Lecture Notes: The Political Pot Simmers

**The Political Pot Simmers** Two years after the 1931 national elections, the political pot began to simmer over the question of the United States granting independence to the islands. As long as the Republican Party controlled Washington, the chances of the Philippines to become independent were...

**The Political Pot Simmers** Two years after the 1931 national elections, the political pot began to simmer over the question of the United States granting independence to the islands. As long as the Republican Party controlled Washington, the chances of the Philippines to become independent were nil. But in the Midterm elections in November 0f 1931 the Democrats got a slim majority in the House of Representatives and even broke even in the Senate. However, the White House occupant, Herbert Hoover, was a dyed-in-the-wool Republican. Quezon was too sick with pulmonary tuberculosis that had contaminated him when as a teenager he took care of his mother before she died of that disease. Osmena was preparing the ground to shove Quezon out of the Senate presidency, while Roxas was engrossed in propagating his ideology of the *Bagong Katipunan* , a new approach to achieve an independent national economy. There were three factors that favored independence because three insular items were competing against American products. These were:1) west coast Americans wanted to stop the flow of Filipino immigrants because they taking jobs form white laborers.;2.) Philippine sugar was hurting the sale of beet sugar raised in the U.S.;3.) Coconut oil from crushed copra was injuring the sale of American cottonseed oil. Three groups therefore started lobbying for Philippine Independence because American legislators did not want to put tariffs barriers against insular products on the principle of equal rights for Filipinos and Americans under the American flag. Quezon was too ill to head the 9^th^ independence mission that left Manila in December of 1931, and thus Osmena as president pro-tempore and Speaker Roxas led the group to work for the passage of an independent law. For nearly 2 years the pair remained in Washington, shuttling from one legislator or administration official to the other convince them to pass a measure that would give freedom to the Filipinos. Senator Henry Hawes, Senator Bronson Cutting and Rep. Butler Hare sponsored the bill in Congress before the end of the end of 1932. When it was submitted to Hoover a fortnight later he vetoed it on the ground that the 10 year period for economic adjustment was too short, American would have the responsibility without the authority over the Commonwealth government, and the status of the archipelago would be too ambiguous and dangerous during the fourth coming chaotic decade. The House by vote of 274 to 94 overrode the veto while the Senate also did so by a vote of 66 to 26. The measure had to be submitted to Philippine legislature for approval before it would become operative. Limits on duty-free sugar, coconut oil and cordage would be 80,000 long tons of raw sugar, 50,000 long tons of refined sugar, 200,000 long tons of coconut oil and 3,000,000 pounds of cordage. Filipino immigration to the United States was sharply curtailed. Quezon send one of his followers, Benigno Aquino Sr to Washington to make an estimate of the situation and the Senator who had opposed the approval of the bill while in Manila changed his mind once there. "*Aqui no, pero alla si*" (Here no, but there yes) remarked the local wags on a play of words on the family name of the father of the future Senator who would be murdered 2 decades later before he reached the tarmac at the Manila International airport. Quezon objected to the details in the bill, specially those granting the US military and naval bases. The Americans would retain their urban bases such as Camp Murphy (now Aguinaldo), Fort Mckinley (now Bonifacio), the Cavite Navy Yard and other sites. Quezon claimed that upon the ratification of the law, Filipino high officials could no longer enter these areas unless permitted by the American guards. "What kind of sovereignty would this be when Filipinos would be barred from entry to Philippine territory in Manila?" Quezon asked. Dot still remembers that one early evening, a knock was heard on the front door and when he opened it was a Spanish looking mestizo asking to see his father. Doy was too young to know it but the caller was the Senate President Quezon, "I am Quezon," announced the visitor to the five old boy. Dr. Laurel was then reading in his bedroom but put on the bathrobe and went down. Doy had been told to tell the cook to bring some coffee for the visitor. Present day observers do not know what made the Senate President come but since Laurel was no longer a Senator. It was in 1933 when Vice-President