Publications

The documentary playscript The Intramuros Project is based on ethnographic materials (i.e. transcripts of interviews and storytelling) collected and annotated between March and September 2019 from different stakeholders of Intramuros or Old Manila. These include security guards, ice cream vendors, informal settlers, on-the-job-trainees, padyak drivers, kalesa drivers, and government workers. The documentary performance manuscript also drew from other existing documentary materials such as the Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, news reports about Intramuros, and other resources written about the walled city of Manila. The playscript was developed and workshopped using moment work, a devising technique introduced by the Tectonic Theater Project where devisors and dramaturgs are invited to think of potential staging devices on different scenes. Generally, the documentary piece is an attempt to problematize the concept of heritage using Intramuros as a starting point. In this paper, the playscript developed is explained through the dramaturgical notes. In the end, it is asserted that creative processes of devising and dramaturgy also contribute to cultural studies discourse.

The seawater battery (SWB) is a promising desalination technology that utilizes abundant sodium ions as an energy storage medium. Recently, the alternative desalination system, seawater battery desalination (SWB-D), was developed by placing an SWB next to the desalination compartment. This SWB-D system can desalt water while charging the SWB next to it. However, only a fixed catholyte solution has been investigated, although the catholytes impact the overall SWB-D performance. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of different catholytes on the desalination performance. High-saline reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate or brackish water exhibited excellent salt removal capability (>85.3% of sodium and >76.6% of chloride ions) with relatively short operation times (36.4 h for RO concentrate and 39.5 h for brackish water) upon charging, whereas the relatively low-saline river water showed the longest operation time (81.0 h), implying that river water should be excluded as a potential catholyte. The amount of desalinated water was marginally reduced due to osmosis through the anion exchange membrane; however, the amount of treated salt was >82.9% even after the reduction in water volume. These findings suggest that the catholyte with a resistance of >0.041 kΩ·cm can be ideal for the SWB-D.

Tatangkain ng papel na ito na suriin ang estruktura ng mga verbal sentence ng Bahasa Indonesia na naglalaman ng mga hulaping applicative/causative na -kan at -i mula sa pananaw ng morphological focus system na siyang ginagamit naman sa paglalarawan sa Tagalog, isang Philippine-type na wika. Samantalang ang masalimuot na verbal morphology ng mga wikang Philippine-type ang tumutukoy sa complement na nagsisilbing grammatical subject, ang mga hulaping -kan at -i sa isang Indonesian-type na wika gaya ng Bahasa Indonesia ang naghuhudyat (trigger) sa pagpili ng direct object ng verbal predicate. Mula rito at sa datos na nakalap mula sa iba’t ibang teksbuk at panayam sa mga informant, tatangkain ng pag-aaral na ito na tingnan ang mga posibleng magkakatumbas na kayarian sa pagitan ng grammatical-subject marking ng Tagalog at direct object-marking ng Bahasa Indonesia, at tatalakayin ang implikasyon nito sa pagtuturo ng Bahasa Indonesia sa mga tagapagsalita ng Tagalog, at maging sa pagsasalin mula sa Bahasa Indonesia patungong Tagalog at vice versa.

This paper attempts to analyze the structure of Indonesian verbal sentence containing the applicative/causative suffixes -kan and -i from the perspective of the morphological focus system used in describing Tagalog, a Philippine-type language. Whereas the complex verbal morphology in Philippine-type languages indicates which complement serves as the grammatical subject, the suffixes -kan and -i in an Indonesian-type language such as Bahasa Indonesia trigger the choice of the direct object of the verbal predicate. With these in mind and gathering data from the different pedagogical textbooks and informant work, this study aims to look at the possible equivalent structures between the grammatical-subject marking of Tagalog and direct object-marking in Indonesian, and to discuss their implications for teaching Indonesian to Tagalog-speaking learners as well as doing translation work from Indonesian to Tagalog and vice versa.

In everyday discourses concerning Japanese philosophy, its political aspects are rarely brought to light. It is usually the aesthetic and ethical philosophical traditions that are discussed, especially by Western academics. This may be the reason why a more thorough discussion of Japanese thought and behavior during World War II is seemingly inadequate despite the number of philosophers who already study it. In countries such as the Philippines, China, or Korea where the Japanese occupation remains a politically charged subject, an analysis of Japanese philosophy may provide a more robust understanding of the war experience. In this regard, the philosophical approach and political thought of Maruyama Masao remain relevant. In this paper, I discuss the two distinct ways in which his philosophy may prove essential in contextualizing Japanese philosophy in relation to the war and beyond it, that is, as a critical assessor of his country’s past and as a political realist with a cosmopolitan approach. These two ways are grounded in his discussion of autonomous subjectivity

Physically cross-linked NaCMC/HPC/NaAlg hydrogel beads were subjected to several performance tests to determine their ability to mitigate the immediate impacts of drought and their effectiveness to control nutrient release in soil. The tests showed that the beads have a water absorption capacity of 2438%, indicating superabsorbent capability. Reusability tests showed that they are capable of at least six cycles of swelling/deswelling with a net decrease in swelling from 331% to 170%. Nutrient release studies were done using a multistage diffusion model to examine their effectiveness in controlled release. Soil amendment studies showed that a 2.65% increase in the maximum water holding capacity is obtained per 0.1% of hydrogels in soil. Furthermore, phytotoxicity studies showed that the germination indices of representative vegetable crops planted in hydrogel-treated soil are above well above the threshold for phytotoxicity limit. Lastly, the hydrogels also showed potential as a growing substrate in soilless cultivation.

