F. Landa Jocano, anthropologist and UP professor emeritus, passes away

(Updated 8:09 p.m.) Dr. F. Landa Jocano, best known for his documentation and translation of the Central Visayan epic, the Hinilawod, among other contributions to anthropology and Philippine folk literature, passed away on Sunday evening, his son said in a post on the Facebook page of the University of the Philippines Department of Anthropology. Jocano was 83 years old.

"My father died of a stroke, as far as I can tell, it was an infarct[ion]," his son Professor Felipe Jocano Jr. told GMA News Online via Facebook private message.

Born to farmer parents in Iloilo in 1930, the Professor Emeritus at the Asian Center of UP Diliman was hailed as “the country's foremost cultural anthropologist” by author F. Sionil Jose. He also served as the Executive Director of PUNLAD Research House, Inc.

According to Philippine culture site Mosaic Ministries, a burning desire to continue his education, which his family could not afford, compelled Jocano to stow away on a boat bound for Manila in his boyhood. With only his elementary school report card to back him up, he worked a series of odd jobs for meager pay: janitor, messenger, even journalist. He managed to put himself through high school while sending some money home, but eventually had to come home himself when he got sick.

This trip back to Iloilo is what ignited his interest in folklore. He met renowned anthropologist and historian Dr. Robert Fox, who helped him get a job at the National Museum. It was his time cleaning out the remains of museum specimens that enabled him to write articles published in the Manila Times on mythology surrounding plant and animal life.

The articles marked another turning point in his life, as they not only got the attention of the Department of Education; they were included in certain textbooks. Jocano got married, finally earned his Bachelor's Degree in 1958 from the Central University of the Philippines, his PhD at the University of Chicago, then returned to the Philippines after a teaching stint at the latter.

Jocano's other groundbreaking works include "Philippine Pre-History," "Slum as a Way of Life," "Filipino Social Structure and Value Orientation," "Filipino Cultural Heritage," "Myths and Legends of Early Filipinos," "Philippines-USSR Relations," and "Filipino Indigenous Ethnic Communities."

Jocano's interest in cultural anthropology has branched out into a wide array of topics over the years. He is survived by his wife and two children.

According to the younger Jocano on the Anthropology Department's Facebook page, the elder Jocano's body is at the Truth Chapel of the Loyola Memorial Chapel on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. — BM, GMA News