CSSP Folklore Studies Program holds Balatik Symposium with UP Lingg, Departamento ng Kasaysayan, and UP Astronomical Society

The UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) Folklore Studies Program held the Balatik: A Symposium on Philippine Ethnoastronomy last 21 November 2025 in celebration of the legacy of the late historian and professor Dante L. Ambrosio, Father of Philippine Ethnoastronomy. The symposium was spearheaded by the CSSP Folklore Studies Program under the helm of Assoc. Prof. Jesus Federico Hernandez and was held in cooperation with the Department as well as the UP Departamento ng Kasaysayan and the UP Astronomical Society. Several BA Alum and students presented at the event including Bea Rose Barra, Mario D. Olayres Jr., and Allerah Mejan. They presented their paper entitled “Above Us, Only Sky: A Reconstruction of Some Astronomical and Meteorological Terms in Pre-Ibaloi” which can be read on the first issue of the second volume of the UP Working Papers in Linguistics. Their paper was part of a panel entitled “Mga Bagong Pananaliksik sa Etnoastromiyang Pilipino” which was moderated by Teaching Assoc. Patricia Anne Asuncion. Also from the Department, Asst. Prof. Vincent Christopher Santiago moderated the panel entitled “Katutubo at Modernong Agham.”

This symposium allowed for the various disciplines in the college to come together and talk about how the Filipinos and their various languages saw and spoke about the stars through the lens of each discipline’s perspective. The symposium included various lectures and activities, and ended with a stargazing activity headed by the UP Astronomical Society. The Balatik Symposium was named after the late historian’s book, “Balatik: Estroastronomiya: Kalangitan sa Kabihasang Pilipino” published in 2010, narrating the practices of the native Filipinos relating to the sky.