The essay interrogates how the theatre is used to affirm and to problematize the construction of historical narrative and political discourse, specifically the creation of public assembly, counter- narrative and artistic activism. Through  the performance of the Filipino play Nana Rosa, it is argued that the theatre has a potential to transform personal testimonies into a radical assembly by invoking a community, whose members possess a social responsibility to  recognize the precarity of each other. It also inquires the necessity of inserting scenarios in the play even if these are not officially recognized as official historical encounters. The insertion is proposed to be an artistic mode of  countering the dominant narrative (i.e. Japan’s denial of the sexual abuses during the Pacific War). Finally, it investigates the relationship of the play and the local theatre genre drama simbolico, a subversive and highly political  Philippine melodrama during the early 20th century. Looking at the costumes, the play is a political demonstration, protesting colonial experience and oppressive narrative. In the end, through the transformation of the assembly, the  creation of the counter-narrative and the subtle revival of the drama simbolico, Nana Rosa is asserted as an example of artistic activism, featuring resistances and subversions.

Background. The Philippine educational system, including LIS education, was adversely affected by the current pandemic that the whole world is experiencing. Objectives. This paper discusses the unique challenges that UP SLIS has encountered in its transition from blended learning to a fully remote learning environment. It also presents strategies SLIS has adopted to overcome these challenges and ensure the quality of LIS education that it has committed to delivering to its stakeholders. Methods. The UP SLIS as an LIS educational institution is examined as a case study. Insights and perspectives from the Dean as the administrator of the School and an SLIS faculty member are analyzed and presented. Results. There are prevailing challenges in LIS education in the context of the elements of the teaching and learning process and external influences to LIS educators and students that further complicate the challenges that they have to overcome since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the familiarity of LIS educators and students with the use of technology and online platforms in the delivery of courses, as well as the awareness of alternative resources within the purview of limited resources, helped with the adjustment to the sudden transformation from traditional to a remote learning/teaching modality. Contributions. Learnings may be generated from the exposition of experiences and the actions taken by UP SLIS in coping with the challenges brought about by the pandemic. Likewise, the presentation of the authors’ actual experiences as LIS educators serves as documentation of the efforts in managing an LIS school and addressing the extraordinary challenges in such a critical period.

The objective of this Forum is to complicate the usual depictions of Global South mega-urban regions. Neither the sure-fire means of realizing the aspirations of majority populations nor as a descent into chaos, the massiveness of Southern cities offers many different dimensions and implications.

Aim. This study was aimed at validating the Filipino version of AD8 (AD8-P). Methods. Community-dwelling Filipino older persons aged ≥60 years, together with their informants, participated in this study. Psychologists independently interviewed the informants with AD8-P and administered the Filipino-validated Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-P) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-P) to the older persons. Neurologists and geriatrician conducted physical and neurological examination and Clinical Dementia Rating™ (CDR™) to determine cognitive diagnosis and were blinded with the results of AD8-P. Dementia was diagnosed based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. AD8-P discriminatory ability to screen for dementia was evaluated according to DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for dementia. Results. A total of 366 community-dwelling Filipino older persons aged ≥60 years, 213 with normal cognition and 153 with dementia, and their informants were included in this study. Majority (90%) were at the mildest stage of dementia. Area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUROC) for AD8-P was 0.94 (95% CI 0.92 to 0.96), demonstrating excellent overall predictive power to screen for dementia. The optimal AD8-P cut-off score with best balance sensitivity (91.5%) and specificity (77.9%) was ≥3. Conclusion. AD8-P demonstrated good psychometric properties to screen for dementia, even at the earliest stage of cognitive decline.

The chapter examines the counternarratives of persons arrested in the Philippine war on Drugs during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. In analyzes the detainees’ accounts of suffering and surviving violence or coercive force, which include physical intimidation and beatings, verbal and psychological abuse, torture, and death threats while under arrest and detention. The chapter problematizes the meanings inherent in violence based on the detainees’ subjectivities in terms of their sense of agency, or lack of it, as actors involved in the unfolding violent encounter with the police. Understanding violence from the subjectivities of perpetrators and its victims can help understand its modalities and development. It can inform law enforcement practices in terms of improving negotiation skill, diagnosing high tension risk-scenarios, deescalating pathways to violence, and recognizing actual needs previously unidentified. New learnings from the detainees can lead to insights on preventing the erosion of trust in the police as duty bearers in the forefront of the criminal justice system.

 

Short story published in Revolt Magazine PH.

Accessible at https://revoltmagazineph.ink/2020/07/27/ang-pangatlong-sulok-sa-triangul....