RENATO, Author at Constantino Foundation

Experience Philippine martial law in the role-playing card game ‘Diktador!’

By Liana Garcellano | Oct 1, 2026

It was Sept. 19, a sunny Saturday morning, a rarity in this monsoon season, when Red Constantino talked about history at the Constantino Foundation before the start of Diktador!

History is everywhere, Constantino said, and raised the metaphor of a forest with the dead leaves “reincarnating” into a new forest. He went on to say that people never remember why there was opposition to martial law and why it’s important to remember, and that resistance doesn’t necessarily begin with “big organized forces” but with individuals from below.

The scene was on Panay Avenue, Quezon City, where the Constantino Foundation (of which is the director) is headquartered. The members [READ]

RENATO2026-10-01T17:09:35+08:00October 1, 2026|

To Remember Is to Resist: Playing Diktador at Linangan Gallery

At the moment, wild laughter! Participants play the Diktador card game at the Linangan Gallery of the Constantino Foundation, a loud, raucous event full of reflection and memory, organized by the lovely people of Renacimiento Manila and Project Gunita, esteemed and, during fun times, unhinged partners – ang saya! We love the vibe… Tatak RM, Tatak PG. #HistoryIsEverywhere

RENATO2026-09-19T11:40:37+08:00September 19, 2026|

Lean Alejandro

We commemorate the 39th anniversary of the brutal murder of the great Leandro Alejandro. He was assassinated on 19 September 1987, a year after the fall of the tyrannical Marcos government, which he helped overthrow.

Were he alive today, Lean would remind us that the past is not about the great deeds performed by great men in great events. He would tell us history is a flow that leaves us patterns that help us navigate current crises. Lean’s life tells us the heroism of our people is not about two canopy trees alone but a living forest that often begins with pioneer trees like the bignay or balete, which take root in stony, arid land, their roots and fallen leaves, branches, and trunks eventually enriching the soil and inviting more plants, mycelial networks, and other living [READ]

RENATO2026-09-19T11:41:20+08:00September 19, 2026|

Yuchengco Museum’s 20th Anniversary

The journalist Karmina Constantino-Torres, reads Ramon C. Sunico’s poem, Panalangin ng Punyal, and Allan Popa’s Eklipse sa Bingit ng Digmaang Pandaigdig, the foundation’s contribution to the 20th anniversary celebration of the Yuchengco Museum. Before Karmina, Marjorie Evasco read two of her magical poems as well in a night of classical guitar and poetry. The poems Karmina read are threads tied to an upcoming exhibit of the great and sorely missed Neil Doloricon, an artist of mighty power and grace, to be held at the museum and announced later, an activity the Constantino Foundation is proudly supporting as well. #Wagas, tunay.

RENATO2026-09-18T16:43:07+08:00September 18, 2026|

IKA-27 ANIBERSARYO NG PAGPANAW NI RENATO CONSTANTINO

Noong Setyembre 15, 1999, pumanaw ang kilalang historyador na si Renato Constantino sa edad na 80. Kabilang siya sa mga humamon sa umiiral na pananaw ng kasaysayan ng Pilipinas at nagtaguyod ng makabayang pananaw dito.

Isinilang siya sa Maynila noong Marso 10, 1919. Habang nag-aaral sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, naging patnugot siya ng Philippine Collegian, ang pahayagang pang-estudyante ng unibersidad. Sa pamamagitan nito, kinondena niya ang kolonyal na rehimen ng Estados Unidos at ang mga mapanupil na ugali ni Pangulong Manuel Quezon.

Noong Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig, naglingkod siya bilang isang Private sa Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas at kumalap ng impormasyon sa likod ng mga linya ng kaaway. Nang sumuko ang mga puwersa ng USAFFE noong kalagitnaan ng 1942, lumahok siya sa kilusang gerilya sa Maynila. Matapos ang digmaan, lumipat siya mula [READ]

RENATO2026-09-18T16:36:55+08:00September 15, 2026|

RC Constantino

RC Constantino would have turned 82 today, 15 September 2026. He was the president of the Constantino Foundation from 2016 till his untimely passing in 2024. He is missed deeply.

Among his many contributions to activism, RC was known for his role in 1994 when he defied the Ramos administration by leading the watershed Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor or APCET. Bowing to the wishes of the Indonesian government, Ramos tried to ban the international meeting, but RC and his many colleagues refused to be coerced. Together with Timor Leste and Indonesian activists, RC led Philippine and overseas NGOs, and dignitaries such as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire and France’s First Lady Danielle Mitterand to ensure APCET would push through. Today, Timor Leste is an independent nation and a proud member of ASEAN.

[READ]

RENATO2026-09-18T16:39:34+08:00September 15, 2026|

Gen. Macario Leon Sakay

#UsableHistory: On this day 119 years ago – on 13 September 1907 – Gen. Macario Leon Sakay was hanged along with Col. Lucio de Vega by authorities of the American occupation. President of the Katagalugan Republic, Sakay was a Katipunan original who fought alongside Bonifacio, Jacinto, and Oriang de Jesus. On 16 October 1907, a mere month after Sakay’s execution, U.S. officials inaugurated the Philippine Assembly, a chamber packed with turncoats ever ready to trade the nation’s interest for personal gain.

Think of Sakay and the unfinished Revolution each [READ]

RENATO2026-09-12T23:05:28+08:00September 13, 2026|

Vaya con Dios, Resil: A Nation’s Gratitude

We mourn with a grateful and forgetful nation the passing of a giant. Resil Mojares helped tell the story of who we are and who we ought to be. That we are not so easily blown away because we are grounded, with evident roots, and that we remain grounded as well, thrashing angrily in place and stuck in ahistorical sterile amber, factual like flightless birds unable to take to the air.

For everything he has left behind, we have only gratitude for the sense of gravity shared by Resil – the rediscovery of the continuing gift of the past, which is a constant reminder of how elusive the act of remembering remains for our people.

Vaya con Dios, Resil. Thank you.

Photo from Leigh Mojares

[READ]

RENATO2026-09-08T02:37:20+08:00September 5, 2026|

Let’s Play DIKTADOR: An Immersive Role-Playing Card Game!

This September 19, the Constantino Foundation joins Renacimiento Manila and Project Gunita for DIKTADOR!, an immersive role-playing card game that brings participants into the history of Martial Law and the Filipino people’s struggle for resistance.

We invite you to join us at the Constantino Foundation Linangan Gallery for a morning of gameplay, conversation, and historical engagement.

Registration Details Here!

RENATO2026-09-04T15:35:46+08:00September 3, 2026|