Senator Loren Legarda emphasized the enduring strength of Filipino identity and the importance of shared understanding during the launch of Impressions of an Archipelago: Spanish Travellers and Writings on the Philippines on October 16, held as part of the Philippines’ Guest of Honour program at the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair.
Legarda began her remarks by recalling the precolonial Philippines as a thriving society 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,” she said.
The book—published in Spanish, German, and English—compiles twenty essays from fifteen scholars in Europe and the Philippines, examining how Spanish travelers from the 16th century to the present have portrayed the archipelago.
As chair of the Senate Committee on Culture and the Arts, Legarda underscored the importance of reclaiming historical narratives.
“For generations, others have written about us; today, we write with them, beside them, and in our own voice,” she said, calling the project both a recovery and a reclamation — an act of cultural diplomacy grounded in respect and shared learning.
Legarda also credited the Philippine Studies Program, which she initiated in 2017 and later supported at Ruhr University Bochum in 2019, for helping realize the project. The program, now active in 33 academic institutions worldwide, promotes research on Philippine history, language, ecology, and memory.
“Each partnership reminds us that knowledge, pursued together, is the finest form of diplomacy,” Legarda added.
The four-term senator concluded by affirming the resilience and authenticity of the Filipino narrative.
“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,” she said.
