Research Brief June 2003 - Cordillera Studies Center - UP Baguio

ISSN 1656-2151June 2003 Vol. VI, Series No. 1Research on the Cordillera at UP Baguio:The Cordillera Studies Center Turns 23The Cordillera Studies Center hadits beginning as the researchcomponent of the Development StudiesProgram of the then Division of SocialSciences. The M.A. Social andDevelopment Studies was theProgram’s curricular component.Among the key concepts underlyingthe operations of the Center were:a. A multi-disciplinary perspective that willguide the research agenda;b. The close linkage with local communities toprovide the critical anchor that will enablethe Center to tackle social issues confrontingthe Region, and;c. A vision of social science practice relevant tothe process of social transformation.ITS ESTABLISHMENTOn June 26, 1980 the Board ofRegents of the University of thePhilippines, in its 928th meeting,established the Cordillera StudiesCenter “as the research and extensionarm of the Division of Social Sciences.”The Center’s objectives, as reexpressedin 1993 are:• To provide a venue for the exercise of thefaculty mandate to do research andextension;• To contribute to internal facultydevelopment;• To encourage collaborative and multidisciplinaryresearch;• To encourage attention to developmentissues with special focus on the needs andpotentials of Cordillera communities; and• To promote a continuing dialogue amongacademics, social science practitioners,government officials and communitiesSo from 1980 until 1998, the Centerundertook its activities to fulfill thismandate.THE CSC AS RESEARCH ANDEXTENSION ARM OF THEDIVISION OF SOCIAL SCIENCESDuring this period the Center, as aninterdisciplinary research institution,focused on the development issues inthe uplands relying mainly on themembers of the Division of SocialSciences for its research personnel.Faculty from the Divisions of NaturalSciences, Humanities, SPEAR (Sports,Physical Education and Recreation),Management Sciences, and (the then)UPCB High School, were likewise tappedfor specific researches.In its first ten years, the Centerprimarily drew financial support from theFord Foundation through three grants onAgroecosystems research: 1981-83,1984-87 and 1987-1990. Through thesegrants, the Center established a stronglink with the Southeast Asian UniversitiesAgroecosystems Network (SUAN) beingone of the Network’s founding members.In 1988, grant funds from the AsiaFoundation augmented the Fordresearch funds for a project on “Issueson Cordillera Autonomy.” This projectgave birth to a continuing researchtheme on Governance and Public Policy.A grant from the Department ofAgriculture (DA) for a Land Tenure Studyfollowed. Then two grants from theNational Economic and DevelopmentAuthority (NEDA), Region 1 forPopulation, Resources and Environment(Phase I and Phase II) initiated theresearch program on Environment andResources.In 1990, the Food and AgricultureOrganization (FA0) supported theresearch project entitled “IbaloyCustomary Law.”By the second decade, the Centerembarked on a research program onNatural Resource Management withfunds provided by the InternationalDevelopment Research Centre (IDRC) ofCanada. These are Natural ResourceManagement Program (or NRMP) 1,1992-1994, and NRMP 2, 1997-2001.Alongside these larger programs,smaller research studies were conductedon economic, political and socialinstitutions of local communities,indigenous knowledge and world views,local history, health, women and genderissues.Even while the Center undertookfunded research on social science issuesin upland development, individual facultyinterests on research on the Cordilleraflourished, in particular, among facultyresearchers from the Natural Sciencesand Mathematics Division.Research on the Cordillera at UPBaguio obtained a boost in 1995. TheCordillera Studies Program (CSP), withfunding support from the University ofthe Philippines Center for Integrative andDevelopment Studies (UPCIDS), wasestablished. During the CSP’s first twoyears, research was undertaken underthree components: EnvironmentalStudies, Cultural Studies andDevelopment Studies.A COLLEGE RESEARCH CENTERThe experience of UP Baguio withthe conduct of the Cordillera StudiesProgram contributed to a clearrecognition of a need for a College-levelstructure to direct and coordinate intercollegeresearch programs. ThisCollege-level mechanism would give fullattention to strengthening the researchand publications program of the fiveacademic divisions of the College. Inrecognition of the notable performance ofthe Center, it was deemed appropriate torecommend that the CSC betransformed into the College ResearchCenter. Hence, on March 18, 1997, theCollege Assembly unanimouslyendorsed this proposal. The Centerbegan operating as the CollegeResearch Center in June 1998.To mark this significant change, theCenter launched the Research DialogueSeries in AY 1998-1999 with eightmonthly sessions. This was followed inAY 1999-2000 by seven round tablecontinued next page

