Notes from the Philippine Underground

Francisco “Dodong” Nemenzo was an outstanding critical intellectual of the Philippine Left. On the one hand, nothing disheartened him more than rampant silence, apathy, and servility among the intelligentsia. On the other hand, he also disliked the drama that often came with polemics and preferred to debate on the basis of quiet logic and unadorned facts. More than anything, what lifted up his spirits were principled disagreement, lively intellectual engagement, and the productive driving force of dialectical contradiction. Imbued with a truly scientific attitude, he cultivated the habit of asking uncomfortable political and ideological questions in the face of general conformity. However, beyond the purely intellectual, his personal warmth and openness as a comrade was truly limitless and utterly generous. This collection of essays should give an idea of what he was as an important thinker and passionate fighter for social justice and equality. Ramon Guillermo Center for International