In the 1990s, Alejo lived among the Lumad of Mindanao and was witness (and active participant) to their long-drawn struggle for the recognition of ancestral rights.[3] His experience is documented in the ethnographic work Generating Energies in Mount Apo: Cultural Politics in a Contested Environment, published in 2000.[3][8]
Alejo's body of work also includes a philosophical treatise on the Filipino concept of loob in Tao Po! Tuloy!: Isang Landas ng Pag-unawa sa Loob ng Tao (Loob: Filipino philosophy of relational interiority), drawing influence from Sikolohiyang Filipino, and the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions; and collections of Tagalog poetry in Sanayan lang ang Pagpatay (Killing is a matter of practice, 1993); and Nabighani: Mga Saling Tula ng Kapwa Nilikha (Captivated: Tagalog translations of mystical poems, 2015).[9][6][10]
Social engagement
Alejo is involved in anti-corruption, human rights, and indigenous people's rights advocacy.[11][12][3][13] In 2003, Alejo led Ehem!, a nationwide Jesuit anti-corruption campaign.[2] He also co-founded the Citizens-Customs Action Network (CITIZCAN), a Bureau of Customs third-party monitoring initiative; served as director of the Archdiocese of Manila Labor Center; and is contributor and editor of Asia Mindanaw; the Mindanao Law Journal; and Agham Mindanaw.
In 2020, Alejo was arrested and charged with sedition, along with eight others, for an alleged plot to oust Rodrigo Duterte.[12][2][11] In a court ruling dated September 3, 2023, Alejo was acquitted of sedition along with co-accused and fellow drug war critic Father Flaviano Villanueva.[14]
^ abcdAlejo, Albert E. (2000). Generating Energies in Mount Apo: Cultural Politics in a Contested Environment. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
