PLENARY PANELS

• 01 Opium, Cigarettes, and Fisheries: Commodities and Governance in Sulu

• 02 Sulu and Seaweed: Gender, Conservation and Livelihood

• 03 Beyond the Archipelago: The Regional Connections of Sulu

• 04 Sulu, BARMM and the Philippine State: Historical and Legal Perspectives

• 05 Biodiversity and Marine Conservation in Sulu

THE CONFERENCE

As the evolving narrative of the Filipino nation assumes its contemporary shape with the Bangsamoro experiment, the Sulu Archipelago emerges as a zone of deep and diverse possibilities. The historical evolution of the Philippine state within a dynamic Southeast Asian region invites scholars’ attention not only to the various forces that have shaped, and continue to shape, the Sulu Archipelago but also to the historical and contemporary roles that this constellation of islands, communities, trade networks, and ecologies plays in the regional stage and beyond.

As a transdisciplinary conference focused on the Sulu archipelago, this international gathering brings together a diverse group of scholars to engage the following questions with the hope of opening new pathways for scholarship:

• • What intricacies define the relationship of the Sulu Archipelago with the Filipino nation-state and its neighbors in Maritime Southeast Asia?

• • In what ways has the Sulu Archipelago complicated the dynamics of state-building in the region?

• • What cultural, ecological, and socio-economic currents flow through this maritime border zone today, and with what consequences?

• • And how can scholars critically engage existing knowledges about the archipelago in order to shape its immediate future?

All the conference presentations will be done in plenary sessions.

SCHEDULE/PROGRAM

Day 1: 12 November 2024

• • 0800 – 0920: Opening Remarks and Keynote Lecture
  • 0930 – 1100: Plenary Panel 1
  • 1100 – 1200: Open Forum
  • 1200 – 1330: Lunch
  • 1330 – 1530: Plenary Panel 2
  • 1530 – 1630: Open Forum
  • 1630 – 1800: Panel Discussion on the Archipelagic Ocean Virtual University
  • 1800 – 1830: Free Time/Campus Tour
  • 1830 – 2000: Fellowship Dinner

Day 2: 13 November 2024

• • 0800 – 0900: Morning Socials
  • 0900 – 1100: Plenary Panel 3
  • 1100 – 1200: Open Forum
  • 1200 – 1330: Lunch
  • 1330 – 1500: Plenary Panel 4
  • 1500 – 1600: Open Forum
  • 1600 – 1800: Plenary Panel 5
  • 1800 – 1900: Open Forum

Day 3: 14 November 2024

• • Much of the day is devoted to sightseeing among the speakers, organizers, starting at 8 am.

OPENING REMARKS

• Dr. Mary Joyce Guinto-Sali
  Chancellor, Mindanao State University Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography

MESSAGES

• Atty. Basari Mapupuno
  President, Mindanao State University

• Atty. Angelo Jimenez
  President, University of the Philippines

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

• Dr. Clement Camposano
  Chancellor, University of the Philippines Visayas
  

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

Sulu and Its Place in the History of Early Modern Southeast Asia

Leonard Y. Andaya
University of Hawai’i at Manoa

Located approximately midway between the two largest archipelago nations in the world—Indonesia and the Philippines—the Sulu archipelago from the vantage point of the modern nation-state has been regarded as having two opposing and conflicting loyalties. But to use such modern lenses to characterize earlier periods ignores the manner in which political space was organized and defined in the early and early modern history of Sulu.

In this short introduction, I argue that in the early and early modern period of Southeast Asia, i.e. in the first 1800 years of the Common Era, the concept of space emphasized personal relationships. A fixed political boundary established by international law was never an issue. Instead, a realm was characterized by a series of nesting relationships that extended from the sacral ruler at the center outward to other relationships that extended as far as such relationships had been created. Such famous kingdoms as Srivijaya and Melaka in the western archipelago, and Ternate and Tidore in Maluku in the eastern archipelago are examples of such political units. These early notions of “political” space enabled Sulu to claim correctly that through Butuan it was part of the relationship that began in the Champa confederation based in central Vietnam and extended to the Sulu archipelago and beyond. Rejecting the nation-state framework enables the historian to judge the pre-nation state period as one with a different but dynamic conceptualization of space and meaningful units. It is within this framework that Sulu should be analyzed in the early and early modern period.

Plenary Panel 1 • Opium, Cigarettes, and Fisheries: Commodities and Governance in Sulu

Click on the title to view the abstracts.

The Opium and the Egg

Jilene Chua, PhD
Boston University

Blue Seals and the Sulu World

Patricio Abinales, PhD
University of Hawaii Manoa

Networked and Nested Governance in the Philippines’ Southern Maritime Frontier

Rosalie Arcala Hall, PhD
University of the Philippines Visayas

Plenary Panel 2 • Sulu and Seaweed: Gender, Conservation and Livelihood

Click on the title to view the abstracts.

