Science and Culture at It's All Relative
Manila, Philippines – Science met culture at “It’s all Relative: Discovering the Filipino Identity through Forensic Science”, hosted by Asia Society Philippines, with the support of Asian Institute of Management, last April 15, 2015. Representatives from the academe, civil society, government, and business attended the dialogue.
The AIM Bancom Room was transformed into a special photographic exhibition featuring portraits of indigenous peoples through Jinggo Montenejo’s “Kalinga of Cordillera Region”, Jacob Maentz’s “The Mangyans of Mindoro” and the modern Filipino by Alison Domzalski.
Before the dialogue, Filipino-American dance artist Sharon Estacio and cultural anthropologist Giovanna Rovedo led the audience through an interactive contemporary dance. Sharon spoke briefly on their dance journey to discover what it means to be Filipino, noting that no matter where one goes food and dance are two things that form community.
Since 1996, the DNA Analysis Laboratory of the Natural Sciences Research Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman (UP-NSRI-DAL), has been using forensic DNA technology to better understand the history and origins of the Filipino people.
Moderated by Tatine Faylona, the audience heard from three scientists from UP-NSRI-DAL: Sheila Estacio Dennis (Fulbright Scholar and Researcher in residence), Frederick Delfin (Research Associate) and Asia 21 Young Leader Dr. Maria Corazon de Ungria (Head of UP-NSRI-DAL).
Following the key speakers, further insights were provided by Atty. Renato Zosimo Evangelista, the first Mangyan lawyer and trustee at the Mangyan Heritage Center and Dahlialyn Dait-Cawed, Chief of the Human Rights division of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
Key take-aways
• Sheila Dennis: Forensic science is natural science applied to the matters of law. It is important because it can differentiate people who may physically look similar. Made up of numbers, much like a barcode, a person’s unique DNA profile can accurately reveal that person’s eye colour, hair colour, etc without needing to see the person in the flesh. The UP-NSRI-DAL is using this technique to study how unique a member may be in a population. The collection of DNA of Indigenous People’s (IP) groups is assisting statistics and demographic studies of the Philippines.
• Frederick Delfin: Forensic science and genetic studies have revealed the following things about Filipinos:
1. The Philippine population is ancient; people have been in the archipelago for 50,000 – 70,000 years
2. the Philippines has genetic affinities with different populations in the Asia-Pacific region;
3. FIlipino "ethnolinguistic" groups have different genetic structures compared to people from Region I-XII and, lastly;
4. Filipinos have a complex genetic structure.
These findings have implications in various fields, particularly health policies revealing whether a type of medicine can be compatible with all genetic structures (IP or not IP).
• Dr. Cora de Ungria: Nowadays, research is not just done for the sake of science, but must have a social benefit. Researchers must adhere to universal principles for the protection of all [human] participants, especially when dealing with vulnerable cultural minorities. Furthermore, NCIP requires UP-NSRI-DAL to obtain free and prior informed consent of indigenous people for any research and extraction of DNA. During research undertaken in the Mindoro region, concerns about data ownership and access and science leading to the loss of tradition were raised. Dr. de Ungria stated that the key to successful social dialogue is to find a common denominator between each group involved.
• Reactors: Atty. Evangelista stated that genetics and policy are closely related, suggesting that even the term “Mangyan” is politically coined. Because science now proves many things about indigenous cultures, the focus needs to be on preservation. Meanwhile, Ms. Dait-Cawed spoke on her experiences as an indigenous person (from Ifugao) and argued that culture was a human right that went beyond forensics. IP communities have both individual and cultural rights, and are part of a bigger Filipino community.
• During the open forum, a participant asked how these scientific findings could contribute to amending laws for protecting IP. The panel responded by saying the science could help implement current laws better and making new laws was not the solution. In response to the concern on science versus oral or learned traditions, Mr. Delfin stated that [the science] will “add to what you believe, not replace it” and will simply tell another side or dimension of the story. The question of “Where did Filipinos come from?” still needs to be researched further, but it is certain that all humans can trace their genetic ancestry back to Africa.
Text by Rachel Espejo. Photos by Avanti Narayanan.