Jose P. Laurel
October 14, 1943-August 17, 1945

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From 1941-1945, the national flag was flown upside-down to symbolize wartime.

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1941-1943


1943-1945

Biography
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  • Era: Third President of the Philippines
    President of the Second Republic
    Constitution: 1943 Constitution
    Preceded by: position established
    Succeeded by: position abolished
    Inauguration: October 14, 1943, Legislative Building, Manila (aged 51)
    Capital: Manila
    Vice President: None
    Chief Justice: Jose Yulo (February 5, 1942-August, 1945)
    Speaker of the National Assembly: Benigno S. Aquino, Sr. (October 17, 1943-February 2, 1944)

    Previous Positions

    Executive Bureaucracy: Undersecretary, Department of Justice (1922)Cabinet: Commissioner of Justice (1942-1943)
    Legislative Upper House: Senator of the Fifth Senatorial District (Batangas, Mindoro, Tayabas, Cavite and Marinduque) (1925-1931)Upper House: Senator (1951-1957)
    Judicial Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1936-1941)
    Others Delegate, 1935 Constitutional ConventionPresident, 1943 Preparatory Committee on Philippine Independence

    Chairman, 1954 Economic Mission to the United States

    Founder, Lyceum of the Philippines

    Personal Details
    Born March 9, 1891
    Tanauan, Batangas
    Died November 6, 1959
    Tanauan, Batangas
    Resting Place Tanauan, Batangas
    Political Parties Nacionalista Party (1925-1941)
    KALIBAPI (1943-1945)
    Nacionalista Party (1945-1959)
    Parents Sotero Laurel Jacoba Garcia
    Spouse Pacencia Hidalgo y Valencia
    Children Speaker of the House Jose B. Laurel, Jr.
    Ambassador Jose S. Laurel III
    Senator Sotero Laurel
    Natividad Laurel Guinto
    Potenciana Laurel Ypuangco
    Mariano Laurel
    Vice-President Salvador H. Laurel
    Arsenio Laurel
    Rosenda Laurel Avanceña
    Alma Mater Bachelor of Laws, University of the Philippines (1915)
    Master of Laws, Escuela de Derecho (1919)
    Doctor of Civil Laws, Yale University (1920)
    Doctor of Philosophy, University of Santo Tomas (1936)
    Honoris Causa, Tokyo University (1938)
    Occupation Lawyer
    Professor

  • Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce
    Rafael Alunan Minister October 1943 – February 1945

    Ministry of Health, Labor and Public Instruction
    Emiliano Tria Tirona Minister October 1943 – February 1945

    Ministry of Finance
    Antonio de las Alas Minister October 1943 – February 1945

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Claro M. Recto Minister October 1943 – February 1945

    Ministry of Home Affairs
    Teofilo L. Sison Minister October 1943 – February 1945

    Ministry of Justice
    Quintin Paredes Minister October 1943 – February 1945

    Ministry of Education
    Camilo Osias Minister October 1943 – February 1945

    Chief Cabinet Secretary
    Emilio Abello Chief Cabinet Secretary August 31, 1944 – August 17, 1945
  • Under Construction
    • Population: 17.9 million (1944)
    • Number of Japanese Civilians in the Philippines: 30,000 (1939)
    • Number of Imperial Japanese infantry troops in the Philippines: 64,000 (1941)
    • Number of Imperial Japanese infantry troops in the Philippines: 268,000 (1945)
    • Total exports: no data (wartime)

    Source: A.V.H. Hartendorp, History of Industry and Trade of the Philippines (Manila: American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., 1958); National Statistics Office

  • Under Construction
  • The Second Republic of the Philippines

    The 1943 Constitution was ratified by a popular convention of the KALIBAPI on September 7, 1943 and was signed and approved on September 9, 1943.

    On October 14, 1943, the Japanese-sponsored Second Republic was inaugurated, with Jose. P. Laurel as President. This government followed the newly crafted Constitution and reverted the legislature back to a unicameral National Assembly.

    54 of the 108 members of the National Assembly were elected representatives, 46 were provincial governors, and eight were city mayors. Elected representatives were to serve for three years, while the governors and mayors would be assemblymen as long as they occupied their posts

    The National Assembly of the Second Republic would remain in existence until the arrival of the Allied Forces in 1944, which liberated the Philippines from the Imperial Japanese forces.

    1949 Presidential Elections

    Four years after his stint as President of the Second Republic, Jose P. Laurel was drafted by the Nacionalista Party to run against President Elpidio Quirino, a Liberal, who had assumed the Presidency upon the death of President Manuel Roxas in 1948. The Liberal Party was split between Quirino and former Senate President Jose Avelino.

    Click here for more information on the Philippine Legislature published on the Official Gazette.