18/12/2025
REMEMBERING, GRACIANO. Today, we honor the legacy of Graciano Lopez Jaena of Jaro, Iloilo. We know him as the propagandist, the founder and first editor of La Solidaridad, the great orator of his time, among many other accolades.
JOIN US in celebrating his life later at 3PM (December 18, 2025) with the book launch of "Graciano's Dirty Fingers' at the atrium of the National Museum of the Philippines - Iloilo. Authored by Emmanuel Lerona, the book is not only a scholarly contribution but also a public invitation to rethink how Filipinos engage with archives, memory, and historical interpretation. THIS IS A FREE EVENT.
To deepen this conversation, the program includes a panel discussion on “Counter-Archive as Historiography,” featuring:
Dr. Genevieve Asenjo, writer and literary scholar whose work interrogates archipelagic thinking, narrative, and cultural ecologies;
Dr. Ma. Luisa Mabunay, Philippine studies scholar, historian, and editor whose expertise anchors the project’s methodological rigor;
Prof. Stephen B. Alayon, information specialist known for advancing archival access, research data management, and the use of emerging technologies in community-centered preservation;
Mia Fe Lopez-Cruz, 4th generation descendant of Graciano, and President, Dr. Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation; and
Berks Joseph Barrios Tan, a Social Studies scholar whose work engages historical research, heritage preservation, heritage preservation, and advocacy in human rights and civic participation.
A limited number of copies of the book will be available at the launch for a LAUNCH PRICE of Php 600.00.
THE AUTHOR AND THE EDITORS
Emmanuel A. Lerona is a writer, researcher, filmmaker, and book designer whose work blends archival digging, community storytelling, and visual narrative. He creates documentaries, short films, and cultural projects that foreground Panay indigenous lifeways and place-based memory, while collaborating widely across schools, government agencies, and creative communities.
Ma. Luisa “Meloy” E. Mabunay is a retired UP Visayas professor and historian whose work spans local history, Japanese migration, gender studies, and coastal resource management. With decades of scholarship, curatorship, and publication, “Meloy” brings her extensive expertise to reexamining the life and legacy of Graciano López Jaena through newly accessed archival materials and fresh historical insight.
Marilynn “Meyen” Quigley is a poet and writer based in Victoria, Canada, whose life and work span the Philippines, Sudan, the U.S., Pakistan, and Turkey. A UPIC alumna, she has taught, written training manuals, and published essays on migration and cross-cultural experience, while remaining active in community work with Filipino immigrants in Victoria.
Francisco “Frank” G. Villanueva is an educator, writer, and communication professional whose career bridges teaching, advertising, and cultural advocacy. A longtime Canada-based practitioner, he has lectured widely on Philippine arts and heritage and published Bugasong to Barcelona: Life and Works of Felix Laureano (2025).
REMEMBERING GRACIANO. Today, we honor the legacy of Graciano Lopez Jaena of Jaro, Iloilo. We know him as the propagandist, the founder and first editor of La Solidaridad, the great orator of his time, among many other accolades.
JOIN US in celebrating his life later at 3PM (December 18, 2025) with the book launch of "Graciano's Dirty Fingers' at the atrium of the National Museum of the Philippines - Iloilo. Authored by Emmanuel Lerona, the book is not only a scholarly contribution but also a public invitation to rethink how Filipinos engage with archives, memory, and historical interpretation. THIS IS A FREE EVENT.
To deepen this conversation, the program includes a panel discussion on “Counter-Archive as Historiography,” featuring:
Dr. Genevieve Asenjo, writer and literary scholar whose work interrogates archipelagic thinking, narrative, and cultural ecologies;
Dr. Ma. Luisa Mabunay, Philippine studies scholar, historian, and editor whose expertise anchors the project’s methodological rigor;
Prof. Stephen B. Alayon, information specialist known for advancing archival access, research data management, and the use of emerging technologies in community-centered preservation;
Mia Fe Lopez-Cruz, 4th generation descendant of Graciano, and President, Dr. Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation; and
Berks Joseph Barrios Tan, a Social Studies scholar whose work engages historical research, heritage preservation, heritage preservation, and advocacy in human rights and civic participation.
A limited number of copies of the book will be available at the launch for a LAUNCH PRICE of Php 600.00.
THE AUTHOR AND THE EDITORS
Emmanuel A. Lerona is a writer, researcher, filmmaker, and book designer whose work blends archival digging, community storytelling, and visual narrative. He creates documentaries, short films, and cultural projects that foreground Panay indigenous lifeways and place-based memory, while collaborating widely across schools, government agencies, and creative communities.
Ma. Luisa “Meloy” E. Mabunay is a retired UP Visayas professor and historian whose work spans local history, Japanese migration, gender studies, and coastal resource management. With decades of scholarship, curatorship, and publication, “Meloy” brings her extensive expertise to reexamining the life and legacy of Graciano López Jaena through newly accessed archival materials and fresh historical insight.
Marilynn “Meyen” Quigley is a poet and writer based in Victoria, Canada, whose life and work span the Philippines, Sudan, the U.S., Pakistan, and Turkey. A UPIC alumna, she has taught, written training manuals, and published essays on migration and cross-cultural experience, while remaining active in community work with Filipino immigrants in Victoria.
Francisco “Frank” G. Villanueva is an educator, writer, and communication professional whose career bridges teaching, advertising, and cultural advocacy. A longtime Canada-based practitioner, he has lectured widely on Philippine arts and heritage and published Bugasong to Barcelona: Life and Works of Felix Laureano (2025).
