Constantino Foundation – Dedicated to a usable history, where lessons from the past are used to shape the future.

Spotlight

The Continuing Past of Pedro Abad Santos

by Renato Redentor Constantino (The essay was published first in ABS-CBN.) “If freedom is to be preserved, fascism must be destroyed at all costs.”[1] These[READ]

🌱✨ A New Year, a New Celebration of Curiosity! ✨🌱

This January 2026, we highlight “Damayan” by Celine and Dennis Murillo, awarded 2nd Best Film in Indie-Siyensya, the pioneering science filmmaking competition of DOST-SEI.[READ]

Tambay na sa #MaginhawaArtsandFoodFestival.

With 350 PH and Justice for Leonard Co as neighbors, we open!

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Spotlight

The Continuing Past of Pedro Abad Santos

by Renato Redentor Constantino

(The essay was published first in ABS-CBN.)

“If freedom is to be preserved, fascism must be destroyed at all costs.”[1]

These are the timeless words of the hero Pedro Abad Santos, born 150 years ago on 31 January 1876. He was a nationalist, a revolutionary, and a fighter who lived by the principles of the Katipunan’s Kartilya. To forget Abad Santos is to forget who we are and who we can still be as a people. Perhaps this is why so many feel so restive yet so lost today, adrift in a brutal ocean[READ]

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Pasts Revisited

Emilio Jacinto: Bayani ng mga Bayani

Nakataas ang baso at tasa para sa iyo, sa ika-150 araw ng iyong kapanganakan, dakilang intelektwal at makata na katuwang ni Supremo Andres Bonifacio.

Patnubayan mo ang bayang ninanakawan, ang bayang pinipilayan ng mga ganid, ang bayang malilimutin na pinipilayan ang sarili.

Hindi malayong kahit sa panaginip madalas kayong magsama ni Lean Alejandro, Pedro Abad Santos, at Remedios Gomez-Paraiso habang nagtatawanan, nalulungkot, at nang-uusig sa bayan niyong sinisinta.

Malamang nag-aalay din ng awit para sa iyo si Gloria Capitan sa videoke sa langit kasama ng mandirigmang Gregoria Lakambini.

Patuloy kang nabubuhay sa dibdib ng bawat mamamayang nagsasabuhay sa ikawalong kalatas ng Kartilya ng Katipunan na iyong sinulat: Ipagtanggol mo ang inaapi, at kabakahin ang umaapi:

Lahat ng lumalaban para sa isulong ang karapatan ng mga may kapansanan, ng mga bata, mga babae, mga senior citizen, ng LGBTQ community, at karapatan ng mga komyuter at mga siklista. Ang mga tagapagtanggol ng malinis na hangin at tubig para sa lahat, mga tagapagtanggol ng karagatan, kagubatan at katutubong halaman; mga lumalaban sa mga taong buwaya, sa pandarambong ng mga dayuhan, sa mga berdugo, sa mga politikong aksaya sa oxygen na walang hangganan ang katakawan.

Pangalan mo lang sapat nang gabay: Heneral Emilio Jacinto na kilala rin bilang Pingkian – mga bato na pag pinag-kiskis ay nagpapaliyab – at bilang Dimasilaw, na nagpapaalala sa atin sa panahong nahaharap sa matinding panganib ang bansa: huwag masilaw sa ningning. Ang hanapin ay liwanag, at sa paghahanap, wag matakot sa dilim.

* Ang imahe ay detalye mula sa mga mural ng grupong TutoK na kinomisyon ng Constantino Foundation noong 2007 bilang pagdiriwang sa buhay ni Macario Sakay at Lean Alejandro.

December 15, 2025|

Events

Videos

Stories

Pedro Abad Santos 150th Birth Anniversary Lecture

Dr Ian Christopher Alfonso gave a lecture yesterday worthy of the 150th birth anniversary of the revolutionary Pedro Abad Santos. We thank our co-organizers, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the UP Department of History, and the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Read More[READ]

We are honored to be part of an event honoring one of the country’s finest – and one of Pampanga’s greats – Pedro Abad Santos.

