Hall of Fame
Benigno P. Toda Jr. attended USF in the class of 1952 and played soccer for the Dons. He was a member of the team that won the 1949 Northern California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference Championship. He played under Gus Donoghue alongside Dick Baptista and Steve Negoesco, holding a 10-0-1 overall record and a
6-0-0 NCISC record. His fellow Hall of Fame colleagues were:Â Dick Baptista, Angelo Carmassi, Robert Lee, Steve Negoesco, Olifumni Osibogun, and Gus Donaghue.
He returned to the Philippines after graduation and became Chairman of the Board of Philippine Airlines, and then acquired principal ownership in 1964. In 1965, he became president of the travel agency Aeroben, Inc. He was commissioned by the government to restore the historic Manila Hotel, which he did in cooperation with the well known architect Lindy Locsin and designer Dale Keller. In October of 1973, three young Filipinos hijacked one of the PAL planes and ordered it to fly to Hong Kong. Toda offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the release of the passengers. While the plane was on the ground in Hong Kong, Toda, while on the phone with President Ferdinand E. Marcos, persuaded the hijackers to surrender and return to the Philippines in exchange for amnesty (New York Times). Later, in 1976, Marcos took over the airlines. It was rumored that the takeover was in retaliation for being billed 3 million dollars for 6 million dollars owed for flights taken by Imelda Marcos, the wife of the President (Washington Post).
Following PAL, Toda started an insurance company Cibeles Inc., until his retirement. He was inducted to the USF Hall of Fame in 1972.Â
Photo courtesy of Victoria Toda.Â
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