Menelito P. Mansueto, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), has continued his remarkable rise in the AD Scientific Index, now ranking 29th among the 100 philosophy academics listed in the Philippines. The recognition reflects the growing visibility and influence of a scholar whose work is deeply rooted in the intellectual concerns of Mindanao and the Global South.
Mansueto’s scholarship occupies an important intersection between decoloniality, social and political philosophy, media studies, and radical democracy. His academic profile identifies decoloniality and postcolonial studies among his principal areas of interest. His work seeks to interrogate inherited structures of knowledge and power and to ask how philosophy can respond to the historical experiences of communities situated outside the traditional centers of Philippine intellectual life.
His contribution to the emerging discourse on radical democracy in the Philippines is particularly significant. Mansueto was among the scholars from the South who developed philosophical reflections on the rise of Rodrigo Duterte and the limits of conventional democratic theory. His co-authored Radical Politics in the Philippines emerged from this intellectual movement, which brought radical-democratic theory into sustained discussion within Philippine academia.
This work places Mansueto within a growing body of Mindanao-based scholarship that challenges Manila-centric approaches to Philippine political philosophy. His scholarship asks how democracy, political exclusion, coloniality, and social transformation can be understood from the standpoint of communities historically located at the margins.
Mansueto’s rise in the AD Scientific Index is therefore more than a numerical achievement. It signals the increasing scholarly visibility of Mindanao philosophy and of a new generation of Filipino philosophers who are developing critical theories from the South. His ascent demonstrates that sustained research on decoloniality, radical democracy, and Philippine social realities can contribute significantly to the broader intellectual landscape of Filipino philosophy.