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.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Leonard Andaya, PhD
University of Hawaii at Manoa

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PLENARY SPEAKERS

James Warren, PhD Murdoch University		Rosalie Arcala-Hall, PhD UP CIDS
Patricio Abinales, PhD University of Hawaii Manoa		Wilfredo Campos, PhD University of the Philippines Visayas
Barbara Andaya, PhD University of Hawaii Manoa		Jilene Chua, PhD Boston University
Francisco Datar, PhD University of the Philippines Diliman		Nassef Manabilang Adiong, PhD PRLS Bangsamoro Parliament
Richard Muallil, PhD MSU (TCTO)		Darwin Absari University of the Philippines Diliman
Sitti Zayda Halun, PhD MSU (TCTO)		Benny Bascara, PhD Haluoleo University
Jay Batongbacal, PhD University of the Philippines Diliman		Benjamin Vallejo, Jr., PhD UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies
Noel Ferriols, PhD University of the Philippines Visayas		Stephen Acabado, PhD University of California Los Angeles

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.

PRESENTATIONS 1

All the conference presentations will be conducted as plenary sessions. This list is not meant indicate the final panel arrangements, which will be settled in due course.

Blue Seals and the Sulu World

Patricio Abinales, PhD, University of Hawaii Manoa

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

Benjamin Vallejo, Jr., University of the Philippines Diliman

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

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

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

James Warren

PRESENTATIONS 2

All the conference presentations will be conducted as plenary sessions. This list is not meant indicate the final panel arrangements, which will be settled in due course.

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

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The Opium and the Egg

Jilene Chua, PhD
Boston University

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

Stephen Acabado, PhD
University of California Los Angeles

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The Dynamics of the Religiosity of the Bajo People

Benny Baskara, PhD
Haluleo University

PRESENTATIONS 3

All the conference presentations will be conducted as plenary sessions. This list is not meant indicate the final panel arrangements, which will be settled in due course.

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

Wilfredo L. Campos
Professor (Ret), University of the Philippines Visayas

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Exploring the Implications of Sulu’s Exit from BARMM

Nassef Manabilang Adiong

SCHEDULE

Day 1: 12 November 2024

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Day 2: 13 November 2024

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Day 3: 14 November

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All the conference presentations will be conducted as plenary sessions. This page will be updated once the panel assignments are finalized.

PRE-REGISTRATION

Interested participants (audience) may pre-register via this Google Form.

The conference will offer FREE registration, meals, and snacks for the participants.

Conference participants shall shoulder their transportation and accommodation during their stay in Tawi-Tawi.

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)

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CO-CONVENOR

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

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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

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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.