PGS Lecture Series 2022-12: Felipe Jocano on Filipino martial arts

A Filipino martial arts expert once said that the goal of martial arts is self-growth rather than destroying the enemy. 

In the local context, Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) are a form of self and community protection often taught first through the use of handheld weapons such as the stick, knife and various types of indigenous swords. Their present popularity is partly informed by their practicality and immediate application to everyday instances of unsought violence. 

For the last PGS Lecture Series for 2023, the Philippine Geographical Society (PGS) presents Prof Felipe Jocano from the UP Department of Anthropology who will deliver his presentation entitled Have Sticks, will Travel: Filipino Martial Arts and Mobilities on 5 December 2022 at 5:00PM. Prof Jocano will examine how mobility (across spaces, across cultures, across the internet) has contributed to the shaping of the FMA as they are today. 

Prof Jocano's areas of interest include internet anthropology, economic anthropology with an emphasis on the relationship between values, consumer culture and management, medical anthropology, and the anthropology of martial arts as body practice, with an emphasis on Filipino martial arts. In addition, he also teaches martial arts, focusing on Filipino, Chinese and indigenous (Mindanao) martial arts. 

To participate in the PGS Lecture Series, click this link to register, or just click this link: https://tinyurl.com/58b5swdu

The lecture is co-presented by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-11: Kerby Alvarez on archival data on Philippine climate

For the 11th PGS Lecture Series of the Philippine Geographical Society for 2022, Associate Professor of History Kerby Alvarez, PhD will share his research on climate studies conducted by the Philippine Weather Bureau (PWB) from 1900-1930s through a historical lens.

The presentation entitled Understanding Tropical Manila: Climatic Studies of the Philippine Weather Bureau, 1900s-1930s happens on Tuesday, 29 November 2022 at 4:00 PM.

This lecture presents a historical analysis of the scientific studies on climate made by the Philippine Weather Bureau (PWB) from 1900 to the 1930s. A two-pronged approach is utilized to understand the objectives, usage, and impact of these climatological studies, particularly on the related elements of heat, temperature, evaporation, and rainfall: on the one hand, it was aimed at expanding the data bank, empirical knowledge, and pioneering researches on Philippine environment, and on the other hand, to aid the American colonial state in supervising the newly-acquired colony in the Pacific. Tornow (1899) points out that for Manila to be an investment-friendly “principal emporium,” it needed to have an urban landscape suitable for comfortable residence. But the archipelago, during the first two decades of the 20th century, was hounded by frequent climatic extremes that hampered its vital sectors dependent on the environment – such as urban development and agriculture. Among these extremes, for example, was the eight-month-long drought from October 1911 to May 1912 that affected major agricultural regions in the archipelago. The reorganized PWB, with its nucleus still intact from the Spanish meteorological agency, the Observatorio Meteorológico de Manila (OMM), advanced field and laboratory projects to further expand the existing knowledge on the climate of the archipelago. The environment of Manila, and other vital regions surrounding the capital city, were the subject of the advanced data-gathering and climatic theory-applying initiatives of the weather bureau.

KERBY C. ALVAREZ, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Department of History, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. He finished a Bachelor of Arts in History degree (2010) and a Master of Arts degree in History (2014) at UP Diliman. He obtained a Doctorat en Histoire, Art, at Archeólogie (HISTAR) degree from the Université de Namur in Belgium (2019). The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) awarded him the Young Historian’s Prize 2015. His research interests include environmental history, history of science, history of hazards and disasters in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, and the local history of his hometown, Malabon.

To listen to the talk, please click this link to register: https://tinyurl.com/PGSLS11

This presentation is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-10: LA Dimailig on what it means to be a humanitarian geographer

For the 10th PGS Lecture Series of the Philippine Geographical Society for 2022, Geography alumnus Lawrence Anthony Dimailig will share his vast experience as a humanitarian geographer—highlighting some of the  humanitarian activities in ASEAN and how geographic knowledge and perspective are applied in each undertaking. 

