Pedro Paterno (1857-1911) is a Filipino politician, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. His ability to be fluid in both the Philippine and Spanish languages allowed for proper negotiation between the Spanish Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and Philippine revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo.

I chose to set a poem from his collection Sampaguitas y otras poesías varias to celebrate Philippine literature written during the Spanish colonization as collective stories of love, struggle, bravery, revolution and opposition.