Gregorio B. Abreu: The Last Founder Standing
[Photos from Jun Sta. Barbara]
Brod Gregorio B. Abreu, the last living Founder of the UP Beta Sigma Fraternity at UP Padre Faura on July 14, 1946, was honored at a tribute organized by the the De La Salle Araneta University Beta Sigma Fraternity on August 2, 2025 at Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan City. Brothers from several chapters and generations came to pay homage in recognition of his exemplary vision and achievements.
Brod Greg Abreu is a B.S. Chemistry, cum laude, graduate at UP; got his Masters at Harvard University; and attended classes at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He founded INPHILCO, a veterinary company in 1962 that recruited and employed numerous brods in the agri-vet field.
From Businesswire.com:
"About INPHILCO
Incorporated in 1962, INPHILCO is one of the oldest local Vet companies in the Philippines, covering poultry, swine, aquaculture, pet and feed mill requirements for animal nutrition, animal health and raw materials for compound feeds. In addition to employing sales and technical people covering the entire Philippines, INPHILCO has several warehouses nationwide to provide technical services and to cater to the needs of its customers, and imports and distributes quality products from all over the world such as The Netherlands, USA, India, South America, China, Denmark, among others."
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Kwentong Tabets No.52
1 August 2022
-Bebong Arreza’82 DLSAU
THE FOUNDER, UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
About a year ago, I finally met Brod Gregorio Abreu, and I felt like a devout
Catholic who just had a private audience with the Pope.
The invitation was more of a summons, coursed through his grandson Joey, making
it impossible to ignore, more so that the Founding Brother said he will wait for
me, whatever the time.
We arrived past 10 in the evening at the last midcentury bungalow along Quezon
Avenue, sandwiched by high-rises, on a sprawling lot coveted by developers, that
even Manny Villar will pawn his wife just to acquire it.
Despite nearing 100 – remember he is a schoolmate of the indestructible JPE –
Brod Greg strode out of his bedroom unaided into a sala where several paintings
of masters dot its wood paneled walls.
His handshake was firm, followed by a warm abrazo, like a true brod, I said to
myself.
This while Michelle, wife of Joey and a niece of mine, was watching a frisky
Juliana, their kindergarten-age daughter, burn her sugar-fueled high before she
tires for bed.
Brod Greg said he was thankful for the profile I’ve written about him a couple
of years back “despite being full of praises that I thought you were describing
another person.”
“Pero you missed one thing,” he said.
Asked what it was, he said that he did not only go to Harvard for his Masters,
but also took classes at MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Hearing this, I have to catch my jaw drop. Beta Sigma nga, proud and humble.
Tinanong ko sya kung bakit umuwi pa sya, kung Harvard na, at MIT pa sya, which
was like having started for the Yankees and the Red Sox.
“Because of love,” came his short reply, followed by an impish grin.
The future Mrs. Abreu, Cornelia Morelos of Bulacan, was about to begin college
in the East Coast, when she had to rush back home due to the untimely death of
her father.
Before she left, she extracted a promise from Brod Greg, that after getting his
degree, he would catch the first ship to Manila. It was a vow he kept, followed
by another one at the altar.
And Brod Greg cannot be blamed for keeping his word, because if he had reneged,
it would have been his loss, as Miss Morelos, with her mestiza looks was a
stunner who could make heads turn from Madrid’s Gran Via to Barcelona’s La
Rambla.
Tapos tinanong ko sya kung paano sya napasali sa Beta Sigma.
Bago nya sinagot yun, nagdetour muna sya sa mga ganapan ng gera.
When war shut down Ateneo, he and some of his classmates soon found themselves
not in hell, but in paradise, attending classes in the all-girls Saint
Scholastica’s, which was near his home.
But this bliss ended when the Americans returned, pummeling the alta sociedad’s
Ermita and Malate neighborhood with artillery rounds to pry Japanese soldiers
out of their hiding places.
“Na level ang Manila. From La Salle, you can clearly see Escolta.”
When schools reopened he rejoined his high school barkada.
This Ateneo group fused with two others – from La Salle and UP, to form the
Brotherhood of Scholars. This is the tripod of schools upon which our fraternity
was founded.
Even 75 years after they met that fateful day in the bombed out ruins of PGH, he
can still recall names of batchmates, calling them by their surnames.
“Sila ni Jayme, Escaler, Jacinto, Alino. Padilla. Si Arranz, anak ng senador. Si
Villarama, ang tatay ay Secretary of Health.”
“Mga elite pala kayo, “ I said.
“Sila lang. But we were invited to join based on our high grades and our ability
to maintain them.”
From “porch lizards” ogling at passing girls, this band of upstarts who
challenged legacy groups was soon dominating the campus, winning contests, from
student council elections to oratorical competitions.
Going to work is what perhaps keep his mind sharp. He can still read through the
fine print of documents and the numbers of accounting ledgers.
Kaya naman pati mga Beta Sigmans na nagtrabaho sa kanya naalala pa niya.
“Kilala mo si Aga na Beta Sigma?”
“Lahat naman po ng Beta Sigma guwapo tulad ni Aga.”
“Si AGA ay si Armando G. Andaya ,” he said with a chortle. He was referring to
an Inphilco manager, a brod who “saw the light” in FEU Arts, but ended up
getting his Vet Med degree in GAUF.
A half an hour into our conversation, I was still addressing him as “Sir”. I
cannot bring myself to call him Brod.
Finally, with a tinge of exasperation in his voice, he said : “ Why are you
calling me Sir? You are my brod. We are Beta Sigmans. So you call me Brod.”
And to Joey and Michelle : “Your Tito Bong is my Brod Bong.”
So here was a Harvard-MIT educated wealthy man to the manor born embracing a
fraternity brother who is a college dropout from a small farming town in Surigao
an equal, right on their first meeting.
On that beautiful night the words about noble men climbing “the barriers of
wealth, region, creed, and prejudice” came to life, courtesy of a brother who
has consecrated his life to create a kinder and gentler world as his fraternity
envisioned it to be.
Tama nga ang sabi nila, long before “brotherhood without borders” became a
buzzword, Brod Gregorio Abreu was a practitioner of it.
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From UPBSI Memoirs & Reminiscenses, click: "The Saga of Good and Noble Men" by Rolly Reyes, May 2020.
U.P. Beta Sigma Fraternity Unified Directory
