This page presents the talks that I have given in the recent years for both Academic and Corporate organizations in the Philippines.
A commitment I made before I left the country in 2022, was to serve as a trainor for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Philippine Social Science Council University of the Philippines Diliman nationwide training on research ethics for faculty members of universities and colleges. This was the last of our sessions. Every month had been pure joy to meet fellow Filipino/a/x academics who wanted to better their research practice. It has been my honor and privilege to have been part of their journey. These are some of the participants who graduated after 6 weeks of training.
Busog Kami: Locating Hunger among Informal Settlers in Manila
41st UGAT Conference+November 6-8, 2019+Western Visayas University
Presented papers on food insecurity and the balut industry in the 41st UGAT Conference.
Writing Fellowship for Social Health Research
April 24-26, 2019
University of Santo Tomas, Manila
Last year, this event was only a subject of our Center’s plan. Today, thanks to the generous support of UST through the office of Dr Belinda de Castro, I am proud to say that we have graduated 18 researchers as the 2019 UST RCSSED Writing Fellows for Social Health Research. Congratulations to our partners in attaining health equity through inclusive and locally-sensitive health studies!
Apart from being the convenor, I have delivered two lectures in this event. The first is on Qualitative Research Design and the second is on Data Privacy.
Research and Community Engagement
UST Student Council + Tan Yan Kee Building
February 1, 2019
Research and Community Development. Lecture delivered to student leaders of UST-CSC. February 1. (photo from UST-CSC)
The Culture of Balut Production and Consumption
40th UGAT Conference+ Palawan State University+ November 8-10, 2018
Convened a panel entitled “Lupa, Katihan, Buwaya, at Itik: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Human-Landscape Intersections”
Also participated in the panel that honored the works of Prof. James Eder.
Philippine Sociological Association
October 5, 2018 + Siquijor State College
Presented my paper “Constructing Vulnerability among Children Living with Tuberculosis in an Informal settlement” at the 2018 National Conference of the Philippine Sociological Society #PSS2018Siquijor
This paper is about the preliminary results of the project entitled “Socio-Cultural Determinants of Health-seeking Behavior among Children Living with Tuberculosis and their Caregivers in Informal Settlements” funded by DOST-PCHRD-NRCP and the UST RCSSED.
1st National Conference on Philippine Anti-Poverty Policy Reform
July 27, 2018 + UP College of Economics
Participated in the 1st National Conference on Philippine Anti-Poverty Policy Reform organized by Sec. Liza Maza and the National Anti-Poverty Commission. It was wonderful event as community partners, academics, development workers and even policy-makers were sharing the same space and exchanging critical points on the persistence of poverty incidence in the country.
Two of the highlights of this event are: 1)my former advisee gets to present her work on water insecurity in a powerful panel; and 2) my work was affirmed by some residents of Baseco who were in the audience representing various groups. Research life coming into full circle.
Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) Week
24-25 August 2017 + Philippine International Convention Center (PICC)
Today, I took part in a panel organized by the Philippine National Health Research Systems that discussed the trajectory of Drug Abuse and Mental Health research in the country. It is one of those speaking engagements that I instantaneously accepted without thinking twice. Without consulting each other and with varying backgrounds (MD/Anthro), all speakers have consistently insisted these points:
1. Drug dependence/abuse is a mental illness that could be treated.
2. Community-based/household-based approach to rehabilitation can be an efficient mechanism in promoting low relapse percentage.
3. Locally-specific approaches that consider the socio-cultural and economic ecology of the stakeholders must be developed to promote mental health well-being.
4. Criminalizing drug dependence is synonymous to penalizing a person with tuberculosis for coughing.
5. Solving the issue on drugs is not uni-dimensional. It must be layered with class-based and gender-based relativity that would allow for a more inclusive solution.
And oh, we did not arrive with these conclusions by being in our academic ivory towers. We are all fieldworkers who have lived with, dealt with, got frustrated with, and even got betrayed by people branded by the majority as “addicts” who supposedly deserve the marginalizing war that this government is sponsoring.
Maria Carinnes P. Alejandria 
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