2024 Philippines Update

2024 Philippines Update Conference

The 2024 Philippines Update Conference is set against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving and increasingly robust relationship between Australia and the Philippines. This year’s event comes in the wake of pivotal diplomatic engagements, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's September 2023 visit to the Philippines, where the two countries forged a strategic partnership, and the historical February 2024 address of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to the Australian Parliament.

The Marcos administration has promoted significant policy shifts, most especially in foreign policy: a renewed focus on alliances with Western partners, a more assertive stance on territorial disputes in the West Philippine/South China Sea, and efforts to attract international investment in such sectors as mining, green energy, and infrastructure. Domestic affairs have been given less attention, even in such realms as agriculture that were to have been a major priority of the new administration. Policy reforms including constitutional revision are topics of discussion, albeit often overshadowed by political jockeying. Most significantly, the critical inter-clan alliance that propelled President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte to victory in the 2022 presidential election has thoroughly unravelled well ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

While fully recognising the centrality of geopolitical trends and issues both for the Philippines and for the Australia-Philippines partnership, the 2024 Philippines Update Conference aims to put particular attention on domestic-level political, economic, and social developments under the Marcos administration.

Key themes will include memory, community, and activism; the changing nature of oligarchic politics; and economic resilience and growth. The conference will also address critical challenges like regional strategic partnerships, cybersecurity, climate adaptation, central-local relations, developments in the BARMM, and the experiences of Filipinos in Australia. We will explore questions such as: What are the major political, economic, and social developments under the current administration? Why has there been policy progress in some areas but not others, and how successful have new policies been? To what extent have policy initiatives been hampered by the lack of fundamental governance reforms?

To answer these questions, the conference will bring together experts from the Philippines, Australia, and beyond to provide an update on political, economic, and socio-environmental issues as well as additional concerns related to security, international relations, and more.

About the conference 

The ANU Philippines Update is organised by the ANU Philippines Institute and receives support from the ANU College of Asia & Pacific and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Registration

To attend, please register via Humanitix.

Conference participation is free of charge and requires prior registration.

Conference program

We hope that you can join us in-person for this fully catered event with opportunities for networking or tune in at any time to the YouTube livestream to watch your topics of interest. A recording of the proceedings will be published after the conclusion of the conference. 

Day 1 - 30 October 

08.30am - Registration

09.00 to 09.30am - Acknowledgement of Country and Opening Address 

• Ambassador Ma. Hellen B. De La Vega
• Professor Helen Sullivan, Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU 
• Jane Duke, Assistant Secretary South East Asia Maritime Branch, DFAT

09.30 to 10.45am - Political Update - Limits and possibilities of reform in the Marcos Jr. administration

• Speaker: Carmel Abao, Ateneo University
• Discussant: Cleo Calimbahin, de La Salle University
• Chair: Björn Dressel, ANU

10.45 to 11.15am - Morning Tea 

11.15am to 12.15pm - Economic Update - Misplaced priorities amid an anaemic recovery

• Speaker: Jan Carlo B. Punongbayan, University of the Philippines
• Discussant: Alfredo Paloyo, University of Wollongong
• Chair: Antoinette Raquiza, University of the Philippines

12.15 to 1.00pm - Lunch 

1.00 to 2.30pm - Social and Environmental Update - Departures and continuities in Philippine environmental trajectories

• Speaker: Kristian Karlo Saguin, University of the Philippines
• Discussant: Emerson Sanchez, ANU
• Chair: Maria Tanyag, ANU

02.30 to 3.00pm - Afternoon Tea 

3.00 to 4.30pm - Keynote Speech - Unrequited Love: Duterte's China Embrace

• Marites Vitug, Rappler

4.30 to 5.00pm Cultural Performance (TBC)

Day 2 - 31 October 

08.45am - Registration

09.00 to 09.05am - Welcome & Opening of day 2

09.05 to 10.15am - Memory, Community and Activism

• Speakers: Jocelyn Martin, University Catholique de l’Ouest; Michael Pante, Ateneo de Manila University and Soliman Santos, independent scholar
• Chair and Discussant: Nicole Curato, University of Canberra

10.15 to 10.30am - Morning Tea 

10.30am to 12.00pm - The Changing Nature of Oligarchic Politics

• Speakers: Cristina Bonoan, University of the Philippines; Antoinette Raquiza, University of the Philippines and Marianne Juco, University of the Philippines
• Chair and Discussant:  Paul Hutchcroft, ANU

12.00 to 1.00pm - Lunch 

1.00 to 2.15pm - Economic Resilience and Inclusive Growth 

• Speakers: Joseph Capuno; Maria Socorro Gochoco-Bautista, University of the Philippines and Fermin Adriano, University of the Philippines
• Chair and Discussant: Michael Cabalfin, ANU

2.15 to 2.30pm - Afternoon Tea 

2.30 to 4.30pm - New Challenges & Critical Issues Ahead

• Speakers: Acram Latiph, Mindanao State University; Justin See, University of Melbourne; Weena Gera, University of the Philippines and Earvin Cabalquinto; Monash University
• Chair and Discussant: Steven Rood, SWS

4.30 to 4.40pm - Closing Address

If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation plan please contact the event organiser.

Image Credit: Office of the President of the Philippines Presidential Communications Office, Photo Releases – Presidential Communications Office (pco.gov.ph)