Jose P. Laurel
José Paciano Laurel y García (March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and judge, who served as the president of the Japanese-occupied Second Philippine Republic, a puppet state during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. Since the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal (1961–1965), Laurel has been officially recognized by later administrations as a former president of the Philippines. Early life and education José Paciano Laurel y García was born on March 9, 1891, in the town of Tanauan, Batangas. His parents were Sotero Laurel y Remoquillo and Jacoba García y Pimentel, both from Tanauan. His father had been an official in the revolutionary government of Emilio Aguinaldo and a signatory to the 1899 Malolos Constitution. Just like many other presidents, he is a Chinese mestizo descendant. His second given name Paciano was in honor of Paciano Rizal. Laurel studied at the San Jose College in Tanauan before transferring in 1903 to Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila. He later attended "La Regeneracion," where he completed the Spanish secondary course of instruction. In 1907, he finished the intermediate grades at Manila public schools. While a teen, Laurel was indicted for attempted murder when he almost killed a rival suitor of the girl he stole a kiss from with a fan knife. While studying and finishing law school, he argued for and received an acquittal in 1912. Laurel completed his high school education at Manila High School in 1911. He 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 at the Supreme Court of the Philippines. On the same year, he took the Philippine bar examination and placed second. He then obtained a Master of Laws degree from University of Santo Tomas in 1919. Laurel was later awarded a scholarship at Yale Law School, where he obtained his J.S.D. degree in 1920. On the same year, he was admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia. He later traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, where he also took special courses in international law at Oxford University in England and at the University of Paris in France before returning to the Philippines in 1921. He also earned his Doctorate in Jurisprudence at the Escuela de Derecho in Manila and Humanities at the University of Santo Tomas. Early 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, and law clerk in the Executive Bureau. 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. In 1921, Laurel was also appointed as lecturer at