Senator Mitra was born in Puerto Princesa, Palawan on February 4, 1928 to Ramon P. Mitra and Purification Villarosa.

Mitra began his career as a journalist, going back San Beda days where he took his secondary school and was the editor of the "Bedan" school newspaper during high school. Later on, he went back to San Beda College and obtained his Bachelor of Laws. He became a diplomat, then served as special assistant to the late President Carlos Garcia. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1965 to 1971 and as a senator in 1971.

He was appointed Philippine Foreign Service Officer at Washington, D.C. and United Nations from 1954 to 1961, then on 1961 he was special assistant to the Office of the President. Senator Mitra became a senior technical assistant to the Office of the Mayor of Manila from 1962 up to 1965 and was head of Philippine National Oil Company in 1998.

Senator Mitra had a life-long involvement with cattles. He was Chairman of the Farm Management Enterprises Corporation which owned and operate farm cattles ranches and breeder of gamecocks, thoroughbred horses and cattles.

He was elected congressman representing Palawan for two terms from 1965 up to 1973 and resigned during midterm and was elected senator in 1971, only to find his term cut short by Martial Law. After the Edsa revolt in 1986, Mitra was appointed as Agriculture Secretary but became a Congressman eventually winning as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1987. Mitra is best remembered for his strong leadership of the lower house from July 1987 until he ran unsuccessfully for Philippine president in 1992.

He was married to Cecilia Aldeguer Blanco with whom he had six children.

Mitra admitted that he was not able to accomplish all he had set out to do, but that he had already done a lot and was satisfied with it, when his terminal illness was made public.

"Death is the celebration of life," in his own words.

"This is as it should be," Ople said, "for Monching has lived the fullest measure of his life. He is now at rest from his labors. He has departed in peace, leaving all of us who know him good memories of a life well-spent." [excerpts taken from Efren Danao and Ted Torres (Star) March 21, 2000]
 

Subject: Rene Saguisag re: SBC championship
San Beda Alumi network Occasional Issue No. 9 October 3, 2006
Manny V. Pangilinan, GS '58 and HS '62, is often in the news for one feat or another. Another Bedan is also in the limelight, Chito Francisco, HS '58. The Meralco prez has become the center of a lot of attraction and some criticism after Milenyo struck (where in heaven's name did the weather guys get this monicker?). My own credibility was also affected during the NCAA Finals week. I tell people how busy I am, up to my gills in work. And yet, everyone and his mom seem to recall seeing me on TV all the time. Well, if Manny with all he has to do found the time, why not me with far, far less to count?

Rene Saguisag
AB'59,Honors; LLB. '63,CumLaude

Probably, the most well-known Bedan student today is Samuel Ekwe, of Nigeria, who helped lead the Red Lions to the Promised Land; after 28 years, the worm turned in the NCAA.

Trophy-starved is almost like being romance-starved, it seems. I had not seen such number of fans and intensity of fervor shown by the Red Sea in every available space in Araneta for three days of the Finals on September 18, 20 and 22. The way the final game ended saw a Bedan crowd, relieved, momentarily; and then, ecstasy and pandemonium, at the Dome, followed by a looooooong celebration in Mendiola combining elements of Christmas, New Year and Mardi Gras.

The last eight or so minutes of the deciding game (best of five, as it turned out, as pointed out by NCAA Commissioner Jun Bernardino, since SBC and PCU had split their first four games) were misery for us. But, basketball is like chess: he who makes the last mistake loses. If we had won by 20 points walking away, it would not have been as heart-pounding or gut-wrenching. When Yousif Aljamal snagged the last rebound with seconds to
go, no PCU cager had the presence of mind to foul him (he is a foul line ace anyway). PCU absolutely had nothing to be ashamed of though. Had Beau Belga's last shot swished in, we might have been Duke's famed 1978 Forever's Team, America's Team, that fell short of the NCAA title in that year, bowing to Kentucky, but were hailed anyway.

For now, we are just thankful that the SBC-PCU Finals was not sidelined by Xangsane or Milenyo. A week after the super-howler, we still see nothing in Sky Cable;  good Destiny provides an alternative. Power came back to our area (Palanan, Makati) on Sunday, October 1st.   I saw the last two minutes of the deciding game. And there it all came back. The fiesta was going on, on the floor, with Manny being interviewed, along with Fr. Rector Anscar Chupungco, HS '57, Coach Koy Banal, BCS '82 (hugged by the last coach to win for San Beda, slasher Bonnie Carbonnel, in 1978) and Sam, Yousif, Pong, et al..

