The history of Alpha Phi Beta

The Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity was founded in 1939, 75 years ago, by a group of outstanding and independent-minded UP students under the guidance of Professor Ambrosio H. Padilla, a junior faculty member at the UP College of Law. Among the fledgling fraternity’s charter members was Renato Constantino, who would later become one of the country’s most compelling political thinkers and social commentators.

At the time of the fraternity’s founding, the Philippines was still a colony of the United States.

In keeping with the spirit of the times, as the Filipino people eagerly awaited the promise of full political autonomy and independence from the United States, the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity adopted the motto: “We shall not be saved without Wisdom, for Knowledge is Power, but only Wisdom is Liberty.”

From the beginning, the Alpha Phi Beta excelled in the fine art and craft of Argumentation and Debate. Indeed, the back to back Philippine National Debating Teams to Australia in 1963 and 1964 that brought home the Chester Wilmot Cup and the Philippine Jaycees Championship Trophy, were anchored on four Alphans, namely Heherson T. Alvarez and Leonardo A. Quisumbing (1963), and the team of Benjamin N. Muego and Enrique Voltaire R Garcia II (1964). The UP Debating Team of Muego and Garcia II, which won the National Union of Students national debate championship in 1963-64, remains the only undefeated UP debating team in inter-university debate competition.

Compared with other UP Greekletter organizations, the Alpha Phi Beta’s record in campus journalism remains unmatched especially in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Fifteen Alphans--from Luis Q. Uranza in the early 1950s to Pacifico A. Agabin, Ceasar Agnir, Andres Gatmaitan, Reynato S. Puno, Leonardo A. Quisumbing, Wilfredo M. Chatto, Salvador T. Carlota, Enrique Voltaire R Garcia II, Temario C. Rivera, Nelson A. Navarro, Abraham P. Sarmiento Jr, Alexander Poblador, Roan Libarios, to Pablo John Garcia Jr. in the early 1980s-served as editor-in-chief of the Philippine Collegian.

Seven Alphans including Maximino V. Carino, Santiago F. Dumlao Jr, Pacifico A. Agabin, Magdangal B. Elma, Benjamin N. Muego and Temario C. Rivera served as editor-in-chief of the Philippinensian; nine Alphans served as chair of the Editorial Board of the Philippine Law Journal while an equal number served as editor-in-chief of the Philippine Law Register in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

In the arena of student leadership, the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity has a record of accomplishments hard to equal. In the list of distinguished Alphans are those who served either as chair of the now-defunct UP Student Union (Enrique Voltaire R Garcia II, 1961-62), or chair of the UP Student Council from the early 1960s to the mid-1990s. The latter includes, in chronological order, Leonardo A. Quisumbing (1962-63), Benjamin N. Muego (1964-65), Enrique Voltaire R Garcia II (1966-67), Ericson Baculinao (1970-71), Angelo Jimenez (1991-92), Rhoneil Fajardo (1992-93), Paul Roderick Ysmael (1994-95) and Oliver San Antonio (1995-96).

The Alpha Phi Beta has also racked up an exemplary record in the Judiciary. In addition to scores of former and current Municipal, City and Regional Trial Court judges and Justices in the Court of Appeals, an Alphan, the Honorable Reynato S Puno, served as Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court. In addition, five other Alphans are former or current Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, namely: the Honorable Abraham F. Sarmiento, the Honorable Abdulwahid A. Bidin, the Honorable Hugo Gutierrez, the Honorable Leonardo A. Quisumbing, and the Honorable Jose P. Perez. The current Deputy Court Administrator, the Honorable Raul B. Villanueva, is also an Alphan.

The Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity has had tremendous success in high elective office, with no less than seven Alphans being elected as Senators of the Republic in a period spanning six decades. In chronological order, these distinguished Alphans are: Ambrosio H. Padilla, Genaro F. Magsaysay, Leonardo B. Perez, Heherson T. Alvarez, Jose D. Lina Jr, Robert Z. Barbers and Francis G. Escudero. Parenthetically, upwards of 32 Alphans, including the current Deputy Speaker for Luzon, the Honorable Carlos M. Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya, have served in the Philippine House of Representatives from the 1950s.

To sum up, the decade of the 1950s was one of resurgent nationalism inspired by the words and example of the great Claro Mayo Recto and his prime apostle in the academy and beyond, Renato Constantino. This decade produced an impressive aggrupation of writers, scholars and high-achievers who would define the personality and character of the fraternity for years to come: a fraternity of bar topnotchers, Philippine Collegian and Philippinensian editors, and University Student Council presidents.

The decade of the 1960s saw unprecedented achievements in forensics and international and inter-collegiate debating with four Alphans, namely Alvarez and Quisumbing (1962), and Muego and Garcia II (1963; 1964) leading the way. Alphans were also selected editor-in-chief of the Philippine Collegian eight times, the Philippinensian three times, and chair of the UP Student Council three times. Not to be outdone, Alphan bar examinees placed in the top ten thrice.

The ’70s were equally challenging times with Alphans playing a major role in the eventual collapse of martial rule in the aftermath of the First Quarter Storm and beyond, with some of them like Enrique Voltaire R. Garcia II, Hermon C. Lagman and Abraham “Ditto” P. Sarmiento Jr. quite sadly, paying the ultimate price for their advocacy against the regime of Ferdinand E Marcos. In this decade, perhaps no other Alphan exemplified courage and selflessness more than the late Abraham “Ditto” P. Sarmiento, Jr. with his haunting rebuke of the general public’s complacency and indifference. He asked, “Kung hindi tayo kikibo, sino ang kikibo? Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino and kikilos? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan?” a question that resonated throughout the land and eventually galvanized opposition to the martial law regime.

The decade of the 1980s saw Alphans within the University and in the larger national community forge alliances with democratic forces to help spawn and sustain the movement that culminated in what has become known as “people power,” a non-violent and Gandhian mode of effecting change. And as the national political landscape changed, so did the contours and dynamics of University politics, with Alphans once again at the forefront, paving the way for the reemergence of Alphan dominance in the succeeding decade.

The 1990s saw the Alpha Phi Beta reestablish itself as a dominant and preeminent player in helping shape and reform the character and direction of University life and lore. The decade turned out to be a banner one, as before the end of the millennium, the APB produced three bar topnotchers, one Student Regent, five University Student Council (USC) chairs, 15 USC councilors, eight College Representatives, one Philippine Collegian editor-in-chief and eight Philippine Collegian staff members.

As the Alpha Phi Beta wends its way into the mid-point of the second decade of the new millennium, it is only fitting to acknowledge some historic and watershed accomplishments such as the appointment of the first Alphan Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable Reynato S. Puno and hopefully, if everything falls into place, the election of the first Alphan Vice-President or President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Finally, this tribute to the Alpha Phi Beta would be incomplete without paying homage to the memory of four great Alphans who passed away in 2013 and early this year: Dean Froilan M. Bacungan, Professor Antonio Bautista, Ambassador Leonides T. Caday and Justice Hugo Gutierrez.

In sum, the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity has done exceedingly well, having produced, among other things, seven senators of the Republic whose services span five decades, six Supreme Court justices including one former Chief Justice, 19 justices of the Court of Appeals and 32 members of the Philippine House of Representatives.