José Abad Santos | |
|---|---|
 Photograph fromThe Commercial & Industrial Manual of the Philippines, 1941 | |
| ActingPresident of the Philippines | |
| In office March 17, 1942 – May 1, 1942 | |
| Appointed by | Manuel L. Quezon |
| 5thChief Justice of the Philippines | |
| In office December 24, 1941 – May 1, 1942 | |
| Appointed by | Manuel L. Quezon |
| Preceded by | Ramón Avanceña |
| Succeeded by | José Yulo |
| 28thAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines | |
| In office June 18, 1936 – December 23, 1941 | |
| Nominated by | Herbert Hoover |
| Preceded by | Norberto Romuáldez |
| Succeeded by | José Lopez Vito |
| Secretary of Justice | |
| In office December 5, 1938 – July 16, 1941 | |
| President | Manuel L. Quezon |
| Preceded by | José Yulo |
| Succeeded by | Teófilo Sison |
| In office September 1, 1928 – June 18, 1932 | |
| Appointed by | Governor-GeneralHenry L. Stimson |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Reyes |
| In office April 26, 1922 – July 17, 1923 | |
| Appointed by | Governor-GeneralLeonard Wood |
| Preceded by | Quintín Paredes |
| Succeeded by | Luis Torres |
| Secretary of Finance | |
| In office December 30, 1941 – March 26, 1942 | |
| President | Manuel L. Quezon |
| Preceded by | Serafín Marabut |
| Succeeded by | Andrés Soriano(as Secretary of Finance, Agriculture, and Commerce) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | José Abad Santos y Basco (1886-02-19)February 19, 1886 |
| Died | May 1, 1942(1942-05-01) (aged 56) |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Pedro Abad Santos (brother) Vicente Abad Santos (nephew) Jamby Madrigal (granddaughter) Bong Suntay (great-grandson) |
| Children | José Abad Santos Jr. (nicknamedPepito)[2] Luz Abad Santos Amanda Abad Santos (nicknamedMandy) Osmundo Abad Santos (nicknamedOssie) Victoria Abad Santos (nicknamedVicky) |
| Alma mater | Santa Clara College,CA Northwestern University,IL(LLB) George Washington University,Washington, D.C.(LLM) |
| Signature |  |
José Abad Santos y Basco (Spanish:[xoˈseaˈβaðˈsantos],Tagalog:[hoˈseʔaˈbadˈsantos]; February 19, 1886 – May 1, 1942) was the fifthchief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He briefly served as the actingpresident of theCommonwealth of the Philippines and acting commander-in-chief of theArmed Forces of the Philippines duringWorld War II, from March 1942 until his execution.[a]Japanese forces killed him for refusing to cooperate duringtheir occupation of the country.
Together withJosefa Llanes Escoda andVicente Lim, he is memorialized on the non-polymer version of thePhilippines' 1,000-Peso banknote depicting Filipinos who fought and died resisting theJapanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II.
José Abad Santos was born on February 19, 1886, inSan Fernando,Pampanga. He was the seventh of the ten children of Vicente Abad Santos and Toribia Basco. His brotherPedro eventually emerged as a leading socialist leader during theCommonwealth era. He finished his early education in his hometown. In 1904, he was sent to theUnited States as a government pensioner. He finished a pre-law course at theSanta Clara College inSanta Clara, California; his Bachelor of Laws atNorthwestern University inEvanston, Illinois; and his Masters of Laws atGeorge Washington University in 1909. He was admitted to thePhilippine Bar and passed in 1911 and later served as assistant attorney at theBureau 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 thePhilippine Women's University, the country and Asia's first private non-sectarian women's institute of higher learning.
Abad Santos was later appointed as the first Filipino corporate lawyer of thePhilippine 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-GeneralLeonard Wood and Filipino leaders.
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Abad Santos then served as chief counsel of the president of theSenate and the speaker of theHouse of Representatives of the Philippines. In 1926, he went to theUnited 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 itschief 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 toCorregidor, where on December 30, 1941, he administered the oath of office to PresidentQuezon and Vice-PresidentOsmeña for the second term to which they had been elected in November of that year. He also undertook, withManuel Roxas, the supervision of the destruction of Commonwealth government currency to prevent its falling into enemy hands.
With theJapanese invasion rapidly advancing to the southern part of the Philippines, PresidentManuel L. Quezon was advised by GeneralDouglas MacArthur to establish agovernment 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 atZamboanguita,Negros Oriental for the United States by way ofAustralia, he appointed Abad Santos as the acting president with full authority to act in the name of, and on behalf of the president of theCommonwealth of the Philippines and become the acting commander-in-chief of theArmed Forces of the Philippines in some areas unoccupied by the Japanese.
On April 11, 1942, Abad Santos, his son José Jr. (nicknamedPepito), Col. Benito Valeriano and two enlisted men were captured by the Japanese inBarangayTubod inBarili, Cebu while traveling by automobile toToledo, Cebu.[2] 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 inCebu that had been undertaken by theUSAFFE 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 atParang,Cotabato (now inMaguindanao del Norte). The next day they were brought toMalabang,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.[2]
Prior to 2014, the public knew Abad Santos was executed either on the dates May 2 or May 7, 1942. But theNational Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) ascertained May 1, 1942 using the Japanese war crime records found in theNational 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.[2]
On September 21, 1918, Abad Santos was married to Amanda Teopaco daughter of Pedro Teopaco member of theMalolos Congress and has five children José Jr. (born 1919), Luz (born 1920), Amanda (born 1921), Osmundo (born 1922) and Victoria (born 1924). A staunchMethodist, Abad Santos worshiped atCentral United Methodist Church alongT.M. Kalaw Street inErmita,Manila (then known as the Central Methodist Episcopal Church). Abad Santos was afreemason and a member of theUpsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.[3][4]
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| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 1941–1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 1932–1941 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of Justice 1922–1923 | Succeeded by Luis P. Torres |
| Preceded by Luis P. Torres | Secretary of Justice 1928–1932 | Succeeded by Alexander Reyes |
| Preceded by | Secretary of Justice 1938–1941 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Serafin Marabut | Secretary of Finance 1941–1942 | Succeeded byas Secretary of Finance, Agriculture, and Commerce |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
