Jonathan Eli Libut is currently an Assistant Professor and Department Chair of Asian Studies and Global Governance at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines. He was recently a Graduate Professional Fellow at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, and a Research Fellow in Peace Studies at the Pacific Forum. Jonathan’s research interests traverse the field of political risk analysis, crisis management, peacebuilding, and international development politics with a regional focus on Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the European Union.

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Dereck Jude M. Lorenzo is a student leader from University of Santo Tomas and one of the lead organizers of the Ilocos Norte Model ASEAN Meeting (INMAM). He is actively involved in youth diplomacy, policy dialogue, and civic engagement initiatives that promote informed discussions on regional and national issues. As part of INMAM, he helps spearhead the Ilocano Dialogue on the West Philippine Sea, a youth-led platform that brings together policymakers, academics, security experts, and students to foster greater awareness of maritime security, international law, and the Philippines’ role in a rules-based Indo-Pacific region. His interests include ASEAN affairs, regional security, youth leadership, and public policy.

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Mr. Wayne Winter Uyseco is a faculty member from the Far Eastern University Department of International Studies. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Development Studies from the De La Salle University Manila.

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Cecilia “Ces” Victoria Oreña-Drilon is a Filipino broadcast journalist. She anchored news and public affairs programs for the News and Current Affairs division of ABS-CBN Corporation from 1989 to 2020. From 2018 to 2020, she also served as the division’s Content Acquisition Head for the Lifestyle Ecosystem Group. Oreña-Drilon is currently a news anchor for The Big Story, the flagship nightly newscast of One News.

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Jemy Gatdula is a lawyer specializing in international law, constitutional law,
and the philosophy of law. He is the Dean of UA&P Law School, as well as Legal Counsel of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He is also an opinions columnist for BusinessWorld, a Non-Resident Fellow of Stratbase ADR Institute, and Of
Counsel at Belgica Aranas Baldueza Dela Cruz and Associates.

On scholarship from the Cambridge Overseas Trust, Jemy read international law at the
University of Cambridge. Upon the invitation of the US State Department, he attended the Study of US Institutes (SUSI) program, focusing on constitutional law and political thought. He received his Doctor of Juridical Science degree from San Beda College, where his dissertation work focused on the natural law, the Philippine Constitution, and
the limits of judicial power.

He lectures on international law, international trade law, philosophy of law, and constitutional law for various governmental and academic institutions, including the Philippine Judicial Academy, the National Defense College, Congress, and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. He has authored, co-authored, or edited books and articles on public international law, international economic law, and
natural law.

He continues to work on various issues relating to international law, international trade,
national security and the law on armed conflict, and the Constitution.

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Marites Dañguilan Vitug, a leading Filipino investigative journalist and author, is editor-at-large for Rappler. She writes on foreign affairs, security, and politics. She has written nine books, the latest of which is Unrequited Love: Duterte’s Embrace of China co-written with Camille Elemia—which was shortlisted for the 2026 National Book Award. Before that, she wrote Rock Solid: How the Philippines Won its Maritime Case against China. It won the National Book Award and was translated into Vietnamese. Marites is among the contributors to the 2026 book, “Beyond Geopolitics: The Philippines in the New Marcos Era,” published by ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute; the 2021 book, “Maritime Issues and Regional Order in the Indo-Pacific,” published by Palgrave/Macmillan; and the 1998 book, “The Politics of Environment in Southeast Asia,” published by Routledge. Her articles have been published in Foreign Affairs, Raisina Files, Nikkei Asia, among others. Marites has a degree in A.B. Broadcast Communication from the University of the Philippines and a diploma in world politics from the London School of Economics. She was a Nieman fellow at Harvard University and a recipient of fellowships from the University of San Diego in California—the Pacific Leadership Fellow; the Rockefeller Foundation Writing Fellowship in Bellagio Center, Lago di Como, Italy; the International House in Tokyo—the Asia Leadership Fellow Program; the Australian National University, University of Kyoto and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

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Joshua Bernard B. Espeña, MIS, is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow for the Defense and Traditional Security Program of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation (IDSC) and a Young Leader at the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum. He formerly served as a Defense Analyst at the Office for Strategic Studies and Strategy Management, Armed Forces of the Philippines.

He is currently a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, specializing in International Relations and Philippine Politics. He holds a Master of International Studies degree from UP Diliman and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of the East–Manila.

His research interests broadly focus on strategic studies, particularly at the intersection of joint military exercises, naval diplomacy, defense policy, revolution in military affairs, Philippine strategic affairs, the future of warfare, and wargaming.

He has delivered technical lectures and facilitated wargaming activities for various institutions, including the Development Academy of the Philippines, the National Defense College of the Philippines, the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Coast Guard, among others.

His research and expert commentary have appeared in The Diplomat, Asian Politics & Policy, the South China Morning Post, Rappler, Deutsche Welle, BusinessWorld Philippines, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, among others.

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Dr. Aaron Jed Rabena is Professorial Lecturer at the Asian Center in the University of the Philippines Diliman. His areas of interests include Strategic Studies, Greater East Asian Geopolitics and Multilateral Politics, Political Risk, Maritime Security, and Chinese Politics and Foreign Policy.

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GENERAL EMMANUEL T BAUTISTA (Ret.) was the 44th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from January 2013 to July 2014. Shortly after retirement from the military service, he was appointed Undersecretary at the Office of the President, Malacañang from 01 September 2014 to 22 June 2020. As Undersecretary, he served as Executive Director of the Cabinet Cluster for Security, Justice, and Peace and was concurrently the Executive Director of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and Head of the National Task Force on the Whole of Nation Initiative. He was also part of the team that represented the Philippines in the South China Sea arbitration case filed before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

Currently, he is a Managing Director at the Ayala Corporation, President of the Hero Foundation, member of the WPS (We Protect Our Seas) Philippine Advisory Board, and member of the board of trustees of the Foundation for National Interest. He is also a lecturer at the Development Academy of the Philippines, the National Defense College of the Philippines and the Ateneo School of Government.

General Bautista is a graduate of Philippine Military Academy, Class of 1981, and is one of its outstanding alumni awardees; and of the University of the Philippines (U.P.), Diliman where he earned a Masters in Business Administration degree and was a recipient of the U.P. Alumni Association distinguished alumni award for peace and social cohesion.

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Mr. Jonathan E. Malaya is a dedicated public servant with over 25 years of experience in government, having served in leadership roles across all three branches of the Philippine government. Most recently, he served as Assistant Director-General of the National Security Council and is currently a member of the WPS Philippine Advisory Board.

In the Executive Branch, Mr. Malaya held key positions as Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary, and Chief of Staff in the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Education (DepEd), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), and the Office of the President. In the Legislative Branch, he served as Director II and Supervising Legislative Staff Officer in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the Judiciary, he was Judicial Staff Head to the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura.

He is also an accomplished author and educator, having written five books, including Stewards of the Nation: Inaugural Visions from Aguinaldo to Duterte, which reached No. 8 on the PowerBooks Best Seller List. He teaches courses on ethics, public policy, and accountability at the University of the Philippines–National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP NCPAG), the University of Makati, the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), and San Sebastian College–Recoletos.

During the Duterte Administration, he served as DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson for the department, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), and the National Task Force COVID-19.

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