Ambrosio Bibby Padilla (December 7, 1910 – August 11, 1996The Philippine Daily Inquirer,
In Loving Memory on the 7th Death Anniversary of Ambrosio Padilla
', The Philippine Daily Inquirer, B.14 (11 augustus 2003)) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and an elected member of the

Senate of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives ...

. He was one of the most important figures in Asian basketball development.

Early life

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. Padilla fathered 10 children: 6 boys and 4 girls.

Athletic career

Padilla was born in

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen ( pag, Baley na Lingayen; ilo, Ili ti Lingayen; tgl, Bayan ng Lingayen), is a 1st class municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Pangasi ...

, Pangasinan. He studied at the Ateneo de Manila for his high school and college education. In college, he was the team captain of the 1928

Ateneo de Manila , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_affi ...

Blue Eagles varsity basketball squad that won the 1928 NCAA (Philippines) basketball championship under coach James A. Martin, S.J. Later, he studied law at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

and became a varsity player of the university's baseball team in the early 1930s. In 1930, Padilla played for the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

which won the gold medal of the 9th

Far Eastern Games The Far Eastern Championship Games (also known as the Far Eastern Championships, Far Eastern Games or Far East Games) was an Asian multi-sport event considered to be a precursor to the Asian Games. History In 1913, Elwood Brown, president of ...

basketball tournament in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. He played alongside

Jacinto Ciria Cruz Jacinto "Jumping Jack" Ciria Cruz (August 16, 1910 – December 25, 1944) was a Filipino basketball player and coach. Ciria Cruz played for the UST Growling Tigers, University of Santo Tomas men's basketball team and also represented the Philipp ...

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 at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It remains the best finish by an

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n country in men's Olympic basketball history. The team was coached by

Dionisio Calvo Dionisio "Chito" Calvo (November 20, 1904 – December 9, 1977) was a Filipino basketball player, swimmer, and coach who mentored both the basketball and football national teams of the Philippines. He was one of the greatest Filipino sportsmen ...

and, aside from Padilla, boasted of great players like Ciria Cruz and Charles Borck. Padilla retired from basketball and became the chairman of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation (PAAF) Basketball Committee from 1938 to 1954. The international governing body,

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

, 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 as

FIBA Asia FIBA Asia is a zone within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) which contains all 44 Asian FIBA federations. Member associations Tournaments Organized by FIBA Asia National teams * FIBA Asia Cup – since 2017, also inclu ...

, 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 the

Philippine Olympic Committee The Philippine Olympic Committee Inc. (POC) is the National Olympic Committee of the Philippines. The POC is a private, non-governmental organization composed of and serve as the mother organization of all National Sports Associations (NSAs) i ...

(POC), in 1970 and became the first president of the POC when PAAF was renamed POC in 1975.

Political career

President

Ramon Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh president of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957. An automo ...

appointed Padilla as Solicitor General in 1954. He later resigned in 1957 to run for the Senate and won. He served in the Senate until 1972 when President Ferdinand 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, President Corazon Aquino appointed Padilla to the 1986 Constitutional Commission which was tasked to draft a new constitution for the country. Padilla was elected vice-chairman of the commission with former Supreme Court Associate Justice

Cecilia Muñoz-Palma Cecilia Muñoz-Palma (November 22, 1913 – January 2, 2006) was a Filipino jurist and the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ferdinand Marcos on October 29, 1973, a ...

as its chairwoman. The new Constitution was officially ratified by the Filipino people in a plebiscite held on February 2, 1987.

Legacy

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 like Carlos Loyzaga,

Lauro Mumar Lauro "The Fox" Mumar (March 6, 1924 – December 20, 1990) was a Filipino basketball player and later served as the national team head coach of India and the Philippines. He was one of the greatest Filipino players of his time, playing alongs ...

, Jacinto Ciria Cruz, Charles Borck,

Edgardo Ocampo Edgardo Luciano Ocampo (October 5, 1938 – July 29, 1992) was a Filipino basketball player and coach. Early life and education Ocampo was born in Pampanga, Philippines on October 5, 1938. He was one of four children of renowned architect F ...

, Mariano Tolentino, and his own Olympic coach Chito Calvo. The

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...

's ''Ambrosio 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 the

University of the Philippines College of Law The University of the Philippines College of Law (often referred to as UP Law) is the law school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Formally established in 1911 in UP Manila, it is the third oldest continually-operating law school ...

is named in his honor.

Prominent offspring

Ambrosio Padilla is the father of Francisco "Frank" Padilla, Founder and Servant General of the Catholic renewal group Missionary Families of Christ and Alexander Padilla, CEO and President of PhilHealth from 2013 to 2016.

Awards and achievements

*1928 NCAA Philippines champions *1930 Far Eastern Games champion *1934 Far Eastern Games champions *1936 Summer Olympics, fifth placeAmbrosio Padilla
sports-reference.com *Philippine National Hall of Fame (1999)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Ambrosio 1910 births 1996 deaths Solicitors General of the Philippines Olympic basketball players of the Philippines Basketball players at the 1936 Summer Olympics Ateneo Blue Eagles men's basketball players People from San Miguel, Manila People from Pangasinan Minority leaders of the Senate of the Philippines Senators of the 7th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 6th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 5th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 4th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 3rd Congress of the Philippines Filipino sportsperson-politicians Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players 20th-century Filipino lawyers Magsaysay administration personnel Filipino sports executives and administrators UP Fighting Maroons basketball players Philippine Sports Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986 Philippine Collegian editors