Message of Senator Loren Legarda | Impressions of an Archipelago:Spanish Travellers and Writings on the Philippines | 16 October 2025

October 15, 2025

When Spain first arrived on our shores, it encountered a people who already governed themselves with order, traded across islands, and spoke in languages as diverse and expressive as the landscapes they inhabited. Long before the first chroniclers set ink to paper, the Philippines was already a nation of thought and discernment.

Today, we return to those early encounters through The Gallery of Spanish Travellers to the Philippines—a work that gathers centuries of observation, imagination, and exchange. From 1521 to the […]

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Message of Senator Loren Legarda | Philippine Pavilion Reception | Frankfurt Book Fair | Tuesday, 14 October 2025 |Frankfurt, Germany

October 14, 2025

The Philippines stands today in Frankfurt not only as Guest of Honour but as a nation of storytellers, of islands, of journeys, of fighters, of survivors, of lovers, of memories, and of millions of stories longing to be told.

This Pavilion, curated by Patrick Flores and designed by Stanley Ruiz, is our offering to the world: a space of reflection, and wonder, where we invite you to experience how words and images can build bridges between peoples and across continents. Just […]

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Keynote Message of Senator Loren Legarda | Frankfurter Buchmesse Opening Ceremony | Tuesday, 14 October 2025 | Frankfurt, Germany

October 14, 2025

Imagine growing up being told that your national hero, the one who sparked the liberation of your people from more than three centuries of colonization, was not a warrior with a sword but a writer with a pen.

Ours was a medical doctor, a poet and novelist, in the name of Dr. JosĂ© Rizal, who made imagination his sharpest weapon. His words carved hope where despair had reigned, dignity where oppression had prevailed. For that imagination, he was executed in 1896, […]

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