RENATO, Author at Constantino Foundation

The Manila Times on Pasts Revisited: Legacy of Renato and Letizia Constantino

By The Manila Times Staff | June 18, 2026

HISTORY and art merge in “Pasts Revisited,” an exhibit that recalls the love story of Renato Constantino and Letizia Roxas Constantino, two Filipinos who wrote together as a couple to decolonize the nation, ongoing until July 11 at Y Space at the Yuchengco Museum in Makati.

Mounted by the Constantino Foundation, the exhibit features letters, never-before-seen book manuscripts, rare artifacts, and artworks given to the couple by Vicente Manansala, Malang, and Araceli Dans, along with photos of the Constantino couple with good friends Claro M. Recto and Lorenzo Tañada, plus handwritten notes from William Henry Scott, Doreen Fernandez, and Edilberto Alegre.

The exhibit likewise showcases fascinating new art — contemporary expressions of a “usable history,” the concept advanced by the Constantino couple to encourage Filipinos to regard lessons from the past to shape [READ]

RENATO2026-07-17T14:26:12+08:00June 22, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

Kara David — Granddaughter of Renato and Letizia Constantino — at Pasts Revisited

Journalist Kara David — granddaughter of Renato and Letizia Constantino — visited Pasts Revisited: An Exhibit on A Usable History and the Romance of Renato Constantino and Letizia Roxas Constantino at the Yuchengco Museum.

The exhibit runs from 11 June to 11 July 2026 at RCBC Plaza, Ayala Ave. corner Gil Puyat Ave., Makati. (Closed Sundays & holidays. Bike parking available at RCBC Plaza.) Read Original Story Here

RENATO2026-07-17T14:26:12+08:00June 21, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

Pasts Revisited Exhibit – Candido’s Wave and the Story of Candido Iban

[READ]

RENATO2026-07-17T14:26:12+08:00June 19, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

Limited‑Edition Prints and New Works at the Yuchengco Museum

ART! PRINTS! Yes! An important part of the Pasts Revisited exhibit of the Constantino Foundation is new works the public can consider acquiring. They’re made by young artists who used the concept advanced by Renato Constantino and Letizia Roxas Constantino – that of a usable history – to create works urge us to reflect on lessons we can draw from the past to help shape our present as we pursue a better future for our nation – together.

See the captions for the artists’ words about their work.

Two are serigraphs – ALAS NG BAYAN by Basilio Pangilinan, who made 12 prints (two already sold since the exhibit’s opening) and CANDIDO’S WAVE by Denise Nicole Tolentino, who made 20 prints (two sold, which means only 18 are left).

[READ]

RENATO2026-06-18T17:57:41+08:00June 18, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

Former Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño Recalls His First Encounter with Renato Constantino

“My first brush with Renato Constantino was through Mr. Herman Rochester, our 4th year high school adviser, who lent me his “Miseducation of the Filipino.” From then on I was hooked.

In college, I encountered “Parents and Activists”, which helped me understand my parents’ objections to my activism, then his books “A Past Revisited” and “A Continuing Past” which made me learn history in a way that I was never taught in my elementary and high school years. His and his wife Leticia’s many articles, pamphlets, books and publications were guiding lights that stirred up the makabayan and palaban in me. Theirs was a writing that was nakakapagmulat at nakakataas ng pag unawa.

In today’s red tagging era, Tato and Leti would be easily branded as communist terrorist operatives engaged in the radicalization and terrorist grooming of our [READ]

RENATO2026-06-18T17:35:33+08:00June 18, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

A Poet’s Gift: Ramon Sunico’s Watercolor Pipe at Pasts Revisited

Some Christmases ago the poet Ramon Sunico gave the foundation’s managing director a lovely gift – a watercolor rendition of an Igorot pipe. The painting is now displayed on the very desk Renato Constantino used when he was a young writer, a fitting addition that comes with a dedication true friends will smile at. Past the desk is Renato with his pipe, and even more pipes on display, and the red sabong painting by Vicente Manansala.

