(March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959)Early Life
José P. Laurel was born on March 9, 1891 in the town of Tanauan, Batangas. His parents were Sotero Laurel, Sr. and Jacoba 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. 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 Laws degree from Escuela de Derecho in 1919. Laurel then attended Yale Law School, where he was a member of Law Review and obtained a Doctorate of Law.
Family
Laurel was married to Pacencia Hidalgo in 1911, and had nine children. Several of his children became famous politicians in their own right. His eldest son, Jose Jr., became Speaker of the House of Representatives and a candidate for vice-president in 1957. His younger son, Salvador, was Vice-President from 1986 to 1992.
Three other of Laurel's children would become prominent in politics. Sotero Laurel, named after Laurel's own father, was elected to the Senate from 1987 to 1992; Jose S. Laurel III became Ambassador to Japan; and Mariano H. Laurel became president of the Philippine Banking Corporation. The youngest son, Arsenio ("Dodie") earned fame in a wholly different field, as a race car driver, but he tragically died young in a racing accident.
Political Career
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.[3]
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 American Governor-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.
In 1925 he was elected to the Philippine Senate. He would serve for one term before losing his re-election bid in 1931 to Claro M. Recto.[4] He retired to private practice, but by 1934, he was again elected to public office, this time as a delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention. Hailed as one of the "Seven Wise Men of the Convention", he would sponsor the provisions on the Bill of Rights.[5] Following the ratification of the 1935 Constitution and the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Laurel was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on February 29, 1936.
Retirement and Death
Laurel considered his election to the Senate as a vindication of his reputation. He declined to run for re-election in 1957. He retired from public life, concentrating on the development of the Lyceum of the Philippines established by his family. On November 6, 1959, he died in Lourdes Hospital, Manila,[10] of a massive heart attack and stroke.