Wilfrido V. Villacorta
Dr. Wilfrido V. Villacorta is a Filipino political scientist and a former public servant. Currently retired, he is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations and University Fellow at De La Salle University in Manila, where he also served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts (1983-1886), Senior Vice President for External Affairs (1987-1994), and Founding President of Yuchengco Center (1994 to 2003). Outside DLSU, his academic positions include being an Advisor to the President of the Asian Institute of Management, on Regional Networking (2007-2009), Secretary-General in the Association of Christian Universities and Colleges in Asia (1978-1982), and an Honorary Professor in Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita, Japan. His other academic engagements included being a Visiting Professor at Ohio University (1987), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (2009), and University of Southern Queensland (1994), among other educational institutions.
Alongside being an academician, Dr. Villacorta has also performed governmental duties. His first stint in public service was in 1986 when he was appointed by Former President Corazon Aquino as a delegate of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the current Philippine Constitution. He also worked as a Foreign Relations Consultant to the then Senate President Jovito Salonga from 1990-1992. In 1999, Pope John Paul II appointed him as an Academician of the Papal think tank on social issues, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He became the Deputy Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from 2003 to 2006 after being unanimously elected by the ten member-states. Former President Benigno Aquino III also appointed him as the second Philippine Ambassador and Permanent Representative to ASEAN in 2010.
Given his professional history, Dr. Villacorta published and edited local and international books and journal articles which mainly focus on international relations, constitutions, and political economy. His books include The Language Provision of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines which was co-authored with Andrew Gonzalez and published in 2001, and The Political Economy of Japan’s Foreign Policy towards ASEAN Countries published in 1995 under Tokyo: Institute of Developing Economies.
His significant service as an educator and public servant has been recognized by various honor and award-giving institutions. To name a few, he was a recipient of the Centenary of Benedictines in the Philippines Award in Education in 1995, the Outstanding Manilan Award in 2005, and Distinguished Leadership Award in 2016 by the Philippine Political Science Association. His notable public service was recognized by Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who awarded him the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2006.
Dr. Villacorta completed his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of the Philippines Diliman (1965) and his master’s and doctorate degrees in Politics from the Catholic University of America with a focus on Public International Law and International Relations (1968 and 1972, respectively). He also took an executive course in Management Development Program at Asian Institute of Management (1984).[1]
[1] Dr. Wilfrido V. Villacorta. (n.d.). De La Salle University.
