This back-to-back number of the journal was designed as an open-themed one, unlike the Special Issues in Cultural Studies (Vol. IV, No. 1/ March 2016) and Literary Studies (Vol. VII, No. 1/March 2018) which I had the privilege to guest-edit, and in Indigenous Studies (Vol. VI, No. 2/September 2016) guest-edited by colleague Padmapani L. Perez. In our call for submissions to this expanded issue, we assured prospective contributors of the unrestricted consideration of manuscripts in Cordillera and Philippines studies on any topics and deploying any social-scientific and humanistic approaches appropriate for them. We did, however, encourage specifically theoretical discussions (which may be irrespective of eld and area), with the only expectation that they be of some demonstrable serviceability to the advancement of Cordillera and Philippine studies as research traditions.