devices, please register here to receive your unique login link for the webinar via the zoom platform.

If you have questions for the speaker, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.