Everywhere I go, I keep getting congratulations from those who watch college hoops, which may be basketball at its purest, most pristine and innocent best. I just hope there is nothing to all this talk about betting lines and point-shaving involving allegedly certain NCAA cagers and refs throughout the season. For shame, if true.

The unique Indian Yell was a big hit, as always, although coming close would be the fantastic JRC number of those cheerleaders of old dancing to Till the End of Time. Bingo J! Bingo R! Bingo C! JRC!

It is not possible to remember all I saw in Araneta, such as my law classmate, Pepe Erestain, HS '57, AA '59 and LL.B. '63; pre-law buddy and townsman, Aveling Cruz, AA '57, LL.B '61; English class pal, Joe Araullo, BCS '59 (we both learned never to use "townmate"); The Bedan Sideline  Slants columnist Raul Contreras, GS '52, HS '56 and AB '60; my students, Chito Tolentino, HS '67, AB '71 and LL.B. '75 and Judge Willie Dumayas, AB '71 and LL.B. '75; PCGG Commissioner ex-"fugi" Nic Conti, LL.B.'98, but became "available" just in time; my parents intrams teammate Mayor Recom Echiverri, BSC '76; Rep. Boy Umali, GS '69, Rep. Oyie Umali, LL.B. '90, Rep. Baham Mitra, BSC '91; another Pasig townsman, Mayor Mario Raymundo, BSC '55, and many others, such as one Art Macapagal, GS '54, HS '58 and BSC '68, who would invite us to the Palace in his pop's time.

We should all read and reread the delightful write-ups such as those of Tessa Jazmines in the Business Mirror of September 28, 2006 and of Krip Yuson, GS '56 and HS '60 in the Philippine Star issue of October 1, 2006. My pal, Recah Trinidad of the Inquirer, was critical of our feat but an ugly win is better than a good loss any old time. Leo Durocher would say, show me a good loser and you show me a loser.

Repeats are not the norm in sports. But, our team core is intact. New impact players should make us stronger. We need to bottle the excellent chemistry of this year's champions. Sam can only become better in a game he did not play until a few years back. He plans to be a priest. Sam baby, never lose a sense of where your are. In the closing seconds, all of us must have prayed and pled with Sto. Ni¤o, St. Bede and Our Lady. Not that I am one of little faith, but I was going beyond San Beda and was starting to look at St. Jude for back-up.

Rene Saguisag, SBC AB '59, LL.B. '63
Former Philippine Senator and Human Rights Lawyer

Clearly, the man endearingly called MVP, who’s been lending moral support and then some to both schools, was alluding to the twin escape acts pulled off by the Lions and Eagles on separate full-house days at the Big Dome.

San Beda survived an improbable rally, from 20 points down with 8:30 minutes left, by the PCU Dolphins, who flubbed their chance at a game- winning basket. Some Bedans with whom I watched that game live on TV claimed intervention by the heavenly duo of Sto. Niño de Praga and Our Lady of Montserrat.

For its part, Ateneo executed an improbable, last-gasp, midcourt in-bound play with a second left, recalling buzzer-beaters from previous editions of the Hail Mary squad.

We were tempted to tell Manny: What those games must do to your ticker. On both occasions, he was seen at courtside, pensive and disturbed in the SBC game after earlier exhilaration over that big lead, and in the AdMU game, slumped in his seat and seemingly frustrated, when at a point down after a riveting see-saw affair, all that was left was a timeout, a throw-in and a tick of the clock.

A good thing MVP was a former squash player, now turned badminton aficionado. Otherwise the spirit of support for an Alma Mater might not manage to run apace with all the excitement and sudden downturns in the reality game.

Besides, which Alma Mater, in the event of having two, should one stand by, when separate-league push comes to cross-league shove? After all, it’s become curious how our Manila-bred allegiances pulsate whenever a school we’ve attended, sometimes for years on end, matches up with yet another.

Only last February, at the Mendiola Homecoming, the attending survivors of our Elementary Class of 1956 were called up to the nave after Mass (in the most beautiful and beloved chapel in the world) to each receive our gold medals for loyalty.

We were the primary-grade silver jubilarians for Year 2006. All of 50 years had passed since we last enjoyed those campus rites of puberty. Now in our 60’s, we’ve revived that very early camaraderie and have met often for "Barkadahan Nights" – increasingly intent on holding on (to memories) as we bid farewell to more and more of our batch with each passing year.

