Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 15 (1) 2015, pp. 78-101 The Status of Philippine Lake Studies: Scholarly Deficit in Social Science and Small-Lake Research Bing Baltazar C. Brillo University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines
[email protected] This study surveys the literature on Philippine lake studies using a representative sample from the library databases of the three leading universities in the country. The paper proceeds as follows: firstly, it categorizes the existing lake studies by scholarly orientation (natural science perspective or social science perspective) and by physical size of the particular lake under study (big lake or small lake); secondly, it charts and assesses the overall trajectory of lake studies in the country. The paper concludes that Philippine lake studies are dominated by the natural science-based studies and heavily concentrated on big-lake research. This finding illustrates the gaps in the literature, specifically: one, the need to account for all the existing lakes in the country; two, the need for more social science-based studies on lakes; and three, the need for more outputs on small-lake research. The paper closes with the call to balance scholarly deficit as the way towards meaningful progress in lake studies in the country. Keywords: Philippine Lakes, Small-Lake Studies, Big-Lake Research, Lake Studies, Natural Science, Social Science and Lake INTRODUCTION day modern societies, lakes—natural or artificial reservoir —have catered to human needs, from Lakes are important! This statement is rudimentary uses (such as drinking water, supported by the fact that over 90% of the source of food, and transportation) to more liquid freshwater on the earth’s surface is sophisticated utilization (such as agricultural contained in lakes (Shiklomanov, 1993; irrigation, fish farming, flood control, and International Lake Environment Committee hydroelectric power).