The presentation entitled Making Maps and Saving Lives: The Works of a Humanitarian Geographer happens on Monday, 24 October 2022 at 5:00PM via Zoom. 

During the presentation, LA Dimailig who is currently based at the AHA Centre in Jakarta will provide concrete examples that amply demonstrate his application of the courses in the BS Geography programme. Likewise there will be a sharing of real-life experiences in humanitarian operations, and the motivation that propels him to carry on as a Humanitarian Geographer. 

To listen and participate in the talk, please click this link to register: https://tinyurl.com/ujm9ypyn or click this link.

This presentation is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-09: Robert Badrina on climate-influenced land cover change

As the first law of geography states, everything is connected to everything else. For instance in weather forecasting, the mapping of various spatial and temporal dimensions and relationships is important to model the atmospheric processes. This is a crucial input in weather forecasting, climate modeling, and other forms of numerical weather prediction models. 

For the ninth iteration of the Philippine Geographical Society-Lecture Series (PGS-LS) for 2022, weather specialist Robert Badrina will present his research on the simulated impact of land cover change on Philippine Seasonal Climate and including his current involvement in operational weather forecasting at the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). Entitled Beyond Boundaries: Challenges of Relationships among Various Meteorological Scales, the PGS-LS talk, which is the first for the academic year 2022-2023 happens on Wednesday, 21 September 2022 at 5:00PM.

Mr Badrina is an alumnus of the UP Department of Geography and he currently sits as weather specialist in the Marine Meteorology Services Section of PAGASA DOST Weather Division. He completed his geography and meteorology degrees at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. 

To participate for this talk, please register using this Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/4y4me6ha

This lecture is co-sponsored and co-presented by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-08: Jasmin Callosa-Tarr on the visualisation of spatial data

It is said that Geographic Information System (GIS) organises, manages, visualises and models our datasets. GIS can also 'transform a table of data into a lively artifact to be handled, studied, and challenged' (Lund & Sinton, 2007). Outcomes from using GIS not only engages our communities, creates new insights but also integrates with other systems and technologies.

For the midyear edition of the Philippine Geographical Society's Lecture Series (PGS LS), Jasmin Callosa-Tarr will give a talk entitled GIS to Leverage on Spatial Data on Monday, 15th August 2022 at 5:00PM.

Jasmin Callosa-Tarr is the Asia Pacific (APAC) Technical Leader for GIS Delivery and New Zealand Spatial Lead for Jacobs. Jasmin finished her Geography undergraduate course at University of the Philippines. She subsequently taught digital mapping and GIS in the same institution. She is the current Spatial Stream Chair for Survey and Spatial NZ, Deputy Chair for NZ Esri Users Group and Secretary for the NZ GIS for Conservation.  For 16 years, she has been a New Zealand-based GIS Professional.  In recent years she completed her studies in Emergency Management at Massey University.  Her personal and professional brand is:  curiosity, strategic, analytic, contributive and creative. As a leader, she believes in inspiring and mentoring innovative and curious people who can freely and effectively use their knowledge and talent to create better communities.

To attend and participate in the lecture, please register via Zoom through this link, or you can click this URL: https://tinyurl.com/43jmzata

This PGS Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-07: Juan Miguel Torres on photovoice

The political and social exclusion of women, children, older adults and persons with disabilities (PWDs) – especially the economically disenfranchised – has always been identified as a perennial problem in society. In the context of disaster risk reduction (DRR), the PWDs are among those crucially impacted by natural hazards and climate induced disasters. And yet their voices are excluded from DRR-related decision making and planning activities. With more hazards expected to be experienced, including the impending “Big One” or a strong earthquake set to happen anytime due to the West Valley Fault in Metro Manila and its peri-urban fringe, communities and sectors must be fully capacitated to be resilient to deal with the direct and indirect impacts of disasters as well as the aftermath. Hence, effective and participatory planning in the pre-emergency phase – with the inclusion of all sectors of society particularly the poorest of the four sectors – is crucial in securing and saving lives and in ensuring that appropriate systems are in place to help restore order, build resilience, and provide protection and basic services to citizens.