Join if you can, it's free - but remember, first come, first served basis. Seats are limited! Lezzgo and let's learn tons of insights together. It's not everyday one gets to hear the compelling scholar, Dr. Ian Christopher Alfonso, speak. #aPastRevisited #MabuhaySiDonPerico #MabuhayPedroAbadSantos Read More About The Lecture Here [READ]

🌱✨ A New Year, a New Celebration of Curiosity! ✨🌱

This January 2026, we highlight “Damayan” by Celine and Dennis Murillo, awarded 2nd Best Film in Indie-Siyensya, the pioneering science filmmaking competition of DOST-SEI. Their work reminds us how a nation is built, one mushroom at a time. Their film draws attention to the hidden networks beneath our forests --the mycelial[READ]

A LIGHT THAT REFUSES TO BE DARKENED

By Wilson Lee Flores | December 14, 2025 Between the dangerous, dazzling "ningning" (glitter) of false promises & the steady, guiding "liwanag" (light) of truth—which do we choose? Last December 12, at 87-year-old #KamuningBakery Cafe, the non-partisan #PandesalForum honored the 150th birth anniversary of the fierce, brilliant hero #EmilioJacinto—the “Brains of[READ]

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“Mabuhay ka RC. Patuloy namin ikaw inaalala at ipinagdadasal sa lakbay mo ngayon. We will continue our conversations with family, even while you have left us. You will forever live in our hearts and we celebrate your life fully!”

Loretta Ann Rosales
Former member, House of Representatives
and former chair of the Commission on Human Rights
“Good read. At aliw. Ito ang kahapon na masarap balikan!”

Cherylle Lara Raguini
Subic civic leader, commenting on the foundation essay in ABS-CBN,
“Street names and the persistence of memory,” June 2024
"... A Past Revisited sparked a different kind of revolution, one that urged Filipinos to view history through our own eyes and experiences. Thank you very much to our dear friend, ABS-CBN’s Karmina Constantino, a resident of San Juan, for inviting me to be part of this historic occasion."

Mayor Francis Zamora
San Juan City Governor , On his speech at APR 50th anniversary edition launch at NHCP Museo El Deposito
2025 August 29
“Yes, third time [sila/Inang Laya] pumunta at kumanta sa rally sa Dasmarinas town plaza, sa parish church sa our Lady of Perpetual Help sa Dasmariñas Bagong Bayan and sa martsa rali ng mga maralitang lunsod from Dasmariñas to Bacoor na hinarang sumama at di sya [Karina Constantino-David] umalis hanggang kinabukasan.”

Ian Yaun
March 19, 2024
“At a low point in my life, I received a note from Letizia Constantino, unsolicited advice that encouraged me to keep writing. I never got to thank her personally for that pat on the back; this column is belated gratitude.”

Ambeth R. Ocampo
Historian, An excerpt from his column in Philippine Daily Inquirer
"Letizia Roxas Constantino, historian", 2025 June 06
“Taos pusong pagpapasalamat ng angkang Orosa for your inclusion of our Beloved Maria Y. Orosa in this PUP mural. Renato Redentor Constantino, we are ever grateful for this honor and recognition. Our forebears knew each other. Mine spoke highly of the Constantinos!”

Evelyn Orosa del Rosario Garcia
Great grand niece of Maria Y. Orosa and author of National Book Award winner
Appetite for Freedom: The Recipes of Maria Y. Orosa, with Essays on Her Life and Work.
"Thank you for having us ... We truly enjoyed ourselves. The exhibit was very inspiring, beautifully presented and so insightful. We were all so impressed. Hope we can use some of the material in our Women’s Museum. ❤️"

Mayor Joy Belmonte
Quezon City Governor, On her visit at Letizia: A Life in Letters Exhibit
2025 July 30
“We have been so wonderfully blessed in the past week by the presence of tremendously inspiring people, one of them, the one who likes to “shake trees”, is Sir Renato Redentor Constantino who moved the entire plenary to feel, think, and act… people couldn’t help but share and talk about the presentation. I told Sir Red that by the second day of the event, people realized there were ‘deeper commitments than professionalism.’”

