Lectio: A Graduate Journal of Philosophy

The Department of Philosophy congratulates Maria Ressa for being one of the two 2021 Nobel Peace Prize awardees. She is a journalist, the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, and the first person from the Philippines to be awarded this prestigious honor. An excerpt from the announcement of the Norwegian Nobel Committee:

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace. Ms. Ressa and Mr. Muratov are receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.

“Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence, and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines. In 2012, she co-founded Rappler, a digital media company for investigative journalism, which she still heads. As a journalist and the Rappler’s CEO, Ressa has shown herself to be a fearless defender of freedom of expression. Rappler has focused critical attention on the Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign. The number of deaths is so high that the campaign resembles a war waged against the country’s own population. Ms. Ressa and Rappler have also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse.

“[…] freedom of expression and freedom of information help to ensure an informed public. These rights are crucial prerequisites for democracy and protect against war and conflict. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov is intended to underscore the importance of protecting and defending these fundamental rights.”

(The Nobel Peace Prize 2021. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2021. Sat. 9 Oct 2021. )

Dear friends,

The Editorial Board of LECTIO: A GRADUATE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY is glad to share with you that the journal’s first issue has just been published online! Here is the link to the journal:

As written in the editorial, we aspire each issue to be composed of various sections for a more fruitful exchange. (1) Featured Articles. Every issue will present works from keynote speakers of conferences, invited authors, or faculty members. We aspire to shed a different perspective for our graduate community to consider in their respective philosophy research. (2) Conference Articles. We will hold an annual graduate conference every April/May and invite all those who have presented to submit their works for blind review, and after successful evaluation and editing, present the manuscripts to a wider audience. (3) Abulad Sanay-say Proceedings. Another annual event to be held every September/October is the Abulad Sanay-say writing workshop that would guide successful applicants in their respective writing styles and focus. This section would feature the works from the workshop fellows who have successfully edited their manuscripts according to the comments. (4) Excerpts of Graduate Theses. Graduate studies culminate with one’s thesis or dissertation defense. We invite our newly minted philosophy scholars who have just successfully defended their manuscripts to submit a summary of or an extract from the theses or dissertations and aim to present them to the entire philosophy community in a congratulatory tone to showcase how the defended manuscript is a fruit of the individual author’s own lectio. (5) Graduate Papers. Almost all subjects at the graduate school culminate with a term paper. These ought not to be simply done for the sake of the course but in light of broader philosophic research. We hope these papers or works-in-progress are not to be put to waste and so this section allows authors to consider subjecting their articles to peer evaluation for them to be refined. Lastly, (6) Book Reviews. We aspire to cultivate a reading culture among the extended members of the Department of Philosophy. By such a culture, we mean a critical reading of texts as practice in other graduate communities abroad. Book reviews are essential practices of critique, and which should be a craft proper to graduate students. For this first issue, we are glad to present a collection of articles that fill four of the journal's six planned sections.

As a journal for and by graduate students, we aspire to support each author in the process of honing their respective crafts in research. With this, in lieu of outright and blanket rejections, we instead will be providing concrete ways to improve the manuscript with the ultimate hope of helping the author improve both the writing style and the scope of the article. We wish to thank all of those who have contributed to the journal from the advisory board to the authors and reviewers. On the other hand, for those who have not been included in this issue, we will be in contact soon!

Please join in the journal's celebration by promoting it to your graduate-level colleagues and students. It would be a great help to the journal in particular and the entire graduate community at large! Also, we are glad to share that we have an upcoming philosophy blog entitled VOX. This will be our avenue for more casual, bite-sized philosophical reflections on various themes! Our philosophy blog is open to all, regardless of academic status.