The Philippine Geographical Society (PGS) through its PGS Lecture Series invites Juan Miguel Torres of Salikhain Kolektib and who currently sits as project manager of Lahat Dapat Innovation Project will deliver a presentation entitled Using Photovoice as a Community-based Participatory Tool in Developing Inclusive Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies. It is happening on Monday, 25 July 2022 at 4:00PM.

For the presentation, two barangays in Pasig City, and one in Quezon City represented by different sectors of the community participated in a Photovoice project are to be spotlighted. In particular, the identification and categorization of their vulnerabilities and capabilities will discussed. The undertaking aims to identify gaps, and come up with strategies to make barangay disaster plans more inclusive.

To register, click the following link to participate in the lecture series. https://tinyurl.com/3vvzv2uy

The midyear edition of PGS Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography through the Geographies of Disasters and Hazards Research Cluster.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-06: Russel Andrade on urban biodiversity

The Philippine Geographical Society (PGS) is proud to present the midyear version of the PGS Lecture Series.

UP Department of Geography alumnus Russel James Andrade who currently sits as Biodiversity Focal and Project Assistant and ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability Southeast Asia Secretariat will give a talk entitled CitiesWithNature: The important role of subnational governments in the protection and conservation of urban biodiversity on Thursday, 30 June 2022 at 6:00PM.

For Andrade’s lecture, the important roles of cities in protecting and conserving urban biodiversity will be highlighted. Because local and subnational governments control development processes, mainstreaming biodiversity and incorporating nature-based solutions to local development plans greatly assist in the protection of cities from disasters and other impactful repercussions of climate change.

Russel Andrade is currently leading the implementation of the Developing Plastic Waste-Free Cities in Iloilo City which is also being implemented in two other Southeast Asian Cities and two cities in India. Russel was also part of the Urban Low Emission Development Project, which is a global project co-implemented by UN-Habitat and funded by the European Union, and contributed to the development of the Nationally Determined Contribution Measurement, Reporting, and Verification Plan (NDCMRVP) of the Philippines. He has experience working in various development and research projects of the Philippine Government. He was also engaged in the formulation of policies for adaptation and mitigation programs in the country while he was in the Climate Change Commission.

To participate in this webinar, please click this Zoom link to register. https://tinyurl.com/2x85yh3j

This lecture series is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-05: Luigi Toda on vulnerabilities and resilience

Continuing with the goal of presenting applied geography undertakings in the Philippines, the Philippine Geographical Society is mounting the fifth PGS Lecture Series for the year. The talk is to be given by Luigi Toda entitled Measuring Vulnerability and Resilience. This lecture happens on Saturday, 28 May 2022 at 2:00PM.

An alumnus of the UP Department of Geography and Australian National University, Mr Toda currently sits as Program Manager of the Climate Change Resilience at Arup.

To participate for the lecture this Saturday, please click this link to register or type this link to your URL: https://tinyurl.com/326dhskh4

The PGS Lecture Series is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-04: Kathy Ilustre discusses digital geovisualization of data

Goodbye maps, hello apps?

The advent of high speed wireless technologies created a generation of tech-savvy digital navigators. But does this signal the end of the use of maps? Digital maps are entrenched in the social fabric of this generation's milieu in ways too various to specify. How do we make visible geospatial data in ways that are accessible, informative, democratic and compelling?

The Philippine Geographical Society (PGS) presents this semester's third lecture for the PGS Lecture Series entitled Visualizing Geospatial Data in Interactive Maps and Apps. Kathy Ilustre from Geodata Systems will provide a purview for this changed set of relationalities. Ms Ilustre amassed years of experience in project implementation, database design, cartography, and training and technical consulting services. Formerly handling the undergraduate Digital Cartography class at the UP Department of Geography, she has implemented enterprise GIS in numerous organizations, and deployed geospatial solutions that support and improve the customers’ business workflows.

