Legarda reclaims Filipino voice at launch of Impressions of an Archipelago in Frankfurt

October 16, 2025

On October 16, in Frankfurt, Germany, Senator Loren Legarda spoke about the lasting strength of Filipino identity and the value of working together. She made these remarks at the launch of Impressions of an Archipelago: Spanish Travellers and Writings on the Philippines, which took place during the Philippines’ Guest of Honour program at the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair.

Legarda began by recalling the Philippines before colonization, describing it as a nation known for trade, governance, and rich languages.

“Long before the first chroniclers set ink to paper, the Philippines was already a nation of thought and discernment,” the senator said.

Published in Spanish and German,and with the English version now in the works, this brings together twenty essays from scholars in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Spain, and the Philippines, exploring how Spanish travelers from the 16th century to today have viewed the archipelago.

This included three anthologies: Die Philippinen in frühen spanischen Berichten und Schriften 1521-1794; Galería de viajeros y de una viajera a las Islas Filipinas (Spanish version); and Galerie der spanischen Reisenden auf die Philippinen (German version).

The first volume presents early Spanish reports from 1521 to 1794, including royal chronicles, Jesuit mission logs, and the famed Boxer Codex. The second, in Spanish, gathers 19th- to 21st-century travel literature, from colonial officials to poets and journalists, many previously unknown. The third, in German, offers a multilingual gallery of travelers, Spanish, Cuban, Filipino, whose impressions span the final years of Spanish rule to the independent Philippine Republic. Together, these collections offer a sweeping archive of how the Philippines was seen and remembered across eras.

Supported by Legarda, who now chairs the Senate Committee on Culture and the Arts, through the Philippine Studies Program which she launched in 2017 and supported at Ruhr University Bochum in 2019, the project reopens centuries of cultural encounters through rediscovered travel accounts and vivid literary reflections.

“For generations, others have written about us; today, we write with them, beside them, and in our own voice,” Legarda said.

Now present in 33 academic institutions worldwide, the program advances research on Philippine history, languages, ecology, and memory. “Each partnership reminds us that knowledge, pursued together, is the finest form of diplomacy,” she said.

The four-term senator concludes by affirming the Filipino story as resilient and genuine.

“As we share this work with the world here at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, we stand proud of the Filipino story as an enduring part of humanity’s larger journey.” Legarda said.