Fernando Nakpil Zialcita is a philosopher (MA Ateneo de Manila University) and a cultural anthropologist (MA, PhD University of Hawai'i) by training, he has batted for the conservation of heritage, particularly in architecture. With Martin I. Tinio Jr., he wrote Philippine Ancestral Houses (1980) to highlight the significance of our traditional urban houses as uniquely Filipino; he assembled essays by various scholars into Quiapo: Heart of Manila (2006) to reveal the diversity of the district's heritage; he wrote Authentic Though Not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity (2005) to highlight the dynamism of Filipino culture. He has worked with advocacy groups, both national and local, in campaigns to conserve urban ensembles like Vigan. He is connected with the Ateneo de Manila University Department of Sociology and Anthropology where he set up the Cultural Heritage Studies Program.