by Alejandro Camiling, CPA
List of Bios:
Jose Abad Santos
National Hero
Secretary of Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court
Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos was born on the 19th day of February,
1886 in San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines. He was the seventh child
of ten children of Vicente Abad Santos and the former Toribia Basco. His
eldest brother, Assemblyman Pedro Abad Santos was the founder of the Socialist
Party of the Philippines and a well-known defender of the "poor and
the oppressed". His other siblings were Emilia, Irineo, Escolastica,
Antonio, Josefa, Quirino, Salvador and Catalina.
Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos completed his elementary education in the public schools of his hometown, San Fernando, Pampanga. In 1904, while still a high school undergraduate, the Philippine government selected him as a government-sponsored scholar and sent him to the United States for further education. He completed his general secondary education school in Santa Clara, California and earned a Bachelor of Laws degree in June 1908 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. A year after, he received his Master of Laws degree from George Washington University in the capital city of Washington DC in the United States of America. Returning to the Philippines, he passed the Philippine Bar Examination and commenced his law practice in October, 1911. In April, 1919, the Supreme Court of the United States of America licensed him to practice law in the United States of America.
Unlike his eldest brother, Assemblyman Pedro Abad Santos who never got married and nor raised a family of his own, Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos joined in matrimony with a town mate and distant cousin, Amanda Teopaco, a beautiful and gracious intern at Centro Escolar de Senoritas in Manila in September, 1918. Their marriage was blessed with five offsprings: Jose Jr., Luz, Amanda, Osmundo and Victoria. He devoted much of his time with his family. He enjoyed reading, swimming, hunting, hiking and playing golf.
Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos served as president of Philippine Columbian Association, Northwestern University Alumni Association, Philippine Bar Association and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. He was also a member of the American Bar Association and the American Political Science Association. He also became Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Philippine Women's University, a leading institution of higher learning in the city of Manila.
Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos is considered the greatest Filipino hero of World War II. He was among the greatest legal luminaries of the Philippines. After completing his law studies in the United States as a government-sponsored scholar he was also assigned for a few years in the Department of Justice. He was appointed later as the first Filipino Corporate lawyer of the Philippine National Bank, Manila Railroad and other government corporations. Moving on his professional career, he was recalled at the Department of Justice as Attorney General then to the position of Secretary of Justice. In recognition of the brilliance and dedication to government service of Secretary Jose Abad Santos, President Manuel L. Quezon of the Philippine Commonwealth appointed him later as Justice in the Supreme Court and eventually as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
At the outbreak of World War II, President Manuel L. Quezon temporarily moved the seat of Philippine government to the USA. Together with Vice President Sergio Osmena and other cabinet members they escaped by submarine from the invading Japanese Imperial Forces as General Douglas MacArthur transferred his general headquarters to Australia to re-organize the Allied Forces. Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos chose to remain in the Philippines as caretaker of the national government administration in the Philippines. The Japanese Military Command repeatedly approached him to make him pledge allegiance to Japan and to the Japanese flag but he did not swear in. A Japanese colonel and his troops overtook him in Lanao and he was told that he would be shot to death if he would not swear allegiance to the Japanese flag. He did not comply with the request of the Japanese so he was executed on May 2, 1942 in Malabang, Lanao del Sur in Mindanao. Before he was shot to death, he was able to talk to his young son, Jose, Jr. and his last parting words were "Do not cry, Jr., show to these people that you are brave. It is an honor to die for one's country. Not everybody has that chance."