Constantino Foundation – Page 11 – Dedicated to a usable history, where lessons from the past are used to shape the future.

Spotlight

Ang Gahum ng Katutubong Gubat

An overview and review of Philippine Native Trees 404: Rooted and Rising Renato Redentor Constantino, 28 April 2026, Club Filipino Patnubayan nawa tayong lahat[READ]

NATURE BEGINS IN THE MIND: Congratulations Angela!

Few people have ever seen the elusive Philippine mouse-deer in the wild. But chances are, if you’re old enough to read this paragraph, then[READ]

A Gathering of Ideas: UP CMC hosts Convocation for Historian and Journalist

by Red Constantino All the tools available to you, use them, and use them for the greater cause of national freedom and social liberation.[READ]

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Diving into Renato and Letizia Constantino’s past lives and history

Rosalinda Ofreneo: The Constantinos’ romance went beyond the commonplace connection and encompassed the country in their advocacy of nationalism. They shared what Ofreneo called “usable love,” with Letizia serving Renato “hand and foot, as prescribed by patriarchal culture,” and later becoming his equal intellectual partner.

By Liana Garcellano | Jun 29, 2026

The Philippine history book “A Past Revisited,” published in 1975, has always been[READ]

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Pasts Revisited

Apolonia Catra

Today is the 121st death anniversary of the Filipina hero, Apolonia Catra. She was killed in combat by U.S. occupation forces on March 5 in 1905. Her date of birth is unknown and there is no known portrait or photograph of the revolutionary. With pride we share with you three images created by Mari Laila Tulio and Chris Jerald Ubaldo, students of the esteemed teacher, Prof. Mitzi Mari Reyes, in their UP Diliman Fine Arts class in 2020, just before the pandemic lockdowns were imposed. The students were asked to imagine how Apolonia might have looked like. (Discover more in the coming Alas ng Bayan 2.0 exhibit at the UP Manila Museum of a History of Ideas from March 10-21.)

Catra is the only named woman officer in the armed forces of General Macario Sakay, President of the Tagalog Republic, under the command of Lt. Col. Lucio de Vega. Theodore Roosevelt, then the US president, declared the end of Philippine-American hostilities in July 1902 even though the revolutionary war to overthrow foreign occupation raged on over an endless decade. The struggle was led by the likes of Sakay who, through brazen American duplicity, was imprisoned in 1906 and hanged a year later by US troops. Apolonia is one of many historical ciphers in Philippine history. The Washington State newspaper Evening Statesman reported in 1905 that Catra “was surprised in the mountains and refused to surrender.” Like Sakay and others who fought under his leadership, Apolonia was branded a bandit by US authorities. In a 1968 study by the Ohio State University scholar George Yarrington Coats, Apolonia was described in a way that brings to mind current LGBT debates and issues surrounding extrajudicial killings (EJKs): “She dressed in men’s clothing and was well known for her cruelty and reckless courage.” High praise coming from a US academic.

Why do think there is so little material about women heroes in our country’s history? #PastsRevisited #ReimagineThePast

March 5, 2026|

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Alas ng Bayan 2.0 Opening

???????????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ????.???? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???? Tandang Sora Women’s Museum | October 15, 2025 ???? Photos by Bernard Testa A powerful launch honoring the unbroken line of Filipina heroism—from Gregoria de Jesus, Apolonia Catra, Remedios Gomez-Paraiso, Lorena Barros, to Gloria Capitan. Curated by Rio Constantino and illustrated by Billy Pangilinan,[READ]

“We almost did not go to the Frankfurt Book Fair, but we decided we must because our voices must be heard even if many choose not to listen..”

"We almost did not go to the Frankfurt Book Fair, but we decided we must because our voices must be heard even if many choose not to listen. Still we were a bit afraid; if we introduced ourselves as Ukrainian we knew Germans would welcome us, but once they find out my[READ]

“Hindi krimen ang maging makabayan.” – Judy Taguiwalo

Mensahe sa Pasinaya sa Exhibit ng Alas ng Bayan 2. O Tandang Sora Women’s Museum Oktubre 15, 2025 Makasaysayan ang buwan ng Oktubre sa maraming dahilan. Para sa akin dalawa ang may katuturan sa hapong ito: Sa Oktubre 28 ay 42 taong anibersaryo ng Filipino Women’s Day of Protest noong 1983 para[READ]

Opening Remarks and Reflections by Atoy M. Navarro | Area Studies Week 2025, UP Manila

Pambungad na Pananalita Atoy M. Navarro | UP Manila | 3 Oktubre 2025 Sa ating mga panauhin mula sa Constantino Foundation at Knights of Rizal at sa kaguruan at mga estudyante ng Area Studies Program (ASP), Master of Management (MM) Program, at Department of Social Sciences (DSS), isang malaya at mapagpalayang[READ]

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“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
“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
"... 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
“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
"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
“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
“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.
“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
“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

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Spotlight

The Foundation

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Teacher Support

Pasts Revisited

Apolonia Catra

Events

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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.”

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

"... 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."

"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. ❤️"

“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!”

“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!”​

“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!”