Robin Michael Garcia

Robin Michael Upano Garcia is a business executive, professor, political commentator, and political consultant. He currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of WR Advisory Group (or WRAG), a Manila-based professional services firm specializing in political risk consulting, public opinion research, digital data analytics, public policy, and strategic communications. He also serves as the Founder and Chairman of WRAG’s polling & survey subsidiary, WR Numero Research.

For his innovative pursuit of navigating Philippine politics through survey research, social analytics, and political risk analysis, Garcia was heralded as an Eisenhower Global Fellow in 2023, a visiting scholar at the Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania in 2023-2024, and a Young Leader and delegate at the 2025 International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

As a political analyst, Garcia has been interviewed and has written numerous thought pieces for top media outfits locally and abroad, including AlJazeera, CNN, The Diplomat, Taipei Times, ABS-CBN, GMA, and Rappler. His subjects of expertise include Philippine elections, PH-US relations, and Philippine independent foreign policy. He was also a resident analyst at ABS-CBN’s coverage of the 2025 Philippine midterm elections.

As the founding leader of WR Advisory Group and WR Numero Research, Garcia has advised candidates on campaign strategy, most recently in the 2022 Philippine national elections and the 2025 Philippine midterm elections. Garcia provides strategy advice based on his firms’ proprietary opinion polling, survey, and social analytics data. In the 2025 Philippine midterm elections, WR Numero Research correctly predicted 11 out of 12 winning Senators.

With an academic background on political economy and international relations, Garcia is known for criticizing China’s aggressions in the West Philippine Sea while advocating for Taiwan’s independence, the Philippine government’s economic talks and diplomatic strategies, and its strengthened alliances with like-minded states, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan.

In 2025, Garcia was appointed associate professor in the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government. He was also an assistant professor at the Political Economy program of the University of Asia & the Pacific from 2018 to 2024 where he worked closely with its founder, Dr. Bernardo Villegas.

Education Garcia completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Development Studies from De La Salle University in 2010. During his undergraduate studies, he was a member of the Debate Society and was awarded the Gawad Mag-Aaral (Distinguished Student Award) for his academic excellence and leadership.

Garcia pursued his Master of Public Administration (MPA) with a major in public policy at the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG), graduating in 2013.

Advancing his education, Garcia earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in International Politics from Fudan University, Shanghai in 2017 upon the persuasion of Dr. Julio Teehankee, his academic mentor and one of the most influential political scientists in the Philippines and Asia. During Garcia’s time at Fudan, he wrote a doctoral dissertation about the diffusion of international norms, Aristotelian persuasion, and the neuroscience of decision-making under the supervision of Shiping Tang, one of the top international relations scholars in the world. Upon graduation, Garcia was honored with the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence for his scholarly contributions.

Career WR Advisory Group & WR Numero Research

Garcia founded WR Advisory Group in November 2017, initially named Warwick & Roger (or WR). WR’s early vision was to “provide more advanced political [advice] to corporations through risk analysis". and safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

WR and WR Numero Research persisted in conducting opinion surveys and advising presidential candidates for the 2022 Philippine national elections. The consolidation formalized the firms’ work in data, communications, and political strategy in its first five (5) years of service.

In an Inquirer article, Garcia said that during the fellowship, he will create a research lab “that will bring together the academe, the private sector, and the government” to innovate best practices in polling and survey research, data analytics, and political risk analysis in the Philippines. Throughout the program, Garcia served as a resource professional on the political economy and international relations of the United States, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and China.

During his visit, Garcia also worked closely with Thomas Shattuck, the Senior Program Manager of the Perry World House and former deputy director of the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). Amid the fresh electoral victory of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in 2024, Garcia and Shattuck wrote analyses urging Philippine President Bongbong Marcos to reaffirm its defense and economic cooperation with Taipei under President Lai, Washington, Tokyo, and Hanoi, to counter Beijing in a possible cross-Taiwan Strait conflict. In a Rappler article, Garcia and Shattuck wrote:Given the likelihood of continued tensions between Beijing and Taipei under Lai, Marcos should prioritize defense conversations with the Biden administration regarding spillover effects of a Taiwan crisis onto the Philippines. Joint exercises between the two countries’ militaries should seriously practice for related contingencies... With Lai set for the presidency, Manila should fast-track defense arrangements with Tokyo as well as Hanoi, which have already gained momentum. Another four years of the Democratic Progressive Party in power in Taipei and the resulting cross-Strait tensions should further drive Manila and Tokyo together.

In the discussion, Garcia reiterated his concerns, not only on the said aggressions, but also on China’s influence on the Philippine economy via trade:The risk is that China may use economic statecraft against the Philippines, as it did with other countries. We need to have a rigorous examination of the Philippines’ level of vulnerability to China, especially in public utilities and critical infrastructure such as energy or telecommunications. A strong economy that is less vulnerable to bigger countries demands the creation of an export-oriented type of industrialized economy akin to other Asian tigers like South Korea or Japan The Congressional Research Fellows aim to provide “policy advice, technical assistance, and information support in the formulation and oversight of socio-economic legislation” that promotes budget efficiency and sustainable and inclusive growth.

In 2025, Garcia also joined representatives from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of National Defense as a Young Leader and delegate in the 2025 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Considered Asia’s premier defense summit, the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue brings together defense ministers from around the globe to discuss the region's security challenges in bilateral talks.

The Philippine delegation discussed emerging threats on cyber security, space research, and maritime security, with Garcia contributing to explore possible collaboration opportunities between Manila and regional and global powers.

Since October 2025, Garcia has been appearing as one of the regular political analysts in the public affairs program With Due Respect, airing every Sunday, 1:30 PM, at DZMM Radyo Patrol 630, PRTV Prime Media, and FM radio regional stations around the Philippines. Garcia joins WR Numero Research CEO Cleve Arguelles, political scientist Richard Heydarian, lawyer Dino de Leon, and youth advocate Carlo Flores in tackling the country’s political developments weekly, most recently about the flood control corruption scandal.

Awards and Recognitions

Congressional Research Fellow, Philippine House of Representatives, 2023-2024 Eisenhower Global Fellow, 2023 Visiting Scholar, Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania, 2023-2024 Young Leader and Delegate, IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, 2025