RENATO CONSTANTINO

Wag mong sabihin nag-iisa kaLaging isipin may makakasamaNarito ako oh, Narito akoSa mundo ng kawalan

HAWAK KAMAY YENG CONSTANTINO

RENATO CONSTANTINOINFLUENCIAL FILIPINO HISTORIAN, WRITER, PROFESSOR, & NATIONALIST

bIOGRAPHY

SELF & FAMILY BACKGROUNDMarch 10, 1919 - September 15, 1999 (died at age of 81)Parents: Atty. Amador Constantino and Francisca ReyesHis maternal grandmother told him stories about the abuses of Spanish friars and about how her family suffered during the early American occupation.Wife: Letizia RoxasChildren: Renato Constantino Jr., Karina ConstantinoHad eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren

the eldest of three children of Atty. Amador Constantino and Francisca Reyes

Among the strongest influences in his youth were his maternal grandmother who told him stories about the abuses of Spanish friars and about how her family suffered during the early American occupation;

his father who was critical of politicians of his time for their corruption and lack of sincerity in fighting for independence. Renato's siblings remember that although their parents were strict and expected unconditional obedience, their brother would sometimes dare to argue with them when he did not agree with their opinions

He died at 81 leaving behind his wife, 2 children and his son and daughter in laws with his 8 grand 3 great5

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUNDArellano High School - emerged as a student leader during his third and fourth years when he was elected class president- won medals as an orator and debaterUniversity of the Philippines - youngest editor of the Philippine Collegian and a star debater- won national attention with an editorial critical of President Quezon

Constantino was a product of public school system which made him more tough in life

and made his mass-based nationalism stronger

emerged as a student leader during his third and fourth years in Arellano High School when he was elected class president and also won medals as an orator and debater

His work made pres quezon to deliver his editorial speech that will answer constantinos criticism about his position

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EMPLOYMENT/FIELD BACKGROUNDMember of an intelligence team monitoring Japanese military movementsJoined the Philippine Mission to the United Nations as Executive Secretary (1946-1949) and served as Counsellor of the Department of Foreign Affairs (1949-1951)Published a book on the United Nations in 1950Spent three decades in academe:Far Eastern University, Adamson University, Arellano University and University of the Philippines, Manila and DilimanVisiting Lecturer: London, Sweden, Japan, Germany, Malaysia and ThailandVisiting Scholar

Fought for bataan

Scholar in the sense of being a researcher7

EMPLOYMENT/FIELD BACKGROUNDColumnist(1945-1998): Evening Herald, Manila Chronicle, Malaya, Daily Globe, Manila Bulletin, and Balita, Manila Chronicle, Manila Times, Graphic, often called as Ka TatoDirector of the Lopez Memorial Museum(1960-1972)Member: Editorial Board of the Journal of Contemporary Asia andTrustee of Focus on the Global South in Bangkok Wrote around 30 books and numerous pamphlets and monographs

Constantino as writerA Past Revisited and The Continuing Past (two-volume history of the Philippines)The Making of a Filipino (biography of fellow nationalist Claro M. Recto)Neo-Colonial Identity and Counter- ConsciousnessThe Nationalist Alternative (translated to Malaysian)The Mis-education of the Filipino(his most widely-read essay)The Marcos Watch (a collection of his newspaper columns that were often critical of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos)

The mis-education was released only after 5 years because his works were highly criticism of the government and political status of his time which made his work hardly released to the public

The marcos watch released two weeks before martial law was declared by MarcosHes been house arrested and neglected to have jobs for several months9

AWARDSNationalism awards from Quezon City(1987), Manila(1988), The Civil Liberties Union(1988), U.P. Manila(1989)Manila's Diwa ng Lahi Award(1989)Doctor of Arts and Letters (honoris causa) from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 1989Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of the Philippines in1990

Philosophy

NaTIONALISM

Intellectual vs intelligentWhereas intelligence seeks to grasp, manipulate, reorder, adjust [data and facts], intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes, imagines. Intelligence will seize the immediate meaning of a situation and evaluate it. Intellect evaluates evaluations, and looks for the meanings of situations as a whole.Constantino - Hofstadter

As anintellectual , one must be well-versed in social theory but as a social reformer or a believerin social change, one must engage oneself in actIvism, and thus be in constant contactwith the people. Constantino argued that to be highly intelligent need not necessarilyredound to becoming an intellectual. Intelligence is basically analytic while intellect isbasically synthetic

Synthetic observations

Buddhism Buddha observed community as he went out of his paradiseWhile constantino doesnt need to go anywhere else cause he himself observed everything through his natural environment of being a middle class man13

NationalismGenuine nationalism as an ideology of liberation must have two basic characteristics: it must be mass nationalism and it must be anti-imperialist

Constantino(1979)

