Schedule
Nov. 28, 2024 | 1:00 PM–2:30 PM
Room
Rm 3, South Ballroom
Moderator
TBA
E3.1
Locating Philippine Scientific Knowledge Production in Regional and Global Historiographies of Environmental Hazards and Disasters
Kerby C. Alvarez
University of the Philippines Diliman
From the waning decades of the 19th century until the early decades of the 20th century, the Philippine archipelago was at a crossroads; major developments in science coincided with the political and social evolution of the Philippines from a colony to an emergent nation. On the one hand, it was a country that perennially experienced constant political volatility, economic crises, socio-cultural transformations, and frequent environmental calamities. On the other hand, it was a site of burgeoning scientific advancements in the physical environment, the instrumentation and institutionalization of scientific disciplines, and the influx of foreign knowledge.
The developments in the scientific knowledge production on hazards and disasters in the Philippines can be described as an amalgam of local initiatives, instrumentation and institutionalization of the sciences of meteorology, seismology, and volcanology, and the presence and expansion of inter-state and inter-agency scientific networking on regional and global scales. Identifying the period from the 1860s to the 1990s as one of the major scientific evolutions in the field of environmental hazards and disaster research, propositions on the importance of natural environmental processes in historical and historiographical assessments could be placed. This paper presents a historical survey of the scientific developments in the study of environmental hazards and disasters and an examination of the historiographical legacies and contributions of the period in shaping the understanding of the role(s) of hazards (typhoons, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions) and the disasters that resulted afterwards. Through this approach, the study of Philippine history, or Philippine society in general, can be both enriched internally and externally, highlighting the significance of the perpetual self-assessment of Filipino society and the renewed appreciation of regional and global networks and connections in producing knowledge and the appraisal of information in writing local and national histories.
E3.2
The 1880 Luzon Earthquake in Pangasinan: Effects, Responses, and Interpretations
Kevin Conrad A. Ibasco and Arlo Vincent M. Ranque
Pangasinan State University-Urdaneta City Campus
This study discusses the 1880 earthquake that rattled Luzon Island with a focus on its effects on the province of Pangasinan—highlighting narratives from both the colonial government and natives. It attempts to explore the different events that persisted in various areas in the province during the onslaught of the earthquake. The study used Saderra Maso’s catalogos, Spanish newspapers, and memorias as primary sources. Just like other places in the country, Pangasinan is not spared from disasters. To understand the hazards present in the province, it is imperative to know the whereabouts of the 1880 earthquake, hundred years before the 1990 Luzon “killer” earthquake happened. This interrogated the colonial government to enact policies, ranging from administrative to scientific. During the 1880 event, Pangasinan experienced an Intensity IX tremor (devastating) that resulted in major destruction of colonial churches and government buildings (Saderra-Maso 1910). It also caused ground subsidence, fissures, lateral displacements in areas near the Agno River. The strongest shake was recorded near San Nicolas (Cortes 1990). After the earthquake, reports coming from Lingayen, Dagupan, Mangaldan, San Jacinto, Manaoag, Bayambang, Malasiqui, Asingan, Binalonan, San Manuel, Urdaneta, San Carlos, and Alcala were not immediately received by the Spanish colonial government in Manila—citing bureaucratic responses that affected the rehabilitation and recovery measures. Records also show how the natives of Pangasinan responded during and after the earthquake, with different interpretations. The earthquake induced fear and sadness among the people. This also challenged their faith, a justification made by the Spanish officials to evangelize more natives. On the other hand, the earthquake was interpreted as a fenomeno geological, establishing the importance of colonial science in explaining disasters. Further, this study attempts to contribute to the knowledge production in response to the scarcity of materials about disaster history and historical seismology in the context of Pangasinan.
