FICS Theses and Dissertations
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Theses and dissertations by graduate students from the Faculty of Information and Communication Studies.
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ItemFilipino Virtual Assistants as Global Communications Practitioners: A Phenomenological Study( 2026)The study explored how Filipino Virtual Assistants (VAs) view themselves as global communication practitioners in the digital world. Anchored in Heideggerian phenomenology, the lived experiences of 10 VAs working in fully remote, transnational environments were analyzed from December 2023 to April 2024. Becoming a VA is often shaped by life transitions, economic necessity, and the pursuit of flexibility; sustained participation in virtual work then transforms how participants perceive professionalism, identity, and communication. They described their work as deeply communicative, relational, and emotionally labor-intensive, extending beyond task execution to include trust-building, cultural adaptation, and identity negotiation. Filipino Virtual Assistants occupy a distinct and critical position within the global digital economy as fully remote communication workers whose labor is fundamentally relational, interpretive, and identity-forming. They do not simply adapt to global communication norms; rather, they actively negotiate professional identity through culturally informed communication practices characterized by adaptability, emotional intelligence, relational sensitivity, and a strong sense of responsibility toward clients. These traits rooted in Filipino sociocultural values become strategic assets in transnational virtual environments. At the same time, the study reveals a paradox at the core of virtual work. While remote work offers autonomy, flexibility, and economic mobility, it also exposes Filipino VAs to structural vulnerabilities, including job insecurity, blurred work-life boundaries, limited legal protection, and emotional fatigue Filipino Virtual Assistants as Global Communications Practitioners xv arising from continuous digital presence. These conditions shape how participants experience selfhood, productivity, and belonging. Viewed through a phenomenological lens, the experiences of Filipino VAs illustrate that virtual work is not a neutral technological arrangement but a lived, embodied condition that reshapes identity, communication, and meaning making. Filipino Virtual Assistants emerge not as invisible background workers, but as global communication practitioners whose voices and experiences deserve scholarly and institutional recognition.
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ItemSponsor Management and Letter of Guarantee (LoG) Coverage Integration System for International School Manila (ISM)( 2026)International School Manila has four separate systems for handling sponsorship billing and Letter of Guarantee (LoG) coverage: PowerSchool (SIS), the Student Charging Portal (SCP), NetSuite (ERP), and the Online Billing System (OBS). Prior to the development of this project, coverage decisions were manually interpreted at charge entry and this could lead to inconsistent assignments to Bill-To, causes for delay in the correction process, lack of audit trails and further reconciliation efforts. The project created and implemented a pilot Sponsor Management and LoG Coverage Integration System that combines all the master data of sponsors, tracks LoG records, handles workflows based on the roles and assesses coverage using the deterministic business rules. The deployed pilot web application was done with ASP.NET Core including REST API endpoints, role-based authentication for Administrator, Admissions and Cashier users, local credentials for authentication for ISM staff accounts, and Azure deployment for production-style validation. The system enables the management of sponsor profiles, prevention of sponsor duplication, creation and activation of LoG, sponsor change requests, sponsor views, coverage preview, creation of audit trail and reporting support. The web interface has been responsive and is PWA-ready, but has not been fully developed as a Progressive Web App as the PWA installable features, service worker caching, offline behavior and the web app manifest were not in the scope of the pilot. A total of 110 test cases were found in total, of which 95 passed, 12 noted and 3 known non-critical items were noted; none of them were critical or blocking. 60 user acceptance testing (UAT) workflow scenarios were verified; 54 were successful and 6 were non-blocking issues for refinement. The proven workflows covered sponsor search, sponsor maintenance, creation and viewing of the LoG, coverage check, restricted access, report generation, and sponsor self-service actions. There are minor usability and validation issues such as the delayed LoG reassignment display after sponsor merge, the lack of visibility for attachments in one change-request flow, unclear confirmation messages, incomplete report header metadata, and improved sponsor access-error messages. The pilot proved to show that existing manual interpretation can be minimised, governance is enhanced, audit preparedness is improved and a practical roadmap towards production integration with current ISM systems is achieved with a centralized Sponsor Master and deterministic coverage engine. The pilot web application deployed is a working example that shows that there is no need to replace ISM’s existing core platforms, and that consistent and explainable decisions on coverage of sponsors can be made. This pilot web application is a working example that demonstrates that consistentn and explainable decisions on coverage of sponsors can be made without replacement of existing ISM core platforms.
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ItemCultural and Anti-Stigma Analysis of Public Messaging Towards Reframing HIV Communication( 2025)The research investigated the concept of public messaging pertaining to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, Philippines with emphasis on the approach used in adopting stigma and culture. It followed a qualitative approach, particularly textual analysis, to analyze HIV materials that are publicly accessible within the past three years. Results indicated positive changes in the direction of supportive and empowerment-focused and neutral messages, such as localized Bisaya and service-oriented content. Nevertheless, there was an implicit stigma that was perpetuated in risk framing and moral undertones; cultural adaptation is disproportionate, and priority groups were being underrepresented or tokenized. Obstruction of access was caused by over-medicalized language and inconsistent application of the plain-language requirements. The research suggests that stigma- free communication guidelines be institutionalized, representation of key population groups be made authentic, local language and cultural adaptation be reinforced, and health workers', non-governmental organizations', and media practitioners’ capacity- building be implemented.
