Ramon Villarosa Mitra Jr. (February 4, 1928 – March 20, 2000) was a Filipino statesman, diplomat, and pro-democracy activist. He served as speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from 1987 to 1992. Prior to that, he was

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

's first minister of Agriculture from 1986 to 1987, a member of the Batasang Pambansa from 1984 to 1986 and a senator during the 7th Congress.

Early life and career

Mitra was born on February 4, 1928, inside the Iwahig Penal Colony in

Puerto Princesa Puerto Princesa (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon language, Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in th ...

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

to Ramon Mitra and Purification Villarosa. At the time of his birth, his father was the superintendent of the penal colony. He attended public school for elementary education and took his secondary education in San Beda College. He finished his degree in

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

and obtained his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in San Beda College. Mitra was a foreign service officer in Washington, D.C., and at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

from 1954 to 1961. In 1961, he was special assistant to the Office of the President. He then became a senior technical assistant to the

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

's office from 1962 to 1965.

Political life

Representative (1965–1971)

Mitra's political career began when he ran and won a seat in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

representing Palawan's at-large congressional district during the 1965 general election. He ran again for a second term in 1969 but was cut short following his resignation in 1971 to run for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. During his first stint in the House, he was the minority leader for five years.

Senator of the Philippines (1971–1972)

Mitra was one of the eight candidates fielded by the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

for the 1971 Senate election. In August 1971, during a campaign rally held in Plaza Miranda to proclaim their candidacies, a deadly

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

occurred which caused 9 deaths and injured 95, including Mitra. He acquired 32 shrapnel wounds and 13 shrapnel buried in his body. He won sixth place in the election earning around 3 million votes. In September 1972, his term was cut short by

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

and was subsequently arrested. He was one of the first arrested and jailed when

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

declared martial law.

Assemblyman (1984–1986)

In 1978, Mitra unsuccessfully ran for the Interim Batasang Pambansa together with former Senator Ninoy Aquino. In 1984, he was elected as an assemblyman to the Regular Batasang Pambansa. After the People Power Revolution in 1986, Mitra joined the Aquino administration and was appointed as Agriculture Minister.

Speaker of the House (1987–1992)

After the restoration of the

, he ran for the second district of

. He was eventually elected as Speaker of the House at its inaugural session. During his sterling leadership of the House, major bills were passed into laws of the country and instituted policies, aimed at enhancing the functions of the House as a legislative institution.

1992 presidential campaign

In 1991, Mitra, who was also the party president of the LDP, was selected in a party convention as the candidate for

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...

, defeating Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos for the nomination. Ramos left the LDP and formed his own party, the Lakas ng Tao. Mitra's bid was difficult because he was branded as a "traditional politician" and suffered many controversies, including the alleged use of the congressional printing press for his election materials. Mitra ultimately lost the 1992 presidential election to Ramos. A

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

based on Mitra's life was planned to be directed by Lupita Kashiwahara, written by Baby Nebrida, and star Cesar Montano.

Later career

In 1995, he agreed to create a coalition with Ramos and formed the Lakas-Laban Coalition. In the 1995 Philippine general election, he ran for

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

but lost. In the 1998 general election, he returned to the political spotlight as a key supporter of Joseph Estrada's successful presidential campaign. Estrada rewarded Mitra by naming him president of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Corporation.

Personal life

Popularly known as "Monching", he married Cecilia Aldeguer Blanco in April 1959 and had six sons. The third son, Ramon III, graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1988 and served in the Philippine Marine Corps before running for senator in the 2010 elections. The fourth son, Bernardo, has been working for government in various capacities since 1989. The youngest son, Abraham Kahlil, was the governor of Palawan from 2010 to 2013. He had an illegitimate son, Raul, who is a composer and songwriter. During a night rally of farmers and fishermen in the midst of the 1992 presidential elections, he told his story about his poor life:

With that, Mitra confessed he was born out of wedlock, reared barefoot and hungry, who caught crocodiles as a youth and was shunned by his affluent father.Los Angeles Times Newspaper Archiv
Latimes.com
/ref> He had a lifelong involvement with cattle. He was chairman of the Farm Management Enterprises Corporation which owned and operated farm cattle ranches and was a breeder of gamecocks, thoroughbred horses, and cattle. When he conceded defeat in the 1992 presidential race, he found solace within the fences of his ranch and after which, continued to live his life as a farmer. Mitra died at the Makati Medical Center from liver cancer on March 20, 2000, at the age of 72. One of his last requests was to be buried beside a lighthouse in

with simple funeral rites. In one of his last interviews, he said ''"the lighthouse overlooks the ocean where all boats entering and leaving Puerto Princesa Bay pass by. By making that my final resting place, I can continuously guide and protect my people."'' A building was named after him serving as the West Wing in the Batasang Pambansa Complex in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

References

External links

House of Representatives of the Philippines

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Ramon Jr. 1928 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Filipino lawyers Candidates in the 1992 Philippine presidential election Corazon Aquino administration cabinet members Deaths from cancer in the Philippines Filipino democracy activists Filipino Roman Catholics Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino politicians Marcos martial law victims Members of the Batasang Pambansa Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Palawan Minority leaders of the House of Representatives of the Philippines People from Puerto Princesa San Beda University alumni Secretaries of agriculture of the Philippines Senators of the 7th Congress of the Philippines Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Lakas ng Bansa politicians