Very relaxed, many of us retired or semi-retired, the others still "retarded," we are as children again, without the bullies and blowhards that used to disturb the merry proceedings of company and friendship.

A good number of us went through all of high school in the same Benedictine campus. Now we look forward to surviving four more years down the road so we can be there when our High School Class of 1960 hosts the homecoming as the regular silver jubilarians by 2010. We now hope we don’t have to go through many more such games as that crucial one last Monday when suspense theater took a toll on our tickers.

It was at that February Homecoming when we first got a look at the current seniors team that was presented onstage before the familiar quadrangle, and introduced as the team that might just end a 28-year title drought.

We were surprised to note that the Red Lions of 2006 – now gaining better support after decades of frustration when our perennial champion juniors team kept losing its star players to better-funded college teams – had a big black "import" named Ekwe to beef up the veterans in Aljamal and Angeles, the carryover juniors in Menor, Hermida and Taganas, and a prized recruit from Davao in Escobal.

When Koy Banal was introduced as the new coach – and with the awareness that stronger alumni involvement was now being led by Manny Pangilinan – I told my seatmates at that open-air party: "Hey, this team is going somewhere this year. Mark my words."

As the basketball season opened and progressed, true enough, Samuel Ekwe of Nigeria proved to be a force in the paint, for defense and rebounds. It was clear that his basketball legs were yet at sea; he was a newcomer to the game. He couldn’t shoot, could hardly dribble. But he was a quick study as an athletic big man; he timed his jumps well, and had good reflexes.

What impressed me was the overall balance exhibited by a team that also knew how to play good to great defense. In game after game, the Red Lions would clamp down on an opponent for a quarter while making a searing run. Soon enough we nearly swept both rounds, winding up with a 13-1 slate, a dozen of those in succession after a fold-up against PCU on a night when Coach was busy with his job with the pros.

We had a solid starting five: Ekwe at center to man the boards; Aljamal at power forward as the go-to scorer; Menor at small forward or guard, usually assigned to match up defensively with the rival hitman; Angeles as the cool, collected playmaker with an occasional long bomb; and Escobal – as playground-savvy as Menor – switching point and two-guard positions with Angeles. The reserves were being built up as role players: Taganas, Maggay and Gamalinda to spell the frontliners, with Tecson, Hermida and Evangelista as the second-string backcourt.

By the time we were to officially dethrone Letran, Bedan alumni had already gotten wind of the prospects for ending the 28-year spell on the NCAA’s 82nd year. Our batchmates in the USA, so many of them, and with whom we had established an Internet loop, kept e-mailing for details. They asked for game tapes, until they were told to log on to The Filipino Channel’s website for the schedule of delayed screenings.

All the hoopla, as they say, rose to a crescendo and a climax with our entry to the Final Four as favorites. Our Class of ’56/’60 had TV-viewing Barkadahan Nights for the Finals, albeit not a few wanted to watch live at the Araneta Center. The majority prevailed: there we couldn’t bring beer and whisky, or gorge on sisig and chicharon, smoke and take a pee whenever we wanted. We had to be privileged: this was the senior circle watching the SBC seniors capture a title after nearly three decades.

Of course we all remembered that last crown in 1978, with Chito Loyzaga, Frankie Lim, Jayvee Yango et al. But we recalled with more fondness the champs of 1960, our year: Caranceja, Oyson, Ascue, "Big Boy" Reynoso et al. And for those of us who were there as graders, most memorable because most fabled were the three title years leading to the Zamora Trophy of the ’50s, gifted us by unarguably the best Pinoy cager of all time:
Carlos "King Caloy" and "King Bedan" Loyzaga.

For that prized trophy which could only be taken home by gaining three titles, we repeated from 1951 to 1952. Ateneo broke the run and repeated as well, 1953 and 1954. In 1955 Loyzaga came back to lead the Red Lions to a defining triumph over the Blue Eagles for the NCAA crown, and the Zamora Trophy.

And so we pray for one more miracle for MVP (He D’ Man!), for the Eagles to win it, too, deferred as it must be after Milenyo’s deluge. The buzz is if that happens (and the oldest university in our part of the world doesn’t play the spoilsport), Mr. Pangilinan might arrange a special exhibition game between SBC’s and AdMU’s champion teams.

