Ramon Mitra Jr.

Ramon Villarosa Mitra, Jr. (February 4, 1928 – March 20, 2000) was a Filipino statesman, diplomat, and pro-democracy activist.

Mitra was born inside the Iwahig Penal Colony in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, to Ramon P. Mitra y Mariño and Purification Villarosa. He attended public school for elementary education and took his secondary education in San Beda College, Manila. He finished his degree in liberal arts in Baguio City and obtained his Bachelor of Laws in San Beda College.

Mitra was appointed as a Philippine Foreign Service Officer in Washington, D.C. and at the United Nations from 1954 to 1961.In 1961, he was appointed as special assistant to the Office of President Quirino. He then became a senior technical assistant to the Office of the Mayor Villegas of Manila, from 1962 to 1965.

Representative (1965-1971)

Mitra was elected congressman representing Palawan for two terms from 1965 and was the minority leader within five years.

Senator of the Philippines (1971-1972)

He resigned, during his second term, to run for the senate and was elected senator in 1971. During the campaign, he was nearly killed in Plaza Miranda by hand grenades at the anti-Marcos political rally of the Liberal Party. In September 1972, his term was cut short by Martial Law. Mitra was one of the first arrested and jailed when Marcos declared martial law. "I am a martial law victim," he would say.

Assemblyman (1984-1986)

In 1978, Monching ran for the Interim Batasang Pambansa together with Sen. 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 House of Representatives, he ran for the second district of Palawan. 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 Party, was selected in a party convention as the candidate for President of the Philippines, ahead of Defense secretary Fidel Ramos. Ramos bolted the party and formed his own party, the Lakas ng Tao Party. Mitra's bid was difficult because he was branded a "traditional politician" and suffered many controversies, including the alleged use of the congressional printing press for his election materials. Mitra lost the 1992 presidential election to Fidel Ramos.

Later career

In 1995, he agreed to create a coalition with Ramos and formed the Lakas-Laban Coalition. In the Philippine general election, 1995, he ran for senator but lost. In the Philippine general election, 1998, 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.

"Monching," as he is popularly known, married Cecilia Aldeguer Blanco in April 1959; they had six sons, who are politically active. The third son, Ramon "Mon-Mon" Mitra, who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1988, served in the Philippine Marine Corps, ran for a senatorial slate for May 2010 elections of the Nacionalista Party but lost. The fourth son, Bernardo Mitra, has been working for government in various capacities since 1989. The youngest son Abraham Kahlil Mitra, was the governor of Palawan from 2010 to 2013.

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, Jr. confessed he was a "love child" born out of wedlock, reared barefoot and hungry, who caught crocodiles as a youth and was shunned by his affluent father. From those humble roots, Monching rose to be a lawyer, diplomat, senator and martial law prisoner, millionaire rancher and eventually, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Ramon V. Mitra was one of the nation's most powerful politicians.

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 Monching 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, at the age of 72, died at the Makati Medical Center from liver cancer. One of his last requests was to be buried beside a lighthouse in Palawan, with simple funeral rites unlike his predecessors in the House. 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 Batasan Complex in Quezon City.