The lecture is on Friday, 22 April 2022 at 4:00PM. To register for this talk, click this link to participate or click this URL https://tinyurl.com/4jwmecxz

This talk is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2022-01: Disaster Studies Manifesto at Accord - pananaliksik at pagsasalin

Adhikain ng Disaster Studies Manifesto at Accord na nakalathala sa https://www.radixonline.org/manifesto-accord na mas pahusayin ang pag-aaral ng kalamidad at ang praktis ng pagbawas ng banta at epekto ng kalamidad (o Disaster Studies and Disaster Risk Reduction). 

Isa sa mga isinusulong nito ay ang pagamit ng wikang lokal, likas o taal (local and indigenous language) na mas akma sa konteksto at mas higit na naiintindihan lalo na ng mga pinaka-apektado ng kalamidad. At sa mas malawak pa na perspektibo, maraming aspeto na may kinalaman sa metodolohiya ng pagsasaliksik, at mga ugnayan at layunin ng mga mananaliksik, awtoridad at iba pang indibidwal at organisasyon ang maaaring suriin at bigyan ng mas akmang pakahulugan gamit ang mga lokal na wika. At upang higit na maunawaan at maipakalat ang mga nabanggit na adhikain sa Pilipinas, isinalin ng Geography 255 (Environmental Hazards and Disaster Management) class sa wikang Filipino ang Disaster Studies Manifesto at Accord. 

Hinihikayat ang mga iba pang iskolar at propesyonal sa larangan ng kalamidad na isalin ang dalawang dokumento sa kani-kanilang wika. 

Iniimbitahan ang lahat na makilahok sa presentasyon ng mga pahayag at saliw ng paninindigan tungkol sa pag-aaral ng kalamidad sa darating na Enero 21, 2021 (5:30 to 7 PM).  Para maka rehistro, i-click ang link na ito. 

Ang presentasyonng ito ay itinataguyod ng Philippine Geographical Society  at ng UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2021-14: Pat Algura on geospatial innovations for safer infrastructures

In what ways can geotechnologies aid in the building and construction of efficient and safer infrastructures? 

For this month’s edition of the PGS Lecture Series, the Philippine Geographical Society is thrilled to welcome geography alumna Patricia Algura who will give a talk on 17 November (Wednesday) at 5:30PM. 

The presentation entitled Geospatial Innovations for Efficient Infrastructures will be covering geospatial innovations in the engineering and construction industry, showing how these industries use Geospatial applications to transform and challenge their usual ways of working. Using ArcGIS and FME tools, organizations were able to analyze and understand the what, where, and why of infrastructures, collaborate across all stakeholders, and make better decisions critical to building efficient and safer infrastructures. See how 3D, spatial analysis, story maps, GIS dashboards, field applications, and automation are transforming engineering and construction industries.

Pat Algura is the Geospatial Consultant at Jacobs under Digital Solutions. A BS Geography graduate of UP Diliman, Pat is a creative and a solutions person who has always been passionate about maps and the vast applications of GIS. She has been involved in various projects in utilities, engineering, local government and national agencies across the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, enabling organizations digitally transform and innovate with Geospatial Solutions.

The PGS Lecture Series is a monthly knowledge-sharing talk and conversation among geography practitioners, alumni, and geography-adjacent allies with grounded work, research and practice focused on the Philippines. This 14th lecture series for 2021 is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

To register for the talk, click this link, or simply paste this link to your browser: https://tinyurl.com/ymhb7kj8

PGS Lecture Series 2021-13: TJ Cipriano on policy shift in more effective COVID-19 governance

The COVID-19 pandemic, like any disaster, is at a critical juncture that opens an opportunity to shift policy aimed to reduce disaster risks. The presence of the Delta variant necessitated this policy shift in pandemic response efforts given its high transmissibility compared to the previously reported COVID-19 variants. With the Philippine government admitting that widespread and sweeping lockdown measures do not work in this context, will the shift towards targeted curbs be effective in bringing down infections?