Osmena and Speaker Roxas were in the US working for the passage of the Hare-Hawes Cutting Law, the kastila might have to come to ask Laurel to support him in his criticism of the Congressional bill. The country was divided into two rival groups: "anti" followers of Quezon and the "pros" of Osmena and Roxas. Among the Quezonistas were Quintin Paredes of Abra, Jose Zulueta of Iloilo and Claro M. Recto of Tayabas and Batangas who abandoned the minority party to join the "antis". Speaker Roxas lost his post in the House and in an impromptu speech said "I fell from the Speaker's Chair into the arms of the people." Among the "pros" were Rafael Palma, Teodoro M. Kalaw and Camilo Osias and Jose P. Laurel. Laurel could appreciate the defects in the H-H-C law, but as OSROX mission had asserted "it was the best legislation that could be gotten from America. "The H-H-C Law was better than nothing. Besides, Roxas was his compadre and Filipinos could rarely go against a kin. The removal of works from the Speakership was done in a caucus of the majority party in July of that year. By a 20-vote margin the Nacionalista members present agreed to oust Roxas, and subsequently at a plenary session of the House voted him out of power. Simultaneously, a similar drama took place in the Senate. Senate President Quezon took 3 days to reply the Interior Secretary Honorio Ventura's accusation that he had become a rich man while in the office, a peroration that would have made the Guinness Book of Records for the longest speech ever delivered in any legislature of the world. A year earlier the Reorganization Law had been passed by the legislature and approved by Governor General Teodore Roosevelt Jr., and Quezon made full use of it to remove officials who were against him and replacing him with his own followers. These new office holders naturally told their constituents how the H-H-C law was not the independence measure the Filipino deserved. When the man from Baler went to Lipa during the height of the controversy some time in 1933, he was met by a silently inimical crowd for that province was the home of Laurel and Lipa was the residence of Teodoro M. Kalaw, staunch supporters of the bill and therefore against the kastila. But the crowd was not entirely hostile because LIpa was also bailiwick of Recto, a rabid anti. Just before he got the platform in the public meeting called his adherents, Quezon saw a cross-eyed man approaching him. "*Hoy, putang in among duling, ano ang ginagawa mo ditto*?" exclaimed Quezon in Tagalog as they went up to the platform. That funny gesture thawed out the crowd, for apparently that cross-eyed individual was popular minor official of the city. Good nature laughter arose at Quezon's remark and afterwards cheers and loud applause greeted him as he launched into his speech. After gathering had broken up, a follower asked Quezon who was the man he had greeted. "I'll damned if I know his name," said the kastila. "This is the first time I've seen him in my life." Incidents like this buttressed the popularity of President and Laurel, who was one of the curious onlookers, said to himself: "What a master of crowd psychology is the President- no wonder he has remained at the top of the political heap for the past two decades." University students were vocal in favor of the H-H-C Law, and held the demonstrations at the campus on Taft avenue with the approval of the president, Rafael Palma. Laurel was invited by Palma to speak before the students and the Senator warned them of the danger of dictatorship in their country. "The Filipino people, he said, "should stop to analyze and see if there is any difference between Quezonistas justice and the Caesarian posturing of Mussolini or the emotional racism of Herr Hitler." Quezon must have squirmed under that remark. The "pro" students established a political party called "The Young Philippines" led by Wenceslao Vinzons of camarines Norte and Carmen Planas of Manila; so the "antis" formed the Filipino Youth Association to counteract the "pros". Quezon had the budget bureau cut to one-third the annual appropriation of the U.P. forcing Dr. Palma to resign rather than cripple the institution he loved. An obedient Board of Regents thereupon elected Dean Jorge C. Bagobo was one of the most vocal "antis" in the university I opposition to Dean Maximo Kalaw of the Liberal Arts college, Don Teodoro's younger brother. Even the democrats party was raided by Quezon of its most brilliant leader-Claro M. Recto, who had replaced Laurel in the Senate in 1931. The minority party had broken up on the question of independence law and Quezon promptly enticed some of its members to join him with one exception- Juan Sumulong, the veteran oppositionist. Gen. Aguinaldo always for immediate independence, allied himself with the "antis" not foreseeing the vents that were to take place less than six months later with the passage of the Tydings-Mcduffie Law gotten by Quezon in the 10^th^ and last mission to the U.S. "I've found the role of the minority leader extremely unprofitable and I've been poor long enough," quipped Recto years later. Many minor politicians, feeling that Quezon was too astute a leader.