About Research

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— What are the most surprising or exciting findings you have uncovered so far?

The so-called ‘minority integration’ projects pursued by the national government some five or six decades back have resulted in two types of Chinese Cebuanos today: those who have fully assimilated into Cebuano society and those who continue to cling to their ethnicity and cultural practices. This is permeated along class lines, with the less wealthy shedding much of their Chinese-ness, as it were, including their connections to the community, and retaining nothing more than their Chinese family name. Many third and fourth-generation Tsinoys (as Chinese Filipinos are now called) of both types know little to nothing about their ancestors or the specific circumstances that brought them to Cebu. Many regret not listening to their amah when she told them stories about their grandparents or great-grandparents. They long to know and reconnect with their past, but they cannot, as many no longer speak the language and/or have lost family mementos in the numerous fires that devastated the commercial district of the city. What’s more, countless family and hometown association records were lost during the war and to the elements.  

I must mention one personal regret myself, which is that although I studied for a time in a Chinese school, I was never able to seriously learn Mandarin or even Hokkien and so I have to rely on friends from the ethnic Chinese community or former schoolmates to help me out when it comes to Chinese texts, especially when Google Translate falters or gives funny or garbled translations. This is an important pitfall that researchers using machine learning must be wary of. Nothing really beats humans when it comes to language translation. But it can be costly if you have not established a rapport with the people you are studying.

Research Inspiration

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— What gives you the most satisfaction in your work?

When you realize that you’re adding mere scribbles to what is largely an empty slate, you get the feeling that you really need to do this while there are still people you can interview to learn more about the past. Since virtually nothing has been written on the ethnic Chinese community in Cebu—particularly its business sector during the crucial American colonial period—I would like to think that this study is important. But, given the dearth of textual material, it’s also a very daunting task. I get inspired when I see similar research from other Southeast Asian countries that has already been published. You read such studies and you say to yourself, “This is what should have been done in Cebu a long time ago!” or “Thank heavens for these authors! This is exactly the missing piece that I want to understand, to look for, and also to write about.”

Societal Impact

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— How do you envision your research being utilized, developed, and contributing to society in the long term?

Since this is a pioneering effort, I hope it will stimulate further interest in studying the history of other expatriate communities in Cebu or elsewhere in the Philippines. At the same time, I also hope to encourage researchers and scholars from within the local Chinese community to delve deeper into various aspects of their ethnicity, especially in relation to the larger Cebuano/Filipino community. My research is quite limited, but I like to think that I have ignited the initial spark that will lead to a larger fire. Surely, in a city with an economy largely nurtured and sustained by Tsinoys for more than two centuries, the need to understand why and where this is heading is compelling enough to inspire other scholars to investigate further.

Life Beyond Research

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— What is a surprising skill or hobby you have that others might not expect?

I collect stamps and study postal history, especially of the late Spanish period. This is a side of me that very few people know about; many people were surprised when I published a book on all the stamps ever issued in the Philippines during the colonial period. As a philatelist, or stamp collector, you can devote your entire life to the study of one single stamp and write volumes about it and the varieties that resulted from its issuance. I started this hobby when I was a student at a Chinese primary school. It has taught me much about meticulous note-taking, reading, cataloging, attending exhibitions, and meeting people, which helped prepare me for the rigor required for the archaeological and historical research that I pursued later. I’ve recently started collecting typewriters, because I’ve always been fascinated by these machines and their intricacies. A simple portable typewriter is composed of hundreds of moving parts, and repairing one requires an attention to detail very much like doing research.

Advice for the Next Generation

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— What advice or tips would you give to younger scholars or young people interested in pursuing a career in your field or in becoming a researcher?

Never stop being curious: keep on asking why things (or people) behave the way they do. As I repeat to my students, curiosity is the first step in acquiring knowledge. If you’re not curious, then do not become a researcher. Research, or the acquisition of knowledge, requires that you read a lot and read from various viewpoints. If you have never drunk coffee in your life, don’t start when you’re about to pursue a research career, because from then on, you will need coffee to stay awake as you comb through hundreds or even thousands of pages of documents, or when you are saddled with scores of microfilms. Coffee, like research, can be addictive. Fortunately, many libraries have now uploaded digitalized material for public use. Knowing the appropriate search keywords is critical when downloading such material, but this new resource should cut the time required to produce publishable material as you forge your career path. Finally, research can be fun and gratifying, especially when you discover something that no one else knows. Always see it that way, and I promise you, you will succeed and eventually be published.

Looking Ahead

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— What is the next step in your research journey, what are the ongoing or upcoming projects that you are especially excited about?

If I complete my manuscript on Chinese Cebuanos while I’m here at CSEAS, I would like to publish it in the Philippines. I’m also quite excited to complete my manuscript on the history of the Philippine Railway Company and its role in the American colonial project in Cebu. I am also working on two writing projects commissioned by Chinese families in the Philippines and a corporate history of a very large public utility in Cebu. When I finish these, I want to return to my other passion, archaeology, and finally publish a book about Cebu’s precolonial past. I hope to secure funds to excavate two significant sites that should contribute to establishing a proper chronology of the country’s precolonial past.

Jose Eleazar R. Bersales, or Jobers, is an archaeologist by profession and a social historian as well. He is currently a professorial research associate at the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos, following his early retirement as a full professor in the Department of Anthropology, Sociology and History, and as director of the USC Museum. Until December 2025, he sits as a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in his capacity as head of its National Committee on Museums. As Consultant on Culture and Heritage of the Cebu Provincial Government, he oversees the operations of Museo Sugbo, the Cebu Provincial Museum. Bersales was a visiting professor under the Matrix Co-Creation Program of Osaka University in 2023. He has written or co-authored several heritage books, two of which have received national recognition.