Mitra, Ramon

▪ 2001

      Philippine politician (b. 1928, Palawan, Phil.—d. March 20, 2000, Manila, Phil.), was a prominent politician, a pro-democracy activist, and an outspoken critic of the 1966–86 regime of Philippine Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. After working as a journalist and diplomat, Mitra served in the House of Representatives in the 1960s and was elected to the Senate in 1971. After Marcos imposed martial law in the Philippines in 1972, Mitra was imprisoned along with other opposition figures. He gained his release in the early 1980s and was elected to the House of Representatives again in 1984. Two years later, after Marcos was forced into exile, Mitra was appointed minister of agriculture by Marcos's successor, Corazon Aquino. In 1992 Mitra lost a bid for the presidency, but in 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 Corp., a post Mitra held until his death from liver cancer.

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