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, 2025 | Rolling Stone Philippines Letizia Roxas Constantino, the late wife to nationalist historian and acclaimed journalist Renato Constantino, had often shied away from the spotlight. Despite being an esteemed writer, historian, and academic herself, Letizia had little desire to be a prominent figure in historical textbooks. When the matriarch was invited to be a guest speaker at The Philippine Booklovers in 1978 in place of her husband, she emphasized that she was at the podium “quite by accident.” “Instead of the major Constantino, you have this afternoon, the minor Constantino,” [READ]

A visit from the royalty of good causes: Three generations of fine Filipinas dropped by to see the Letizia: A Life in Letters exhibit. It was a pleasure to guide Teresita Ang See, her daughter Meah, and Meah’s daughter, Mayim, around the Constantino Foundation’s Linangan Gallery.

Tessy, as the academic and civic leader is known to friends, and Meah, are family friends. Meah is also a writer and, like her mother, is actively involved in countless social causes.

Renato and Letizia knew Tessy. Past foundation president, the late RC Constantino, his wife, Dudi (seen in the picture with her son, Red) and their children are good friends with both Tessy and Meah. It was thus a delight in Panay Ave. to receive Mayim as well, now a young woman pursuing a career in the arts.

Tessy and Meah are behind the celebrated Bahay Tsinoy, museum of Chinese in Philippine Life in Manila [READ]

A moving letter from Letizia on Mother’s Day in 1992, to her daughter in-law, Lourdes “Dudi” Balderrama Constantino, seems perfect today. Letizia Roxas Constantino was “Ming” to her children, and “Dada Ming” to her grandchildren. #Letizia #Lourdes [READ]