JONA VILLASANTE

With nearly 25 years of combined experience spanning government and academia, Ms. Jonalyn L. Villasante currently serves as the Committee Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the Philippine House of Representatives and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Studies at Miriam College. She also holds the position of Executive Director for Strategic Partnerships of the Women’s Alliance for Security and Peace. Ms. Villasante earned a Master of Arts in International Relations and a Master of Diplomacy from the Australian National University. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts, specializing in Speech Communication, from the University of the Philippines. She is a Professional Fellow of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) at the American Legislative Council in Washington, D.C., and the Indo-Pacific Security Fellowship at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. She completed specialized courses in regional security, human security, and peacebuilding at Fu Hsing Kang College in Taiwan, the Kautilya Foundation in India, and the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. She has been recently selected as one of the Asia Pacific Leaders 2025-2026 of the prestigious Obama Foundation. Her research interests include Indo-Pacific Security, ASEAN, maritime security in the South China Sea, and Philippine politics and foreign policy.

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