- or perhaps too lucky-to be vested in the public imbroglio, sided with him. The Philippine legislature therefore turned down acceptance of the H-H-C law, using the word "declined" rather than "rejected" to alleviate American sensitivities. Since Quezon had bragged that he could get a better independence law from the American Congress, the "pros" now twitted him to make his boast come true. So, in mid-January of the following year, Quezon boarded a transoceanic liner for Washington (airplanes in those days were in their infancy). He took with his majority floor leader, Senator Elpidio Quirino, Secretary of Finance Vicente Sinsgon Encarnacion, former Resident Commissioner Isauro Gabaldon and Solicitor General Jose Melencio, together with their wives. Two months later, a law sponsored by Rep. John McDuffie of Alabama and Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland was passed, a bill very similar to the previous one, except for the provision of military bases. Quezon had strenuously objected to the granting of military post in urban areas and for a week the U.S. Army had held up passage of the bill because it wanted about 80 land sites until a compromise was reached to re-discuss the settlement of "naval reservations" a decade when the islands would be free. It's the same ink in a different bottle, "declared Camilo Osias who had been the resident Commissioner at the time of OsRox. But what could the "pros" to object since the new law was almost the same as the one they had worked for approval?. All they could do was to accuse Quezon of personal aggrandizement because whoever secured independence would become the hero and leader of the independence archipelago. All this time, Dr. Jose.P.Laurel practiced his profession as a lawyer and professional lecturer. Many students joined his class merely to hear him expound the moot legal questions. He was a superb speaker and quoted the entire cases verbatim and when necessary uttered the legal principles involved in Latin, French or Spanish. At the slightest provocation he would start tracing the development of any particular law. He talked spontaneously, without glancing at books but from his vast storehouse of knowledge. He possessed a keen insight into the basic philosophies behind court decisions as far back as King Hammurabi of Babylon. "His students," noted his first biographer, ""sometimes thought of him as the ancient law-giver himself, as what he said, logically arranged, brilliantly annotated and clearly expressed in good English, fell in torrents out of his mouth." One of his students, Efrain E. Carlos, a journalist who became the advertising director and columnist of the post war Manila Courier said that "Laurel's wit and wisdom readily captured the imagination of his students. His love and capacity for hard work were amazing. He was allergic to stupidity and nonsense, and he once said he said he did not believe flunking working students for obvious reason. Another former student, Jacomo C. Clave, who became a Malacanang assistant 2 decades later, remembered that "it was his view that the true function of education was to enlighten, to develop, to build up and not to fight and destroy." Clave was quoting from his teacher Laurel who had remarked that "Education is constructive force, perhaps the greatest and most constructive force ever set in motion by the mind of the man." Laurel added, "Education is continuing and never ending process, a process that must, if it is to be effective and thorough, seek to develop all the God-given faculties and talents of the individual to their utmost unfolding and thereby make of him a valuable asset to his country and to the whole world community at large. Elections for delegates to the Constitutional Convention were held in June of 1934. Numerous citizens who were not politicians ran for the 202 seats in the belief that their names would be immortalized as signers of the country's Constitution. A dozen candidates from the districts of Batangas submitted their names, amog them were Laurel, Eusebio Orense of Bauan, a veteran Nacionalista criminal lawyer and Recto. The trio easily made it. Laurel sought the chairmanship of the body but Quezon preferred an "anti" for the position and selected Recto for the honor. Laurel was made temporary presiding officer at the inaugural session of the Convention and Chairman of the Bill of Rights. Much of the 21 paragraphs in Art.III of the Constitution were written by him. For