External Research Associate
Doctoral Candidate
Graduate Programme in Geography, York University
Research Keywords:
Economic geography; urban political economy; ideational geography; economic sociology; urban geography; urban sociology
Research Diaspora(s):
Filipino Diaspora
I am a geographer and sociologist with 16 years of experience in research and teaching in Canada and the Philippines. I completed my PhD in Geography at York University in January 2026. I hold an MA (distinction) in Sociology from the University of Manchester, and a BA in Sociology from the University of the Philippines Diliman. I work on urbanization in the Philippines to theorize two thematic areas: the transformation and rise of urban, rentier class based on embedded land inequality and a globally-deployed workforce; and new forms of state territoriality and class politics arising from ecological and urban crises. Methodologically, I employ critical discourse analysis to follow ideas, and critical accounting to follow money, within an overall framework of Polanyian economic geography. I have taught and designed undergraduate courses on contemporary issues in the Philippines, cities in the global South, and the global economy, both at UP Diliman and at York. I maintain an interest in the overlaps between research, public due diligence, and investigative journalism. My work has been featured by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Talk of the Town, and as a special report on ABS-CBN News.
I am also active in organizing diaspora scholarship. Most recently I coordinated the acquisition of 108 titles for donation to York University Libraries for the Filipiniana collection development project of the Philippine Studies Group at York University.