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ItemCommunication for Sustained Volunteerism: The Case of Pawikan Conservation( 2026)This study examined how volunteerism is sustained in a pawikan conservation initiative, with emphasis on the role of communication strategies and support systems. Guided by symbolic interactionism and development/environmental communication, it employed an embedded mixed-methods single-case design. Quantitative data were drawn from a short anonymous survey completed by all currently active volunteers in the organization (N = 30), while qualitative data came from one focus group discussion with six volunteers. The study investigated the communication strategies and support systems associated with sustained volunteerism, how volunteers interpret these practices and relate them to commitment and continued participation, how organizational values shape the framing and enactment of sustaining practices, and what challenges and opportunities affect continued involvement. Results show very high levels of sustained volunteerism and perceived communication support within the case organization. What mattered most was not the mere number of support practices volunteers experienced, but the perceived quality of support. Feedback and learning, recognition, mentoring, and coordination emerged as the strongest correlates of commitment, continuance, and role identity. Storytelling and values-in-action were also highly endorsed and helped anchor ecological purpose, pride, and a family-like sense of belonging, although storytelling did not significantly differentiate sustained volunteerism because it appeared to function as a shared baseline across respondents. The focus group further revealed that volunteerism is relationally produced through intergenerational recruitment, everyday mentoring, recognition rituals, and practical coordination, while its most persistent constraints are time, physical demands and safety concerns, and costs or logistics. The study concludes that communication sustains volunteerism when it helps volunteers feel guided, recognized, heard, and connected to impact, but communication alone is insufficient without realistic material support. It recommends strengthening structured mentoring, regular two-way feedback, fair and visible recognition, streamlined coordination, and volunteer welfare mechanisms, while deepening participatory voice in organizational communication.
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ItemA Himalayan Trekkers's Journey of Self-Discovery, Self Knowledge and Consciousness Through Dialogue Towards Embodied Communication within the Phenomenological Framework( 2023)Self-discovery, self-knowledge and awareness, alertness and consciousness (in a state of Mindfulness) are keys to experiencing the fullness and exuberance of daily living, the very essence of human life and existence. It is through the quality (or non-quality) of human experiences of everyday living are derived or defined, or refined, our respective meanings and purposes in life. The Question of – what brings quality to daily life or our entire lives depends on the answers one provides which concerns fundamentally – how one experiences life on a day-to-day basis, which becomes weeks to months, then into years. The writer is curious as to how this may be explored, that is, to attaining that “quality of life” and “integrating that quality to everyday”, hence the importance of the topic of interest. Fortunately, the discovery of trekking the Himalayas presented itself, as though an answered prayer to pressing questions of the human heart and mind. To problematize such a dilemma, the study sought answers to the following research questions. I. What are the trekking experiences that evolved my perspectives and interpretations of my lived worlds? II. How do such interpretations communicate its expressions that influence my narratives of self-knowledge and consciousness? III. Why is it important to me to recognize the dialogues of such expressions of the self to the self in relation to the interpretations of my lived experiences of trekking? To cast order into such an ambitious inquiry, the research framework consisted of grounding theories such as Phenomenology as a tradition of communication etc. and thematic dimensions which specifically addresses the integration of the five human senses to the lived experiences of the researcher during trekking – which awakened the “intelligence for communication” within the being, thereby improving attention, focus and consciousness (in a state of mindfulness) resulting to meaningful experiences of the self-being and the realities of the outside perceived worlds. The tradition of Qualitative Research was used in the study, particularly the Phenomenological research approach. It provided the techniques to derive or construct a shared meaning of the experiences in trekking, a richer and fuller understanding of the phenomenon of “communication” where it manifested “the whole” (i.e. understanding the meanings of the experiences as it happens through communication within and with others, including the commune with Nature etc). while consisting of consistent assumptions of human nature and society (Evelyn Jacob). The results of the study provided answers to the research questions, as summarized below: 1. The trekking experiences was the game changer - it challenged the body, mind and psychological tenacity – the rough terrain, extreme weather conditions and temperature, high altitudes and eminent dangers of landslides, avalanches and unstable edges of the trail hanging over a cliff etc. It awakened the five human senses and the being within (ie. that which who speaks and truly communicates). It makes the mind to re-examine life and death scenarios, what is truly important in life and the changes that are needed to make life meaningful, and even worthwhile, given that it is indeed short, and for that, it can be taken in any point in time (ie. anywhere, not necessarily in the mountains etc.) 2. The seeking for answers to the dilemma of “what is the quality of life?” impresses the need to understand, which existed in the possibility of communication. In other words, essences of the meaning of life and as to how to improve everyday experiencing in general, were communicated through thoughts, feelings and emotions of the being within – thus the perceptions. Little or no recognition is given to such a happening, a happening of communication, rather to misconstrued illusions by the unconscious mind that over romanticizes the influx of external misgivings of unnecessary information and entertainment of a dulled mind and muted being. 3. It cannot be overemphasized here in the study, the importance of self-knowledge, self-awareness and consciousness (a state of mindfulness) – as it is the key to self-resiliency in many aspects of human everyday life. As a collective, the study is also relevant to Organizational Management level, where it improves the quality of leadership, comradery and communities of practice etc., hence raising the quality of organizational performance, profitability and human resources development. Applicable to the Public & Private Sector organizations, the Development Sector, the Academe etc. The contribution of the above answers to the Communication field is that - attaining self-knowledge, enlightenment (ie. in the context of logical reasoning) and resiliency of human beings - where life could possibly be fully expressed and experienced into existence. Into existence of the experience, manifest the materiality of the lived worlds which can only be experienced in the constituted world of communication. Hence, the study argues that existence can only be experienced through existing in communication – in one’s experience. Thus, the study supports and dares to contribute to the affirmation of other existing literature that - Communication theory as a field, is that of coherence as it exists in all multidisciplinary fields, for without the dialogical-dialectical constitutive nature of communication, no one can know the existence of anything that exists.