example:1) No person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws 2) Private Property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation 3)The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated 4) The liberty of abode...shall not be impaired 5) The privacy of communication shall be inviolable 6) The right to form an association or societies shall not be abridge 8) No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or at the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.14) The privilege of writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in cases of invasion, insurrection or rebellion, when public safety requires it 18) No person shall be compelled to witness against himself. Delegate Tomas Cabili, a Cebuano from Lanao, refused to sign the document, for several reasons, including that Quezon intervened too much in the framing of the Constitution. Gregorio Perfecto of Manila signed it with blood from his forearm, the way the original Katipuneros had done four decades ago I affixing their names to the roster of membership. Laurel speaking philosophically after the Constitution had been approved by the legislature and Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, compared with popular government to a magnificent three-story building, with the first story as the Constitution, the expression of the people's sovereignty; the second as the officialdom of the country, a group of constitutional caretakers of the edifice, while the third and the highest story contained the altar, where the mystic fire symbolized by faith of the people was zealously kept and guarded. Collapse of the foundation meant the destruction of the entire building. Collapse of the first story was necessarily collapse of the second and third stories. Collapse of the second story- the officialdom-through misdeeds of disloyalty of the without faith, no popular government can hope to live and survive," he said. After the fratricidal political war had subsided, efforts were made to bring the two factions of the Nacionalista party together. A meeting was held of the "think tank" of the "pros" in which Laurel was present together with Osmena, Roxas and Osias at the Manila Hotel to draft future plans for their group. A bell boy came with a message from Quezon saying he wanted to confer with Roxas. At first, Roxas adamantly refused to see him, but Osmena prevailed on his partner to see Quezon to find out what it was all about. On seeing them, Quezon said in Spanish, "gentlemen, the fight is all over. Let's set aside personalities and think of the country. I can't lead without your help. I am therefore soliciting your help in the task ahead in preparing our country for the role it has to play in the years to come. That impromptu invitation made Laurel realize the "nobility and humility" in Quezon's character. The coalition came to pass and met with the approval of the public, except for Sumulong who published an article claiming that " after the coalition the deluge." For Don Juan firmly believed that an oligarchy instead of a democracy would become permanent in the Philippines. Laurel answered Sumulong with this observation 'What if Quezon for their and Osmena have become Oligarchs? Is it their fault? Who placed them in power? The people." Don Juan would be right to fear an oligarchy for their country, explained Laurel, if the twain had grabbed power through illegal means, such as the use of arms, but the people in a peaceful balloting have chosen them to become the heads of the country. So what could be wrong with that? Soon after he became President of the Commonwealth on November 15, 1935, Quezon appointed Laurel and Claro M. Recto to the Supreme Court. What made Quezon named them Associate Justices of the highest judicial bench in the land? Observers wondered and the only answer they could find plausible was the two were "thorns" on the political side of the President and to avoid their critical, comments named them to the judiciary to silence them. But now the pair had the laws of the country to interpret in application to the cases elevated to the Supreme Court, they became known for their trenchant dissenting opinions. Both had a big hand in the formulation of the Constitution in 1934 but they never imagined that in less than a decade that the Constitution would be non-operative during the years that an enemy ruled the Philippines. Laurel had the high court reverse an opinion of the Court of the first instance on the Cuevo-Barredo case. An employee had drowned in the Pasig river when his employer had ordered him to save a piece of wood that had fallen into the water. The lower court found the employee responsible for the mishap. But on the appeal, the high tribunal through Laurel ruled that the employee deserved a just compensation for risking and losing