Porras was born in Las Tablas, on the thirty-fifth anniversary of Panama's declaration of independence from Spain.

Raised by his grandmother, his early education was paid for by his father in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, which Panama was a province of at the time.

Working as a reporter, he aligned himself with the local Colombian Liberal Party, and was soon the target of persecution by the reigning Conservative government in Bogotá.

As the Thousand Days War began in Colombia, the Liberals in Panama sent for Porras to lead the invasion of the Isthmus in 1900.

First, in 1881 he married Eva Paniza Arosemena and they had 5 children: Belisario Roberto, Demetrio, Camilo, María Teresa, Leticia Antonia.