Constantino Foundation – Page 27 – Dedicated to a usable history, where lessons from the past are used to shape the future.

Spotlight

“Leonard’s song in a time of flooding,” a moving story by science journalist Bless Aubrey Ogerio

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” This old riddle, according[READ]

“Leonard Co, Bayani Ko” commemorates life, legacy of People’s Botanist

Quezon City, 15 November – Botanists and advocates gathered today at the Institute of Biology in UP Diliman to mark the 15th year since the[READ]

You are invited to the inaugural lecture of the Leonard L. Co Lecture Series!

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Spotlight

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[READ]

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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

Philippine Star extends an invitation to the exhibit

"Individuals can visit an immersive exhibit titled “Letizia: A Life in Letters,” which showcases the preserved writings, personal journals, and memorabilia of historian Letizia Roxas-Constantino at the Linangan Gallery in Quezon City on Friday. It is a tribute to Constantino’s legacy as a writer, historian, and educator. The exhibit offers an[READ]

Acclaimed journalist Ces Drilon visited the Letizia exhibit, took lovely photos, and posted her reflections on what she encountered. Enjoy!

"Letizia: A Life in Letters is an inspiring and moving exhibit at the Linangan Gallery of the Constantino Foundation. Leticia Roxas Constantino’s letters and journals were given life in a multi sensoral showcase of music, personal belongings, video, photos with letters as if floating in the air. A must see - especially[READ]

Journos and photos visit the exhibit

A group of media people visited the exhibit yesterday, led by acclaimed photojournalists Joan Bondoc and Manny Palmero, seen here with their lens on at the entrance. Joining them were Bernard Testa, Michael Varcas, Santino San Juan, Manny Palmero, Riza Zuniga, John Eiron Raymundo Francisco, Robert JA Basilio, and Ann Angala.[READ]

Philippine News Agency at Letizia: A Life in Letters

Red Constantino, grandson of Letizia and Renato Constantino, guides visitors through the immersive exhibit "Letizia: A Life in Letters" at Linangan Gallery in Quezon City on Friday (May 2, 2025). The exhibit until May 30 showcases the preserved writings, personal journal and memorabilia of Letizia, a writer, historian and educator, and[READ]

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"... 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
“Renato and Letty kept the fire burning for country and people, fueled by their abiding love for each other and the cause they both pursued with single-minded devotion. In this sense, Renato and Letty may well be considered among the principal characters in one long epic love poem about the birthing of a free and caring society, still unfinished to this day.”

Dr. Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo
biographer, at the Pasts Revisited exhibit opening, Yuchengco Museum,
11 June 2026
“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
"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
“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
“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
“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.
“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
“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 Letizia’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.”

Teddy Casiño
Former Bayan Muna Representative, Facebook post
11 June 2026
“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
“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
“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
“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.

Spotlight

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Spotlight

The Foundation

Our Partners

Teacher Support

Pasts Revisited

Gloria Capitan

Events

Videos

Stories

"... 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."

“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.”

"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. ❤️"

“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.”

“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!”

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

“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!”​

“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!”