Pasts Revisited

KALAYAAN AND MACARIO SAKAY

The month of July is filled with many events that deserve commemoration. The founding of the Katipunan on its seventh day in 1892 is one, and the death of the great Aurelio Tolentino on July 5 in 1915 is another. But July 14 deserves prime place as well in national remembering.

On this day, Katipunan original Gen. Macario Sakay, President of the Republika ng Katagalugan, went down from the mountains on foot, accompanied by his officers Francisco Carreon, Leon Villafuerte, Julian Montalan, and Lucio de Vega.

U.S. officials had earlier sent an emissary to Sakay to convey their commitment to establish a Philippine national assembly, with independence as the eventual goal. In return, they asked, Sakay must end the armed resistance. Sakay agreed on condition that a general amnesty [READ]

RENATO2026-07-27T21:44:34+08:00July 14, 2026|

Gloria Capitan

Today, we remember Gloria Capitan (1959–2016), an environmental defender and community leader whose courage continues to inspire the fight for environmental justice.

As president of the Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Lucanin and a leader in the Coal-Free Bataan Movement, Gloria stood with her community in opposing coal pollution and advocating for the health, dignity, and well-being of present and future generations. Her life reminds us that meaningful change begins with ordinary people who choose to act with conviction and solidarity.

Featured here is Gloria Capitan’s illustration from Alas ng Bayan 2, illustrated by Basilio “Billy” Pangilinan as part of the Alas ng Bayan project of the Constantino Foundation and 350 Pilipinas.

The artwork is currently featured in Pasts Revisited: An Exhibit [READ]

RENATO2026-07-17T14:26:12+08:00July 2, 2026|

Letizia Roxas Constantino

It has been a decade since the passing of historian and writer Letizia Roxas Constantino. We feel her absence deeply.
For Letizia, “Education is not a politically neutral enterprise.” In support of teachers across the nation, Letizia considered “Teacher militancy in defense of teachers’ rights and prerogatives” vital to the realization of a free, just, and prosperous society. She was just as clear about the goal and context of teaching, regardless of the government in place:A “climate of repression and militarization and violation of human rights are ultimately traceable to economic policies instituted to benefit foreign interests and our own ruling elite. . . More than ever, we need teachers who, despite political constraints, will try their best to infuse in a new generation that firm nationalist commitment that will reverse the process of denationalization and deFilipinization of our economy, culture, and society.” *

Learn more about Letizia and her epic romance [READ]

RENATO2026-07-17T14:26:12+08:00June 27, 2026|

Felipe Salvador

Nagpupugay sa ika-156 kapanganakan ni Felipe Salvador, dakilang rebolusyonaryo na nakilala bilang Apung Ipe. Naging bahagi ng pakikibaka ng Katipunan, kasama ni Sakay sa digmaan laban sa pananalakay ng imperyalistang Estados Unidos, inspirasyon ng maraming dukha, ng mga colorum, ng maraming kilusan. Kawawang bayan na malilimutin, pati mga progresibong pwersa na nakakaalala ng bayani ng ibang sambayanan ngunit kinakalimutan ang mga muhon ng sariling kasaysayan. Itaas ang bandera ni #ApungIpe!

RENATO2026-05-26T12:16:16+08:00May 26, 2026|

Gregoria de Jesus

Ang kaarawan ni Gregoria de Jesus ay laging pagkakataong magnilay-nilay. Ang paraan kung paano naaalala si Lakambini ay salamin din kung paano natin tinuturing ang kababaihan. Dapat dinadakila si Oriang bilang rebolusyonaryong may sariling tindig, na may dangal at gumagamit ng dunong at tapang sa harap ng pananakot, kasakiman, at kalaswaan ng dayuhang kaaway at mga duwag na kababayan. Katuwang, kaibigan, at kadamay man ng mga mahal niya sa buhay tulad ni Andres Bonifacio at Julio Nakpil, babae siyang handang mamuhay ng nagsasarili, na may pananagutan sa kanyang sarili at sa kanyang bayan.

