The U.P. Center for Ethnomusicology aims to serve as a leading research institution in the region, perpetuate and harness the Jose Maceda Collection and generate musical and music-related knowledge and materials from an interdisciplinary perspective for academic study, pedagogy, artistic production and other applications. The Center and its collection have been developed and established to assist scholars (representing disciplines in the humanities and social sciences), composers, and serious artists and pedagogues in music.

The purposes of the Center are to: 1) to develop, organize, manage and conduct music research with focus on the development of new theories of music, composition, distribution of musical instruments, and recognition of fundamentals that bind together the musics of Asia, as well as the relationship of language to musical structures; 2) to serve as source of producing research and educational materials and to house musical instruments; 3) to publish and openly disseminate research of the Center; 4) to conduct dialogues, trainings, conferences, and other fora related to its primary functions; and, 5) to obtain and manage funds contributed by public and private persons and entities.

In particular, the UPCE assists scholars (representing disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences), composers, serious artists and pedagogues in music, who share in its vision and goals to: 1) Link up with the centers of ethnomusicological research in Asia and the western hemisphere; 2) Search for the fundamental musical structure of the musics of Asia and their relationship to society and culture in Asia and in other parts of the world; 3) Generate new theories of music and music composition; 4) Collaborate with the disciplines of archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, and mathematics on any aspect of ethnomusicological research; and, 5) Act as a source of ideas for changes in the field of music pedagogy and music education as applied in modern institutions of learning.

The principal activities of the UP Center for Ethnomusicology are: 1) Academic and applied music research for course requirements; 2) Publication of its annual research journal, Musika Jornal; and, 3) Continuing individual and collaborative field and archival research.