Floraime Pantaleta
Executive Director, Ateneo Zamboanga-Mindanao Institute
“A Past Revisited was both a revelation and a challenge. It made us see the familiar narratives of Philippine history in new and unsettling ways. It invited us to ask deeper questions—about power, about colonial legacies, about the struggles and aspirations of our people. And it also gave us a sense of responsibility: to carry history forward not just as memory, but as a guide for action and transformation.”

Dr. Chas M. Navarro
Commissioner, National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP)
On his remarks at the launch of the 50th Anniversary Special Edition of The Philippines: A Past Revisited
2025 Aug 29
“One of the most towering texts of nationalist historiography — co-authored by Letizia Constantino, whose voice carried the struggle for true independence into classrooms and beyond.”

Michael “Xiao” Chua
Historian , On his column at The Manila Times
“Letizia Constantino: Nationalist historian, wife and mother” 2025 June 17
“Frequented the area in the early ’80s because of Popular Bookstore (small door, beside the gate of Mapua High School), the only one that carried engineering books required for our course. It was still Martial Law… One buys … dangerous reading materials afraid of the Secret Marshals who were then infamous for salvaging (tokhang in the time of tatay digong) petty criminals and activists. Across Mapua High then was a parking lot of mini buses – now the Manila Grand Opera.”

Melvin Purzuelo
Iloilo environmentalist, commenting on the foundation’s history article in BusinessMirror,
“Cycling through the fabled history of an opera house, now a hotel,” June 2024.
“Thank you very much, Constantino Foundation! It was a lovely afternoon spent learning about history, poetry, art, climate change, street names, the bicycles in revolution, kickass heroines, and much more! Renato Redentor Constantino’s talk and Renato Senior’s book A Past Revisited really got under my skin. Maraming salamat!”

Gege Cruz Sugue
Flips Flipping Books book club, 12 August 2024

Spotlight

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Spotlight

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Pasts Revisited

Emilio Jacinto: Bayani ng mga Bayani

Events

Videos

Stories

“Mabuhay ka RC. Patuloy namin ikaw inaalala at ipinagdadasal sa lakbay mo ngayon. We will continue our conversations with family, even while you have left us. You will forever live in our hearts and we celebrate your life fully!”

“Good read. At aliw. Ito ang kahapon na masarap balikan!”

"... A Past Revisited sparked a different kind of revolution, one that urged Filipinos to view history through our own eyes and experiences. Thank you very much to our dear friend, ABS-CBN’s Karmina Constantino, a resident of San Juan, for inviting me to be part of this historic occasion."

“At a low point in my life, I received a note from Letizia Constantino, unsolicited advice that encouraged me to keep writing. I never got to thank her personally for that pat on the back; this column is belated gratitude.”

“Taos pusong pagpapasalamat ng angkang Orosa for your inclusion of our Beloved Maria Y. Orosa in this PUP mural. Renato Redentor Constantino, we are ever grateful for this honor and recognition. Our forebears knew each other. Mine spoke highly of the Constantinos!”​

"Thank you for having us ... We truly enjoyed ourselves. The exhibit was very inspiring, beautifully presented and so insightful. We were all so impressed. Hope we can use some of the material in our Women’s Museum. ❤️"

“One of the most towering texts of nationalist historiography — co-authored by Letizia Constantino, whose voice carried the struggle for true independence into classrooms and beyond.”

“Taos pusong pagpapasalamat ng angkang Orosa for your inclusion of our Beloved Maria Y. Orosa in this PUP mural. Renato Redentor Constantino, we are ever grateful for this honor and recognition. Our forebears knew each other. Mine spoke highly of the Constantinos!”