Once again, we thank you all immensely for your support. We hope to receive your submissions for our future volumes and events. Please do not hesitate to contact us for queries at

With immense gratitude,

The editorial team
Lectio: A Graduate Journal of Philosophy
www.lectio.ph

1 - Lectio: A Graduate Journal of Philosophy

Dear friends,

The deadline on the submission for the 1st Abulad Sanay-Say: A Critical/Philosophic Workshop is next week. The opportunity is open primarily for graduate students yet also welcomes undergraduates who are serious in further honing their craft. Kindly read the description should you be interested.

Thank you very much!

Dear friends,

Yesterday capped our five-day conference!

We wish to thank everyone who took part in this first conference organized by the Society of Thomasian Graduate Students of Philosophy, the organization of UST Philosophy graduate students, along with the editorial board of Lectio: A Graduate Journal of Philosophy.

We thank once again our keynote speakers, Dr. Sagut, Dr. Maboloc, and Dr. Calano, for their insightful lectures on the intersection of faith and philosophy, along with the nine paper presenters who provided their own take on the quincentenary of Christianity. Also, we thank Dean Vasco, Dr. Cariño, and Dr. Reyes for the institutional support to help this conference come to fruition.

Lastly, we thank everyone who attended, raised questions, and provided their comments throughout the conference. The certificates of attendance will be sent to your email addresses by the end of next week after validation across the daily evaluation forms.

Once again, we hope that this is just the start of more engaged events organized by both the Society and Lectio. Please like and follow our pages and for more updates about future events.

-The Organizing Committee
2021 UST Philosophy Graduate Conference

Dear friends,

Today is the culmination of our five-day graduate conference!

This afternoon, we will begin with a paper presentation entitled "Levinas’ Ethics as a Primordial Principle in Interreligious Dialogue" by Jayno Jabonillo, M.A., L.P.T. to be followed by the last keynote lecture by Assoc. Prof. Mark Joseph Calano, Ph.D. entitled "Governing Christ: Devotion to the Black Nazarene & 500 Years of Christianity."

Today's session will commence at 4:00 pm.

The conference is held via Google Meet. Here is the conference link: https://meet.google.com/qad-nisc-wgj
Please be notified that the entire conference is recorded and that you will be required to use a Google email account to join.
Thank you very much!

Dear friends,

Because of an emergency, we have two paper presenters tonight. The first is “Badiou on the Paul-Event and the Militancy of the Christian Faith” by Marvin Einstein Mejaro, Ph.D. Cand., followed by “Sloterdijk and Interreligious Dialogue against Extremist Reason: A Polemic for Christianity’s Quincentennial Anniversary” by Anton Heinrich Rennesland, M.A.

We have just started with the first presentation!

Here is the conference link: https://meet.google.com/qad-nisc-wgj
Please be notified that the entire conference is recorded and that you will be required to use a Google email account to join.
Thank you very much, and stay tuned for more details!

Dear friends,

Today is the fourth day of our five-day graduate conference!

We are extremely glad to have today another round of three graduate paper presentations. The first is “The Relevance of the Concept of God and the Building of a Truly Filipino Communities of Faith” by Jon Neil Perfecio, followed by “Badiou on the Paul-Event and the Militancy of the Christian Faith” by Marvin Einstein Mejaro, Ph.D. Cand., and lastly, “Sloterdijk and Interreligious Dialogue against Extremist Reason: A Polemic for Christianity’s Quincentennial Anniversary” by Anton Heinrich Rennesland, M.A. The session will commence at 6:00 pm.

The entire conference is held via Google Meet. Here is the conference link: https://meet.google.com/qad-nisc-wgj
Please be notified that the entire conference is recorded and that you will be required to use a Google email account to join.

Thank you very much, and stay tuned for more details!

Dear friends,

We have so far had two great days of our five-day graduate conference!

For today, we have the second keynote lecture to be given by Assoc. Prof. Ryan Christopher Maboloc, Ph.D. entitled "The Radicalization of Politics in the Philippines." After this, two papers will be presented, “Localizing Prudence in the Capital Punishment of Aquinas and the Death Penalty in the Philippines” by Mar Floren De Vera, M.A. cand. and “Christianity, Politics and the Problem of the Will” by Joshua Cedric Gundayao.