his life in an attempt to follow the employer's order. Quezon had off-handedly commented in favor of Barredo and Laurel took him to task by stating, "If it is ever necessary to make vehement affirmation during the formative period in our political history, it is that the judiciary is independent of the executive no less than the legislative departments of their government independent in the performance of its functions, undeterred by any consideration, free from politics, indifferent to popularity and unafraid to criticism in the accomplishment of its sworn duty as it sees it and understands it. "Laurel stood fast in the philosophy underlying the Constitution. He said:" the underlying idea of constitutional government is that the state exists for the people and not the people for the state. The state is not merely an end itself as the Ancient Greeks believed. Every individual must appreciate the state as an agency which he himself has created for the benefit of the highest spirit of patriotism by contributing his help to the enhancement of the general welfare.. After hearing and reading all these remarks of Laurel, President Quezon told an audience in the University of the Philippines that "Justice Laurel wield the most powerful pen in our Supreme Court." Laurel was present in the audience and an observer noted that "Laurel laughed loud", just for what reason nobody knew but that Quezon's public tribute had "pleased" the Batanguenio. One day in 1936 President Quezon decided to visit Bilibid prison on Azcarraga street in the company of the newly appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Jose P. Laurel. They found five prisoners with a walis or broom in hand sweeping the cement floor in front of the main building. The pair found out that these men were "cocheros" or horse rig drivers who had been imprisoned for a few days for having violated some city ordinance or the other. "Hey, you," said Quezon in Tagalog to the nearest man, "what are you in for?" "A policemen, sir, caught me urinating near where I had left my calesa on the street." Then, the President asked the other four prisoners what they done and when he learned that they had violated some minor ordinance, he exploded with his favorite Spanish cuss word. "Puneta, call Director (Paulino) Santos." When that official appeared running, he ordered the immediate release of the five. 'Don't you know," he said, "by keeping them here you are depriving their families of their source of livelihood?" The Catholics lobbied and secured the passage of a bill in Congress requiring the inclusion of religion in the curriculum of all public schools and permitting any religious organization to teach the subject. At the same time giving the parents the right to have children refrain from attending a course on "character building" on the condition that such children must attend the religious instruction offered by the Catholics. This was in 1938 when the Philippines had a unicameral legislature. The President immediately consulted his legal advisers, the "three jobs" in the government service; viz. Secretary Yulo, Justice Abad Santos and Justice Laurel. They were unanimous in recommending the bill's veto which Quezon did to the charging of the Catholic hierarchy. Hearing from the reliable source that Don Pedro the elder brother of Justice Abad Santos, had publicly disclaimed any responsibility if the chief executive ever dared to appear in Pampanga province during the Agrarian trouble in Central Luzon in 1938, Justice laurel informed Quezon about that bit of news. What should I do? asked Quezon! If I were you, Excellency, I would go to Pampanga, replied Laurel. Called, repied the chief executive using that poker game word. On the following morning of February 12, 1939, in the company of Laurel, Quezon motored to San Francisco, the provincial capital, and got don from his car to where some passersby were watching the ruins of the Catholic Church that had been gutted by fire a week earlier. *News of el presidente's* arrival travelled fast and within minutes the Socialist mayor of San Fernando, Vivencio Cuyugan was at his side. "What brought you here this early, Mr. President," asked Cuyugan, and alone at that" Well, maybe you have also noticed and ugly rumors as published in newspapers that the Socialist here are planning to assassinate me. So I came here to prove the rumor-mongers wrong. And I think I am right, Ha, Mayor?" Yes, Mr. President, you're right. That rumor was a vicious report. Only yesterday all of us Socialist leaders held a policy conference in the office of Don Perdo Abad Santos to belie the rumor, but now Your Excellency has beaten us to it. The President, in the company of Cuyugan and Laurel, drove to the house of Abad Santos on nearby consunji street. Half way in route they picked up young Luis