Organizer: Philippine Studies Program, ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute

Type/Location: Virtual

Description:

This webinar critically examines how the Philippines has enhanced strategic relations with middle powers — Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, India, and South Korea under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. since 2022. Against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific, this two-panel webinar situates Manila’s initiatives within broader efforts to strengthen maritime security, defense modernization, and multilateral diplomacy. The webinar will discuss forward-looking insights: the need for transparency, sustained investment in logistics and maintenance, closer integration of civilian maritime governance, and alignment with ASEAN-led mechanisms to avoid escalation. It will provide participants with a comprehensive view of how middle-power partnerships are reshaping the Philippines’ security landscape under Marcos Jr.

About the Speakers:

Mico A. Galang is a member of the Young Leaders Program, Pacific Forum (Hawaii, United States). He is a former researcher at the National Defense College of the Philippines. He previously taught at the Department of Political Science of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), and the Department of International Studies of De La Salle University (DLSU). His research interests include the international relations of the Asia-Pacific, territorial and maritime disputes, and Philippine foreign and security policies.

Xylee Calagui-Paculba is Senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines, Diliman. She is also an independent consultant to national and international organizations working in the areas of international and maritime security, maritime domain awareness, and gender and development. She is a retired Navy Captain with more than two decades of military service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. She is a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Maliyab” Class of 2004.

Deryk Baladjay is Lecturer at the Department of International Studies at the De La Salle University. He is also a member of the Young Leaders cohort at the Pacific Forum. Outside his functions in the academe, he serves a consultancy role for Manila-based firm Amador Research Services as its Research Manager and for FACTS Asia. Deryk specializes in East and Southeast Asian affairs, geopolitics, the Philippines-United States alliance, Philippine foreign policy, and strategic studies.

Matteo Piasentini is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman, and a PhD candidate in International Relations at the same institution. He is also a research fellow at Pacific Forum. His academic work primarily explores the foreign and defense policies of the Philippines, minilateral security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and Italy’s strategic engagement with the Indo-Pacific. In parallel, he serves as an analyst and Coordinator for the China and Indo-Pacific desk at Geopolitica, a leading Italian think tank.

Alynna Carlos is the Chief of the Communications and Advocacy Branch at the Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns of the Philippines. She also works with the country’s National Maritime Council. Alynna holds a degree in European Languages (majoring in French and Political Science) from the University of the Philippines. In 2025, she completed her master’s degree in International Studies, where she wrote a thesis on minilateralism in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas. She is also a member of the Young Leaders program of the Pacific Forum.

Lisa Palma is a Program and Research Officer at FACTS Asia Inc., a Manila-based think tank specializing in public and foreign policy. She manages various projects and contributes to the organization’s publications. Her academic background includes a Master’s degree in International Studies and a Bachelor’s in Consular and Diplomatic Affairs. Ms. Palma’s primary research focuses on non-traditional maritime security, including the critical issue of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, as well as Philippine foreign policy.

Registration:

To attend the event virtually, please register here.