[READ]

RENATO2026-05-09T19:56:24+08:00May 9, 2026|

Karina Constantino-David

Today, May 7, marks the passing of Karina Constantino-David in 2019. How is she remembered by so many? In the very words of a friend dear to her, Jurgette Honculada: “Karina Constantino David was blazing comet and blue flame, breaking ground in the 80s with Inang Laya songs, along with Becky Demetillo Abraham, that helped galvanize a generation of feminists and activists, lending form, structure and gravitas to NGO work through HASIK and its pioneering social action programs, infusing gender pedagogy with wit as in Peministang Pusoy (based on poker) and scalpel-sharp analysis as in the inverted cross encapsulating the varieties of female oppression or the typology of mushrooming NGOs which sifted chaff from grain, crossing over to public service in the late 90s, her NGO roots grounding her like a sixth sense, and, in the past few years, jolted out of retirement [READ]

RENATO2026-05-07T10:14:37+08:00May 7, 2026|

Letizia, Valor, and Vigilance

The nation celebrates April 9 each year as the Day of Valor. We commemorate not just the fall of Bataan but the acts of heroism displayed by the likes of the Hunters-ROTC Guerillas and the Huks, which both resisted, sometimes together, the onslaught of Japanese fascists.

The 9th of April this year is also the 106th birth anniversary of the historian and writer Letizia Roxas Constantino. Were she alive today – a period flooded with AI slop, misinformation, fake news, and campaigns of disinformation – Letizia would remind us of a way of thinking that keeps citizens active and discerning.

Valor cannot be exercised without vigilance. Vigilance can be exercised only when we are informed. Information is useless without discernment, a way of thinking that interest in history will teach. This was why Letizia was a voracious consumer of magazines, journals, and the news.

In 1988, before the internet’s dominance, Letizia wrote: “I [READ]

RENATO2026-04-08T23:18:30+08:00April 8, 2026|

RC Constantino

April 4 marks the second anniversary of the passing of RC Constantino, activist and former chair and president of the Constantino Foundation. We share on this occasion a much loved poem he wrote, which calls on its readers to be better, to do better, and to live for causes greater than the individual self. We also leave you with a timely reminder from one of many campaigns RC was involved in, which defined who he was and the brand of nationalism he stood for.

Days ago, Iran allowed Philippine-flagged ships safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. To the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) bureaucracy and leadership, we say bravo, you deserve the public’s applause. However small or great the respite, given the global emergency created by the war on Iran, the relief this will give our [READ]

RENATO2026-04-04T20:16:22+08:00April 4, 2026|

Lorena Barros

We remember today Lorena Barros, who was killed in Mauban, Quezon on March 24, 1976 while fighting to bring down the Marcos dictatorship. According to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, “Medical treatment was promised by her captors if she would cooperate with them, but she said she would rather die for her beliefs. She was shot in the nape. She was 28 years old.” Barros was a granddaughter of a ????????????????????????????????????????. Her mother was part of the HUKBALAHAP guerilla resistance.

The artist Basilio “Billy” Pangilinan reimagined Barros in a particular way. Thanks to the ciphers noted down by the biologist Rio Constantino, who curated the Alas ng Bayan 2.0 exhibit, we know the following:

????????????????: Barros was a member of the UP Writers Club, and the founding chair of [READ]

RENATO2026-03-20T13:23:17+08:00March 24, 2026|

Karina Constantino – David

Magdiwang! Sa ika-80 anibersaryo ng kapanganakan ni Karina Constantino-David, handog namin ang ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????, ang unang awit sa album na ????????????????: １８９６-１９９６ ng kanyang grupo, ang ???????????????????? ????????????????, sa pakikipagtulungan sa grupong pinamunuan niya mula 1988 hanggang 1998, ang Harnessing Self Reliant Initiatives & Knowledge, o HASIK, Inc. Dugtong ang kaarawan ni Karina Constantino-David sa taong ito, ang ika-130 taong anibersaryo ng pagsiklab ng Himagsikang pinamunuan ng Katipunan na nagpatalsik sa kolonyalismo ng Espanya at naglayong makamtan ng sambayanan ang kaginhawaang pinaglaban ng Rebolusyon ng Filipinas. Ang boses sa kanta ay mula kay Becky Demetillo Abraham, matalik na kaibigan at katuwang ni Karina sa ???????????????????? ???????????????? at HASIK.

Ayon sa ????????????????: “Sinasabing ang orihinal na musika nito ay isang awit ng mga Guwardiya Sibil. Noong 1896, nilapatan ng mga Katipunero ang musika ng sarili nilang titik at ginamit [READ]

RENATO2026-03-19T14:25:43+08:00March 19, 2026|