Felipe Landa Jocano (February 5, 1930 – October 27, 2013) was a Filipino anthropologist, educator, and author known for his significant body of work within the field of Philippine Anthropology,[3][4][5] and in particular for documenting and translating the Hinilawod, a Western Visayan folk epic.
[8] After this, he tried to enroll in some college courses, but distractions and an illness forced him to return to his native Iloilo in 1954,[3][4] where we eventually earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Central Philippine University in 1957.
[4] Work at the National Museum inspired Jocano to write a series of articles discussing Philippine legends surrounding plant and animal life, which was published in the Manila Times.
Earlier research on slums mostly relied on the use of questionnaires, which Jocano dismissed as inappropriate for studying urban poor society: "One cannot possibly go up and paper and ask questions without arousing suspicions especially among street corner gang members.
Jocano, assisted by a radio technician from the Central Philippine University, convinced Sulod folk chanters Ulang Udig and Hugan-an to recount the story, and allow them to record it on cassette.
[13][14] His Core Population Theory proposed that there weren't clear discrete waves of migration, but a long process of cultural evolution and movement of people.
The theory suggests that early inhabitants of Southeast Asia were once of the same ethnic group with similar culture, but eventually - through a gradual process driven by environmental factors - differentiated themselves from one another.