Biography

BIOGRAPHY OF JOSE PACIANO LAUREL

José Paciano Laurel ý García (March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959) was the president of the Republic of the Philippines, a Japanese-sponsored administration during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. Since the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal (1961–1965), Laurel has been recognized as a legitimate president of the Philippines. José Paciano Laurel was born on March 9, 1891 in the town ofTanauan, Batangas. His parents were Sotero Laurel, Sr. andJacoba García. His father had been an official in the revolutionary government of Emilio Aguinaldo and a signatory to the 1898 Malolos Constitution.While a teen, Laurel was indicted for attempted murder when he almost killed a rival suitor of his girlfriend with a Batangas fan knife. While studying and finishing law school, he argued for and received an acquittal.Laurel received his law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1915, where he studied under Dean George A. Malcolm, whom he would later succeed on the Supreme Court. He then obtained a Master of Lawsdegree from University of Santo Tomas in 1919. Laurel then attended Yale Law School, where he obtained a Doctorate of Law.Laurel began his life in public service while a student, as a messenger in the Bureau of Forestry then as a clerk in the Code Committee tasked with the codification of Philippine laws. During his work for the Code Committee, he was introduced to its head, Thomas A. Street, a future Supreme Court Justice who would be a mentor to the young Laurel.Upon his return from Yale, Laurel was appointed first as Undersecretary of the Interior Department, then promoted as Secretary of the Interior in 1922. In that post, he would frequently clash with the AmericanGovernor-General Leonard Wood, and eventually, in 1923, resign from his position together with other Cabinet members in protest of Wood's administration. His clashes with Wood solidified Laurel's nationalist credentials. He married Paciencia...