Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

11 Feb 2026

Lalani of the Distant Sea creates an independent Philippine-inspired fantasy world that transcends national boundaries

Lalani of the Distant Sea, a middle-grade fantasy novel by Newbery Medal–winning Filipino American author Erin Entrada Kelly, illustrates how...

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10 Feb 2026

Some key infrastructure in the reclaimed areas of the Manila Bay Freeport Zone is experiencing significant subsidence or downward ground movement

Land reclamation has been on the rise in the Philippines due to growing demands for land driven by economic and...

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09 Feb 2026

The annual economic value of primary bioresources in Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park is estimated at ₱42.7 million

Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park (MMRNP) in the Philippines is a vital protected area that supports a rich diversity of...

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06 Feb 2026

Inflation in the Philippines is often driven by factors beyond the direct control of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Inflation is a persistent economic concern that affects everyone in the Philippines, especially the poor. This study looks at what...

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05 Feb 2026

Yeasts collected from Mount Makiling can be viable sources of biofuel

In the quest for sustainable energy sources, scientists are increasingly turning to nature for solutions. A recent study published in...

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04 Feb 2026

Philippine regions differ in their pace of rural transformation, from lagging areas to those shifting beyond agriculture and a few with integrated rural–urban economies

This rural transformation study conducted in the Philippines provides a comprehensive understanding of the status and progress of the country’s...

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03 Feb 2026

A simple artificial intelligence method makes it possible to digitally restore severely degraded historical architectural drawings

Historical architectural drawings are important records of our cultural heritage, but many have been damaged or degraded over time. For...

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02 Feb 2026

New tool helps high school educators assess how well students think in an integrated, transdisciplinary way

In today’s world, solving big problems like climate change, global health, and social inequality requires thinking that extends beyond a...

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30 Jan 2026

Burong isda (fermented fish), indigenous to the Philippines, has probiotic potential for digestive and immune health

Fermented foods in the Philippines, such as burong isda (fermented fish), are not only part of our culinary heritage but...

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29 Jan 2026

The strength and structure of three commercially important bamboo species in the Philippines vary greatly by location

Timber shortages in the Philippines have increased demand for alternative materials such as bamboo, which is used as a substitute...

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28 Jan 2026

Researchers develop a model that helps companies make smarter choices in carbon trading

Carbon trading is a mechanism that allows entities to sell or purchase credits which indicate the right to emit carbon...

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27 Jan 2026

Around 1,500 social media influencer accounts were involved in covert or under-the-radar campaigning during the 2022 Philippine presidential elections

This study estimates the number of social media influencers on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube, and the amount of money...

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Research

When people claim that a miracle has happened—like someone suddenly healing from an incurable illness or holy bread turning into actual flesh—they’re often met with skepticism, or even worse, dismissed outright as irrational. This article explores how we might reasonably believe in such miracles. Traditionally, there are two main views: one says miracles must break natural laws (like turning water into wine), while the other says miracles are just personal feelings of awe. But both of these views fall short, either it is nearly impossible to prove a miracle happened, or it is so personal that it loses any real meaning. I propose a third way: we should think of miracles like detectives solving mysteries. When faced with an event that seems impossible to explain, we look at all the possible explanations and choose the best one—this is called abductive reasoning. If the best explanation after ruling out others is that a divine being intervened, then it can be reasonable to call it a miracle. This does not mean everyone has to agree, but it shows that belief in miracles isn’t always irrational. It depends on what else the person believes and the evidence available to them. In short, I argue that some miracle claims can make sense—not because they break science, and not just because they feel special, but because they offer the best explanation in specific, well-examined situations, especially for believers who already accept the existence of god as a rational possibility.

My paper charts a third way between the objectivist and subjectivist accounts of miracle recognition, arguing that our appraisal of whether or not events are miraculous is dependent on inferences to the best explanation. I contend that while objectivists like Hume took our knowledge of objectively “natural” laws for granted, subjectivists like Wittgenstein rendered miraculosity a hollow concept devoid of any claim to extraordinariness. My approach allows for a more dynamic relationship between claims of religious experience and attempts by scientists to verify such claims, both because it retains the distinction between natural causation and allegedly miraculous events, and because it does not reify “natural” laws, recognizing that the allegedly miraculous might really be edge cases that should lead us to question our scientific theories. This work also develops an abductive account of reasoning about miracles, contending both that miracle believers can form positive beliefs about miracles rationally, while making no explicit claim for or against the truth of theism or miraculosity.

Author: Justin Felip D. Daduya (Department of Philosophy, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines Diliman)

Read the full paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11153-025-09952-6

Image by waldryano from Pixabay