Prestigious UK university to offer Philippine studies program

MANILA- The University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) will soon offer a Philippine studies program, Sen. Loren Legarda said Friday.

Philippine Ambassador to London Antonio Lagdameo and Baroness Valerie Amos, director of SOAS, signed on Tuesday an agreement that aims to advance Philippine studies at the prestigious university through a series of workshops, publications, research and travel grants from 2017 to 2020.

Legarda, who was present at the signing, said she allocated P5 million under the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) budget this year for the advancement of Philippine studies in SOAS.

"With this agreement, many more people will have access to studying the rich cultural heritage of the Philippines through the modules offered in the SOAS Curriculum,” Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on finance, said in a statement.

Legarda added that Baroness Amos also suggested to include the languages of Philippine ethnolinguistic groups in the Native Languages Documentation Project of the university's Endangered Languages Program.

"We welcome further collaboration with SOAS, through skills training and other capacity enhancement activities, in order to comprehensively document all endangered languages of our ethnolinguistic groups in the country,” said Legarda, an advocate of Philippine arts and culture.