Monique Pilapil is a cultural worker and anthropologist specializing in ritual practice, embodiment, and intangible cultural heritage in Southeast Asia. She completed her MA in Anthropology at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where her thesis examined Jemparingan, a contemporary Javanese ritual archery practice, as an embodied epistemology cultivated through discipline, stillness, and apprenticeship.

Her research bridges ethnography and heritage governance, focusing on how vernacular traditions endure through lived transmission and community authority. Her broader interests include ritual pedagogy, vernacular governance, and decolonial approaches to heritage frameworks.

Professionally, she has led and coordinated major heritage initiatives at national and international levels and has worked extensively in cultural policy, heritage governance, and capacity building. Her work includes UNESCO reporting, international heritage coordination, cultural mapping, heritage law enforcement training, heritage education and interpretation, and program management across national and regional institutions. She has collaborated with government agencies, local communities, and international heritage bodies on projects related to safeguarding, documentation, and heritage strategy.

Her practice integrates policy, fieldwork, and community collaboration, advancing culturally grounded and ethically responsive approaches to heritage work.