In the Philippines, the sea nomads' fishing territories span the archipelago. Originally from Tawi-Tawi, they have been dispersed across homeseas to urban areas. Given this reality, this project aims to provide a grassroots synergy of convening at least six priority projects that aim to build on participatory action research with outputs that is both academic and have a direct impact on the sea nomad (Sama-Bajau) communities.

Over the past five decades, the Sama-Bajaus, a former sea-nomadic community, have been sedentarized across the Philippines. They have faced contemporary issues such as environmental changes, land and sea insecurity, loss of knowledge systems, livelihood reconfigurations, educational assimilation, and the ongoing struggle for visibility of the spaces they are situated in. To address these issues, the TRACE project in the Philippines will focus on six participatory action research agendas that aim to translate research into praxis. 

This includes: I) Climate Change Knowledge Systems (from homeseas to urbanities) and the output is the climate assembly and policy advocacy of climate adaptation integrated with Sama-Bajaus’ lifeways; II) Material Culture (baul, boat making, igal/dancing, tenes-tenes/oral history) and the output is a visual exhibition, in partnership with the National Museum of the Philippines; III) Indigenous Education system (rural and urban) and the output is children’s books; IV) Kinship Mapping and the output will be a visual and interactive website of the Sama-Bajau communities across the country, integrating ongoing projects on Sama-Bajaus genetics, migration patterns, and a board game; V) Contemporary Issues and Fishing Territories, which will survey Sama-Bajau communities’ changing realities and fishing territories in the Philippines, and the outpuit will be a film and workshop; and VI) ‘Energy’ Knowledge Systems (research on Sama-Bajau’s notions of ‘energy’ from tides, moon, rainwater, boat fuels, household energy) and the output is a direct support from a civil society organization on electrification with solar panel.  These six priority agendas are based on the strengths of the Philippines team, which has also reflected the Sama-Bajau’s realities in different research and community engagements over the past years.

Strategically distributed across the archipelago, TRACE Philippines maps the nationwide expansion of sea nomad territories by focusing on key permanent settlements across the three major island groups. The research spans Luzon, including Metro Manila, Batangas City, and Palawan; the Visayas, covering the central maritime hubs of Cebu City, Bohol, Leyte, Dumaguete, and Siquijor; and Mindanao, which features the study's most extensive reach through Davao, General Santos, Zamboanga, Iligan, Surigao, and the remote island communities of Balut Island, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.