Cor Jesu College (CJC), in partnership with Nagoya University Graduate School of International Development, hosted the 2nd International Conference on Philippine Politics and Culture: Mindanao Perspectives last February 15, 2019 at HR Training Center, Cor Jesu College, Inc., Sacred Heart Avenue, Digos City, Davao del Sur, Philippines.
Sixty-six participants joined the conference including 23 research presenters from Japan and from different parts of the Philippines. Aside from universities and colleges, some of the participants came government agencies such as the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Dr. Wataru Kusaka of Nagoya University was the keynote speaker while Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc of Ateneo de Davao University and Dr. Randy Tudy of Cor Jesu College were the plenary speakers. Twenty-one researchers presented their papers in the parallel sessions.
In his welcome message, Bro. Ellakim P. Sosmeňa, SC, PHD, CJC president, recognized the important contribution of scholars who presented their papers. He commented, “Your brilliant ideas will help people understand our culture and the nature of politics in the country.”
Dr. Alex D. Niez, PHD, EDD, Vice President for Academic Affair, gave the rationale and objectives of the conference. He said, “There are conferences where researchers share their research outputs with the hope of getting feedbacks from experts to improve their papers. This is one the intentions of this conference. Specifically, it is the aim of this conference to gather local as well as international scholars to discuss and deepen our understanding of culture and politics in the Philippines.”
Dr. Kusaka talked about his new project entitled “Good Citizens supporting War on Drugs: Emerging Moral Subjectivism under Neoliberal Governmentality.” As an ethnographer, he had lived in the Philippines during his graduate study years. He had written a book entitled “Moral Politics in the Philippines: Inequality, Democracy and the Urban Poor.”
Dr. Maboloc spoke about “Tribal Politics as Act of Defiance to Elite Democracy.” Dr. Tudy shared his research in collaboration with his students in the graduate school entitled “The New Face of Martial Law from the Lens of Village Officials in the Philippines.”
The conference was a gathering of scholars who share their research outputs related to Philippine politics and culture.
“The conference has been one of the most productive and insightful conferences that I have attended. The exchanges among delegates are enlightening in challenging the current discourses of the Mindanao perspective. I congratulate the convenors for facilitating a gathering of the minds that forward awareness on indigenous peoples and open conversations on the struggles of the nation,” said Professor Cheeno Marlo Sayono, University of the Philippines, Los Baňos.
In the afternoon, parallel research presentations were conducted in three venues. The following papers were presented:
Overlapping Democratic Models: Chantal Mouffe’s Agonism on Jurgen Habermas’ Consensus
By: Ismael Pahuyon Magadan, Siliman University
The Return of the Political: Chantal Mouffe and Ozamiz C
By: Gerry F. Arambala, La Salle University
Radical Democracy and the Postcolony Thinking the State in the 20th
Century Philippines
By: Aldrin F. Quintero, Notre Dame of Marbel University
Tokhang (double Barrel): Experiences of Drug user Surrenderees on the
Philippine War on Drugs
By: IldaLekka R. Zapanta, Cor Jesu College
Modes of Communication and Actions in Philippine Political Arena
Dr. Alvin A. Galeon, University of San Carlos
The GPH-NDFP Peace Process: Updates, Challenges and Prospects
By: Jerry D. Imbong, Colegio de San Juan de Letran
Communicative Rationality and Iterative Democracy: Viable Social
Theories to Address the Problems of Terrorism in Marawi
By: Reynaldo-Bong Buhat, Universidad de Sta. Isabel
Two Faces of Dutertismo, Two Visions of Democracy in the Philippines
By: Benjiemen A. Labastin, La Salle University
Understanding Dutertismo: A Syncretic Reading of Populism and Democratic
Politics in the Philippines
By: Ian Clark Parcon, Ateneo de Davao University
Populism: A spectacle for Philippine democracy
By: Bryan Paul L. Tumlad, Ateneo de Davao University
Language-games and confluent spaces: Towards a Wittgensteinian
contribution to discourse ethics
By:Nikolo MC Panganoron, University of the Philippines Diliman
A Quasi-meta-analysis on the Affordances of the Information
Communications Technology in Governance and Politics
By: Cesar A. Tecson, Cor Jesu College
Understanding KAPAL NG MUKHA (Shamelessness) andits implication in the Filipino Identity and Politics
By: Fr. Urbano Pardillo, St. Francis Xavier College Seminary
Locating the children of Mindanao in the storybook world: Issues of cultural representation and empowerment in Philippine kid literature
By: Cheeno Marlo M. Sayuno, University of the Philippines Los Banos
Indigenous Peoples in Zamboanga Sibugay: Perspectives on Social Welfare Programs
By: Nursha Datucadi, Western Mindanao State University
Human Capital Development Framework: The Case of B’laan Tribe
By: Alfie D. Tubog, University of Southeastern Philippines
Folk Catholicism Practices of the Tagakaolo Tribe: An Ethnographic Study
By: RomelynTelacas-Pongaron, Davao del Sur School of Fisheries
Water Availability in Watershed Areas: Challenges to Policy Makers and
Development Workers
By: Dr. Archelito Mallari, DENR- Davao del Sur
The Mindanao Quest for Identity: The Case of
the Manobos and the Banwaons
By: Dr. Rogelio P. Bayod Cor Jesu College
The 1st International Conference on Philippine Politics and Culture was held at Nagoya University, Japan last September 30, 2018where Dr. Bayod and Dr. Maboloc represented the Philippines. The scholars look forward to the 3rd conference.
