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José Abad Santos

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(Redirected from Jose Abad Santos) Chief Justice of the Philippines from 1941 to 1942 For other uses, see Jose Abad Santos (disambiguation).

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Abad Santos and the second or maternal family name is Basco.
José Abad Santos
Official portrait, c. 1941
Acting President of the Philippines
Unofficial
In office
March 17, 1942 – May 1, 1942
Appointed byManuel L. Quezon
5th Chief Justice of the Philippines
In office
December 24, 1941 – May 1, 1942
Appointed byManuel L. Quezon
Preceded byRamón Avanceña
Succeeded byJosé Yulo
28th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
In office
June 18, 1936 – December 23, 1941
Nominated byHerbert Hoover
Preceded byNorberto Romuáldez
Succeeded byJosé Lopez Vito
Secretary of Justice
In office
December 5, 1938 – July 16, 1941
PresidentManuel L. Quezon
Preceded byJosé Yulo
Succeeded byTeófilo Sison
In office
September 1, 1928 – June 18, 1932
Appointed byGovernor-General Henry L. Stimson
Succeeded byAlexander Reyes
In office
April 26, 1922 – July 17, 1923
Appointed byGovernor-General Leonard Wood
Preceded byQuintín Paredes
Succeeded byLuis Torres
Secretary of Finance
In office
December 30, 1941 – March 26, 1942
PresidentManuel L. Quezon
Preceded bySerafín Marabut
Succeeded byAndrés Soriano (as Secretary of Finance, Agriculture, and Commerce)
Personal details
BornJosé Abad Santos y Basco
(1886-02-19)February 19, 1886
San Fernando, Pampanga, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish East Indies
DiedMay 1, 1942(1942-05-01) (aged 56)
Malabang, Lanao, Philippines
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad
Spouse Amanda Teopaco ​(m. 1918)​
RelationsPedro Abad Santos (brother)
Vicente Abad Santos (nephew)
Jamby Madrigal (granddaughter)
ChildrenJosé Abad Santos Jr. (nicknamed Pepito)
Luz Abad Santos
Amanda Abad Santos (nicknamed Mandy)
Osmundo Abad Santos (nicknamed Ossie)
Victoria Abad Santos (nicknamed Vicky)
Alma materSanta Clara College, CA
Northwestern University, IL (LLB)
George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (LLM)

José Abad Santos y Basco (Spanish: [xoˈse aˈβað ˈsantos], Tagalog: [hoˈse ʔaˈbad ˈsantos]; February 19, 1886 – May 1, 1942) was the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He briefly served as the acting president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and acting commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during World War II, from March 1942 until his execution. Japanese forces killed him for refusing to cooperate during their occupation of the country.

Together with Josefa Llanes Escoda and Vicente Lim, he is memorialized on the Philippines' 1,000-Peso banknote depicting Filipinos who fought and died resisting the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II.

Early life and legal career

José Abad Santos was born on February 19, 1886, in San Fernando, Pampanga. He was the seventh of the ten children of Vicente Abad Santos and Toribia Basco. His brother Pedro eventually emerged as a leading socialist leader during the Commonwealth era. He finished his early education in his hometown. In 1904, he was sent to the United States as a government pensioner. He finished a pre-law course at the Santa Clara College in Santa Clara, California; his Bachelor of Laws at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois; and his Masters of Laws at George Washington University in 1909. He was admitted to the Philippine Bar and passed in 1911 and later served as assistant attorney at the Bureau of Justice from 1913 to 1917.

In 1919, Abad Santos was instrumental in laying the legal groundwork, as well as drafting the by-laws and constitution of the Philippine Women's University, the country and Asia's first private non-sectarian women's institute of higher learning.

Role in the Philippine government

Department of Justice

Abad Santos as Secretary of Justice

Abad Santos was later appointed as the first Filipino corporate lawyer of the Philippine National Bank, Manila Railroad Company and other government corporations. He went to the Department of Justice, where he became attorney-general, undersecretary of justice, then secretary of justice from 1921 to 1923. In July 1923, he resigned as secretary of justice together with other department secretaries as a result of the controversy between Governor-General Leonard Wood and Filipino leaders.

Chief Justice

José Abad Santos (seated from left) in 1935

Abad Santos then served as chief counsel of the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. In 1926, he went to the United States as head of the Philippine educational mission. He was again appointed secretary of justice in 1928 and re-appointed on July 1, 1931. In 1932, he became an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He became its chief justice on December 24, 1941. As part of the emergency reorganization of the Commonwealth government, Abad Santos, in his capacity as chief justice, was given the responsibilities previously handled by the secretary of justice (the position of secretary of justice was abolished for the duration of the war). Abad Santos accompanied the Commonwealth government to Corregidor, where on December 30, 1941, he administered the oath of office to President Quezon and Vice-President Osmeña for the second term to which they had been elected in November of that year. He also undertook, with Manuel Roxas, the supervision of the destruction of Commonwealth government currency to prevent its falling into enemy hands.

