Department of Philosophy MSU - Marawi

BEHIND THE SCENE: Department Chair Prof Efren Jone Oledan, Extension Program Head Dr Godiva Eviota, and Master of Ceremony Mr Jom Olazo during the capacity-building webinar on the fundamentals of environmental ethics via philosophy with children

HIGHLIGHTS| During the Capacity-Building for the Fundamentals of Environmental Ethics of the Philosophy Department, attended by its Faculty, Student Majors, Special Guest MSU Extension Services Center Director Prof. Melencio Jr Jalova, and our distinguished lecturers, the invited speakers emphasized the following points during their discussions:

Prof. Jalova: “Katharbiya serves as the guiding ethical principles of the youth as future stewards of the environment. We need to inspire our children to become sources of Sindaw.”

Dr. Suazo: “Let there be a mini-community of philosophical inquiry with children and their teachers as the main conveyors of the critical, creative, and caring —- core principles of such community. What it means to be a good neighbor? How to live well in the community? —- are some of the ethical questions that the teachers as ‘gabay’ can facilitate their learners for reflection. Questions are best for reflection when they come from the learners themselves, for them to develop the habit of philosophical inquiry.”

Dr. Rosales: “All children deserve a safe learning environment. In challenged areas, we need to cultivate the ecosystem of resilience.”

Dr. Maboloc: “We need a strong political will to protect the environment. The problem of climate change has nothing to do with Mother Earth but with corrupt people or leaders who exploit our resources. Climate change is an issue of justice. Inter-generational justice for example tells us that what people will do now affects the lives of our children. Indigenous Ethics which best works as an environmental framework not Western Ethics, is fundamental to environmental ethics for the Indigenous People are the true protector of the environment.”

Dr. Hernandez: “Parents, teachers, and neighbors must serve as models of children for caring the environment. Let children explore and learn from and with them —- we call this Parental Consistency, which is a “learning by doing” pragmatic ethical principle for creating a sustainable environment.”

All of them gave strong commendation for the extension initiatives of the Philosophy Department. For Dr. Suazo, the extension program of the department is a courageous and meaningful move that will give impact to philosophy, to MSU, and to the communities. Dir Jalova encouraged the Katharbiya program trailblazers to continue to be a source of inspiration.

IN SCREENSHOTS| For the success of the two-day capacity-building webinar on June 18-19, 2026 as part of the Extension Program of the Philosophy Department, thank you Director of Extension Services Center of MSU, Prof. Melencio Jr Jalova for your hands-on support, our resource persons: Dr. Suazo USC), Dr. Rosales (PUP), Dr. Maboloc (AdDU), and Dr. Fernandez (VSU), the event organizing team headed by Dr. Rivera, the technical and pubmat team: Crisame Lumbab, Aubrey Gutierrez, and Ma’am Cindy Buquis, the master of ceremony Jumadir Olazo Mungkon, the outgoing SOPHIA head: Lovella Viovicente Cabaña, faculty members and student majors of the department.

Thank you for the supervision, our Department Chair, Prof. Efren Jone Oledan!

We bring philosophy closer to the communities!

HAPPENING NOW| 2nd Day of the Fundamentals of Environmental Ethics Webinar, A Capacity-Building

Prof. Melencio Jr Jalova, Director of the University Extension Center, gives his inspirational message, commending the Philosophy Department’s effort to inculcate wisdom on the moral duty of a human being to care the environment, and to protect its sustainability.

Two distinguished speakers, Dr. Maboloc of AdDU, and Dr. Fernandez Jr of VSU, are present, with the faculty and students of the department.

COMING FRIDAY| The 2nd day of our Capacity-Building in preparation for the Training of Elementary Teachers on the Fundamentals of Environmental Ethics (FEE) via Philosophy with Children (PWC) will take place on June 19, 2026. There will be two interrelated topics to be discussed by our distinguished speakers from the Ateneo de Davao University and the Visayas State University: "Framework for Environmental Ethics" and "How Children Can Care for the Environment".

The Director of the MSU Extension Services Center, Dr. Melencio Jalova Jr, will grace the event with an inspirational message.

MEET OUR LECTURERS:

Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc
Ateneo de Davao University

Dr. Maboloc is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Ateneo de Davao University and a Visiting Professor at Silliman University. He is an ASAP Yale University Global Justice Program Fellow. He was mentored by Thomas Pogge. He finished his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of San Carlos, maxima cm laude. He holds a Master’s in Applied Ethics from Linkoping University in Sweden and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. He finished his Master of Arts in Philosophy at Ateneo de Manila University. Dr. Maboloc was trained in Democracy and Governance at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in Bonn and Berlin, Germany and has attended the Erasmus Mundus General Assembly in Brussels, Belgium. He has presented his research at the 24th World Congress of Philosophy in Rome, Italy, the 22nd and 23rd Asian Bioethics Conference in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, respectively, the Kumamoto University Bioethics Round Table XI, the Philippine Politics and Culture Conference at Nagoya University, and the International Conference on Genetic Engineering and Future of Bioethics at Chulalongkorn University. He is a member of The Society for Philosophy and Technology and the Universal Science Education Research Network. He has published more than 100 papers in local and international journals. He is the author of the book Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte and two other books. He has written opinion columns for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Cheonji News Daily in South Korea. He was awarded the Public Intellectual Prize in 2020 by the Philosophical Association of the Philippines. He is ranked by the AD Scientific Index as the top-ranked researcher in the Philippines for the subfield Philosophy from 2023-25.

