Alphan brotherhood and excellence have withstood the test of time. In the 70 years since its establishment, the Alpha Phi Beta has produced men of distinction who have left a mark in society. This holds true even for the younger generation of Alphans. Youth does not hinder them to be the best in their field. And so as part of its 70^th Anniversary Celebration, the Alpha Phi Beta Fraternity held a Metro Manila Fellowship and Recognition Night for the batches from 2000-2009 last April 29 at the McKinley Hill Information Center at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Four Brothers Exemplar were selected to represent the 2000s. They are:  Brod Hans Christian Maaño Señeres 2000, Brod Arveen Napili Agunday 2002, Brod Archimedes Bardolaza Gonzalez 2002, and Brod Carlo Urriza Olivar 2004.

BUHAY Party List Representative and Vice Chair for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Brod Christian Señeres was born on March 3, 1976 in Makati. He spent most of his childhood here in the Philippines before his family moved to the United Arab Emirates in 1985. In 1990, he entered the South Lakes High School in Virginia, USA, where he graduated in the top ten percent of his class and was consistently in the honor roll for eleven semesters. It was also there where he received the 1992 Science Exposition Silver Ribbon, the Certificate of Merit from the Spanish Honor Society and the President’s Award for Educational Excellence from President Bill Clinton and became a member of the National Business Honor Society and the Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society. In 1995, he was inducted into the Order of the Hook of the United States Navy aboard its flagship, the USS Independence. He pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial Management from Southeastern University in Washington, DC where he graduated magna cum laude in 1998. He also became a member of the International Institute of Certified Financial Planners and was employed by the PRC Corporation in Reston, Virginia and American Legal Systems in Herndon, Virginia. He then entered the University of the Philippines College of Law and joined the Fraternity. As an Alphan, he organized the Nationalist Leadership Council, composed of members of various fraternities and sororities in the UP, Ateneo de Manila University and the San Beda College of Law. He then finished his studies in the Northwestern School of Law where he earned his Juris Doctor degree. For his “firm and clear stand for the fundamental truths upon which our Constitution is anchored,” he was conferred Blessed Pedro Calungsod Pro-Vita Medal by Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal in 2004 and a Plaque of Appreciation from Human Life International “in recognition of his uncompromising and unrelenting advocacy in Congress for the protection of the rights of the unborn, of authentic rights of the family, and for his fidelity to the public trust and the demands of Christian citizenship.” He has also become one of the most supportive Brods and has served as the Chancery’s Director for Resident Brods’ Affairs.

Brod Arveen Agunday was born on October 16, 1980 in Guinobatan, Albay. He graduated AB Political Science at the Ateneo de Manila University and entered UP Law in 2001. He was elected as the Law Representative to the University Student Council from 2003-2004 and became the Chair of its Student Legal Aid and Action Committee. He was also a champion debater and brought home the bacon in the 2003 Pi Sigma Open Debate Championship. The next year, he became President of the UP Law Debate Union. He passed the 2006 Bar Examinations and is now an associate in Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon and San Jose where his practice areas include Litigation, Labor Law and Corporate Law.

FLC Archimedes Gonzalez graduated cum laude from the University of Sto. Tomas with a degree in Legal Management. In his first two years in the College of Law, he worked as a Graduate Assistant and Staff Writer in the Internet and Society Program of the UP Law Center while being in the top twenty of his class. During the same period, he also worked as a research assistant to retired Justice Vicente V. Mendoza and Prof. Ma. Lourdes Sereno of the UP College of Law. Since 2004, he has been working full time as the Chief Finance Officer/ Legal Staff Member of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. He was elected Law Representative to the USC and Secretary of the UP Law Debate Union in 2005. The following year, he became Lord Chancellor. His term saw the successful holding of the Alphan National Convention and a 100% passing rate of Brods who took the Bar Examinations. He was also an excellent debater. He concurrently served as President of both the Thomasian Debaters’ Council (varsity debate organization of UST) and the UST Legal Management Society. He also won various awards which include: Champion, UP College of Law Dean’s Cup Debate Tournament (2002); Champion, Crossfire Debate Competition (2002); Champion and Best Debater of the Year, 3rd ORALS British Parliamentary Debate Competition; Best Debater, Alpha Phi Beta vs. Aquila Legis Debate Exposition (2003); 2-Time Winner in the NBN Sigaw ng Kabataan Debate Series; Finalist, 3rd National Debate Championships; Quarterfinalist, 9th All Asians Inter-Varsity Debate Championship. FLC Archie recently passed the 2008 Bar.

FLC Carlo Olivar earned his BS Accountancy degree from UST where he served as President (2002-2003) and Treasurer (2000-2002) of the Thomasian Debaters Council. He was also a member of the Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants (JPIA). In 2002, he was a finalist in the Procter & Gamble Student Excellence Awards. In the UP College of Law, FLC Carlo excelled as a student leader and served the Class President of Block A 2008 from 2004 – 2006. He was the Finance Team Leader of the UP Law Student Government (LSG) Bar Operations 2005. He also worked under Brod Antonio R. Bautista as a Legal Research Assistant. He was also a top notch debater. He was a member of the UP Law Debate Union and a finalist in the Pi Sigma Debate Championships of 2004. He also participated in various competitions such as the 3^rd, 4^th and 6^th National Debate Championships, the 6^th and 8^th All-Asians Inter-Varsity Debate, the 2^nd Inquirer Intercollegiate Debating Championship as an adjudicator or as one of the finalists.

The night was a fitting a tribute to the Exemplars and a reminder that Alphan, no matter the age, are always called for greatness.