About BayaniMade
Our Story
I was thirteen when I left Santa Barbara, Iloilo. I had just finished at Santa Barbara Central Elementary School. I spoke Kinaray-a, and I grew up on the same land where the old epics of Panay, the Hinilawod and the Sugidanon, were first sung.
Iloilo gave me my roots. Manila gave me my street smarts.
I went back to the city where I had spent my earliest boyhood, and Manila raised me the rest of the way. High school, then college, then my first real jobs. The water pumping plant taught me how to be a real man. The travel agency opened the world to me.
That world kept pulling me further from home. Over the next three decades I lived in eight countries. I learned new languages, new customs, new ways of being. I built a career and a family far from the islands. The Philippines never left me, but it grew quiet, the way a language goes quiet when there is no one left to speak it with.
Then I came to know the full story of my great-grandfather, General Martín Teófilo Delgado.
His fight began in Santa Barbara, the same town where I grew up. He led the revolutionary army that drove Spain out of Iloilo, its last capital in the Philippines. On Christmas Day of 1898, the Philippine flag was raised over Plaza Libertad. When the Americans came, he fought them too, for two more years. When he finally laid down his arms, the same Americans he had fought named him the first governor of Iloilo under their rule. They called him the ablest leader on the island. Then the people of Iloilo elected him in their own right.
Too few people know his name today. His story was almost lost. Mine was almost lost too.
Now I am a lolo to three grandchildren. I will not let their story be lost.
That is why BayaniMade exists.
We create Filipino heritage books, activity guides, and cultural content for families raising children outside the Philippines. Our work is for the child who calls her grandmother Lola but has never heard the stories Lola grew up with. It is for the parent who wants their son to know where he comes from, even if he has never been there.
Every page teaches Filipino words, Filipino values, and the truth my great-grandfather fought for:
Your children descend from heroes.
Ron Delgado
Founder, BayaniMade LLC
Great-grandson of General Martín Teófilo Delgado
Join the Heritage Circle. Our community of Filipino families worldwide keeping the culture alive, one story, one game, one word at a time. You are now among the first, the founding circle of BayaniMade. That means:
🎁 Exclusive discounts on all BayaniMade products, before anyone else sees them
📖 Behind-the-scenes updates on everything we're building; books, guides, coloring books, and more
🎬 First access to our YouTube content, stories of Filipino heroes, epics, and culture that your children deserve to know
❤️ A community that believes your children descend from heroes - and refuses to let them forget it
We are just getting started. And you are already part of it.
Free Starter Pack
Get instant access to our free Laro ng Lahi Starter Pack — 5 traditional Filipino games every child should know. Perfect for families who want to keep our heritage alive at home. No account needed. Just your name and email to get started.
Keep the Heritage Alive
Whether you are a Filipino-American family reconnecting with your roots, an overseas Filipino who has been away from home for years, a grandparent trying to pass down stories, or a family in the Philippines wanting children to understand culture more deeply, BayaniMade is here to help keep Filipino heritage alive.
Explore our books, digital guides, printables, and storytelling resources. Start with one story, one word, one tradition, and one child, then help build a cultural legacy your family can carry for generations.