Renato Constantino

Filipino historian (1919–1999)

Renato Reyes Constantino Sr. (March 10, 1919 – September 15, 1999) was a Filipino historian known for being part of the leftist tradition of Philippine historiography. Apart from being a historian, Constantino was also engaged in foreign service, working for the Philippine Mission to the United Nations and the Department of Foreign Affairs. He is the father of former Civil Service Commission Chairperson Karina Constantino David and father in law of University of the Philippines Diliman sociology professor emeritus Randy David.

Constantino attended the University of the Philippines where he became the youngest editor of the university's student publication, The Philippine Collegian. He wrote editorial columns criticizing President Manuel Quezon, which earned the attention of the President by responding to the article in one of his speeches. It was also in UP where he co founded the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity, alongside 17 other students; professor and future Senator Ambrosio Padilla served as their Charter Adviser. When the Second World War erupted, Constantino fought in Bataan and was a member of an intelligence team spying on the Japanese. He also worked as a journalist during the war. At the conclusion of the war, Constantino joined the Philippine Mission to the United Nations from 1946 to 1949 as its Executive Secretary. He worked as a counselor for the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1949 to 1951. These exposures to foreign service became the foundations of a book he wrote about the United Nations.

Constantino held professorial positions at the University of the Philippines (Diliman and Manila), Far Eastern University, Adamson University, and Arellano University. He was also a visiting lecturer in universities in London, Sweden, Japan, Germany, Malaysia and Thailand. He served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Contemporary Asia, and Trustee of Focus on the Global South in Bangkok. He wrote around 30 books and numerous pamphlets and monographs. Among Constantino's well known books are A Past Revisited and The Continuing Past. He also wrote The Making of a Filipino (a biography of Claro M. Recto), The Essential Tañada (On Statesman and Senator Lorenzo M. Tañada), Neo colonial Identity and Counter Consciousness, and The Nationalist Alternative. Several of his books have been translated into Japanese and The Nationalist Alternative has a Malaysian translation. Constantino earned various distinctions for his historical work. He received nationalism awards from Quezon City in 1987, Manila in 1988, The Civil Liberties Union in 1988, and the University of the Philippines Manila in 1989. Constantino was also the Manila's Diwa ng Lahi awardee in 1989. He was conferred the Doctor of Arts and Letters (honoris causa) from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 1989 and a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1990.

For his academic contributions to the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship, his name is inscribed on the Wall of Remembrance at the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani (Monument of Heroes). Today, Constantino is regarded as one of the leading Filipino nationalist historians of the mid 20th century, who advocated for a Filipino centric view of the country's history, alongside his contemporaries Teodoro Agoncillo and Horacio de la Costa.