Siuálâ Ding Meangubié

Just finished presenting my papers at the 11th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics in Aussois, France this June 22-26, 2009:  Kapampangan lexical borrowing from Tagalog: endangerment rather than enrichment, Assessing the current status of the Kapampangan "pre-Hispanic" script and  Complementation with the determiner ing in Kapampangan with Kitano, Hiroaki.

Siuálâ ding Meángûbié, born Michael Raymon M. Pangilinan in Angeles City on 18 March 1969, grew up in the town of Magalang at the heart of Indung Kapampangan. He eventually trained as a philosopher at the prestigious University of San Carlos in Cebu City where he graduated in 1989. He eventually spent some time roaming around Mindanao, meeting Kapampangan expatriates, local indigenous people and Muslim communities. This rich experience in dealing with different ethnic communities throughout the country made him realize how important culture is to people’s identity and survival. He thus decided to head back to his native land to spearhead the promotion of Kapampangan culture and heritage in the 1990s. He then initiated several pioneer projects which turned out to be instrumental in the revival of interest for the Kapampangan culture. His writings and ideas paved the way for the cultural boom of the 2000s and served as the conceptual basis for the creation of the Center for Kapampangan Studies, the First  International Conference on Kapampangan Studies, the first academic course on Kapampangan Studies and numerous cultural organizations which eventually mushroomed all over the province.

His expertise spans from history and philosophy to religion, anthropology, geography and linguistics and goes beyond the frontiers of the Indung Kapampangan. He is a renowned expert on Asian History and Philosophy, whose works have been published and broadcasted in international journals and conferences. He is recognized as the expert who studied and fostered the use of the ancient pre-colonial Kapampangan script. He used to teach at the University of the Philippines – Clark and Holy Angel University and at this occasion trained hundreds of students and tens of colleague teachers to the importance of studying and promoting Kapampangan culture. He presently actively collaborates with colleagues from Japan and France. Siuálâ deng Meángûbié finally stands out by turning Kapampangan and Asian culture into a way of life which includes spirituality, arts, language, cuisine, living environment and sports.

 Luid ya ing Siuálâ ding Meángûbié,


JC Gaillard

University of the Philippines Diliman and Université de Grenoble, France

Email: jean-christophe.gaillard@ujf-grenoble.fr
Website: http://jc.gaillard.monsite.orange.fr/


Siuálâ ding Meángûbié is also known by his Japanese name Imibe Kamui (齋部神威) and his Sanskrit name Mahatmasvara (महात्मास्वर).

Email: siuala@yahoo.co.uk