FULL-TIME FACULTY
Rosalinda C. Tomas, PhD
Dr. Ago Tomas earned her doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia in 2001. She received her Master of Environmental Management degree from the same institution in 1996. She completed her Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in accounting from the Ateneo de Davao University in 1986. Prior to her academic career, she served as a student coordinator and organizer and later coordinated the university’s Social Involvement Program from 1987 to 1991. Her professional experience also includes development work focused on environmental management, sustainability, and social justice in collaboration with local governments, non-governmental organizations, and indigenous communities. Her research interests encompass environmental and resource management, disasters and climate change, as well as indigenous education. Since 2012, she has taught in the Anthropology Department’s graduate program at Ateneo de Davao University, where she currently chairs the department.
Atty. Augusto B. Gatmaytan, PhD
Dr. Augusto B. Gatmaytan earned his doctorate in Anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2013, as well as a Master’s degree in Anthropology from Ateneo de Manila University in 2000. He holds degrees in History and Political Science from De la Salle University (1983) and Law from the University of the Philippines College of Law (1987). In 1987, he co-founded the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, an NGO that continues to provide legal, policy advocacy, and campaigns support to indigenous communities and organizations across the Philippines. He has extensive experience as a legal consultant and community organizer for NGOs partnering with Manobo and Banwaon communities in Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur provinces. Dr. Gatmaytan has served on the faculty of the University of the Philippines Mindanao and has been a member of the Department of Anthropology at Ateneo de Davao University since 2012, where he currently serves as the director of the Ateneo Institute of Anthropology.
Fr. Ulysses S. Cabayao, SJ
Fr. Ogie Cabayao, SJ holds a Master of Anthropology (Advanced) degree, with commendation, from the Australian National University. He earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB) degree, magna cum laude, from the Loyola School of Theology and a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from the Ateneo de Manila University. He completed his secondary education at the Philippine Science High School – Southern Mindanao Campus. Since beginning his teaching career in 2001, he has taught various courses in Philosophy, Theology, Literature, and Computer Science at Xavier University, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Ateneo de Manila University, and Saint Alphonsus Theological Mission Institute. He has also served as a vicar forane, parish priest, school director, high school principal, and hospital chaplain. His fields of interest include digital anthropology, computational anthropology, and the anthropology of death.
Albert J. Santos, MA
Albert Santos earned his MA in Anthropology from the Ateneo de Davao University in 2019. He previously received his BA in Anthropology from the University of the Philippines – Mindanao in 2013. His research interests include the politico-economic and ecological dimensions of agrarian change, the social implications of agricultural biotechnology, and the transformation of indigenous peoples’ knowledge systems and practices. Since 2019, he has been a member of the Department of Anthropology at the Ateneo de Davao University, where he has contributed to the field through research and publication.
Amiel Jay V. Lopez, MA
Amiel Lopez is passionate about fostering inclusive environmental initiatives and social justice through anthropology, education, research, and development work. He is the Chairperson of DYESABEL Philippines, Inc., a non-profit organization he co-founded in 2018 to empower Bajau and youth communities in Mindanao. He is a licensed professional teacher with a BS in Education, majoring in Biological Science, from the same university where he received the Jesuit Mission Award in 2020. He earned his masters degree in Anthropology in 2024 with a full research grant from the Association for Asian Studies, Inc., supported by the Swedish government. He studied Environmental Issues and Natural Resource Management at East-West Center, University of Hawai’i, as a YSEALI Academic Fellow in 2019. He has also worked as a module developer, consultant, student handbook writer, and program officer in basic education for various local, national, and international institutions and organizations. He was recognized as an Everyday Dabawenyo Hero in 2019 for his contribution to Davao City’s development.
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM PART-TIME FACULTY
Gwyneth Marie M. Vasquez
Gwyneth Marie Vasquez earned her bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, summa cum laude, from the Ateneo de Davao University. She is interested in the intersections between the digital divide, ICTs, and development, with specific emphasis on the lived experiences of indigenous communities in Mindanao who recently gained access to commercial internet connectivity. Her research on the digital divide received UGAT’s 2021 E. Arsenio Manuel Award for best student paper. In the same year, she founded the Mindanawon Anthropological Society of the Ateneo (MASA), the organization of AdDU anthropology students. Currently, she continues to pursue her interest in academic and community work as a research assistant at the Ateneo Institute of Anthropology and as a lecturer at the Department of Anthropology.
GRADUATE SCHOOL PART TIME
Penelope C. Sanz, PhD
Dr. Penelope C. Sanz has conducted extensive ethnographic research on mining among the Indigenous Peoples in Southern Philippines for her doctoral studies. In 2022, her autoethnographic dissertation won the prestigious Illinois Distinguished Qualitative Dissertation Award in the Traditional Category of the International Institute for Qualitative Inquiry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is currently a member of a multi-disciplinary research team investigating the First Nations and Métis housing and the built environment. Dr. Sanz lectures at the Ateneo de Davao University in the Philippines and the University of Saskatchewan/St. Thomas More College in Canada. She is also the managing editor of the Engaged Scholar Journal: Community-based Research, Teaching and Learning, and the Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development.
Ma. Sheila Z. Labos, MA
Maria Sheila Zafra Labos is a Registered Nurse who graduated from Brokenshire College, Davao City in 1993. She graduated with a Master of Arts in Anthropology at the Ateneo de Davao University in 2018. As a cultural worker since 1997, she has been exposed to different indigenous and Moro communities in their indigenous and traditional medicines. She has been with the Kaliwat Performing Artists Collective whose cultural work has brought her to interact with different healers and has provided her with an understanding of the cultural significance of this heritage. Sheila is also a Facilitator of Cultural Mapping at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Her engagement with NCCA since 2017 allowed her to assist LGUs in doing a Local Cultural Profile. She was involved in the mentorship of Xavier Learning Community in Chang Rai, Thailand.