Dr. Benito Legarda, Jr. as economic diplomat

Abstract

I first met Benito Legarda—Beneting as he was known by friends—as a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the Jaycees. After graduating with a PhD from Harvard University, upon the encouragement of Leonides Virata who met him in Rome, he joined the Department of Economic Research (DER) of the Central Bank of the Philippines (CBP). He started as an economist but he was to climb the career ladder to end up Deputy Governor until his retirement. It was Leonides Virata, who was the first Central Bank head of the DER and who happened to be my uncle, who told me about him.