The UH Mānoa Center for Philippine Studies
is excited to commemorate 50 years of excellence in serving the Filipino community. As we honor the past, we look forward to mobilizing and transforming for a brighter future, inspiring new generations through education and cultural exchange. We’re proud to present a dynamic range of programs in the coming year that reflect our commitment to education, culture, and community engagement.
Highlights will include:
- An art and culture exhibit in collaboration with East-West Center
- iJeepney online K-12 curriculum empowering next gen youth
- A Philippine rare library collections workshop and tour
- Center for Philippine Studies Anthology
- Artist residency workshops featuring local and international talent
- A Filipino-centered Dance Production in collaboration with Department of Theater and Dance
We are dedicated to building on the proud legacy of the Center for Philippine Studies, and we hope to raise $100K in the coming year to strengthen the Philippine Studies Enrichment Fund. This will help us continue empowering learners to embrace their identity and give back to the community through partnerships, knowledge production, advocacy, and the arts. We hope you’ll consider making a gift!
Celebration Events | October to December 2025
Consider a Gift to CPS “Rooted in the Past, Growing Together.“
Sunday, July 12, 4:00 PMHawai‘i Theatre (Honolulu Rainbow FF)Ticket: $18 Directed by Jade Castro (Zombadings, Endo) and based on my…
CALL FOR PAPERS | DIALOGO II: International Philippine Studies Conference 2027We cordially invite scholars, researchers, students, practitioners, artists, and community…
This project is presented by the UHM Center for Southeast Asian Studies Pamana ng Lahi, in collaboration with the Center…
Reminder! Tomorrow, May 15, 2026, is the 9th Annual FilGrad Ceremony. Theme: Hibla & Namnama: Threads of Hope, Weave of…
The public is invited to attend this important event, featuring "Bridging Islands, Building Economies: Trade, Workforce and Regional Economies." The…
Want to learn Ilokano, Cebuano, or Tagalog? FilCom is conducting FREE Summer Language Workshops for those interested in learning these…
Book Launch, by Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili
The First Two Books of the Negros Trilogy: We Left and They Kept Dying , and Arsenal of Words. July 10 | University of the Philippines Diliman (Details to follow). In these first two volumes of the Negros Trilogy, acclaimed poet, scholar, and educator Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili gives voice to the lives, memories, and struggles of the Filipino people. Through lyrical witness and unflinching reflection, We Left and They Kept Dying, and Arsenal of Words confront migration, displacement, injustice, and the enduring search for dignity and home. Deeply rooted in Philippine history and culture, these powerful collections affirm the…
Jensen Villaflor, who has a BA in American Studies and a minor in Filipino Language and Culture, is a member of the Honors Program. Her approved project is titled “Kain na Tayo: Food Memory and the Creation of the Filipino Self,” funded by the Corky Trinidad Scholarship.
Jensen had also received a scholarship grant from the Philippine Consulate General of Honolulu-Senator Loren Legarda donation.
Meet Uriel Galace, a PhD Candidate at Duke University, and the recipient of the Writing Excellence Award at the 2025 SPAS Graduate Student Conference hosted by the UH Department of Asian Studies. His paper, The Differential Impact of Colonization Within Countries: Evidence from the Philippines, provides novel empirical evidence showing how variation in Spanish colonial institutions helped shape political and economic outcomes across regions. His work highlights the complicated legacies of colonization and the need to assess its divergent impacts to better understand its long-term consequences.
Orlyn Joyce Esquivel is a PhD Candidate in Linguistics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a recipient of the Corky Trinidad Endowment Scholarship. She is also a student in the Second Language Studies (SLS) Advanced Graduate Certificate (AGC) program. Her research primarily focuses on the documentation and acquisition of Ayta Magbukun, an endangered Indigenous language in the Philippines. She also examines Tagalog within the frameworks of second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and interactional linguistics (with a particular focus on discourse particles).
Vanessa Mae Pepino is a second-year Ph.D. student in Economics at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa. She holds a Master’s in Development Economics from UP Diliman. At present, she serves as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Forecasting Team at the University of Hawai’i Economic Research Organization (UHERO). She is a recipient of the Yuchengco Endowment for Philippine Studies, which will be used to fund her proposed research on “The Impact of Political and Economic Empowerment on the Health-Seeking Behavior of Filipino Women.”