Xavier Javines Bilon

Informed by his education and experience in engineering, statistics, and human rights work, Xavier collaborates with communities to create positive impact for LGBTQI people and people living with HIV through scientific and strategic use of data.

At present, he is an Assistant Professor of Statistics at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, from which he obtained his Master of Science in Statistics and Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering. He is also the current Director for Research of UP School of Statistics, and the School's Director for Extension Services and External Linkages from 2022 to 2023. Additionally, he serves as the Project Leader of the UP Rainbow Research Hub, a pioneering collaboration among academic, professional, and advocacy institutions that seeks to make a difference for the LGBTQI community in the Philippines through better LGBTQI scholarship and research.

Prior to joining the faculty of UP, he served as the National Consultant on HIV and LGBTI of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Philippines and worked with the country's multi-agency UN Joint Team on AIDS and UNDP in Asia and the Pacific. He has also been formally engaged by various government and non-government institutions at the local and international levels, such as the UNDP in New York, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, Psychological Association of the Philippines, Philippine National AIDS Council, and civil society organisations working on LGBTQI and human rights issues.

At present, he sits as a member of the by-invitation international committee organized by the headquarters of UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, and UNAIDS to conduct technical review of concise programming guidance for adolescent and young HIV key populations, and of Babaylanes, Inc., a non-profit organization working on LGBTQI+ issues in the country.

He has been involved in various research and development projects funded by the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines, UP Population Institute, UNDP, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, and United States Agency for International Development. As of 2024, he has raised and managed Php 25.8 million (USD 440,000) for research and development projects on HIV and LGBTI. He has also led and completed research projects with grants totaling Php 6.8 million (USD 120,000).

His research works have been published in several international journals in statistics and allied disciplines. His research direction is on social research methods, computational statistics, and applied social statistics, with focus on digital data and data on gender, sexuality, and human rights.

He has been a licensed engineer in the Philippines since 2018.


Contact: xjbilon@up.edu.ph; xjbilon@ieee.org

Shorter versions of biography available here.

Professional Certification

Licensed Electronics Engineer—PRC License No. 0072070

Academic Appointments

University of the Philippines Diliman

Assistant Professor, School of Statistics (July 2022—present)

Instructor, School of Statistics (August 2020—June 2022) 

Administrative Appointments

University of the Philippines

Project Leader, UP Rainbow Research Hub (January 2022–present)


University of the Philippines Diliman

Director for Research, School of Statistics (March 2023—present)

Director for Extension Services and External Linkages, School of Statistics (September 2022—February 2023)

Editorial Board Membership

Psychology & Sexuality (2024—present)

Q1 Gender Studies; indexed in Scopus, WoS

Peer-reviewed Publications

Bilon, X. J., & Clemente, J. A. R. (2023). What predicts homonegativity in Southeast Asian countries? Evidence from the World Values Survey. Psychology & Sexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2023.2296591 

Bilon, X. J. (2023). Normality and significance testing in simple linear regression model for large sample sizes: A simulation study. Communications in Statistics - Simulation and Computation, 52(6), 2781-2797. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610918.2021.1916824 

Bilon, X. J. (2021). Leaving no one behind: Treatment and care concerns of people living with HIV in the time of COVID-19 (A Philippine Situationer). UNDP & UNAIDS. https://www.aidsdatahub.org/resource/leaving-no-one-behind-treatment-and-care-concerns-people-living-hiv-time-covid-19 

Bilon, X. J., & Clemente, J. A. R. (2020). Evaluation of sampling methods for content analysis of Facebook data. The Philippine Statistician. https://www.psai.ph/tps_details.php?id=125

Bilon, X. J., Nicolas, R. B., Hilario, P. L., & Tapang, G. (2017). Holographic reconstruction limits of a non-ideal spatial light modulator with large pixels. Proceedings of the 35th Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas Physics Conference. Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas. https://proceedings.spp-online.org/issue/view/SPP-2017

Conference Papers

Bilon, X. J. (2024, June 27–29). Association of digital media use for information about sex with comprehensive HIV knowledge and awareness of anti-retroviral treatment among adolescents and young adults: Evidence from a middle-income country [Poster presentation]. Asia-Pacific AIDS & Co-Infections Conference 2024, Hong Kong.