discussions on the following themes:Local History and Institutions;Governance and Public Policy;Indigenous Knowledge, Philosophy andWorld Views; Environment andResources—Social Science Issues;Living Traditions—Art, Language,Literature and Communication andWomen and Gender Studies.PUBLICATIONSTogether with these researchprograms, the Center produces an arrayof materials for its publications program.To date, there are 14 monographs, 30working papers, 12 issue papers, a goodnumber of research reports andconference proceedings. In 1994, theCenter expanded its publicationsprogram with the production of a popularversion of research findings in the CSCResearch Briefs.LIBRARY SERVICESTo support research activities, theCenter runs the CSC Library, which isboth a research and special collectionlibrary for books, non-book materials,unpublished sources, maps,photographs and slides on Cordilleracommunities. The library holdings havesteadily accumulated into anincomparable collection of Cordilleraethnographic materials on developmentissues, economic change, socialtransformation and upland resourcemanagement. The library now servesas a Cordillera regional information,resource and referral center.CSC and ITS PARTNERSWhatever the Cordillera StudiesCenter and the faculty of UP Baguiohave achieved in the 23 years that haveso quickly passed is owed to thepartners of the CSC: The UP Baguiofaculty, researchers and administration.Its research partners: DA, NEDA, DOH,PLAN International, DENR, BSU, CLSU,PESAM, now SECAM, to name several.The networks and linkages that havesupported our publications andinformation exchange: SUAN,HARRDEC, Environmental EducationNetwork, Philippine Social ScienceCouncil, Philippine Health SocialScience Association. The ResearchAffiliates from foreign universities whohave brought fresh perspectives to ourresearch work. The funding agencieswho have provided the materialresources to undertake the Center’svarious projects.Most importantly, the communitieswho have welcomed CSC researchersinto their homes and allowed them to‘intrude’ into their lives.Twenty-three years ago, there wasnot a single research institution in thisRegion dedicated to studying theCordillera. This is no longer true today.The Center is the first among severalresearch groups focusing their attentionon Cordillera issues.LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS2001 Fellow Traveler: Essays on FilipinoCommunism/Patricio N. Abinales.2001 The Future in the Balance: Essays onGlobalization and Resistance/WaldenBello.2001 The Philippine Economy: Alternativesfor the 21 st Century/Dante B. Canlasand Shigeaki Fujisaki, editors.2001 Introductory Mathematical Economics/Rolando Danao.2001 Reflections of Sociology andPhilippine Society/Randolf S. David.2001 The Filipino Family/Belen Medina. –2 nd ed.2001 Power in the Village: Agrarian Reform,Rural Politics, Institutional Change andGlobalization/Horacio R. Morales, Jr.[et al.], editors.2001 The Moro Islamic Challenge:Constitutional Rethinking for theMindanao Peace Process/Soliman M.Santos, Jr.2001 The Communist Party of the Philippines1968-1993: A Story of Its Theory andPractice/Kathleen Weekley.2000 Manuvu Social Organization/Arsenio E.Manuel.1999 Causes of Poverty: Myths, Facts &Policies: A Philippine Study/Arsenio M.Balisacan and Shigeaki Fujisaki , editors.1999 The Origins of Metropolitan Manila: APolitical and Social Analysis/Manuel A.Caoli.1999 The Colonial Iron Horse: Railroads andRegional Development in the Philippines,1875-1935/Arturo G. Corpuz.1998 Images of State Power: Essays onPhilippine Politics from the Margins/Patricio N. Abinales.1998 The Philippines into the 21 st Century:Future Scenarios for Governance,Democracy and Development 1998-2025/Jose V. Abueva1997 An Economic History of the Philippines/O.D. Corpuz.1997 Democratization: PhilippinePerspectives/Felipe B. Miranda, editor.1997 Explorations in Social Theory andPhilippine Ethnography/Raul Pertierra.1996 Choice, Growth and Development:Emerging and Enduring Issues/Emmanuel S. De Dios and Raul V.Fabella, editors.1995 Pinatubo and The Politics of Lahar:Eruption and Aftermath/Kelvin S.Rodolfo.1994 Poverty, Urbanization andDevelopment Policy: A PhilippinePerspective/Arsenio M. Balisacan.1992 The Textiles of Southern Philippines:The Textile Traditions of the Bagobo,Mandaya and Bilaan from TheirBeginnings to the 1990s.1984 An Analysis of the Philippine EconomicCrisis/Emmanuel S. De Dios, editor.CORDILLERA RESEARCH BRIEFS is published QUARTERLY by theCordillera Studies Center to disseminate its research activities andresults to a wider audience.For further information on this study, please contact:THE DIRECTORCordillera Studies CenterUP College Baguio2600 Baguio CityTel/Fax : (63) (74) 442-57-94Email: cordillerastudies@yahoo.comDirector: Lorelei C. MendozaUniversity Researchers: Alicia G. FolloscoMarion DifuntorumAccounting Clerk: Gloria Q. RodrigueraInformation Officer: Giovannie R. RualoClerk: Rouena B. Aguto©1997Cordillera Studies CenterUniversity of the Philippines BaguioAll rights reserved. Published 2003