President

Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz, PhD

Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz is an Associate Professor of Development Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University where he currently serves as the Assistant Vice President for Social Development, Environment, and Community Engagement. Dr. Dela Cruz obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies and a Masters Degree in Economics from Ateneo de Manila University and his PhD in Sociology from University of the Philippines Diliman where he wrote about the historical tensions faced by the university social research centers across the country using the social systems theory of Niklas Luhmann as his sensitizing framework. His research interests include the sociology of higher education, university social responsibility, policy sociology, organizational sociology, and social entrepreneurship.

Vice-President

Hadji A. Balajadia, MSc

Hadji Balajadia is a fulltime shared Faculty of the Psychology and the Sociology Departments of Ateneo de Davao University. She teaches sociological social psychology. Her research, advocacy, and social involvement includes state violence, peace and security, social inclusion, LGBTQ+ rights, health systems reform, and leadership.

Secretary

Yvan Ysmael Yonaha

Yvan Ysmael Yonaha is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His current research is on the labor movements of essential workers during the pandemic, examining the dynamics of power among nurses and platform delivery riders as they struggle to improve their working conditions. He is a recipient of the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme, awarded by the Research Grants Council of the city to promising scholars.

He previously served as an Instructor at the Development Studies Program of the Ateneo de Manila University and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Sciences of the University of the Philippines Los Baños. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Master of Arts in Philippine Studies (Major in Development Studies) degrees from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He has published journal articles and book chapters on the sociology of religion, politics, ethnicity, and migration.

Treasurer

Luis Emmanuel A. Abesamis, MHSS

Luis Emmanuel A. Abesamis is a health social scientist and gender studies scholar with transdisciplinary training in anthropology, sociology, and psychology. Their scholarly interests are in LGBTQ+ health, the social and political histories of public health, critical drug studies, and community health engagement. Luis earned their Bachelor of Arts degree in Behavioral Sciences (magna cum laude) from the University of the Philippines Manila and their Master of Health Social Science from De La Salle University Manila. At present, they are a fellow of the UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, a member of the International Advisory Board of the Community Development Journal, and an affiliated researcher of the Decolonial Studies Research Network.

Board Member

Bryan Lee D. Celeste, MA

Bryan Lee D. Celeste is a faculty member of the Department of Behavioral Sciences, Central Mindanao University (CMU), Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon. He teaches sociology, anthropology and gender and society. He also coordinated the Biodiversity Extension and Public Awareness Unit at the Center for Biodiversity Research and Extension in Mindanao (CMU-CEBREM), Philippines. He is an Associate Member of the National Research Council of the Philippines-Sociological Sciences Division. He is also a member of the following: Philippine Sociological Society, International Sociological Association- RC05 (Race, Ethnicity and Indigeneity) and RC 34- Sociology of Youth and Australian Anthropological Society. He earned his AB and MA in Sociology from Silliman University, Dumaguete City, in 2007 and 2016. His research interests focus on cultural performances, Indigenous peoples, environmental sociology and ethnography. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in Sociology and Anthropology at The University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Board Member

Maria Cecilia T. Medina, PhD

Dr. Maria Cecilia T. Medina obtained a B.A in Sociology (Cum Laude)  in 1983 and M.A in Asian Studies in 1991 from the University of the Philippines. She holds a  PhD in Sociology from Xavier University in 2004 and in 2020 obtained an MA in Religious Studies from the Maryhill School of Theology. She is an Associate Professor  at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines, with research interests and publications on Southeast Asia, religions, disasters, indigenous peoples, and peace and development. At the UP Asian Center she had served as Assistant to the Dean for Administration, Cultural and Public Affairs, Coordinator and Head of the Secretariat of the Tri-College PhD Philippine Studies Program and Editor in Chief of Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives in Asia. She is currently an associate editor of Social Sciences Diliman: A Philippine Journal of Society and Change and a regular member of the National Research Council of the Philippines, International Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Gamma Mu. She had also served in the board of the Philippine Sociological Society, and is active in the Research Committee on Religion (RC 22) and Disasters (RC 39) of the International Sociological Association. 

Board Member

Raisa L. Ty

Raisa Ty is an Instructor in the Sociology Program at the University of Eastern Philippines-Main Campus in Catarman, Northern Samar. She holds a BA in Sociology at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Her research interests focus on the sociology of gender and disaster studies.