For the 13th lecture series organised by the Philippine Geographical Society, MS Geography student Timothy James Cipriano attempts to make sense of this policy shift and bring several points of reflection regarding its implementation in Metro Manila in relation to the bigger question on space and disaster governance. It underscores how the framing of public health crisis by the State is shaping its pandemic response, and whether it perpetuates everyday conditions of communities with a higher intensity.

TJ Cipriano currently works as a research assistant for a flood research project funded by the Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He previously worked as a researcher at the UP Resilience Institute and NOAH Center. Mr Cipriano's research interests relate to hazards and disasters, environmental studies, and disease geographies. He is also a member of the Advocates for Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM) and the Alliance of STEM Graduate Students and Workers – UP Diliman.

The talk is on Friday, 29 October 2021 at 5:30PM. To participate, register using this link.

This lecture series is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2021-11: Mark Aimon Pangan on community mapping using open data

For the 11th PGS Lecture Series for 2021, the Philippine Geographical Society presents a talk that reflects on community mapping, open data, and field operations using OpenStreetMap (OSM). 

Mark Aimon Pangan will give the talk entitled Navigating Open Spaces: The Geospatial World through the Lenses of Open Data on Saturday, 25 September 2021 at 2:00PM. OSM is an online platform that creates and makes available an accessible and editable geospatial data of the world. Founded by Steve Coast in 2004, OSM distributed and developed geospatial data for everybody and has since contributed to various scientific research as well as humanitarian undertakings. In the Philippines, OSM has made significant strides in mapping heretofore unmapped regions. 

Mark Aimon Pangan is a graduate of geography at UP Diliman and is an advocate of utilizing open data and open-source software. He has worked on projects in the renewable energy and DRRM sectors. Currently, he is involved in a project associated with OSM as a GIS specialist and OSM volunteer. 

To participate in the webinar, click the following link to register for the event.

This lecture series is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography. 

PGS Lecture Series 2021-09: John Ceffrey Eligue on vulnerabilities of the fisherfolk and farmer communities in Camotes islands

Disaster studies oftentimes focus on large-scale and macro-level physical and natural hazards and how environments are impacted in the aftermath of disasters. Fewer studies spotlight on what van Voorst et al (2015) term as “everyday hazards,” where human subjects’ experience and encounter with environmental stresses are given particular focus. 

Sponsored by the Philippine Geographical Society (PGS) through the PGS Lecture Series, John Ceffrey Eligue’s talk will illustrate these “everyday hazards” and how protracted daily neglect leads to fragile livelihoods for those who are already exposed to natural hazards. Prof Eligue’s presentation entitled Purok, Pook, at Panganib: stories in times of kalisod and managing everyday risks in the Camotes Islands will showcase the use of a more place-based approach in identifying patterns of risk perception and coping strategies of people living with slow-onset hazards in an island community of Camotes. Deploying kalisod (Visayan for hardship) as an analytic, the talk gives equal importance to stories gleaned from the farmers and fisherfolk in the island using a socio-spatial approach. The study attests that vulnerability is not static and social bonding is necessary in coping during times of kalisod.

Prof Eligue is a faculty member of the Department of Community and Environmental Resource Planning, at the College of Human Ecology of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. He teaches courses on human ecology, human settlements, and planning theory. Prof Eligue served as research associate for various land and water use planning projects and foreign-assisted programs doing field works across the country prior to his employment as an assistant professor at UPLB. 

This presentation happens on 17 July (Saturday) at 2:00PM. If you wish to attend and participate, register through this link.

The UP Department of Geography is a co-sponsor of this event through the Human Geography, and Geographies of Disasters and Hazards research clusters. 

PGS Lecture Series 2021-04: Emmanuel Garcia on participatory 3D mapping and community management

In this Philippine Geographical Society (PGS) Lecture Series, PGS President Emmanuel Garcia, EnP discusses the role of Participatory 3-Dimensional Mapping (P3DM) in integrating indigenous and local geographical knowledge with data on topography to create stand-alone, scaled, and georeferenced 3D models useful in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM).