Bilon, X. J., & Clemente J. A. R. (2024, March 7–8). Who’s in and who’s out? The complexities of measuring sexual orientation and gender identity among youth in the Philippines [Paper presentation]. 2024 Philippine Population Association International Scientific Conference, Tuguegarao City, Philippines.

Bilon, X. J., Senga, B., Clemente J. A. R., & Domingo, P. R. C. (2024, March 7–8). A socio-economic profile of LGBTQ-identifying youth in the Philippines [Paper presentation]. 2024 Philippine Population Association International Scientific Conference, Tuguegarao City, Philippines.

Bilon, X. J., & Clemente J. A. R. (2023, November 23–24). Identity and other dimensions of sexual orientation: Are they congruent for youth in the Philippines? [Paper presentation]. 47th National Conference on Filipino Psychology, Quezon City, Philippines.

Bilon, X. J. (2023, March 18–20). Overcoming programming anxiety and inexperience through social interactions: an exploratory content analysis [Paper presentation]. 11th International Conference on Information and Education Technology, Fujisawa, Japan.

Bilon, X. J., & Barrios, E. B. (2022, October 3-5). Estimation for networked hard-to-reach populations under respondent-driven sampling [Paper presentation]. 15th National Convention on Statistics, Quezon City, Philippines.

Bilon, X. J., & Clemente, J. A. R. (2021, July 29-31). What predicts homonegativity in Southeast Asian countries? Evidence from the World Values Survey [Paper presentation]. 14th Biennial Conference of Asian Association of Social Psychology, Seoul, Korea (Virtual).

Bilon, X. J., (2021, July 18-21). Estimating proportions of hidden populations under respondent-driven sampling [Poster presentation]. 11th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science, Berlin, Germany (Virtual).

Bilon, X. J., Clemente, J. A. R., Evangelista, J. A. G., & Presto, A. C. R. (2020, October 26-28). Modelling Facebook use as a communication channel of people seeking information about HIV [Paper presentation]. Philippine Queer Studies Conference 2020, Quezon City, Philippines.

Presto, A. C. R., Evangelista, J. A. G., Clemente, J. A. R., & Bilon, X. J. (2020, October 26-28). The first word in HIV is human: A needs assessment of people seeking information about HIV [Paper presentation]. Philippine Queer Studies Conference 2020, Quezon City, Philippines.

Bilon, X. J. (2019, May 28-29). Inside Mocha Uson Blog: An exploratory data analysis of a pro-Duterte propagandist Facebook page [Paper presentation]. Philippine Political Science Association 2019 International Conference, Angeles City, Philippines.

Clemente, J. A. R., & Bilon, X. J. (2019, May 28-29). 'Share natin mga ka-DDS': Insights and observations on good citizenship from a content analysis of Mocha Uson Blog posts  [Paper presentation]. Philippine Political Science Association 2019 International Conference, Angeles City, Philippines.

Mallari, A. A., & Bilon, X. J. (2019, May 28-29). Populist publics and their 'others': Exploring the images of the dilawan from posts of the Mocha Uson Blog  [Paper presentation]. Philippine Political Science Association 2019 International Conference, Angeles City, Philippines.

Other Research Reports

Bilon, X. J., Clemente, J. A. R., Bries, F. S. M., Magpayo, A. M. M. (2022). National baseline study on community-led monitoring for HIV in the Philippines. Babaylanes, Inc. & TLF SHARE, Inc.

Bilon, X. J., Bries, F. S., Ladaga, B. M., Glova, A. M., & Aves, J. P. (forthcoming). Regional HIV Spending Assessment for Metro Manila, Philippines (2018–2020). UNDP & UNAIDS.

Bilon, X. J. (2021). Leaving no one behind: treatment and care concerns of people living with HIV in the time of Covid-19 (a Philippine situationer). UNDP & UNAIDS. https://www.aidsdatahub.org/resource/leaving-no-one-behind-treatment-and-care-concerns-people-living-hiv-time-covid-19

Bilon, X. J. (2020). Treatment and care for everyone: People living with HIV in the Philippines in the time of COVID-19. UNDP & UNAIDS. https://www.ph.undp.org/content/philippines/en/home/library/treatment-and-care-for-everyone--people-living-with-hiv-in-the-p.html

Bilon, X. J., & Presto, A. C. R. (2020). National Findings on Promoting Gender-Equal Leadership in the Workplace in the Philippines. UNDP.