Today's session will commence at 6:00 pm.

The entire conference is held via Google Meet. Here is the conference link: https://meet.google.com/qad-nisc-wgj
Please be notified that the entire conference is recorded and that you will be required to use a Google email account to join.

Thank you very much, and stay tuned for more details!

Dear friends,

Yesterday was a great start to our five-day graduate conference!

For today, we have three very interesting paper presentations. The first is "A Feminist Reading of the 1924-1930 UNITAS Articles on the Role and Status of the Filipina Woman” by Jenina Redrino, M.A., followed by “Reconfiguring the Religio-therapeutic Significance of Santigwar into a Philosophical Language of Critique” by Victor John Loquias, Ph.D. Cand., and lastly “Christianity and the Filipino Ideology: The Teachings of the Church as Applied in Salvador Araneta’s Bayanikasan” by Wogie Pacala. The session will commence at 6:00 pm.

The entire conference is held via Google Meet. Here is the conference link: https://meet.google.com/qad-nisc-wgj
Please be notified that the entire conference is recorded and that you will be required to use a Google email account to join.

Thank you very much, and stay tuned for more details!

Dear friends,

Tomorrow is the start of our five-day graduate conference!

We are extremely pleased to have the first keynote lecture to be given by Assoc. Prof. Joel Sagut, Ph.D. entitled "Faith and Reason and the Mission of a Catholic University," followed by a paper presentation of "The Implications of the Private Beginnings of Philosophy in the Philippines: An Arendtian View" by Beaujourne Sirad Ramirez, M.A. The session will commence at 6:00 pm.

The entire conference will be held via Google Meet. Here is the conference link: https://meet.google.com/qad-nisc-wgj

Please be notified that the entire conference will be recorded and that you will be required to use a Google email account to join.

Thank you very much and stay tuned for more details!

Dear friends, we are excited to share the schedule for our five-day graduate conference next week on the theme "Christianity and the Philippine Intellectual Landscape." We are anticipating a great exchange of ideas that reflect the intersection of faith and reason over the span of five hundred years and which also provides a vantage for us to move forward.

After the welcoming remarks by the Dean of the UST Graduate School, Dr. Michael Anthony Vasco, the program lead of the UST-GS philosophy cluster Dr. Jovito Cariño will provide an initial reflection on the conference theme, echoing his talk this afternoon at the UMPIL (Union ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas) FB live series’ "Five Hundred Years of Writing the Filipino World."

Throughout the conference, we are glad to have three keynote lectures to be given by Dr. Joel Sagut (University of Santo Tomas), Dr. Ryan Christopher Maboloc (Ateneo de Davao University), and Dr. Mark Joseph Calano (Ateneo de Manila University). These will be timely considerations on the state of philosophy at the quincentennial anniversary of Christianity: Dr. Sagut will provide thoughts on the quintessential role of a catholic university; Dr. Maboloc will provide an insight on contemporary Philippine politics against the backdrop of its Christian legacy; while Dr. Calano will cap the conference with the phenomenological experience of the faith—an encounter, a dialogue with Christ, of Christ.

With these keynote lectures, we have ten paper presentations from graduate students affiliated with various institutions. Each paper focuses on different aspects of the intertwining of both faith and reason at the junction of the landmark celebration of Christianity and the Philippines. As previously shared, we decided to cut the number of presenters to have a more focused and intimate discussion, making the review for the paper presentations thorough as we considered it best to have fewer papers but of better quality—something we aspire to consistently achieve in both the conferences we (will) organize and the issues to be published by Lectio. As a graduate initiative, we consider this fitting for our level.

We wish to thank everyone in advance for their support as we look forward to welcoming you all to the 2021 UST Philosophy Graduate Conference. It is free and open to the public. Please stay tuned for more details to be shared soon!