How Clarita Carlos Rose to Prominence

The election season of the Philippines saw the rise of Clarita Carlos, most especially during a heated debate. Since then, she has constantly appeared in the social media feed of many. Most recently, president-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced that Carlos will be her National Security Adviser. This begs the question, who is Clarita Carlos, and how did she rise to prominence?

Clarita Carlos has never made available publicly her age and where she hails. However, in a Facebook post dated May 21, 2022, she said that she retired from teaching on June 24, 2011, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.

This makes Carlos 76 years old as of writing.

Education

Clarita Carlos is a political scientist, academic, and an educator who earned her bachelor’s degree in foreign service from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. Carlos earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in political science at the same university.

She was the recipient of two Fulbright fellowships: one in post-doctoral work on political psychology from 1982 to 1983 at Cornell University, an Ivy League school in New York, and another one on comparative foreign policy analysis at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1992, according to a September 5, 2017 article by Nassef Manabilang Adiong of the Philippine International Studies Organization.

Teaching career

Carlos started her teaching career as a professor of political science at the UP Diliman Department of Political Science in 1967 only at the age of 20.

Moreover, Carlos also taught environment and international relations at the same university.

Carlos also became the Elpidio Quirino Professor of International Relations from 1995 to 1996, the Maximo Kalaw Professor of Peace and Environment from 1994 to 1995, and the CASAA professorial chair.

Carlos also received the most outstanding teacher award in the full professor category in the same university in 1995.

She also taught European studies at Ateneo de Manila University and at San Beda Law graduate school, according to a Business World article dated April 13, 2020.

Carlos also became the 16th President of the National Defense College of the Philippines from August 1998 to October 2001.

She was the first female and first civilian to lead the institution.

Carlos has lectured at the National Defense University in the United States as well as at the Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats.

She retired from teaching on June 24, 2011, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.

Notable publications

Clarita Carlos’ notable publications include Democratic Deficits in the Philippines: What is to be done? (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 2010), Bureaucratic Reforms in the Philippines: Issues and Challenges (2004), and The Philippines in ASEAN: An assessment of 27 years of cooperation in selected functional areas (CIRSS, Foreign Service Institute, 1996)

Government service

Apart from being a full professor at UP Diliman and being the first female and civilian president of the National Defense College of the Philippines, Carlos also held numerous government positions in different capacities in the decades leading to her appointment as the upcoming national security adviser of the Marcos administration.

Carlos served as the head of the Office of Strategic and Special Concerns of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

This makes Clarita Carlos and Arsenio Balisacan individuals who will have served under the administration of two political rivals in the Philippines: The Marcoses and the Aquinos.

Carlos was among the individuals appointed by the Commission on Higher Education in their Technical Panel for Political Science.

Moreover, Carlos has also served in various roles in the Senate, House of Representatives, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, and the Department of Transportation.

She will become the national security adviser of the Marcos administration on June 30, 2022.

Consultancy

She has been a consultant for the Local Government Development Foundation since 1993 and is president of the Center for Asia Pacific Studies and executive director of the Center for Political and Democratic Reform, Inc.

Hot takes

So what made her prominent in the eyes of regular citizens? Clarita Carlos has been appearing on television and radio programs before the debate that made her controversial, having polarizing takes on various matters.

In September 2012, Carlos said on ANC’s “Prime Time.” that the backdoor negotiations between the Philippines and China is a cause for concern, saying that the views articulated during the backdoor negotiations may not be the views of the Republic of the Philippines and be a cause for conflict of interest.

In September 2016, she then told people not to read between the lines of Duterte’s profanity-laden statements and take them for what they are. However, she reminded Duterte that he is now the president of a country and to be mindful of his statements.

Carlos also said in 2016 regarding the various drug-related killings by the police that the administration should get to the root of the killings and be transparent with citizens.

In April 13, Carlos said that the country does not need new lawyers.

“Not to rain on anyone’s parade…but, me thinks we need more scientists, engineers and doctors…not more lawyers!” read Carlos’ now-deleted post from April 13.

Rise to prominency

Carlos rose to prominence during the Sonshine Media Network International debates in February 15, Carlos outshined government candidates, as Carlos shows toughness on how she questioned several presidentiables, including then-presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos.

She also called out the possible handing out of questions prior to a March debate.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, she said that candidates who ask for possible topics for discussion “have nothing between their ears.”

On May 21, the UP Department of Political Science issued a public notice on Saturday that seemingly distanced themselves from Clarita Carlos, who by then garnered the admiration of the supporters of Marcos.

“To avoid any misinformation or misrepresentation, kindly refer to the official roster of the regular faculty members, professor emeriti and professorial/senior lecturers of the UP Department of Political Science, found on our website,” the department said on social media on Saturday.

The roster did not include Carlos.

Carlos responded in a social media post the same day, questioning the sudden announcement from the university.

“Why suddenly this announcement from my department?” Carlos said.

She then went on to list her achievements as a professor at UP, and bared that the department took a collective stance against her.

Carlos then expressed during an SMNI interview that she was “hurt” after being delisted from the UP roster.

“Tinatatag mo iyong pangalan mo ng 56 years, tapos buburahin lang nitong mga bata na ‘to? ‘Diba ang sakit sa damdamin,” she said. (GFB)