‘We’re Builders, We’re Also Thinkers’: New Philippine Studies Hub Sparks Academic Shift in New Zealand

The AUT Philippine Studies Hub, formally established on June 10, through a partnership with the Philippine Embassy, is the first of its kind in New Zealand. It’s designed as a national centre for research, training, and engagement, dedicated to the Philippines and New Zealand’s rapidly growing Filipino community.

Behind the institutional language lies a broader ambition: to push back against the marginalisation of Filipino perspectives in mainstream education, policy, and public discourse, and to normalise Filipino intellectual and cultural contributions within New Zealand academia.

The creation of the Hub follows sustained calls from Filipino scholars in New Zealand for greater recognition and visibility within the academic space. Dr Sarah Lipura, lead convenor of the Philippine Studies Network Aotearoa and co-lead of the Hub, says Filipino academics have long sought a dedicated platform to share their research, foster collaboration, and engage more meaningfully with students.

“We are here, but there’s no avenue for us to talk about the things that we’re doing—Filipino scholarship,” she said. “There’s also no mechanism to support Filipino students. So we came together and said, ‘Why don’t we establish a network?’"

Lipura, who completed her PhD in Asian Studies at the University of Auckland, had approached Philippine Ambassador to New Zealand Kira Azucena directly about the idea. “As researchers, we’re always about asking questions, identifying gaps, and looking at how we can address these gaps,” she explained. “I emailed the ambassador and said, ‘Ambassador, where is Philippine Studies in your agenda?’”

Ambassador Azucena immediately recognised the gap and the opportunity it presented. With the Filipino community now the third-largest Asian population in New Zealand, she said establishing a Philippine studies programme had become crucial.

“We thought that given how the Filipino community presence in New Zealand has been growing, and is likely to continue growing, it was important to put together an opportunity—not just for Filipinos themselves, but also for the locals to learn more about the Philippines in all its dimensions,” Azucena said. “Not just about culture, but its economy, politics, its history.”

Azucena highlighted that Philippine Studies programmes are already in place in countries such as Germany, Australia, and the United States. With firm backing from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy found an ideal partner in AUT to help establish the initiative in New Zealand.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Damon Salesa described AUT’s decision to host the hub as logical, aligning with its strategic direction and existing capabilities. AUT is already home to significant Filipino student enrolment, and its strong profile in health sciences complements a sector in which Filipinos are prominent in New Zealand.

“This represents a moment where we’re really turning towards the Philippines, and it’s a really positive step to ensure that we’re doing that in a true spirit of partnership and supporting both local scholarship and the Philippines,” Salesa said. “AUT is New Zealand’s largest health science university, and it’s leading in providing New Zealand with health professionals. This is an area that the Philippines is renowned for, so there’s an obvious alignment.”

Dr Eunice Faustino Gaerlan, a senior lecturer at AUT, founding member of the Philippine Studies Network Aotearoa, and co-lead of the Hub, said the university’s response was refreshingly straightforward. “There weren’t that many barriers to presenting this opportunity,” she said. “AUT is an innovative university; it’s responsive. Through our interactions with the Vice-Chancellor’s office, their manaakitanga, their welcome, was just—‘Let’s have a conversation’.”

Gaerlan sees the establishment of the Hub as both an honour and a significant responsibility. A core focus for her is ensuring the hub’s activities align deeply with AUT’s commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. One of its initial research projects will examine precisely that intersection—Filipino identity in relation to the Treaty.

“We talked about doing research projects around Te Tiriti o Waitangi and being Filipino—what it means to be tangata tiriti,” Gaerlan said. “For me personally, as the lead academic at AUT, I really want to make sure that the kaupapa of the network and the hub aligns with AUT’s Treaty commitments.”

Another key area of research will focus on Filipino labour migration, specifically looking at health sector migration between the Philippines and New Zealand. This work will explore how policies can be shaped to benefit both nations, addressing issues around skills shortages and migrant wellbeing.

“We have planning towards a conference, research projects...and there are scholarships we want to work on to support emerging scholars and to create connections between New Zealand universities and universities in the Philippines,” Gaerlan added.

For Lipura, the bigger picture behind the hub is changing how Filipino communities are perceived. While Filipinos are widely acknowledged as skilled workers, she says their intellectual and scholarly contributions often remain unnoticed.

“Yes, we are builders, but we are also thinkers,” Lipura said. “We want to show that there is value in including a Filipino in decision-making—in governance, science, and knowledge exchanges.”

Ambassador Azucena echoed this, highlighting the range and depth of expertise among Filipino migrants in New Zealand. “Our community is very diverse,” she said. “Yes, we have the workers who prop up critical sectors, but we also have very prominent people working in our universities, in government, who are well-placed to have a say on policy in New Zealand.”

The hub’s launch coincides with preparations to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and New Zealand in 2026. Azucena believes this academic partnership will significantly strengthen these bilateral ties.

“One of the objectives of establishing the Philippine Studies Hub is to be the nexus of this kind of talent,” she said, “and also to be a springboard for discussions where there could be a rich exchange of ideas and even debates between the Philippines and New Zealand.”

Lipura sees the hub as a starting point, a foundation upon which future scholarship and visibility can be built. Its launch is not the culmination of Filipino academic advocacy, she said, but a beginning.

“We’re grateful that Filipinos are known as hard workers, but that’s not the full story,” Lipura said. “We’re here, and we’re here to stay—not just to work, but to contribute knowledge, expertise, and ideas that shape this country’s future."

While the hub represents an exciting new chapter, those behind it readily acknowledge that its foundations were laid through years of efforts by former diplomats, community pioneers, and cultural advocates.

These were individuals who championed Filipino voices at a time when institutional doors remained firmly shut. Among them is Dr Maricar Cristina Bautista, founder of Technical Assistance and Management Services (TeAMS), whose unwavering belief in the vision led her to provide initial seed funding for the Philippine Studies Network Aotearoa’s inaugural forum—well before broader support seemed within reach.

From that early act of generosity and conviction and now strengthened by the institutional backing of the new Hub, the work continues in the form of a quarterly forum fittingly named Pag(m)ulat—a Filipino word meaning “awakening”—signalling an ongoing commitment to opening eyes, minds, and conversations about the Philippines in New Zealand.

-Asia Media Centre