Teaching Staff

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Excelsa C. Tongson is a Professor of Family Life and Child Development at the College of Home Economics, the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD). Through the years, she has handled key administrative positions, including College Secretary of the College of Home Economics, Project Development Associate of the Office of the University Registrar, and Deputy Director for Training, Outreach, and Extension Program of the UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. Professor Tongson actively promotes Family Life and Child Development, bridging it with women and gender studies, and social development, opening pathways for multi-disciplinary collaboration beyond the College of Home Economics. She seeks to leverage expertise to create multidisciplinary collaborations with other colleges and offices, such as the UP College of Social Work and Community Development and the Center for Women's and Gender Studies, as well as various Higher Educational Institutions. Her advocacy extends to government agencies - the Department of Education, ECCD Council, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Philippine Commission on Women. A Philippine delegate to the 68th and 69th Sessions of the  United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 2024 and 2025, she also partners with civil society, having led the Philippine Social Science Council as the Chairperson of its Board of Trustees, and as President of the Women’s and Gender Studies Association of the Philippines. She also collaborates with intergovernmental organizations such as UNICEF, UNWomen, UN Research Institute for Social Development, the World Bank, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. As a passionate feminist and human rights advocate with over 30 years of experience, she is dedicated to translating her body of work into tangible programs and policies that support the well-being and rights of children, women, individuals of diverse backgrounds, families, and communities at the local and global levels. 

Education

• Bachelor of Elementary Education, cum laude, Philippine Normal University, Taft Avenue, Manila, 1990,

• Master of Family Life and Child Development, University of the Philippines Diliman, 2003

• Doctor of Social Development, University of the Philippines, Academic Excellence Award, 2019

Research Interests 

• Gender Responsive Early Childhood Care and Development

• Women and Gender Studies, specifically the unpaid care work of women in multi-generational families

Recent Publications 

• Tongson, EC. & Hermoso, VFM (2025). Shifting to DaKILa: The gender transformative online learning platform in the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Management and Development Studies, 12(1), 28–47. Retrieved from https://jmds.upou.edu.ph/index.php/journal/article/view/102 

• Tiangco ,PM., Mier,  AR., Mier-Alpaño, JD.,Muego,P., Tongson, E., & Labarda, MD. (February, 2025). Community participation in social innovations in health: a qualitative study of women’s engagement in a local tuberculosis clinic in the Philippines. BMJ Innovations Published Online First: 10 February 2025. doi: 10.1136/bmjinnov-2024-001279

• Mier, AR.; Tiangco, PMD., Mier-Alpaño, JD., Tongson, E.,  Muego, PE. & Labarda, MD. (February 2025). Water, sanitation and social innovations in health: a qualitative exploration of gender and intersecting social stratifiers in a rural ram-pump project in the Philippines. MJ Innovations Published Online First: 10 February 2025. doi: 10.1136/bmjinnov-2024-001280

• Tongson, EC. (Ed). (2024). PRISMA: Gender and Education e-journal, Volume 1. Philippine Normal University. https://ejournalprisma.com/index.php/ojs/index. 

• Tongson, EC. & Verceles, NA. (2024). Adolescence in transition: Navigating gender and sexuality. In Verceles, NA & Alqaseer, S. (Eds). Pasya, Laya at Sining. Reshaping SRHR from the margins (pp. 327-364). Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Center for Women's and Gender Studies. 

• Tongson, EC. (2024). This is my body! Children's understanding of bodily autonomy, consent, and what it means to be a girl or a boy. In Verceles, NA & Alqaseer, S. (Eds). Pasya, Laya at Sining. Reshaping SRHR from the margins (pp. 289-326). Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Center for Women's and Gender Studies.  

• Tongson, E. C. (2023). Feeling the squeeze too: Women in the sandwich generation in the Philippines. In Gender and Society: Understanding the gender dimensions of Philippine culture and society (pp. 83-110). Quezon City, Philippines: Vibal Group, Inc.

• Tongson, EC., Antonio, AM, and Centeno, AL. (2023, January). Childcare Investments in the Philippines. (Working Paper 2023-01). Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. 

• Tayag-Binuya, H. and Tongson, EC. (2021 ). Preparing children for Kindergarten: Practices and concerns of low-income stay-at-home peri-urban mothers. Social Science Diliman, 17(2); 1-26. 

• Tongson, EC. (2021). Beyond UP Kalinga Day Care Center: Feminism and its strategic role in early childhood care and development. In Tongson, EC. Engendering Inclusive and Transformative Early Childhood Care and Development. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. 

• Tongson, EC. (Ed.) (2021). Engendering Inclusive and Transformative Early Childhood Care and Development. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Center for Women's and Gender Studies. 

• Tongson, EC. (2020). In search of Filipino “women in the middle”, Asian Journal of Women's Studies, DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2020.1847865 

• Tongson, EC., CRC Coalition, and Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau. (2020). The Girl-Child. In Ofreneo, R. & Illo, J. Philippine NGO Beijing+25 Report. Quezon City, Philippines: University of the Philippines Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.

• Tongson, EC. (2019). Examining unpaid care work of women in the sandwich generation. Philippine Journal of Social Development, 12; 46-70.  

• Tongson, EC. (2018). What Does It Mean to Be in the Sandwich Generation? The Lived Experiences of Low-income Urban Filipino Women. Review of Women Studies, 28, 29-56.

• Tongson, EC. (2017). Poverty in the Eyes of Children. Philippine Journal of Social Development, 9, 16-38. 

Other Publications and Writings

• Wamil, RAV., Tongson, EC., Bañez, EJS., Crismo, JJLG., Dumalao, SMB., Tuazon, RBS., Ugaddan, MI. (2025). Report on Action Research on Strengthening Systems for Capacity Building of Child Development Workers and Child Development Teachers in Selected Local Government Units. UNICEF. (Unpublished manuscript). 

• Tongson, EC., Women's Legal and Human Rights Bureau and Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (manuscript under review). The Girl Child.  In Illo, JFI. (Ed). Philippine NGO Report on BPfA+30. Quezon City: Women's and Gender Studies Association of the Philippines and Women and Gender Institute, Miriam College 

• Tongson, EC. and Ugaddan, MI. (2024). A review of the Philippine Early Learning and Development Standards (PELDS): Implications for its enhancement and expansion. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Perspective. UNICEF. (Unpublished manuscript). 

• Tongson, EC. et al. (2023, February). Being the Best Child Development Worker/Child Development Teacher I Can Be. Training of Trainers Toolkit. Early Childhood Care and Development Council, UNICEF, and University of the Philippines Center for Women's Foundation, Inc. 

• Tongson, EC, et al (2021). Manual for orientation-training of parents and caregivers on the competency standards and use of activity guide. Mandaluyong City: Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, ECCD Council, and UNICEF. (English and Filipino Versions).

• Tongson, EC, et al (2021). Kayang-kaya ko! Competency standards for parents and caregivers in supporting home-based early childhood education. Mandaluyong City: Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, ECCD Council, and UNICEF. (English and Filipino Versions). 

• Tongson, EC, et al (2021). Teach from home: Home-based activity guides for 0 to 5 years and 11 months old. Mandaluyong City: Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development, ECCD Council, and UNICEF. (English and Filipino Versions). 

Courses Taught