xAI Series/Mindanao Philosophy: Featuring Fr. Dexter Veloso

Fr. Dexter Veloso (full name often Fr. Dexter C. Veloso, Fr. Dexter Veloso, DCD, PhD, is a Filipino Catholic priest, philosopher, ethicist, and academic leader based in Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines.

Key details about his profile:

Priestly Role: He is a Roman Catholic priest (often referred to as Fr. or Rev. Fr.). He has served as parish priest in various Davao parishes, including San Isidro Parish in Lomundao, Davao City (earlier roles) and later Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Poblacion District, Davao City (installation around 2026).

Academic and Teaching Role: Philosophy professor and ethics instructor at St. Francis Xavier College Seminary in Davao and the Holy Cross of Davao College. He teaches courses in philosophy, ethics, and related subjects.

He has advanced degrees, including a Master's in Philosophy (from Ateneo de Davao University) and a PhD (noted in contexts like American University of Sovereign Nations or related programs, with focus on environmental ethics/bioethics). He is also listed as a Visiting Professor of Environmental Ethics at the American University of Sovereign Nations (AUSN).

Leadership in Philosophy Networks: Long-time President of the Social Ethics Society (SES)—the first and only SEC-registered philosophical association in Mindanao, founded around 2010. He was elected president in 2014 and continues in the role (as of recent records up to 2025–2028).

Under his leadership, SES has grown internationally (e.g., members attending conferences in Japan, Thailand), hosts annual October conferences in Davao, publishes the Social Ethics Society Journal of Applied Philosophy, and brings in global scholars.

Research and Publications: Focuses on applied ethics, environmental ethics (e.g., Laudato Si'-inspired work on caring for creation), bioethics, global justice, peace education, COVID-19 ethics/poverty/public health, and Philippine social issues. Notable works include:

"Caring for our Common Home: Examining Ethical Paradigms for the Environment" (SES Journal, 2019; also his doctoral dissertation topic).

Contributions to peace education ethics (chapter in Ethics in Contemporary Philippine Society).

Presentations at Asian Bioethics Conferences (e.g., 23rd ABC on "Irreplaceable Identities: AI as Conduit of Beneficence"). He is involved in interdisciplinary topics like AI ethics, sustainability, and indigenous knowledge.

He's a central figure in promoting applied philosophy and social ethics in Mindanao, bridging seminary education, parish ministry, and academic discourse—especially on environmental, social justice, and contemporary ethical challenges in the Philippines.

Statement of the SES expressing its opposition to the proposal to remove Ethics in the GE Curriculum

We, members of the Board of Directors of the Social Ethics Society, express our strong opposition to the proposal to remove ethics in college. Such move is bereft of merit and is ignorant as to the value and purpose of the teaching of the course, which is thoroughly rooted in the integral and critical function of higher education. The proposal to transfer it to Senior High School deprives college students of the teaching of ethics as a professional course, which is crucial in their civic engagements and the pursuit of a democratic society that can only be grounded in responsible citizenship and critical thinking. The direction of Edcom and its advisers from the technical panels of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) reduces our whole education system into a mode of creating docile workers who will constitute the labor force that will serve the whims and interests of a capital intensive and consumer driven globalized neoliberal economic order. It only breeds our subser...

List of Accepted Papers for Oral Presentation in the 16th SES Conference

1. Donnalen Quezon (MSU-IIT) - The Paradox of Justice: A Feminist Analysis of How the Philippine Legal System Reinforces Silence Among Rape Victims through Catharine MacKinnon’s Theory of the State 2. Najifah Macaraya & Erickson Totanes (MSU - GenSan) - Thinking Peace: A Philosophical Approach to Inner and Social Harmony 3. Francis Matay-ao Jr. (Isabela State University) - Principle-Centered Leadership: A Catalyst for Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutions 4. Shasell Ybanez (MSU-IIT) - A Foucauldian Analysis of How Mega Influencers Reconfigure Knowledge and Desire in the Click-to-Bet Economy 5. Casey Tuazon & Shasell Ybanez (MSU-IIT) - The Ethical Implications of David Poplar’s Concept of Play Framing in the Context of Body-Shaming Humor Toward Filipino Women: A Luna Dolezal Body and Shame Analysis 6. Marlon Naiz (Southern Christian College) - Redefining Ecotourism: A Conservationist Analysis Based On Aldo Leop...

Statement of the SES BOD Chair

The Social Ethics Society was founded in 2010 by the late Dr. Romulo Bautista, a professor at Ateneo de Davao University who did his doctorate on Marx at the University of Madrid in Spain, and Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc, then a young teacher at Ateneo de Davao. The first SES Conference was held at the University of Mindanao. Its original membership was only 15, consisting mainly of the masters students of the two founders. While in the peripheries of academia, the SES pursued its goals of helping teachers in Mindanao develop their craft in ways that is consistent with philosophy as an exercise of the human will and as the highest expression of the human intellect. When its proponents presented the concept, it was suggested that the Union of Philosophical Societies and Associations in the Philippines (USAPP) will lobby for a new bill that will professionalize philosophy in the country. That was in 2018. Top UST philosophy academics, upon the invitation of Peter Elicor, attended t...

Social Ethics Society

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