Taruc, whom Quezon had freed two years earlier. Taruc would later fall heir to the Huk leadership. Abad Santos was waiting for them at his home and began reciting the complaints of the tenant farmers in the region. Quezon then called for a mass meeting of the people after lunch at the municipal hall. Some 50,000 peasants and townspeople attended to hear Quezon announce his social justice program. He revealed that as early as 1920 he had advocated in the Senate the purchase by the government did not have the funds to do so. Before he left in San Fernado, Quezon told Abad Santos, "I admire your courage, conviction and intelligent manner in leading your Socialist ideas. Keep it up and whenever you fight for it within the spirit of the Constitution, you will find in me a sympathetic response." He (Quezon) had a will of steel and great personal courage," Laurel said afterwards in recounting the event while Taruc later wrote to Quezon's attitude were "those of a statesman whose moral and physical courage was complemented by a deep social conscience and humanist humility. Justice Laurel was fond of lecturing about the constitutional government, for he had learned more about it after his doctor-ate in Yale. As a luncheon speaker before one of the local clubs, he stated: "The Constitution is the expression of the sovereignty of the people. Its primordial aim is the welfare of all. The welfare of the people, in the fiery language of Andres Bonifacio, is the sole purpose of all government on earth. The people is all: blood and life, wealth and strength, all is the people. "Love of country is demonstrated not by words but by deeds. It is not an occasional virtue to be exhibited now and then, but it is a flame that should constantly be kept at aglow in our hearts. It is unflinching determination to serve and defend one's country at all costs. "In our form of government, the administration of public affairs is regulated by the will of the people or a majority of them, expressed through the ballot box. The importance of the free exercise of the franchise by the qualified voters can hardly be overemphasized. Indeed, upon the purity of elections depend the safety and perpetuity of our institutions. It is our duty to help in the promotion of social justice so that every Filipino may have the opportunity to acquire through toil his necessities I food, clothing and shelter together with reasonable comforts and a leisure which will permit cultural self-improvement and a participation in the blessings of civilization. He was a firm believer in the freedom of speech and of the press, two articles in the Bill of Rights of the 1935 Constitution. He said that free speech was "at once the instrument and the guarantee of consummate flower of liberty." At the same time, he emphasized that "a full and vigilant press is equally indispensable. Freedom of the press is the right to publish the truth with good motives and for justifiable ends without previous censorship. Such a definition implies no restrictions. Two years later, Recto resigned from the Supreme Court to practice his profession for economic reasons. Their salaries were woefully inadequate to feed, clothe and educate a large family. Recto had taken a second wife a former beauty queen, and the children he had with both wives cost him plenty. Clients now went to the law firms of the pair, for people believed that they could influence their former colleagues in any case on appel to the high tribunal. Laurel received the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sto.Tomas after submitting a thesis entitled 'The Three Powers of Government". , As a Constitutionalist Laurel was peerless, stated one of his law students who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Enrique. Fernando who had read many opinions of fellow Justices, believe that in the case of Angara vs Electoral Commission, his former professor upheld the supremacy of the highest court in delineating competing authorities not only between the three departments of governments- the executive, the legislative and the judiciary- but with any constitutional body. In the smooth and efficient operations of government, sated Justice Laurel, "there must be an agency to decide and that is the Supreme Court." The Constitution is a definition of the powers of the government, he explained. 