World War II

José Abad Santos in 1941

With the Japanese invasion rapidly advancing to the southern part of the Philippines, President Manuel L. Quezon was advised by General Douglas MacArthur to establish a government in exile to the United States; Quezon invited Chief Justice Abad Santos to leave with him. The latter declined preferring to remain in the Philippines and carry on his work and stay with his family. On March 17, 1942, the day of Quezon's departure at Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental for the United States by way of Australia, he appointed Abad Santos as the acting president with full authority to act in the name of, and on behalf of the president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and become the acting commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in some areas unoccupied by the Japanese.

Death

On April 11, 1942, Abad Santos, his son José Jr. (nicknamed Pepito), Col. Benito Valeriano and two enlisted men were captured by the Japanese in Barangay Tubod in Barili, Cebu while traveling by automobile to Toledo, Cebu. He identified himself as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He and his son were then taken to a concentration camp in Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City. When asked to cooperate with the Japanese, he refused. Although he had nothing to do with military operations, they imputed to him, as acting president, the destruction of the bridges and other public works in Cebu that had been undertaken by the USAFFE forces to delay the invasion of the island.

The Japanese high commander, Kiyotake Kawaguchi, took him and his son aboard a ship on April 26, 1942, thinking they were heading to Manila. Instead, they arrived on April 28 at Parang, Cotabato (now in Maguindanao del Norte). The next day they were brought to Malabang, Lanao, arriving on April 30. After two days' confinement at Japanese camps, Abad Santos was called in front of Kawaguchi and was informed about the order of his execution. Before he was shot to death, he was able to talk to his son Pepito. Among his last parting words to his son were, "Do not cry, Pepito, show to these people that you are brave. It is an honor to die for one's country. Not everybody has that chance." Abad Santos was executed at 2:00 pm, on May 1, 1942, under a tall coconut tree near a river bank. He refused to be blindfolded and refused the last cigarette offered to him.

Death and burial site

On May 1, 1942, Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos was executed by Japanese troops in Malabang, Lanao del Sur.

Prior to 2014, the public knew Abad Santos was executed either on the dates May 2 or May 7, 1942. But the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) ascertained May 1, 1942 using the Japanese war crime records found in the National Archives of the Philippines.

Later that afternoon of May 1, 1942, two Japanese interpreters took José's son, Pepito, to his father's grave. It was a small mound—too small, Pepito thought, to hold his father's remains if properly buried. On top of the grave lay a rock as large as a coconut. Pepito begged that he be allowed to mark the grave with a cross, but his request was denied.

After the war, an intensive search for the place where José was buried failed. Pepito did not find the hut and the trees, which would have served as points of reference for locating the grave. The area where the execution took place had been plowed and planted to root crops.

Personal life

On September 21, 1918, Abad Santos was married to Amanda Teopaco daughter of Pedro Teopaco member of the Malolos Congress and has five children José Jr. (born 1919), Luz (born 1920), Amanda (born 1921), Osmundo (born 1922) and Victoria (born 1924). A staunch Methodist, Abad Santos worshiped at Central United Methodist Church along T.M. Kalaw Street in Ermita, Manila (then known as the Central Methodist Episcopal Church). Abad Santos was a freemason and a member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.

Commemoration and legacy

In popular culture

References

  1. He was elevated after the government of Manuel L. Quezon went in exile to the United States.
  1. ^ "The Execution of Jose Abad Santos". Official Gazette. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  2. "MW Jose Abad Santos". The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  3. "History". Upsilon Sigma Phi. October 24, 2017. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  4. Republic Act No. 1206 (April 20, 1955), An Act Changing the Name of the Municipality of Trinidad, Province of Davao, to Jose Abad Santos
  5. Republic Act No. 1256 (June 10, 1955), An Act Changing the Name of Manuguit Street, a National Highway in the City of Manila, to Jose Abad Santos Street
  6. Republic Act No. 7552 (May 22, 1992), An Act Declaring May Seven of Every Year as a Special Nonworking Holiday in the Province of Pampanga
  7. Republic Act No. 9477 (May 22, 2007), An Act Renaming the Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road (GSO Road) as Jose Abad Santos Avenue (JASA)

Further reading

  • Aquino, Ramón C. (1985) "Chief Justice José Abad Santos 1886-1942: A Biography" Phoenix Publishing House, Quezon City
Legal offices
Preceded byRamón Avanceña Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
1941–1942 		Succeeded byJosé Yulo
Preceded byNorberto Romuáldez Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
1932–1941 		Succeeded byRicardo Paras
Government offices
Preceded byQuintin Paredes Secretary of Justice
1922–1923 		Succeeded byLuis P. Torres
Preceded byLuis P. Torres Secretary of Justice
1928–1932 		Succeeded byAlexander Reyes
Preceded byJosé Yulo Secretary of Justice
1938–1941 		Succeeded byTeófilo Sison
Preceded bySerafin Marabut Secretary of Finance
1941–1942 		Succeeded byAndrés Sorianoas Secretary of Finance, Agriculture, and Commerce
Chief justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
Supreme Court of the Philippines
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