Social Ethics Society

  The Social Ethics Society (SES) is a philosophical and academic organization that emerged from Mindanao, particularly Davao City, and has become an important intellectual network for philosophy, ethics, and social thought in the southern Philippines. Fr. Dexter Veloso is the current president of the organization. It has a total nationwide membership of 130. Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc acts as Chair of its Board of Directors. Origins and identity The SES was founded in 2010 in Davao City by the late Dr. Romulo Bautista and Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc. It grew out of the need for a philosophical community in Mindanao at a time when the island did not yet have its own major philosophical association. Its early membership consisted largely of philosophy teachers, researchers, and graduate students from Mindanao. Its intellectual character was shaped partly by the complementary interests of its founders: Bautista's engagement with Marxist philosophy and Maboloc's work in applied...

  Christopher Ryan Maboloc’s Radical Democracy in the Time of Duterte examines Rodrigo Duterte’s rise through the historical, political, philosophical, and cultural experiences of Mindanao. Rather than treating Duterte as a pro- or anti-democratic figure, Maboloc interprets his ascent as a radical challenge to an elite-centered, Manila-centric political order. Drawing from Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic conception of radical democracy, the book emphasizes contestation, resistance, power, exclusion, and the voice of marginalized communities. It argues that Duterte’s popularity cannot be understood apart from colonial legacies, regional inequality, oligarchic politics, and Mindanao’s exclusion. The book invites readers to reconsider Philippine democracy from its margins.  Christopher Ryan Maboloc’s The Politics of Peace and the Mindanao Problem: Tracing the Roots of a Historical Injustice examines Mindanao’s enduring conflict through the lenses of political theory, applied ethics, a...

 

  CALL FOR PAPERS 7th Politics and Culture Conference Mindanao Philosophy: Indigeneity, Decoloniality, and the Paradox of Democracy  November 20, 2026 | Online Conference Hosted by the Social Ethics Society and North Valley College The Social Ethics Society and North Valley College invite philosophers, scholars, researchers, educators, practitioners, and students to participate in the 7th Politics and Culture Conference, an interdisciplinary academic gathering dedicated to examining the philosophical, cultural, political, and social dimensions of Mindanao Philosophy. This year’s conference takes as its theme: “Mindanao Philosophy: Indigeneity, Decoloniality, and the Paradox of Democracy” Mindanao is a complex intellectual and cultural space shaped by diverse Indigenous traditions, Muslim and Christian communities, colonial histories, struggles for recognition, and contemporary transformations. The conference seeks to explore how philosophy emerges from these experiences and ho...

  The 7th Politics and Culture Conference, hosted by the Social Ethics Society and North Valley College, is honored to feature the following distinguished scholars and speakers: - Ms. Aanchal Seth (Panjab University, India) - Dr. Layne Hartsell (Chulalongkorn University) - Atty. Jamil Matalam — (USEP College of Law) - Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc (AdDU) - Dr. Bernard Caslib Jr. (UP Manila) - Dr. Rogelio Bayod (North Valley College) - Dr. Godiva Eviota-Rivera (MSU–Marawi) - Dr. Juichiro Tanabe (Waseda University) Conference Chair: Dr. Rogelio Bayod Call for Papers Theme: Mindanao Philosophy - Indigeneity, Decoloniality and the Paradox of Democracy  We invite researchers, faculty members, graduate students, independent scholars, and other interested participants to submit original papers relevant to the conference theme. Submissions may present original philosophical arguments, conceptual analyses, empirical or interdisciplinary research, critical reflections, or studies of Ind...

  CALL FOR PAPERS 7th Politics and Culture Conference Mindanao Philosophy: Indigeneity, Decoloniality, and the Paradox of Democracy  November 20, 2026 | Online Conference Hosted by the Social Ethics Society and North Valley College The Social Ethics Society and North Valley College invite philosophers, scholars, researchers, educators, practitioners, and students to participate in the 7th Politics and Culture Conference, an interdisciplinary academic gathering dedicated to examining the philosophical, cultural, political, and social dimensions of Mindanao Philosophy. This year’s conference takes as its theme: “Mindanao Philosophy: Indigeneity, Decoloniality, and the Paradox of Democracy” Mindanao is a complex intellectual and cultural space shaped by diverse Indigenous traditions, Muslim and Christian communities, colonial histories, struggles for recognition, and contemporary transformations. The conference seeks to explore how philosophy emerges from these experiences and ho...

Philosophy in Mindanao is least concerned with carving out a distinctly Filipino identity for philosophy. Such a preoccupation belongs, perhaps, to those who feel that their intellectual traditions remain unrecognized within the broader corpus of knowledge that thinkers before us have cultivated in their enduring search for truth. Mindanao’s philosophical tradition, by contrast, is grounded in lived experience. It draws from the histories and struggles of the Lumad, the aspirations and continuing struggles of the Bangsamoro, and the concrete realities confronting communities across the region.  Its central concern is not to define what makes philosophy Filipino, but to ask what philosophy can contribute to human flourishing in a particular social and historical context. For contemporary academics and scholars in Mindanao, philosophy becomes meaningful when it engages real problems, gives voice to those at the margins, challenges structures that perpetuate injustice, and contributes...

  The future of philosophy in Mindanao lies in its capacity to engage local realities while participating in broader intellectual conversations. Mindanao philosophers must continue developing a philosophy rooted in the region’s diverse cultures, histories, indigenous traditions, and experiences of conflict and peace. Universities can strengthen this tradition through research, publications, conferences, and collaboration among scholars.  Philosophy should also address contemporary concerns such as poverty, environmental destruction, technology, democracy, and social justice. Most importantly, the next generation of philosophers must cultivate critical and creative thinking among students and communities. In this way, Mindanao can continue being a significant anchor of philosophical thought in the Philippines.   The way forward is to follow the path of Fr. Mike Moga, Bro. Karl Gaspar, and Dr. Romulo Bautista, all of whom have engaged with enduring questions and produc...