I say make that a best-of-five for good measure, as a throwback to the 1950s rivalry. NCAA teams have suffered of late from a bit of an inferiority complex against those of the UAAP. Well, since one particular glamour team pulled out all the stops for recruitment, the younger league has had the more "price-worthy" players.

The 2006 Red Lions upset the defending UAAP champs in the Home and Away invitational early this year, but had a tough go at it, against FEU, which failed to make it to the UAAP’s Final Four. Can SBC stand a chance, then, in that planned Collegiate Champions Sweet 16 tourney this month?

Here’s hoping the plans push through, even if a knockout tourney often results in shock losses. There’s high drama with that format. In case San Beda doesn’t get to meet Ateneo in the finals, then that’s where MVP should come in with the Dream Match. Or should it be before? No matter. It should test a lot of loyalties. (Actually, I want to see Aljamal go up against Kramer, and Escobal against Escalona. Angeles and Menor might find Intal and Tiu tough match-ups, but then there’s always Ekwe to backstop them in the paint. Stingy defense vs. fluid offense. Koy Banal vs. Norman Black. Hmmm.)

Manny Pangilinan was of SBC E.S. Class of 1958, and H.S. Class of 1962. Then he took his college degree from Ateneo. That explains the twin Alma Mater dilemma, if it’s that at all.

At the big party for the renewed Animo!, he gamely posed for photo-ops with our class reps, which included his cousin Ding Reyes, the guy behind Chocolat. The rest were Dr. Serafin "Boy" Hilvano who himself became a collegiate star for the U.P. Maroons, former cheerleader Bong Obligacion, our class valedictorian Vic Alfonso, Frankie Casal of Philippines Free Press, Henry Yao, Jess Lindayag, and this Bedan chronicler.

Then we posed, too, with the triumvirate of Benedictine fathers that has led San Beda College into a new era of respectability, not only because of its basketball team: Fr. Anscar Chupungco, Rector and President; Fr. Tarcy Narciso, Abbott; and Fr. Benigno Benabarre, whom we have been most fond of, since he’s even more senior than us: the comeback kid from Madre España who just might be over a hundred years old.

That night, spontaneous pledges totaling 720K were announced, earmarked for further support. Umpa! Umpa! The fat little Indians led the tribal cry. Coach Koy asked the big boys to commit to a back-to-back. We can do it, too. Some Bedans are even roaring for a dynasty!

What’s evident is that Bedan pride has been revived, the animo regained, and a new spirit born of a long-delayed championship that owes itself to more determined alumni participation, thanks in large measure to MVP.

Fresh weather permitting, the champion cagers would have been treated to a Hong Kong blowout starting last Friday. Guess on whose account? This Friday, October 6, the victory celebrations continue with a Bedan Night from dusk to dawn at My Brother’s Moustache on Sct. Tuason corner Sct. Madriñan in Quezon City, with an all-Bedan band among the music-making guests. (Call Boy Vinzon at 0917-894-8120 for table reservations.)

Let’s roar together, and roar some more for the rest of October! Then the repeat, then the dynasty for the old Red and White!


The Philippine STAR - Sunday Life
KRIPOTKIN
by Alfred A. Yuson (SBC GS'56-HS'60)
Publication Date: [Sunday, October 01, 2006]

Bedan Night from dusk to dawn at My Brother’s Moustache Oct. 6,2006

"Blue and Red clash again"

Part Of The Game
by Tessa Jazmines (Business Mirror, Sept. 28, 2006)

JUST think. Now that San Beda has neatly tucked away the NCAA championship trophy in the hallowed halls of Mendiola; and if Ateneo goes on to win the UAAP crown today or on Monday, the two champion teams will meet in the Champions League and will be able to renew a fierce, ancient battle.

It’s true what the wags say. The real rivalry seethes between Red and Blue. Not Blue and Green. It was San Beda and Ateneo who were the North and South Poles of the NCAA back in the days of that league’s glamour and glory.

I should know. My infatuation with basketball was kindled by the NCAA. I grew up in a house that extolled the exploits of the leading players of that era. My Dad, an avowed sports fan who would stay up all night to listen to the radio broadcasts of our basketball adventures in the Asian Games, the ABC and the Olympics in that bygone era, spoke glowingly of Caloy Loyzaga, Loreto “Bonnie” Carbonell and Cesar Jota who were the reddest, roaringest Lions then.

He loved how they tangled with their counterparts from Loyola. The name Frankie Rabat sticks in my mind as the King Eagle of those days, although I don’t recall ever seeing him and his contemporaries in action.