Emmanuel Garcia is an assistant professor at the UP Department of Geography. A geographer and licensed environmental planner, he specializes in community-based disaster risk reduction and management and land-use planning. His research interests include heritage mapping and transport and development.

This talk happens on April 14, 2021 (Wednesday) at 6:00 PM. Click this link to register for the talk: https://bit.ly/2Q89soX

Asst. Prof. Garcia's lecture is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2021-03: Evangeline Katigbak-Montoya on future lives of Filipino migrants in Singapore

In this PGS Lecture Series, Dr Evangeline Katigbak-Montoya discusses the intersections of hope, education and aspiration for the future lives of the younger members of Filipino migrant families in Singapore. The presentation builds on Appadurai’s (2004) conception of aspiration as a navigational capacity for the future and juxtapose this with the idea of hope to develop an analytical lens that captures the ways by which education and migration are employed by families to navigate the imagined future geographies of their younger members’ lives. Using the case of Filipino migrant families in Singapore, Dr Katigbak-Montoya argues that hope acts as a spatio-temporal anchor that moor people in the here and now even as their aspirations are projected onto the future and elsewhere.

Dr Evangeline O. Katigbak-Montoya is a geographer whose research interests involve transnational migration and emotional geographies. Prior to going to Singapore in 2009 for her doctoral studies at the National University of Singapore, she taught at the Department of Geography, University of the Philippines (Diliman) where she also obtained her BSc and MSc degrees in Geography. She is currently with the International Studies Department of De La Salle University.

This talk happens on March 17, 2021 (Wednesday) at 4:00PM. Click this link to register for the talk. Or go directly to this link: https://bit.ly/3eh4Q9K

Dr Katigbak-Montoya’s lecture is co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

PGS Lecture Series 2021-02: Mikko Tamura on participatory mapping for safe LGBT spaces

For the second PGS Lecture Series for 2021, Mikko Tamura will present data, discourses, and practices of mapping that go beyond representation. Entitled Participatory Mapping of LGBT Experiences and Safe Spaces, the talk draws from Tamura's own project engagements through MapBeks -- an "online community of volunteers advocating for LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex +) representation and inclusion in various mapping platforms". The talk also discusses the queering of mapping and mapmaking practices in the Philippines.

Aside from being the lead advocate for MapBeks, Tamura is currently the Community Manager for the Asia and the Pacific Hub at the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. He is the founder of MapBeks and is a volunteer mapper and a voting member of OpenStreetMap and HOT.

He was previously involved in various disaster mapping response during the Super Typhoon Yolanda and the Marawi Siege. 

Tamura's talk will take place remotely via Zoom on 20 February 2021 at 7:00PM. Click this link to register.

This PGS Lecture Series is sponsored by the Philippine Geographical Society, and co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography. 

PGS Lecture Series 2021-01: Mariño Deocariza on urban resilience and geographic thinking

Mariño Deocariza (Oxfam-GB) will give a talk entitled Geographic Thinking in Community Resilience Projects on Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 2pm. 

Presently serving as program manager of BRUC (Building Resilient Urban Communities) with field sites in La Trinidad (Benguet), Malay (Aklan), Janiuay (Iloilo), and Del Carmen (Siargao), Mr Deocariza's talk draws from projects that advocate for climate change resilience in Asian urban cities that highlight applied geography and geographic thinking. Mariño Deocariza is an urban planner and erstwhile faculty member of the UP Department of Geography.

Check out BRUC case studies from the following areas:

La Trinidad (Benguet), Malay (Aklan), Janiuay (Iloilo), and Del Carmen, Siargao (Surigao del Norte).

This talk is presented by the Philippine Geographical Society through the PGS Lecture Series 2020-2021, co-sponsored by the UP Department of Geography.

To register for this talk, check out this link: