Constantino Foundation – Page 10 – Dedicated to a usable history, where lessons from the past are used to shape the future.

Spotlight

Keepers of Memory

by Red Constantino “[H]ow do we exist, save on the lips of our friends?” wrote Virginia Woolf to Molly MacCarthy on 11 June 1939.[READ]

“Letizia Roxas Constantino, historian” by Ambeth Ocampo

Historian Ambeth R. Ocampo appreciated the exhibit when he dropped by the other week: "A recording of her playing the piano accompanied me as[READ]

Letizia: A Life in Letters – Extended Viewing Opportunity

Thank you for your interest in the exhibit Letizia: A Life in Letters! Unfortunately, the period of free public access ended last 30 May. In[READ]

Visitors from far away!

It's been almost two months and we've had so many delightful visits. From students to scholars, activists to advocates, poets and engineers, to parents,[READ]

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Spotlight

The Constantino Foundation continues at the Manila International Book Fair with our history titles, including the 50th anniversary edition of The Philippines: A Past Revisited with a new introduction.

Find us at Booth 2-156, in partnership with Boox That Leave a Mark, on the second floor of SMX Convention Center (very near[READ]

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Pasts Revisited

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.

#APastRevisited

July 1, 2025|

Events

Videos

Stories

Visitors from far away!

RENATO2025-09-04T14:58:04+08:00May 30, 2025|

It's been almost two months and we've had so many delightful visits. From students to scholars, activists to advocates, poets and engineers, to parents, grandparents, journalists, photographers, government officials, and corporate officers. The visitors have been dazzling, curious, funny, introspective, and fully engaged. Among the most special however are the visitors[READ]

Letizia Constantino, her letters, and her grandson – Philippine Daily Inquirer

RENATO2025-09-04T14:58:10+08:00May 26, 2025|

"An invitation from Renato Redentor “Red” Constantino to view the exhibit “Letizia: A Life in Letters” slipped into my DM shortly before Holy Week. (Red and I were classmates at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School or JASMS, which used to occupy a wide stretch of land along Edsa.) The exhibit celebrates[READ]

Poets and scholars visit exhibit!

RENATO2025-09-04T14:57:59+08:00May 23, 2025|

What a magical day it was to receive four fine women, all of them luminaries in their respective fields, three of them Constantino Foundation partners, thanks to the IYAS and one who was a close personal friend of Letizia Roxas Constantino, and, in her words, a proud student of Renato Constantino.[READ]

Discover the story of Letizia Roxas Constantino in this moving feature by Rolling Stone Philippines

RENATO2025-09-04T14:57:51+08:00May 20, 2025|

This Exhibition Brings A Hidden Figure Into The National Spotlight From April 9 to May 30, the retrospective “Letizia: A Life in Letters” will be open to the public and will spotlight the life and writings of the esteemed but humble historian and nationalist By Mel Wang | April 10,[READ]

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“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.
“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
“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
"... 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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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

Spotlight

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Spotlight

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Pasts Revisited

Gloria Capitan

Events

Videos

Stories

“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.”

"... 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."

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

“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!”

“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!”​

"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. ❤️"

“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!”