José P. Laurel

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José P. Laurel

José Paciano Laurel y García (born March 9, 1891 in Tanauan in the Batangas Province, † November 6, 1959 in Manila ) was a Filipino politician and President of the Philippines .

Studies and first political career

Laurel began his political career after graduating from the University of the Philippines and Yale University with law degrees in 1922 as Secretary of the Interior. However, he resigned from this post a year later in protest against the then US Governor General of the Philippines, Leonard Wood . From 1925 to 1936 he held an office as senator .

Philippine Commonwealth and Presidency

In 1936, Laurel was appointed associate judge of the Supreme Court within the Commonwealth of the Philippines . He held this office until July 17, 1941, when he was appointed Minister of Justice. After the Japanese attack on the US base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, he stayed in Manila, while the then Philippine President Manuel Quezon fled first to Bataan and later to the USA .

He offered his services to the invading Japanese army and received some offices because of his critical attitude towards US rule over the Philippines. Between 1942 and 1943 he was head of the Commission for Home Affairs and Justice and President of the Committee for the Preparation of Filipino Independence . On October 14, 1943, his support for the Japanese occupying forces culminated when he was appointed President of the Philippines by the occupying forces. Within a short time he was shot twice by Philippine guerrillas, but he was saved. In 1945 the Japanese transferred Laurel and his cabinet to Tokyo . With the defeat of Japan in World War II , Laurel also lost his office as president on August 17, 1945. Laurel and his cabinet were subsequently arrested and imprisoned for collaboration by the US Army under General Douglas MacArthur .

Second political career in the Republic of the Philippines

After the formation of the Philippine Republic on July 4, 1946, Laurel was returned to the Philippines and charged with treason. In January 1948, however, he was released on the basis of a declaration of amnesty signed by then President Manuel Roxas .

In the 1949 presidential election he ran as a candidate for the "Nationalist Party", but was defeated by the incumbent president and candidate of the "Liberal Party" Elpidio Quirino . Laurel complained that he had been defrauded of the presidency, and there was solid evidence to support this claim.

In 1951 he was re-elected Senator . Shortly afterwards, he persuaded the then liberal defense minister Ramon Magsaysay to switch to the “Nationalist Party” and run for it in the 1953 presidential election. In 1955 Laurel was then head of a business delegation to negotiate economic relations with the United States. Shortly after the end of his tenure as senator, he retired from political life in 1957.

Of his nine children, five also pursued political careers, including Salvador Laurel , who served as Vice-President during President Corazon Aquino's tenure .

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personal data
SURNAME Laurel, José P.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Laurel y García, José Paciano
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Philippine President
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Tanauan Province, Batangas, Philippines
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1959
Place of death Manila , Philippines