Reynaldo Ileto and Renato Constantino

Reynaldo Ileto and Renato Constantino believed on the theory of “people’s history” or history that accounts for the common people. Ileto popularized “history from below” which studies texts to better understand and interpret various important events. Renato Constantino on the other hand thought that historians mistakenly focused on great men, its colonizers and made history appear as a documentation of what happened in the past without relating it to the present. Both of their theories state that history must not only focus on great men or heroes but also the common people. For them, it would be unfair to only recognize those who portrayed a major role in an event. The masses must be included as well because they have made history by participating in those events. An evident example would be during the EDSA People Power Revolution. It was not only Corazon Aquino, Cardinal Sin and other notable personalities who stood there to march and pray. It would have been impossible to oust Ferdinand Marcos if only those notable people came. But because of the cooperation from thousands of Filipinos, it became possible. These 2 historians also believe that history of the Filipinos should not focus on its colonizers but rather on how the oppressed struggled and strived to live. The difference between the theories of Ileto and Constantino is mainly under the theological aspect. Reynaldo Ileto believed that the Catholicism played a major role on the struggling Filipinos against their colonizers. He thought that this inspired them because Jesus as well struggled from his oppressors. Constantino on the other hand focused on the idea that social classes made people fight against their colonizers being violated by them.

We define history as the study of humans’ beliefs, desires, practices and their institutions. History can be remodeled through the use of one’s imagination and actual facts. It is important to study history in order to somehow know how current events evolved and...