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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.