Currents of Change: Revitalizing the Seaweed Industry Through Wild Eucheumatoid Populations and Traditional Knowledge in the Sulu Archipelago

Sitti Zayda B. Halun, PhD
Mindanao State University, Tawi-Tawi

Aquaculture in the Sulu Archipelago: Current Trends and its Potential Diversification for Sustainable Development

Victor Marco Emmanuel N. Ferriols, PhD
University of the Philippines Visayas

Nurturing the Local Champions: Collaborative Strategies for Protecting Marine Ecosystems and Livelihoods in the Sulu Archipelago

Richard Muallil, PhD
Mindanao State University Tawi Tawi

A New Place for Women in the Seafood Industry: Aquaculture and Seaweed Cultivation in Southeast Asia

Barbara Watson Andaya, PhD
University of Hawai’i Manoa

PANEL DISCUSSION

This conference also features a panel discussion on 12 November at 1630, which will feature the Archipelagic and Ocean Virtual University, one of the flagship projects of the University of the Philippines under President Angelo Jimenez.

Below is a write-up from the UP website written by Clariza Concordia. 

In the late ‘90s, the University of the Philippines (UP) held the first-ever conference on archipelagic studies. Scholars and practitioners gathered to discuss the pressing issues of the Philippine waters, and one of the most significant raised concerns was the lack of foresight by the public and private sector in utilizing the country’s marine resources.

This conference led to the creation of the UP Archipelagic and Ocean Studies (ARCOAST) Network, a project by the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS). The system-wide network played a significant role in promoting archipelagic consciousness among the Filipino people, especially in the academe and government agencies. Its policy recommendations on the management and development of the country’s coastal and marine environment were then adopted by government agencies, such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). 

The end of the CIDS project led to the realization that such initiatives must be pursued. As the Philippines boasts the fifth longest coastline in the world, research on its coastal and marine environment should be continued. There is a need to institutionalize archipelagic and oceanic studies in view of the recent global manifold ocean activities and issues.

Twenty-five years later, UP now lays the groundwork for creating the UP Archipelagic and Ocean Virtual University (AOVU), as a valuable and long overdue addition to UP’s eight constituent universities and one autonomous college. Learn more.

Plenary Panel 3 • Beyond the Archipelago: The Regional Connections of Sulu

Click on the title to view the abstracts.

Charting the Sulu Archipelago: Exploring the Archaeological and Climatic Narratives of Sulu’s Seascapes

Stephen Acabado, PhD
University of California Los Angeles

In Search of a Deeper Understanding: Thomas Forrest and the Makaturing Eruption circa 1764–65

James Warren, PhD
Murdoch University

ABAK: Tracing Capul’s Connection to the Sulu Archipelago

Francisco Datar, PhD
University of the Philippines Diliman

The Dynamics of the Religiosity of the Bajo People

Benny Baskara, PhD
Haluleo University

Plenary Panel 4 • Sulu, BARMM and the Philippine State: Historical and Legal Perspectives

Click on the title to view the abstracts.

The Legal Fragmentation and Reconstruction of Sulu

Jay L Batongbacal, JSD
UP College of Law

Exploring the Implications of Sulu’s Exit from BARMM

Nassef Manabilang Adiong, PhD
Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS), Bangsamoro Parliament

Plenary Panel 5 • Biodiversity and Marine Conservation in Sulu

Click on the title to view the abstracts.

Shallow Water Marine Biodiversity of the Sulu Archipelago and a Wallacean and Linnean Shortfall Challenge

Benjamin Vallejo, Jr., PhD
University of the Philippines Diliman

The Biological Productivity of the Sulu Archipelago: Current Contributions and Future Potential

Wilfredo L. Campos, PhD
University of the Philippines Visayas

Conservation Practices, Community Participation and Elite Capture: Marine Conservation in Practice in the Sulu Sea

Fadzilah Majid Cooke, PhD
Member, International Scientific Steering Committee
Initiatives for Marginal Seas of South and East Asia

Participants will arrange and pay for their accommodations. Here is a list of places where they can stay. Click to enlarge.

CONVENORS

• The University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP-CIDS)
• Mindanao State University-Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography (MSU-TCTO)

CO-CONVENOR

• Philippines Studies Association (PSA Inc.)
• Australian National University (ANU) Philippines Institute

CONFERENCE DIRECTORS

Clement Camposano, PhD
Conference Director; Chancellor, University of the Philippines Visayas

Fernigil Colicol, PhD
Deputy Conference Director
Mindanao State University Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This conference was conceived through the collaborative efforts of:

• • UP President Angelo A. Jimenez
  • MSU-TCTO Chancellor Mary Joyce Z. Guinto-Sali
  • UPV Chancellor Clement C. Camposano, and
  • UP-CIDS Executive Director Rosalie Arcala Hall