Professor Maria Anna Rowena Luz G. Layador, Head of the Foreign Service Institute’s Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS), together with Foreign Affairs Research Specialists Ms. Joycee A. Teodoro, Ms. Karla G. Pabelina, and Ms. Jeremie P. Credo, participated in the 1st Asian Politics and Policy Conference held at the GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center of the University of the Philippines Diliman on 24 July 2015.

The conference, with the theme “Is the Philippines Ready for a Post-American World?”, was organized by the Asian Politics and Policy Journal, in cooperation with the Policy Studies Organization, the UP Asian Center, and the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies.

The event brought together academics, government analysts, and public intellectuals to discuss the impact of a transforming external environment to the Philippines’ political economy, foreign policy, security, national, and regional identity.

Prof. Layador talked about the civil society’s engagement in ASEAN Community-building, while Ms. Teodoro evaluated ASEAN’s way of conflict management. Ms. Pabelina provided an analysis of Philippine-US relations anchored on the US rebalance toward Asia, and Ms. Credo assessed the future bilateral relations of the Philippines and Vietnam in relation to the proposed strategic partnership between the two countries.