As Renato Constantino and Letizia Roxas Constantino often counseled, everyone will benefit from a deeper and more dynamic understanding of history, especially those who identify with the Philippine Left. #apastrevisited
Lean Alejandro
September 19 marks the 38th anniversary of the murder of Lean Alejandro, the young activist who helped bring down the Marcos dictatorship and whose heroic life we should be celebrating rather than merely marking the brutal manner of his passing.
Lean will one day loom large in Philippine history because, like so many who fought for our country and people, he dedicated his life to establish the full possibility of democracy in our nation, without any expectation he would be around to enjoy the fruits of the struggle.
Lean was a selfless youth leader brimming with ideas, his imagination fired by the dreams of his people, a people who have long longed for peace, prosperity, and the space to celebrate life’s simple joys – for working Filipino families to enjoy enough leisure time, to cook for friends and family, to read fiction, philosophy, and poetry, to play ping pong and support other [READ]
Renato Constantino
The historian Renato Constantino passed away 26 years ago on 15 September, the very birthday of his son, RC, who designed the iconic cover of The Philippines: A Past Revisited. The book continues to be a mirror, a hammer, and a torch, as an academic recently noted. Indeed, the concept championed by Constantino – a usable past – is most useful today as we witness open thievery on display alongside the dominance of greedy dynasties treating the country’s treasury as their private piggy bank.
Where did all this begin? In many places, for sure, but there’s also one occasion that should always pop out. On 13 September 1907 the American forces occupying the Philippines hanged the last great resistance leader, the Filipino revolutionary Macario Sakay. He was a Katipunan original who fought Spanish colonialists alongside Andres Bonifacio. [READ]
Apolinario Mabini
Timely words to weigh from the great Apolinario Mabini as our people help one another face flooded days of adversity.
Gloria Capitan
Murdered on this day, 1 July 2016, Gloria Capitan, true #ClimateHero and first recorded extra-judicial killing under the Duterte regime. Capitan led the fight against a proposed coal power project in Bataan. She was a grandmother who will not be forgotten by a grateful nation.
The #ConstantinoFoundation thanks the artist Maudine Hermione B. Yap for sharing her piece The Hanged Woman, part of a collection produced under the visual communications class of Prof. Mitzi Reyes, former dean of the U.P. College of Fine Arts, all rendered in February 2020 in reflection of the #AlasNgBayan exhibit by #350Pilipinas volunteer Johnny Guarin.
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Letizia’s very much around
It’s been nine years since Letizia Roxas Constantino passed away on 27 June 2016. But the memory of her life, and how and why she lived it to the fullest—it’s not only intact; we are determined to ensure it flourishes.
The exhibit, Letizia: A Life In Letters, is just one among many initiatives we have in store. The launch this August of a special hardbound edition of The Philippines: A Past Revisited, to mark the 50th anniversary since the book was published, is another. Renato wrote the book with Letizia, and how and why they did so is explained in a new introduction that comes with the book, along with a host of other lovely features.
When someone is called a writer, we tend to think of a novelist, a poet, or a journalist. Indeed, over so many decades Letizia wrote and edited countless books and [READ]
