Claudio O. Teehankee | |||||||||||
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| 鄭建祥 | |||||||||||
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| 16thChief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines | |||||||||||
| In office April 2, 1986 – April 18, 1988 | |||||||||||
| Nominated by | Corazon Aquino | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ramon Aquino | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Pedro L. Yap | ||||||||||
| 82ndAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines | |||||||||||
| In office December 17, 1968 – April 1, 1987 | |||||||||||
| Nominated by | Ferdinand E. Marcos | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Eugenio Angeles | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Andres Narvasa | ||||||||||
| 35thSecretary of Justice | |||||||||||
| In office August 5, 1967 – December 16, 1968 | |||||||||||
| President | Ferdinand E. Marcos | ||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jose Yulo | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Juan Ponce Enrile | ||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||
| Born | Claudio Ong Teehankee (1918-04-18)April 18, 1918 | ||||||||||
| Died | November 27, 1989(1989-11-27) (aged 71) New York City,New York, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Resting place | Libingan ng mga Bayani,Taguig | ||||||||||
| Nationality | Filipino | ||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Pilar Angeles Duldulao Javier-Teehankee (m. 1939) | ||||||||||
| Children | 9, includingClaudio Jr. | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | Ateneo de Manila University (BA,LL.B.) | ||||||||||
| Profession | Jurist, ambassador, lawyer | ||||||||||
| Nickname | Dingdong[1] | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄭建祥 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 郑建祥 | ||||||||||
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Claudio Ong Teehankee,CCLH (simplified Chinese:郑建祥;traditional Chinese:鄭建祥;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tī Kiàn-siông; April 18, 1918 – November 27, 1989) was the 16thChief Justice of theSupreme Court of thePhilippines from 1986 to 1988.
He was also the most senior associate justice and chairman of the First Division of theSupreme Court of thePhilippines.
Teehankee was born on April 18, 1918, inManila,Philippines as the seventh child of Dr. José Teehankee and Julia Ong y Sangroniz.[2]
His father, José Tee Han Kee (simplified Chinese:郑汉淇;traditional Chinese:鄭漢淇;pinyin:Zhèng Hànqí;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tīⁿ Hàn-kî), immigrated to the Philippines in 1901 fromFujian province in China. He was a close associate and friend ofSun Yat-Sen, and was active in the struggle to liberate China from the Qing dynasty. Dr. Tee Han Kee later became the founding director ofChinese General Hospital.[3][4] Claudio learned to write in fluent Chinese, and contributed multiple articles later on for the Chinese-language newspaperThe Fookien Times Yearbook from 1966 to 1968.[5]
He received hisA.B.summa cum laude in 1938 andLL.B. with the only summa cum laude in the school as part of the second batch in 1940 at theAteneo de Manila. He also garnered first place in the 1940 bar examination with an average of 94.35 percent.[6]
Teehankee was Marcos's lawyer in the libel case regarding the movie,Iginuhit ng Tadhana, then became Secretary of Justice under theMarcos administration in 1967 before being appointed as associate justice in 1968.[7]
He was known as the court's "activist" justice because of his dissenting opinions in many vital cases affecting the Marcos administration. He was the lonedissenter in many cases, such as the High Tribunal's decision upholding the constitutionality of the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980. He also dissented in policies which would seem to curtail the basic liberties of people. For a time, Teehankee and JusticeCecilia Muñoz-Palma would dissent together. After Muñoz-Palma's retirement, he was joined by Associate JusticeVicente Abad Santos in dissenting.[8]
It was this activism that made Marcos 'by-pass' him twice for the position of Chief Justice (the most senior associate justice is most likely to succeed after the retirement of the Chief Justice) in 1985. It was after the removal of Marcos that he was appointed Chief Justice byCorazon Aquino in 1987.[5][9]
After his retirement, he was appointed as the Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations, where he died ofcancer inManhattan,New York on November 27, 1989, at the age of 71. He is interred at theLibingan ng mga Bayani.
Teehankee was married to Pilar Duldulao Javier with whom he had nine children. Like Teehankee, his eighth son Manuel Antonio topped the bar in 1983 and also became a diplomat.[10] He was also the uncle of Political Science professorJulio C. Teehankee.[11]
His son Claudio Jr. would beimprisoned for homicide in the 1990s.
Cruz, Isagani A. (2000). "Res Gestae: A Brief History of the Supreme Court". Rex Book Store, Manila
Media related toClaudio Teehankee at Wikimedia Commons| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Secretary of Justice 1967–1968 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 1987–1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Eugenio Angeles | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 1969–1987 | Succeeded by |
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