E3.3
“Every Grower Must in Practice Be His Own Rice Doctor”: Institutionalization and Localization of Plant Pathology in the Philippine Rice Industry during 1911 to 1940s
Chen V. Ramos
De La Salle University-Manila
This study will explore the institutionalization and localization of knowledge and methods of plant pathology in the Philippine rice industry from 1911 to the 1940s. Plant pathology is considered one of the important scientific disciplines in the agricultural sector, that aims to protect agricultural plants from the ravages of various types of plant diseases found in farmlands in the world. The presence of a systematic pathological system in the main agricultural plants in the Philippines such as rice leads to the possible increase in production which is important to pay attention to in the twentieth century. Establishing an effective pathological system ensures the American colonial government economic and social stability to its new colony. The institutionalization and localization of American plant pathological programs and policies in the Philippines are divided into four stages: 1.) establishment of institutions and organizations dedicated to management problems related to rice plant diseases; 2.) research on different types of rice plant pathogens in the Philippines, and introduction of plant pathology education in the country; 3.) programs aimed at preventing the spread of pathogens in the rice-producing regions in the Philippines; and 4.) assimilation of plant pathological knowledge among Filipinos.
From these stages, we can better understand the relationship between the host (plant), pathogen (plant disease), and humans (farmers and scientists) in the steps taken to develop the plant pathological system applied in the Philippine rice industry during this period. Understanding this correlation provides valuable insight into how Filipinos perceived plant diseases and related knowledge, thereby enhancing farms and agricultural practices as advocated by scientific and large-scale tropical agriculture by the American colonial government. Overall, this study offers an initial perspective on the interplay of the plant world, science, and colonialism in managing the impact of plant diseases on Philippine society during the first decades of the 20th century, a topic that has not received much attention in the national historiography.
E3.4
Elemental Entanglements: An Ecocritical Inquiry into the Buklog Folk Narrative of the Subanen
Maria Anjelica Cabanilla Wong
University of the Philippines Visayas
The environmental turn in Southeast Asian studies has led scholars to explore the dimensions of indigenous knowledge systems as a decolonizing process of our ways of dealing with the environment and sustaining the earth. Part of this process of re-contextualizing development within the cultural spaces of Southeast Asia is a growing interest in indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK). IEK systems are enshrined in the specific oral traditions of indigenous cultures. One, among the many indigenous groups that have preserved their oral tradition through folk narratives, such as the buklog, is the Subanen in Zamboanga, Western Mindanao, Philippines. Through an ecocritical reading of the buklog, this paper argues that the buklog as a narrative expresses human and nonhuman entanglements representing nature as a necessary element in ritual practice subverting the capitalist notions of nature simply as a resource. The inquiry into this particular narrative not only enriches our understanding of the intricate relationship between indigenous cultures and the environment but also underscores the folk narrative’s potential contribution to emic forms of environmental education and the broader discourse on sustainable development in Southeast Asia.
E3.5
Gahum sa Sugilanon: Babaylanism as Ecocriticism in Contemporary West Visayan Fiction
John Ray A. Hontanar
University of the Philippines Visayas
The Panayanon literary imagination is a space of enduring mysticism. It is where animism collides with logic, where the spiritual is always connected with the physical, and where many binaries are blurred and refunctioned. The strong presence of babaylanic imagery in the West Visayan short story called sugilanon reveals the indelible connection between the Panayanon’s animist spatiality and the undying tradition of babaylanism. The stories analyzed in this paper harness the babaylanic gahum in engaging with hegemonic oppression in the form of patriarchy, capitalism, and neocolonialism. By exploring the Panayanon concepts of gahum and babaylanism, the study attempts to show indigenous power and subversion amidst colonial-imposed hegemonies. The analysis of the sugilanon shows that West Visayan writers consciously uphold the image of the babaylan to connect with a communal form of pre-colonial power. This study attempts to decolonize and locate the tradition of ecocriticism in West Visayan fiction, since writers have long problematized the interconnections between nature, humanity, and cosmogony, and how those spaces inform the collective consciousness of the people.