Dr. Guiraldo Fernandez Jr.
Visayas State University

Dr. Fernandez is a Full Professor at Visayas State University (VSU), serving as Core Faculty in the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences and Affiliate Faculty at the Institute of Tropical Ecology and Environmental Science. His administrative legacy includes roles as Department Head, Director for Instruction and Evaluation, and University and Board Secretary. An interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Fernandez holds a Doctorate in Education and a Master’s in Philosophy from the University of San Carlos, alongside a Master of Science in Tropical Ecology from VSU. His international academic footprint includes a research fellowship at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., USA, and professional collaborations with the Yale School of the Environment in Colombia and the US. Dr. Fernandez is a prolific researcher in environment, philosophy, culture, and education. He was the sole recipient of VSU’s “Outstanding Teacher Award” in 2021 and was instrumental in the establishment of VSU’s AB Philosophy program. Notably, his work, The Role of Rainforestation in Forest Landscape Restoration and Conservation, won “Best Book in Science” at the 41st National Book Awards by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) of the Philippines and the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) in February 2024.

ATM| Firsr Day of Our Extension Program Capacity-Building

COMING THURSDAY Na Po| Getting Ready for Day 1 Capacity Building for the extension program practitioners of the Philosophy Department --- true to all faculty and philosophy majors!

MEET OUR SPEAKERS:

First Lecturer
PROF. MA. JUNITHESMER D. ROSALES, LPT, DEM
"Pedagogies in Primary Education within Contemporary Classroom Environments"

Dr. Rosales is a Full Professor and former Dean of the College of Education and Graduate School at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). A licensed professional teacher, she specializes in English education, multiculturalism, and teaching in challenging contexts. She is a professorial lecturer in the education cluster of the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School and holds a Doctorate in Education Management from PUP and both her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in English from the University of Santo Tomas.

Her research centers on inclusive pedagogy and instructional strategies for English language teaching, geographically isolated and underserved regions. With an international perspective sharpened as a Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna, Dr. Rosales focuses on the intersection of language, culture, and the preservation of identity in the modern classroom. Her work continues to advocate for linguistic diversity and the empowerment of educators working within the Philippines' most challenged areas.

Second Lecturer
PROF. RUBY S. SUAZO, Ph. D.
"Philosophy with Children and its Inclusion in the Good Manners and Right Conduct Elementary Curriculum"

Ruby S. Suazo, Ph.D. is a Full Professor at the Department of Philosophy, University of San Carlos (USC), Cebu City, where he has been in full-time service since 2004. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of San Carlos, an M.A. in Philosophy from Christ the King Mission Seminary, Quezon City, and an A.B. in Philosophy, cm laude, from Divine Word Mission Seminary, Quezon City.

He is the current President of the Philosophical Association of the Philippines (PAP). He chairs both the Executive Committee of the USC Research Ethics Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on the Policy on Responsible Use of AI. He is an Associate Member of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) and of the Society for Ricoeur Studies.

Dr. Suazo is an active scholar and practitioner of Philosophy for/with Children (P4wC) in the Philippines. He attended the International Conference on Philosophy for Children at the University of Graz, Austria (November 2025), where he presented the paper "The Democratization of Knowledge in a Changing World: The Child as Thinker in the Context of Filipino Philosophy for/with Children," and subsequently participated in the International Post-Conference Workshop on Philosophy with Children at the Austrian Center for Philosophy with Children and Youth (ACPC).

As a community extension practitioner, he co-leads the Three Acts of Goodness (TAG) Campaign: Exploring Philosophy with Children, a regular Philosophy with/for Children–Community of Inquiry (PW/4C-CoI) initiative held at the Chu Un Temple in Cebu City. He has previously served as resource speaker for MSU Marawi's Ethics for Nature Seminars (2023, 2024) and as a resource speaker on the Framework for Philosophy for Children for the MSU Marawi Department of Philosophy (September 2024). His engagement with the Katharbiya, Sindaw o Kalombayan extension project reflects his continuing commitment to culturally grounded, community-embedded philosophical education in Mindanao.

So grateful for the support of our extension program partner, Sultan Conding Elementary School, most especially to the kind School Principal Ma’am Sanwira D. Bantuas.

CARE COMMUNITY IN MOTION| Philosophy is an oldest program of MSU. It’s a classic discipline in the universe. It has been thought of as an ivory tower thing since long long time ago (conventionally for a longest time), only children of royalty were privileged to study philosophy, so the purple as a motif of the philosopher king (the ideal head of a state or a republic, Plato envisioned, for expectedly, the philosophical will lead with reason, guide people with wisdom, decide for the good, and pursue justice than ‘maleta,’ power, and position). Now, philosophy has evolved to a community-driven discipline, gradually to bring a message that philosophy is for everyone, and it should be everyday. Try to imagine our children in a digital space with no control (no ethics, eventually), to blindly transform deception to truth —- a tendency that urges philosophy through its critical thinking advocacy to prevent it from becoming a societal norm.

Children, as naturally inquisitive, with and in philosophy, will grow with a strong sense of care to others and of course a value of self-care, for philosophy teaches us to listen to opposing points of view, and more importantly when articulating a viewpoint, to be philosophical means, children and adults must express (we actually) with care, cultural sensitivity, and calmness. If there is such thing as community resilience in times of natural and human-induced calamities, philosophy also invests on digital resilience to endure and persevere from scams that turn up-side-down-all over human values to an emotionless host of discourse.

Look! Sir Jums and Ma’am Godiva, yesterday, after a CARE community-driven philosophy action, step by step, in Mindanao State University and its neighboring communities!
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Join the Philosophy Department in Building Care Community!

Jom Olazo Godiva Eviota