This special issue is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Dwight David Amparo Diestro, who died on June 2, 2020, at 44. Prof. Diestro, a historian of Southern Luzon, was an Associate Professor of history in the Department of Social Sciences (DSS) of UPLB. He was one of the great pillars of DSS, serving as Department  Chair for three terms in 10 years. He was the first chair of the Southern Luzon Studies Center and the motivating force behind its progress.