What does your research focus on?

In general, my study focuses on teleseryes and the cultural history of this televisual form. I have also begun expanding to other aspects of television since the start of the pandemic, and especially after the closure of ABS-CBN. I understand that this project requires a relentless interrogation of hierarchical and Western notions of culture [for instance, the high-low art/culture dichotomy]. These notions continue to shape our dismissive attitude towards TV and popular culture in general. History tells us that we have a distinct and totally different understanding of culture, something colonial experience has never totally obliterated. This, I exemplify in each of my engagements into TV/media studies, whether in scholarship or pedagogy.

What are you working on now?

Right now, a book of criticism on the teleserye based on an elective I taught is underway [Abangán: Mga Pambungad na Resepsiyon sa Kultura ng Teleserye, UST Publishing House]. Hopefully, in the coming months, I will also be able to revise the book based on my dissertation on the cultural history of the teleserye [Ang Drama ng Ating Búhay: Isang Kasaysayang Kultural ng Teleserye, De La Salle University Publishing House]. Meanwhile, I am revisiting some essays, and revising a translation into Filipino of selected poems by National Artist Edith L. Tiempo.