Biography

Born and raised in Pagadian City, Mindanao, my volunteer work with indigenous, urban poor, and rural communities has inspired my academic pursuits. At the University of Toronto, my studies in Anthropology and Public Policy, along with a minor in Contemporary Asian Studies, have provided me with a rigorous and supportive research environment. From my hometown, where I supported the revitalization of culinary traditions, to Newfoundland, where I employed walking methodologies to study the Filipino diaspora, my passion for connecting and engaging with people complements my background in anthropology—a discipline that seeks to make sense of human differences and interrogates what it means to be human. My MPhil in Social Anthropological Research aims to pioneer an anthro-historical inquiry into the North Borneo/Sabah territorial dispute. I hope to explore how competing colonial interpretations of a contract have laid the groundwork for post-war contestations that obscure indigenous understandings of land and water. As a Gates Cambridge scholar, I aspire to contribute to decolonial efforts by analyzing language and power structures and re-centering local communities in discussions about the pressing issues of our time.

Previous Education

University of Toronto Anthropology and Public Policy