| It was the eve
of World War II. The country looked forward
to the second election under the 1935 Constitution.
President Manuel L. Quezon was advocating a
partyless democracy, causing apprehensions
among the youth on his true political intentions.
In October 1939, the second semester of the
academic year 1939-1940 of the College of Law,
University of the Philippines, started with
the feeling that history would soon be made.
It was then when some juniors and sophomores
of the College were moved to marshall unaffiliated
scholars and student leaders into an organization
that would be held together by close fraternal
bonds. They aspired to be a relevant factor
on campus, and in national affairs. The immediacy
of their resolve was spurred by the desire
to mobilize the studentry and place themselves
in the forefront of the effort to dampen what
they perceived was a threatened dictatorship
about to be born.
It was in this context that the "Association
of the Philippine Barristers" was conceived.
The Greek letter equivalents of its initials,
Alpha Phi Beta, were adopted as its name.
The group complied with University requirements
for registration. By November 1939, the Constitution
and By-Laws of the fraternity were drafted
and filed with the University Council Committee
on Student Organizations and Activities (UCCSOA).
Shortly thereafter, the UCCSOA granted official
recognition to the fraternity.
The Alpha Phi Beta was born. The fraternity
and its founders were ready to make, not
merely find, their place in the sun |