Nationalism must attain the twin goals ofnational and social liberation. As a consequence of these twin goals, Constantinorecommended (a) the dismantling of the American bases and (b) the struggle for thenational surplusan effort to ensure that the fruits of the labor of the citizens go to thenational fund to be accumulated for public investments and to provide the necessaryservices for the people instead of being siphoned off to other countries, and (c) theunification of the various nationalist social strata for a common cause. The middle classmust realize that there is a connection between imperialism and their economic woes inthat they are both beneficiaries and victims of imperial control . Their economic position issteadily deteriorating due to inflation.14

NATIONALISMThe dismantling of the American basesThe struggle for the national surplusThe unification of various nationalist social strata for sommon cause

As a consequence of these twin goals, Constantinorecommended (a) the dismantling of the American bases and (b) the struggle for thenational surplusan effort to ensure that the fruits of the labor of the citizens go to thenational fund to be accumulated for public investments and to provide the necessaryservices for the people instead of being siphoned off to other countries, and (c) theunification of the various nationalist social strata for a common cause. The middle classmust realize that there is a connection between imperialism and their economic woes inthat they are both beneficiaries and victims of imperial control . Their economic position issteadily deteriorating due to inflation.15

COLONIAL CONCIOUSNESSPsychological control was as easily established. The fact that the people became Catholics made God the powerful ally of their rulers. The friars enlisted God on the side of colonial ism. To the fear of physical punishment was added the infinitely more potent fear of supernatural retribution. Thus one priest was usually enough to control a village, for rebel l ion against the priest was equated with rebel l ion against God and therefore with eternal damnation. The priest was their accepted ruler , the representative of their God on earth and the intermediary for their souls after death. The friars became the dominant factors in the colonial.Constantino(1978)

The consciousness that developed among the people, according to Constant ino,dur ing the Spanish and Amer ican colonial eras was capt ive, in the sense that i t wasshaped and tai lored to the needs of the colonizers. The Spanish friars saw to i t that thenat ives, through rel igious conversion, became doci le and il l iterate, obedient and fanatical .The Americans, on the other hand, by using educat ion wi th English as the medium ofinstruct ion, saw to i t that the nat ives developed Western preferences, thereby imbibing aWestern consumer ist orientation.16

COLONIAL CONCIOUSNESSCOLONIAL MENTALITY is a distorted consciousness which encompasses [Filipino] subservient attitudes towards the colonial ruler as well as [their] predisposition towards aping Western ways.Constantino(1978)

Colonial mentali ty is atype of consciousness which is foreign-or iented: for example, one studies in order to findwork abroad, or one prefers to study abroad and develops the att i tude that a foreigndegree is always bet ter than a local degree; or one prefers a foreign brand of anythingeven when i t is infer ior in qual ity for as long as i t is foreign; or one neglects to developa compet i t ive local product for expor t abroad and would rather cont inue to strugglefor tar iff protect ion over a long per iod of t ime.17

nATIONALIST CONCIOUSNESSInstead of a trickle-down effect , nationalists propose a bot tom-up approach which will organically connect the peoples growing productivity and freedom from economic deprivation to the utilization of accumulated surpluses for investment in industrial growth that will serve the growing needs of the population. In other words, it must be recognized that basic to any decision to complete national liberation is the adopt ion of policies that will ensure a socially just distribution of the national product and the mobilization of the national surplus to increase productive capacity primarily for the satisfaction of the basic needs of the population. Exports should play a subordinate role to product ion for local basic needs. Income from exports must be devoted to capital build-up. Increased exportation should not be a goal in itself but only a consequence of accumulated surplus which will be judiciously al located to serve the producers of wealth.Constantino(1979)

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nATIONALIST CONCIOUSNESSAntidote to Colonial ConciousnessFour types of NationalistFaddists or poseurs or fair-weather nationalistsEmotional nationalists Purely intellectual nationalistsGenuine nationalists

First, those who only pay lip service to nat ional ism: they are the faddistsor poseurs or fair-weather nat ional ists who are qui te dangerous since they are unrel iableand can even betray or misrepresent nat ional ism; second, the emot ional nat ional ists whoare most often loyal to the cause but who hardly understand it and so somet imes theymisrepresent nat ional ism; third, the purely intellectual nat ional ists who understand thecause but are not wi l l ing to sacr ifice their comfor t or posi t ion and so they accommodatethe status quo; and last ly, the genuine nat ional ists who comprehend the cause and whosededicat ion is unswerving. The last group at tempts to transform a plural ist ic grouping ofact ivist movements, including r ight ists and left ists, into a uni ted and act ive front ofprotest and dissent

Swerve-to turn aside abruptly from a straight course19

SIMPLE QUIZ

REFERENCES:http://www.tinig.com/v8/v8rc.htmlhttp://www.bantayog.org/node/79Renato Constantinos Philosophy of Nationalism: A Critique Rolando M. GripaldoFilipino Philosophy: A Western Tradition in an Eastern Setting R. M. Gripaldo

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