Ambrosio Padilla | |||||||||||||||
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| Senate Minority Leader | |||||||||||||||
| In office January 17, 1966 – December 30, 1969 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Estanislao Fernandez | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gerardo Roxas | ||||||||||||||
| In office January 27, 1958 – January 25, 1960 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Lorenzo M. Tañada Sr. | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Ferdinand Marcos | ||||||||||||||
| Senator of the Philippines | |||||||||||||||
| In office December 30, 1957 – September 23, 1972[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Solicitor General of the Philippines | |||||||||||||||
| In office September 1, 1954 – December 30, 1957 | |||||||||||||||
| President | Ramon Magsaysay | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Querube Makalintal | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Guillermo Torres | ||||||||||||||
| 1st President of thePhilippine Olympic Committee | |||||||||||||||
| In office 1975–1976 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Himself (as President of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation) | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nereo Andolong | ||||||||||||||
| 6th President of thePhilippine Amateur Athletic Federation | |||||||||||||||
| In office 1970–1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Felipe Monserrat | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Himself (as President of the Philippine Olympic Committee) | ||||||||||||||
| Vice President of the1986 Constitutional Commission | |||||||||||||||
| In office June 2, 1986 – October 15, 1986 | |||||||||||||||
| President | Cecilia Muñoz-Palma | ||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | Ambrosio Bibby Padilla (1910-12-07)December 7, 1910 Lingayen, Pangasinan,Philippine Islands[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Died | August 11, 1996(1996-08-11) (aged 85) Quezon City, Philippines | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Filipino | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | Liberal | ||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Lourdes de las Alas | ||||||||||||||
| Children | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Ateneo de Manila University of the Philippines Diliman (LL.B) | ||||||||||||||
| Basketball career | |||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| College | Ateneo UP | ||||||||||||||
Medals
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Ambrosio "Paddy" Bibby Padilla (Tagalog:[paˈdilja]; December 7, 1910 – August 11, 1996[3][4]) was aFilipinobasketball player, lawyer, and an elected member of theSenate of the Philippines. He was one of the most important figures in Asian basketball development.
Padilla was born as the eighth of eleven children of Dr. Nicanor Padilla and Ysabel Bibby. He married Lourdes de las Alas on May 4, 1941, the eldest daughter of Taaleño senatorAntonio de las Alas. Padilla fathered 10 children: 6 boys and 4 girls.
Padilla was born inLingayen,Pangasinan. He studied at the Ateneo de Manila for his high school and college education. In college, he was the team captain of the 1928Ateneo de ManilaBlue Eagles varsity basketball squad that won the 1928 NCAA (Philippines) basketball championship under coachJames A. Martin, S.J. Later, he studied law at theUniversity of the Philippines and became a varsity player of the university's baseball team in the early 1930s.
In 1930, Padilla played for thePhilippines which won the gold medal of the 9thFar Eastern Games basketball tournament inTokyo,Japan. He played alongsideJacinto Ciria Cruz and Mariano Filomeno. In 1934, he captained the national team that retained the basketball championship in the 10th Far Eastern Games held at home for the final time.
In 1936, Padilla as team captain of the national basketball team led the Philippines to a fifth-place finished in the 11th (1936) Summer Olympics held atBerlin,Germany. It remains the best finish by anAsian country in men's Olympic basketball history. The team was coached byDionisio Calvo and, aside from Padilla, boasted of great players like Ciria Cruz andCharles Borck.
Padilla retired from basketball and became the chair of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) Basketball Committee from 1938 to 1954.
The international governing body,FIBA, appointed Padilla as its Vice President for Asia from 1956 to 1964. He was one of the forefathers and later elected President of the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC), now known asFIBA Asia, from 1960 to 1966 with his former coach Dionisio Calvo as the Secretary-General. When he finished his term, he served as the ABC president emeritus from 1967.
He became the sixth President of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF), the forerunner of thePhilippine Olympic Committee (POC), in 1970 and became the first president of the POC when PAAF was renamed POC in 1975.[5]
PresidentRamon Magsaysay appointed Padilla asSolicitor General in 1954. He later resigned in 1957 to run for the Senate and won. He served in the Senate until 1972 when PresidentFerdinand Marcos declared Martial Law. Notwithstanding his stature and brushing aside the dangers arising from his opposition to the martial law regime, he actively fought the Marcos regime with his legal skills and belief in freedom.
After Marcos was overthrown in the 1986 People Power Revolution, PresidentCorazon Aquino appointed Padilla to the1986 Constitutional Commission which was tasked to draft a new constitution for the country. Padilla was elected vice-chair of the commission with former Supreme Court Associate JusticeCecilia Muñoz-Palma as its chair. The new Constitution was officially ratified by the Filipino people in a plebiscite held on February 2, 1987.
Padilla, who died on August 11, 1996, was inducted into the Philippine National Basketball Hall of Fame in January 1999 along with other Filipino basketball greats likeCarlos Loyzaga,Lauro Mumar, Jacinto Ciria Cruz, Charles Borck,Edgardo Ocampo,Mariano Tolentino, and his own Olympic coach Chito Calvo. TheAteneo de Manila University'sAmbrosio Padilla Award, which is given out annually to the university's best academically performing college varsity player from any sport, is named in his honor.
A classroom at Malcolm Hall of theUniversity of the Philippines College of Law is named in his honor.
He is the father of Francisco "Frank" Padilla, founder and Servant General of the Catholic renewal group Missionary Families of Christ. Another of Padilla’s children is Alexander Padilla, also a graduate of theUP College of Law in 1981, and the CEO and President ofPhilippine Health Insurance Corporation from 2013 to 2016, who also became Undersecretary of theDepartment of Health.[6] Padilla was a junior faculty member when he helped found the UPAlpha Phi Beta Fraternity in 1939, together with mentored students such asRenato Constantino.
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