'Who is to determine the nature, scope and extent of such powers? The Constitution itself has provided for the instrumentality of the judiciary as the national way. And when the judiciary mediates to allocate the constitutional boundaries, it does not assert any superiority over other departments; it does not in reality nullify or invalidate an act of legislature but only asserts the solemn and sacred obligation assigned to it by the Constitution to determine conflicting claims of authority under the Constitution and to establish for the parties in an actual controversy their rights which that instrument secures and guarantees to them. This is in truth: all that is involved in what is termed as judiciary supremacy which properly is the judicial review under the Constitution. These conflicts arise because of the system of checks and balances embodied in our republican Constitution, he added. Another of his former law students who became the court's Chief Justice, Roberto Conception, talking about Laurel's method of teaching, said "ha head a way of saying things beautifully. He had a style of his own, both fine and meaty, indicating his extensive readings, and breadth as well as the depth of his thoughts. That is the reason why law students flocked to his classes. While sitting as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the murder case against Ferdinand E. Marcos, then a recent law graduate at the State University, came up on appeal. The lower court had found Marcos guilty of the killing of Congressman Julio Nalundasan, a political rival of the elder Marcos. But Laurel found the verdict based on hearsay, for nobody saw young Marcos actually shooting a single shot caliber.22 pistol at the victim while the latter was brushing his teeth at night before the window. Laurel must have been reminded of his own case when he was brought to trial for the wounding of a rival while he was still a teenager and had been acquitted because of insufficient evidence. Justice Laurel must have thought that the evidence for murder was insufficient to convict a promising young man like Marcos. That is perhaps why Marcos, when he was already a president, named Col.Laurel III (Pepe) to the embassy of Tokyo in 1966 and why he permitted the next to the youngest Laurel, Salvador or Doy, to oppose him politically in the 1980's. In April of 1937, Justice Laurel was invited to Tokyo to receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Imperial University for the universities authorities were impressed by the books he had written. In the company of Dona Paciencia, three daughters and the next to the youngest son Doy, they left on the German liner *Potsdam.* Little Doy was only seven years old and his parents originally did not want him to take along but the child cried and begged so hard to go that they relented, especially when they realized that their second eldest son, Pepe, who was studying at the Imperial Military Academy, was the favorite kuya of Doy. The father said, "Let's take him along, he really misses his brother and besides his grades was very good." Doy was no longer studying at the Centro Escolar for women but have moved to Paco primary school on Calle Paz, just a few blocks from their residence on Santo Sepulcro (Holy Sepulcher) street, corner of Penafrancia. Justice Laurel was very methodical individual: all their luggage for the trip were numbered; his bags carried number 1 on the tag, number 2 was for Mrs. Laurel, and the next three were for the girls, and Doy had number 6 for a small valise that contained two pairs of shorts, a jacket, three shirts and two necties. "At first I was too excited to be a seasick," reminisced Doy, "The Potsdam was an elegant boat, with well-dressed passengers and dancing almost evry night. It had a ballroom. I never thought a boat could be that big. I saw Hilario Monacado on board, he was then famous as a playboy and I heard he was courting Pacita de los Reyes. Papa didn't like travelling in style, he was frugal even on trips and we occupied only two cabins: my parents in one cabin and my sisters and I in the other." Pepe, the second eldest son of the Laurels, after taking an Associate in Arts degree from the University of the Philippines, was on his way to enroll at Rollins College in Florida on a scholarship grant, when he received while the ship stopped I Hongkong a cryptic cablegram from his father instructing him to go directly to Japan to enroll instead at the Imperial Military Academy in Tokyo. " I wondered why the sudden change of the plans," recalled Pepe. "Later I found out that President Quezon had made the suggestion that since there were enough Filipinos students going to the United States, it would be better to study in Japan so that he would know more about that country, which was then emerging as the world power." That was in 1934, when the American Congress had passed the Tydings-McDuffie independence law and Quezon must have had in the back of his mind what Japan's attitude would be towards its southern neighbor. "Being the first Filipino to be admitted by what was then the West Point of Japan," said Pepe, I must admit I had a difficult time especially during the initial years. He had to learn Nippongo for one thing but perseverance and hard work paid off and in 1938 he completed his course of