Ma. Marilou S. Ibita obtained her doctorate in biblical studies at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. She teaches undergraduate and graduate students at the De La Salle University in Manila and graduate students at the KU Leuven while co-directing and directing doctoral students at both universities.

She recently completed her term as a Board of Trustee member (2020-2023) of the Catholic Biblical Association of the Philippines. She continues to co-coordinate the New Testament Interest Group and is part of the Bible and Social Engagement Interest Group of CBAP. As an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature, she previously served on the Steering Committees of the research units Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making (2014-2019) and the Feminist Hermeneutics of the Bible (2014-2020). She serves the European Association of Biblical Studies as Committee Member at Large (2021-present). She also co-chaired the Research Unit Pauline Literature (2011-2017). She co-founded and co-chaired the Research Unit Orality and Literacy in Early Christianity (2016-2022). Likewise, she co-founded and co-chaired the Research Unit The Bible and Ecology (2016-2022), which has expanded into the Bible, Ecology, and Sustainability (2022-present).

Her research interests include contextual biblical hermeneutics such as liberationist, feminist, ecological, trauma, postcolonial, and future-oriented biblical interpretations of the New Testament, economics and social stratification in the Bible, as well as adult faith education and dialogue that promote human rights and sustainability. Her recent publications include “Choose to challenge: Covid-19, Community Research, and the Canaanite Woman,” Acta Theologica 43, no. suppl 35 (2023): 180–99, co-authored with her sister, Maricel, an Old Testament scholar and a co-edited book, Kindness, Courage, and Integrity in Biblical Texts and the Politics of Biblical Interpretation. She has a forthcoming co-edited book called 500 Years of Christianity and the Global Filipin@ (Springer, 2024).