Come see the exhibit people have been raving about. Pasts Revisited: An Exhibit on A Usable History and the Romance of Renato Constantino and Letizia Roxas Constantino, 11 June to 11 July 2026 at the Yuchengco Museum, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Ave. corner Gil Puyat Ave. The museum is closed on [READ]

RENATO2026-06-17T15:57:18+08:00June 17, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

Post-Liberation Blues: The Left and the Collapse of South Africa

A compelling discussion from one of the most astute and articulate chroniclers of South Africa and its ties to the continent, including the South African Left. Limited seats – first 20 to register. Bilis! Lunch and refreshments served. (After the meal we’ll have a discussion on dried African bush meat and fermenting chillies.)

Tristen Taylor has a PhD in Aristotle’s economics and is a Research Fellow at the Unit for Environmental Ethics, Stellenbosch University. Tristen is a South African journalist and photographer. He was formally the director of the South African environmental organisation Earthlife Africa JHB from 2008 to 2016. In November 2021 he was shortlisted for the Fetisov Journalism Awards for Outstanding Investigative Reporting. Tristen won the 2022 Superscrieri press prize and the 2023 Dejan Anastasijević Annual Award for Investigative Journalism. In 2024, he received an honourable [READ]

RENATO2026-06-17T15:45:53+08:00June 17, 2026|

Welcome Remarks by Renato Redentor Constantino, Managing Director of the Constantino Foundation

(Delivered at the Opening of Pasts Revisited 11 June 2026 | Yuchengco Museum, RCBC Plaza, Makati City)

Happy Pride Month, everyone! I want to start by saying it’s not enough to just say love is love. We must protect and actively support the LGBTQ community.

There is so much to say about the life and work of the two Filipinos honored here. Thankfully, they left for us an entire republic of letters. Their words and images in this exhibit speak for them, along with those shared by the dearest of their friends, such as Dr. Inday Pineda-Ofreneo, poet, feminist scholar, and biographer of Renato Constantino, and Prof. Bernard Karganilla, a student of Renato and Letizia, and Tita Princess Nemenzo, another ageless feminist icon who, like Tita Inday, was a friend of four Constantino generations, from the originals [READ]

RENATO2026-06-17T11:07:31+08:00June 17, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

A Usable Love by Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo

(Remarks by Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo during the opening of the exhibit on “Pasts Revisited,” Yuchengco Museum, 11 June 2026)

The writings of Renato and Letizia Constantino embody their partisanship, their passion for justice and freedom, their devotion to a vision that is both beautiful and illuminating. And if we get to know the partnership of husband and wife behind the partisanship, we can see a mirroring of sorts – love of country made stronger and firmer by love for each other, the family that sprung from that love, and the close circle of a “few loyal friends,” as Renato described them.

Today, I have the unenviable task of describing in three minutes, a “romance” which spanned more than half a century. Having served as [READ]

RENATO2026-06-16T22:57:58+08:00June 16, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

Message from the Curator By Ninel Constantino

In design, perhaps the most difficult pursuit is honesty—honesty in the use of line, shape, and color; honesty in the orchestration of balance, harmony, and movement; and, above all, honesty in service of the subject itself, revealing its essence without obscuring it beneath ornamentation or borloloy.

When the opportunity arose to tell the story of Renato and Letizia—their enduring legacy, their life’s work, and the profound imprint they have left on all of us—and to mount this exhibition at the Yuchengco Museum, no less, I was filled with both awe and anxiety. The circular space was in itself a challenge! But more importantly, how does one begin to contain the breadth of two lives so richly lived, or do justice to the depth of their contributions?

This exhibition is the result of many hands and generous hearts. Through the guidance, vision, and words of my brother [READ]

RENATO2026-06-16T22:57:59+08:00June 15, 2026|Tags: PastsRevisitedExhibit|

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