UA&P Assistant Professor Dr. Robin Michael Garcia has been appointed to the 24-member Congressional Research Fellows (CRF), a group of experts from leading educational institutions in the Philippines who will work closely with the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) and a team of senior advisers to provide evidence-based research for policy formulation.
Dr. Garcia teaches international relations subjects at the UA&P School of Social Sciences, Law, and Governance. He holds a PhD in International Politics from Shanghai-based Fudan University, where he graduated top of his class, having received the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Development Studies from De La Salle University and a Master of Public Administration from UP. Outside the academe, he runs the integrated public affairs firm WR Advisory Group (formerly W&R) as President and CEO.
Recently, he received the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship, joining the roster of Filipino Eisenhower fellows that include Senator Risa Hontiveros, former senator Bam Aquino, and Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez, among others. As an Eisenhower Fellow, he intends to focus on innovating the polling, data analytics, and political risk in the Philippines.
Dr. Garcia was appointed to the Public Order and Safety cluster of the CRF, together with Professor Herman Kraft, former Chairperson of the Political Science Department at the University of the Philippines (UP). They will be working with Senior Adviser Senen Bacani, Bangsamoro Peace Panel Member and former agriculture secretary; and CPBRD team Dominador Gamboa and Byron Bicenio.
The CRF was created under the Academic Research Partnership Program, run jointly by the CPBRD and the Ateneo Center for Economic and Research and Development, in support of the administration’s eight-point socioeconomic agenda for the near- and medium-term, intended to drive a faster, greener, and more inclusive growth for Filipinos. The agenda, which will serve as the bases for the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, covers key areas, such as food security, transportation, education, social services, sound fiscal management, health care, affordable clean energy, and bureaucratic efficiency. The CRF will report directly to Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, among other House leaders.
Read more about the formation of the Congressional Research Fellows here and Dr. Garcia’s Eisenhower Fellowship here.