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Felipe Landa Jocano (February 5, 1930 – October 27, 2013) was a
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
anthropologist, educator, and author known for his significant body of work within the field of Philippine Anthropology, and in particular for documenting and translating the
Hinilawod Hinilawod is an Epic poetry, epic poem oral tradition, orally transmitted from early inhabitants of a place called Sulod in central Panay, Philippines. The term "Hinilawod" generally translates to "Tales From The Mouth of The Halawod River". Th ...
, a Western Visayan folk epic. His eminence within the field of Philippine anthropology was widely recognized during his lifetime, with
National Artist National Artist is an honorary title issued by some states as a highest recognition of artists for their significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the nation. An equivalent title, People's Artist, has been known in countries of the f ...
F. Sionil Jose F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...
dubbing him "''the country’s first and foremost cultural anthropologist''" Jocano served as
Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
at the Asian Center of the
University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...
and Executive Director of PUNLAD Research House, Inc. and a professor in University of the Philippines. He has authored numerous books on various aspects of Filipino Society and Culture.


Biography


Early life and education

Jocano was born in
Cabatuan, Iloilo Cabatuan, officially the Municipality of Cabatuan ( hil, Banwa sang Cabatuan, tgl, Bayan ng Cabatuan), is a 2nd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 20 ...
in 1930 - the ninth of eleven children born to Eusebio Jocano, a persevere farmer, and Anastacia Landa. He finished his elementary studies at a public school in Iloilo and then ran away to Manila because his family could not afford to send him to high school. He eventually graduated from the Arellano High School in Manila, working his way through to graduation. After this, he tried to enroll in some college courses, but distractions and an illness forced him to return to his native Iloilo in 1954, where we eventually earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the
Central Philippine University The Central Philippine University (also referred to as Central or CPU) is a private research university in Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through a benevolent grant of the American industrialist and philanthropist, John D. Rock ...
in 1957.


Return to Iloilo, interest in folklore, and work at the National Museum

It was during Jocano's period of return to Iloilo that he first developed an interest in folklore. This interest brought him into contact with Robert Fox, then an anthropologist working for the National Museum of the Philippines, who got him a job as "research aid" at the museum - doing mostly janitorial work. Through his work ethic and by taking the initiative to draw the museum director's attention to his typing skills, Jocano was eventually moved to the museum's typing pool. Work at the National Museum inspired Jocano to write a series of articles discussing Philippine legends surrounding plant and animal life, which was published in the Manila Times. The Department of Education took note of the series and asked Jocano if it could be published in "''Diwang Kayumanggi''", a high school teaching supplement regularly issued by the Department of Education at the time. Jocano's condition for the reprinting was that the publication would also indicate his position as "janitor." As a result, Jocano was promoted from "Research Aid" to "Scientist 1", although his job description remained the same.


University education and teaching career

Taking advantage of a study grant, Jocano went to the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
to earn a master's degree in Anthropology, graduating in 1962. He took up a teaching position there and later got his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the same university. Jocano eventually decided to come home to teach at the University of the Philippines, where he served until his retirement 31 years later. In that time, he served among other functions, as Chairman of the UP Department of Anthropology, director of Philippine Studies Program at the UP Asian Center, Dean of the UP Institute of Philippine Studies, and head of Asian Center Museum Laboratory. Jocano's association with the University of the Philippines continued after retirement, as he was named professor emeritus of the UP Asian Center. Jocano's work as a scholarly writer was prolific and wide-ranging. His study of ethnology expanded into numerous aspects of Filipino life - from folklore and pre-colonial history to international relations, to the rural community and urban slum life. He was one of the first to even suggest the ethnological study of the development of the Philippines' corporate culture. In 1999, he was awarded a special citation for a lifetime of writing and publishing on various aspects of
Philippine culture The culture of the Philippines is characterized by cultural diversity. Although the Ethnic groups in the Philippines, multiple ethnic groups of the Philippine archipelago have only recently established a shared Filipinos, Filipino Filipino natio ...
by the Manila Critics Circle.


Pioneering use of Participant Observation in Philippine settings

As one of the earliest Filipino-born researchers to receive proper scholarly training in anthropology, Jocano became a pioneer in the use of Participant Observation as a research methodology in Philippine ethnographic research, applying it in numerous places, including Capiz, Ilocos, and notably, the urban poor community of Looban, Sta Mesa in Manila.Panopio, I. and Rolda, R. S. (2000). Society and Culture: Introduction to Sociology and Anthropology. JMC Press, Inc. Quezon City. 12. Ritzer, G. (2000). Jocano's work in the Slum of Looban was seminal in its insistence on "''living in the community and taking part, whenever possible in the activities of the members, observing what they do and checking the observed behaviour in terms of what they say and do.''" Earlier research on slums mostly relied on the use of questionnaires, which Jocano dismissed as inappropriate for studying urban poor society: "''One cannot possibly go up and paper and ask questions without arousing suspicions especially among street corner gang members.''" National Artist F. Sionil Jose recounts that some of Jocano's adventures in Participant Observation resulted in memorably humorous episodes: :"''At one time, he got himself hired as a motel boy while doing a study on sexuality among Filipinos. He confided that he surprised some of his colleagues who patronized these motels. From that study, Pepe gave me a chapter which I published in my journal, Solidarity. Right at the press, some 20 copies disappeared. The issue was sold out in a couple of months, I had to order a reprint. As one academic told me — it was a landmark article — the first "scholarly pornography." :''And at one time, a relative accosted him in Quiapo where he was actually begging at the church door to gather data on his study of the urban poor. The relative was so shocked to see him there in tatters, he had to drag away the protesting scholar with the promise to help him.'"