***

San Beda and Ateneo games were like DDay in the basketball world. Mendiola and Loyola were the bastions of basketball power. In the NC of yore, La Salle and Ateneo competed more on the social scene, as La Salle only emerged as an NC basketball power after Ateneo had left the league to join the UAAP in the late 70s.

The transfer was the ultimate aftermath of one of the craziest fan rumbles in basketball history which happened during an Ateneo-San Beda NCAA championship match. The game was stopped because the fans went wild and started to hurt each other. The game was replayed a few days later but behind closed doors—no fans, no tickets. And San Beda won. (Yes! That was THE famous last San Beda NCAA title of 1978!)

And was it ever so interesting. And historical too! Ateneo’s ’78 line-up was led by Louie Rabat—Frankie Rabat’s own progeny. While San Beda’s pride was led by Lion King Caloy’s own Simba: Chito Loyzaga. Other players on the Ateneo side, as I remember it, were Steve Watson, Padim Israel and Fritz Gaston. San Beda had Chuck Barreiro, Frankie Lim and JV Yango, among others. Calling the shots for the Lions was another Bedan great: Bonnie Carbonell. Wise Eagle Baby Dalupan was on the other side.

***

But that’s getting ahead of the story. The San Beda-Ateneo NCAA battles raged because not only did their colors make stark contrast with each other. (Red and Blue clash but Blue and Green groove together, like the colors of the sea, agree?) The Red Lions and the Blue Eagles were also the two winningest teams of the NCAA.

Championship trophies would just ding-dong back and forth between the two schools for a stretch of time. San Beda amassed 11 NCAA trophies—including the dramatically won Crispulo Zamora Trophy —a special trophy prepared by the NCAA for any team that would win a Grand Slam in the 50s. Ateneo had 14 trophies—mostly won off San Beda—and the most number of back-to-back titles. Strangely, what would always keep the Eagles from winning a Grand Slam was San Beda. The Lions were always the fly in their ointment. The smudge mark on their cheek.

Crowd-wise, the Lion-Eagle crowds would put the current day crowds to shame. Yes, including Ateneo-La Salle. Passion for passion and ardor for zeal, the two teams’ followers knew no match. The 1978 rumble is a case in point.

***

But even on a wholly wholesome front, Beda-Ateneo hostilities had a character all their own. For one, the two schools’ cheers were the most original and most alive with magic and mumbo-jumbo. When the San Beda crowd sang “The Red and The White”, the Ateneans would let loose with “Fly High”, the Ateneo song composed by Raul Manglapus.

Ateneo’s cries of Fabilioh! would meet with the Bedan’s Indian Yell—a yell composed by the Cuerba Brothers in 1947. Bedans say “The Blue side could not find a match that would overpower the Indian yell.” But all Bedans agree: “ though many claim rights to different cheers and yells in their possession, one thing remains clear : San Beda and Ateneo cheers remain classic and timeless.” (The Bedan, Championship Issue)

***

The same Bedan issue quotes an Atenista from the net who speaks of the “forgotten San Beda-Ateneo rivalry: “I still prefer the spirit of the Beda boys anytime over the La Sallites. Their brand of school spirit was the kind they wore on their chests and flaunted and shouted to the world—which is exactly the kind of fierce loyalty we have in this blue corner of the universe. This is why I say that in spirit, they are our worthier rivals.”

“The Lion and the Eagle opposition is one filled with respect and mutual admiration,” say Rufino Lopez III, John Dave Pablo and Emmanuel Mangahas in the Bedan. “There was a time when this rivalry brought the best out of each school through a series of healthy competitions in different fields.”

***

I should think so. After their bitter fights in the NCAA, Lions and Eagles learned to live together and fight together in a happy afterlife. In the MICAA—THE leading basketball league of the 50s-60s era—Lions Loyzaga, Carbonell, Eddie Rivera, Orly Castelo, Dading Cuna etc. became the loving teammates of Eagles Ed Ocampo, Dodo Martelino and Bobby Littaua in a team called Yco.

Don’t you think it’s time—even for one, brief, shining moment—to see this old rivalry come to life again?

Just an insight...
In the Philippine coat of arms, there are two dominant colors - Blue and RED.
At the red side, there’s a lion.
Sa blue side naman, there’s an eagle.
very interesting isn’t it. ;)

"Blue and Red clash again ?"
the saga continues...