Montevirgen, N. D. S., Navarro, M. N., Bilon, X. J., Libatique, R., Mayor, R., Norella, L., Leyva, K., Quintos, M., Marquez, S., Morin, J., Flores, S., & Umali, H. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the National HIV Response: A rapid assessment. DOH-EB, DOH-DPCB, Save the Children, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNODC, & USAID.

Evangelista, J. A. G., Clemente, J. A. R., Bilon, X. J., & Presto, A. C. R. (2020). 'The first word in HIV is human': A multimethod data analysis of interactions with PLHIV Response Center of people seeking information about HIV. UNDP.

Awards

Best Teacher Award (Graduate Level; 2nd Semester, A.Y. 2023–2024)

Best Teacher Award (Graduate Level; 1st Semester, A.Y. 2023–2024)

Awarded by UP School of Statistics


Gawad Kasarian 2022 

Natatanging Institusyon (Head of GAD Committee)

Breakthrough Activity (Lead Organiser)

Awarded by UP Diliman Gender Office

Other Written Works

Bilon, X. J. (2020, March 6). In solidarity with our queer sisters. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/voices/ispeak/opinion-in-solidarity-with-our-queer-sisters 

Bilon, X. J., & De Leon, C. (2018, June 25). With no national law, can we rely on local ordinances to protect LGBTQs against discrimination?. CNN Philippines. https://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2018/06/25/antidiscrimination-bill-lgbtq.html 

Bilon, X. J. (2018, March 13). The flamboyant 'bessy'.  The Philippine Star & The Freeman. https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/campus/2018/03/13/1796090/flamboyant-bessy 

News and Media Coverage

Research and Development Works

Socio-economic profile of LGBTQI Filipinos: a baseline study, Principal Investigator (August 2023—present). Project grant from TLF SHARE, Inc.

Development of Modules on Basic Statistics and M&E for Community-led Monitoring for HIV, Project Leader (August 2022—present). Project grant from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the U.S. Agency for International Development through FHI360.

Regional Spending Assessment on HIV for Regions 3 and 4A, Principal Investigator (July 2022—present). Project grant from United Nations Development Programme and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.

National Baseline Study on Community-led Monitoring for HIV, Principal Investigator (June 2022—August 2022). Project supported by United States Agency for International Development through Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.

Regional Spending Assessment on HIV for Metro Manila, Principal Investigator (September 2021—April 2022). Project grant from United Nations Development Programme and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.

Psychosocial Interventions Used by Mental Health Professionals for In-patients of Tertiary Hospitals Referred for Psychosocial Problems, Statistician (April 2021—May 2022). Project grant from Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology.

Experiences of Filipino LGBTQI+ Young Adults: Revision of the Survey Instrument of the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study, Researcher (February 2021—May 2021). National project of University of the Philippines Population Institute and the Demographic Research and Development Foundation.

Remote Learning and Teaching Experiences of UPD Faculty Members and Students, Co-lead Researcher (October 2020—December 2020). Project of UP Diliman Office for the Advancement of Teaching and UP Diliman Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Total Person Care: Telepsychotherapy for People Living with HIV in the Philippines, Coordinator (April 2020—December 2020). National project of United Nations Development Programme.

Promoting a Fair Business Environment in ASEAN, Principal Investigator in the Philippines (May 2020—August 2020). Regional project of United Nations Development Programme.

MOOCs on HIV and LGBTQI, Project Head (April 2020—August 2020), Technical Reviewer (August 2020—December 2021). National project of United Nations Development Programme.

Making It Work: Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Women's Economic Empowerment in the Philippines, Contributor, Reviewer, and Coordinator (January 2019—February 2020). Regional project of United Nations Development Programme.

Document and Data Management System for Victims of Duterte's War on Drugs, Data Analyst (September 2018—December 2019). Project grant from The Asia Foundation.

Courses Taught

Stat 101 (Elementary Statistics)

Stat 124 (Introduction to Programming)

Stat 125 (Applications Software and Software Packages)

Stat 142 (Introduction to Computational Statistics)

Stat 195 (Introduction to Mathematical Statistics)

Stat 208 (Programming for Data Analytics)

Stat 218 (Statistical Machine Learning)

Stat 280 (High Performance and Parallel Computing)

Student Evaluations

Results of recent student evaluation of teaching effectiveness (past two years; out of 5 and out of 100%) are included below.


Some qualitative comments received from students are included below.