"Hinilawod: Tales From The Mouth of The Halawod River"

One of Jocano's earliest major contributions to the field of cultural anthropology and a significant contribution to recorded Filipino folk literature was the documentation of the epic poem
Hinilawod Hinilawod is an Epic poetry, epic poem oral tradition, orally transmitted from early inhabitants of a place called Sulod in central Panay, Philippines. The term "Hinilawod" generally translates to "Tales From The Mouth of The Halawod River". Th ...
(which means "Tales From The Mouth of The Halawod River"). The epic recounts the story of the exploits of three Sulodnon demigod brothers, Labaw Donggon, Humadapnon and Dumalapdap of ancient Panay. Jocano, assisted by a radio technician from the Central Philippine University, convinced Sulod folk chanters Ulang Udig and Hugan-an to recount the story, and allow them to record it on cassette. The process of acquiring this permission took years, from Jocano's first contact with Ulang Udig in 1955 to the recording of Hugan-an's 30-hour performance of the epic in 1957. Jocano eventually also published the text in his book "''Hinilawod: Adventures of Humadapnon Tarangban I''" (The epic was once again recorded in 1999, by researcher Alejo Zata, working among Sulod natives who still performed it and for whom the epic was still very much an active part of their culture.) There have been numerous stage performances of Hinilawod, all based mostly on Jocano's text. In response to a 2012 performance of a stage version of the epic at the Cultural Center of the Philippines by a theater group called Hiyas Kayumanggi, National Artist F.Sionil Jose noted: :''"There is so much in our folk culture that can be used by our creative artists. All we have to do is turn to our cultural anthropologists like Felipe Landa Jocano."''


Core Population Theory

Jocano was one of the first scholars to suggest alternatives to
H. Otley Beyer Henry Otley Beyer (July 13, 1883 – December 31, 1966) was an American anthropologist, who spent most of his adult life in the Philippines teaching Philippine indigenous culture. A.V.H. Hartendorp called Beyer the "Dean of Philippine ethnolo ...
's Wave Migration Theory of migration to the Philippines. His Core Population Theory proposed that there weren't clear discrete waves of migration, but a long process of cultural evolution and movement of people. The theory suggests that early inhabitants of Southeast Asia were once of the same ethnic group with similar culture, but eventually -through a gradual process driven by environmental factors - differentiated themselves from one another. Other prominent anthropologists like Robert Fox,
Alfredo E. Evangelista Alfredo E. Evangelista (September 22, 1926 – October 18, 2008) was a Filipino archeologist and former director of the Anthropology division of the National Museum of the Philippines. Biography Alfredo Esguerra Evangelista was born in Davao City o ...
,
Jesus Peralta Jesus Tamayo Peralta (born December 26, 1932 in Ft. William McKinley) is a painter, photographer, graphic artist, poet, anthropologist/archaeologist, essayist, and is also one of the prizewinning playwrights in the Philippines. He burst into the li ...
,
Zeus A. Salazar Zeus Atayza Salazar (born April 20, 1934) is a Filipino history, historian, anthropology, anthropologist, and philosophy of history, philosopher of history, best known in pioneering an emic perspective in Philippine history called Pantayong Pan ...
, and Ponciano L. Bennagen agreed with Jocano. However some still preferred Beyer's theory as the more acceptable model, including anthropologist
E. Arsenio Manuel Esperidión Arsenio Manuel (1909 - 2003), known as E. Arsenio Manuel, was a Filipino people, Philippine academic, historian, and anthropologist best known for his contributions to Philippine anthropology, history, literature, and linguistics. Duri ...
.


Personal life

Jocano married Adria Payad and they had two children, Felipe Jr. and Lizabeth. He died in 2013 at the age of 83.


Partial list of published books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jocano, F. Landa 1930 births 2013 deaths Filipino anthropologists 20th-century Filipino historians Filipino male writers Writers from Iloilo Central Philippine University people Central Philippine University alumni 20th-century anthropologists 21st-century anthropologists 20th-century male writers 21st-century male writers 20th-century non-fiction writers 21st-century non-fiction writers 21st-century Filipino writers Visayan people Male non-fiction writers