study in the 50^th^ class of graduates, including a tour of duty at the Imperial Guards Division. Upon his return to Manila, the Commonwealth government commissioned him probationary third lieutenant in the Philippine Army. That temporary rank was given to all commissioned Filipinos in the Commonwealth army. Quezon immediately named him one of his junior aides-de-camps, with Lt.Col.Mariano Castaneda, Capt.Jaime Velasquez and Major Rafael Jalandoni. ON graduation in Tokyo, young Laurel was awarded the War Minister's Sword. The President was already 60 years old, while Pepe Laurel was 23 or less that half age. The commander-in-chief, bushy-browed ad temperamental in character, made even American Governors General "tread ever so softly" when dealing with him. So young Laurel approached " with trepidation whenever Quezon called him. "yet, by and large," he remembered, I was to find it a memorable and rewarding experience. My tour of duty as a side to President Quezon is in fact one of my most treasured memories. Jose S. Laurel III remained in Malacanang until Quezon had to leave for Corregidor very late in 1941. He immediately reported back to his unit and participated in the defense of Mauban during the Japanese landing. When his father was made the Commissioner of Justice and later Commissioner of the Interior as a member of the Executive Commission, Pepe became an aide to his father. When the second Republic of the Philippines was proclaimed, he became the senior aide of his father, the President in Malacanang. While shopping in Hongkong enroute to the port of Yokohama the Laurel couple entered a store owned by an East Indian or Bombay as they were called in the archipelago, to select some fabric from a mountain of cloth I bolts piled at the desk. In the end she didn't like any of them and as they were filing out of the store the storekeeper murmured a curse about his wasted time. The next moment the Bombay was flat on the floor. Dr. Laurel had knocked him out. "That will teach you not to talk that way about my life" said the enraged Laurel. The Potsdam had to remain in Hongkong for a few days undergoing repairs and the Laurels went from one restaurant to another, eating Chinese food while leaving at the Peninsula Hotel in adjoining territory of Kowloon, courtesy of the ship owner. From Hongkong the ship proceeded to Shanghai which repelled them because of the great numbers of beggars on the streets asking alms from foreign passersby. They rode on rickshaws pulled by Sino coolies. There they first experienced the cold wind that had swept down the Chinese coast from Siberia. They noticed how clean were the inhabitants of Japan once they reached Yokohama. They entrained to Kobe and then in Tokyo where Pepe in the uniform of a cadet met them. Pepe's head ws completely shaved and he had put on weight. They visited his barracks and met his bosom friend, Koju Kodama, From afar they saw the Imperial Palace. Dr. Laurel never imagined that in about six years he would met the Son of Heaven within its sacrosanct walls. They toured the countryside, travelling to Hakone, passing Atami and Miyanoshita. They saw Mt. Fuji and daughter Rose was so overwhelmed by its beauty that there and then while on the train she wrote a poem about it. The six Laurels stayed in Japan for almost two months until the end of May, for it was cherry blossom time. They visited Osaka, Kyoto and the ancient capital, Nara and Kamakura where they saw the giant reclining image of Buddha. They like the Japanese food fare of sukiyaki, tempura and yokan, the cake served to visitors. Pepe still dressed as a cadet of the Imperial Military Academy, bade them goodbye. Then they boarded the President Grant of the Dollar line, an inferior vessel compared to the German liners like the Potsdam or the Bremen. In the following year Pepe graduated fourth in his class and was awarded the Emperor's sword on graduation day. Then he went to Manchuria to observe the Sino-Japanese war. Events were moving fast in eastern Asia. From northern China, Japanese forces had moved into Indo-China, kicking out the French and were inching towards Singapore and Indonesia. Carlos P. Romulo, editor-publisher of the Philippine Herald on a survey trip to East Asia, reported that the Burmese and Indonesians waited the arrival of the Japanese in their territory, that Thailand would offer only a token resistance should the Japanese arrive, while Chiange kai-shek in Chungking, China, warned the Filipinos that the Philippines would be Japan next victim in its piecemeal conquest of the region. An alarmed America received Japanese diplomats feigning peace. Until on December 8, 1941, (Manila time) all hell broke loose in the western Pacific with the bombing of Hawaii and the Philippines. (taken from the book "The Laurel Story" by Carlos Quirino,1992.)