Abraham Kahlil Mitra

Abraham Kahlil Mitra is the former provincial governor of Palawan, a fast-growing archipelago-province in the Southern Tagalog Region. He is the youngest son of former House of Representatives Speaker Ramon Mitra, Jr. and Cecilia Aldeguer Blanco. He is popularly known to people both in Palawan and elsewhere as "Baham".^[1]

In 2016, Mitra was appointed as the new chairperson of the Games and Amusement Board, replacing Juan Martin Guanzon, who served as the chairperson from 2010 to 2016.^[2] GAB is a government agency under the Office of the President who tasked to regulate and supervised professional sports and games, and to prevent illegal booking and gambling activities connected to any professional sports.

Political career

Following the footsteps of his father who served the Philippine government for a very long time, Baham Mitra entered politics at a very young age. Baham served as a Presidential Consultant for Palawan from 1998 until 2000 under former President Joseph Estrada. He became a member of the House of Representatives representing the second legislative district of Palawan for three consecutive terms until 2010. Programs and projects for the welfare of his representation were massively implemented as he lobbied for the national government to appropriate sufficient funds thereof. High priorities were made for health, education, environmental protection and for the prime mover of the province's growth- tourism.

Mitra bid for a gubernatorial post during the 2010 synchronized local and national elections. His attempt was full of trials as he was lambasted with protests allegedly for his unqualified residency requirement for such position. This complicated saga begun as opponents accused Baham of lying on his residency status. He claimed to had lived in a basement of a feed mill located in the municipality of Aborlan where he has been living since March 2008. Legal battle ensued as it reached the Supreme Court where if finally tendered its decision on Mitra's favor on October 2010.

Baham's stint as the provincial governor is also dramatic as recall election followed as he seated in the provincial capitol. This made headlines as a sectoral group called Kilusan Love Malampaya (KLM) filed a petition for recall on alleged grounds of "loss of trust and confidence" on September 2011. In a statement, KLM accused Mitra of having "compromised" Palawan's interests for accepting Malacañang's offer of a significantly smaller portion of the province's share of royalties amounting to P60 billion paid by the Malampaya consortium operating the natural gas project in offshore northern Palawan close to the municipality of El Nido.^[3] However, this election did not realize, as the Commission of Elections was not able to decide on the matter immediately and the next mid-term elections for 2013 is just a few months away.

Baham Mitra's leadership in the Palawan is very interesting. Innovative ways of leading this province comprising hundreds of islands and atolls became significant for its growth. It gains popularity for its promotion of sustainable development through economic and tourism synergy working hand in hand to achieve holistic progress.^[4]

Personal life

Governor Abraham Khalil Mitra was born on January 3, 1970 in Manila. He finished his elementary at the Benedictine Abbey School in Alabang, Muntinglupa City in 1983. He continued his secondary schooling at the same school until 1987. He then studied BS Management at another Benedictine-run school, San Beda College and graduated in 1991.

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