Anthony Lawrence Borja is a PhD candidate in the Public Administration program of Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SJTU-SIPA). He took his BA and MA in Political Science from De La Salle University where he also worked as a lecturer in the Political Science Department from 2010-2016. His research publications are in political philosophy, political theory, and comparative politics. The author may be reached through e-mail ([email protected]), or his Academia and ResearchGate pages.

Janus Isaac Nolasco is Managing Editor of ‘Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia', published by the Asian Center, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. He has a BA in Comparative Literature from UP Diliman and an MA in Asian Studies at the UP Asian Center. His research interests include area studies, popular cinema, history, philosophy, and literature. He is the author of ‘Between Philippine Studies and Filipino-American Studies: The Transpacific as Area and the Transformation of Area Studies in the 21st Century,’ published in Suvannabhumi: Multi-Disciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies in 2018. This is his fourth essay to be published in New Mandala.

Matthew Ordoñez is a PhD candidate in Public Administration at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of International and Public Affairs (SJTU-SIPA). He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Political Science at the Ateneo de Manila University His research interests include urban development in South East Asia, Sino-ASEAN relations, and Asian political thought. His research can be found at ResearchGate and Academia.edu.