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| L-R: Jose Abad Santos, elder brother Pedro, 1st Lady Aurora Aragon-Quezon |
11. BROTHERS JOSE AND PEDRO ABAD SANTOS HAD CONFLICTING POLITICAL BELIEFS THAT PUT THEM IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS.
The two brothers were poles apart when it came to their political convictions. The elder Pedro was founder of the Socialist Party of the Philippines that supported a revolution of the masses, while Jose was a Secretary of Justice tasked with enforcing the law—which included opposing his brother. In one event in Pampanga where a reform program was launched before farmers, Jose pleaded with Pedro not to embarrass Quezon . Pedro complied, introducing Quezon as a 'friend of the masses and the poor'. But before Quezon spoke, Pedro panned the legal system that, he said, landlords used against the poor. He challenged Jose, then seated next to Quezon, and sarcastically remarked that the 'secretary cannot help us if he just sits in his office.' Though often at odds, both were champions of the welfare of the common people.
12. ABAD SANTOS INTRODUCED THE IDEA OF PUBLISHING THE NAMES OF BAR EXAMINERS.
Abad Santos believed that to ensure clean examinations, the names of the bar examiners should be published. This innovation was adopted by the Supreme Court in 1934. Beginning with Vol. 56 of the Philippine Reports, the names of the members of the Bar Exams Committee have appeared on print. However, the Supreme Court in recent years, found it unwise to reveal the names of the examiners bfore the actual exams, as this has resulted in leakages.
13. ABAD SANTOS SHARES A BIRTHDAY WITH THE FIRST LADY, AURORA ARAGON-QUEZON.
Jose Abad Santos was born on 19 February 1886. He shares his birthday with the Philippine First Lady, Aurora Aragon-Quezon (born 19 February 1888), whose husband, Pres. Quezon, he had dutifully served. It was also on 19 February 1942 that the evacuation of civilians from Corregidor—where Quezon and his wartime cabinet were holed up--began.
14. ABAD SANTOS BRIEFLY SERVED AS THE ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMONWEALTH.
On 17 March 1942, Pres. Manuel L. Quezon designated Abad Santos as the Acting President with full authority to act in the name of, and on behalf of the President of the Philippine Commonwealth in areas unoccupied by the Japanese. This appointment was made through a letter written by Quezon in Negros Occidental, en route to his escape to the U.S. via Australia.
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| L-R: Last photo of Abad Santos with Japanese capt., son Pepito,Pampanga Capitol monument |
15. ABAD SANTOS' LAST LETTER TO HIS FAMILY WAS WRITTEN IN KAPAMPANGAN.
The last letter of Abad Santos to his family was dated 16 April 1942, written in Cebu, just a little over 2 weeks before he was executed. It was delivered to the family in Manila by a kind Japanese Christian, Capt. Watanabe. The short letter, in Kapampangan, reads: Caluguran cung Mandang, Ing magdala caniti yapin ing Captain Watanabe a aquilala ming Pepito queni Cebu.Mayap ya tratus a papaquit quecami. Masalese que bili queni at eyu que pigaganacan. Panayan cu ing agad tang miquit queni. Yanamu, at masalese congan sanang dasnan mi. Ing maligud queca, Jose A.
16. PEPITO, ABAD SANTOS' SON, WAS ORIGINALLY PLANNED TO BE EXECUTED WITH HIS FATHER.
Keiji Fukui was an interpreter of Maj. Gen. Kiyotake Kawaguchi that led the Japanese forces in the conquest of Cebu. He testified during the war crimes trial that Gen. Masaharu Homma’s execution order originally included Pepito. However, Gen. Kawaguchi, “on his own discretion” decided to spare his son. Pepito was told to change his name to avoid detection (he chose, “Jose Francisco”, from his Christian name and the surname of his friend Rudy Francisco, aka actor Fred Montilla).
17. GEN. HOMMA'S WAR CRIMES DID NOT ORIGINALLY INCLUDE THE CASE OF ABAD SANTOS.
When Col. Manuel Lim was named as Chief of the Philippine War Crimes Commission, he was surprised to know that, of the 42 crimes against Gen. Masaharu Homma, no reference was made about the Abad Santos case. Lim brought the matter to the attention of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who gave him full authority to conduct a thorough investigation. Four days before Homma was arraigned, Macarthur authorized the inclusion of Abad Santos’ execution in the charges against him. Homma was found guilty and executed on 3 April 1946.
18. THE WHEREABOUTS OF ABAD SANTOS' GRAVE REMAINS UNKNOWN.
Abad Santos, his son Pepito and Col. Benito Valeriano were captured by the Japanese on 11 April 1942 in Barili, Cebu. Refusing to cooperate with the Japanese, Abad Santos was ordered executed by Gen. Homma, imputing the destruction of the bridges and other public works in Cebu to him. They were taken first to Parang, Cotabato then brought to Malabang, Lanao on 30 April, where Abad Santos was informed of his execution. Abad Santos was executed on 2 May 1942 under a tall coconut tree near a river bank. In the afternoon, Pepito was taken to his father's grave that the son thought was too small to hold his body. The grave was marked by a rock. After the war, an intensive search for Jose’s burial ground was launched but by then, the terrain had been cultivated and planted with crops, and the reference points—like the hut and the trees—were all gone.
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| L-R: Marina Benipayo, Manuel Abad Santos, Jamby Madrigal, Roxanne Abad Santos, bust at Luneta, JASMS-QC, commemorative stamp. |
19. ABAD SANTOS AND HIS FAMOUS RELATIONS:
• Manuel Dizon Abad Santos Sr., Mayor of Angeles ( nephew of Jose Abad Santos, his father Irineo Basco Abad Santos, was Jose’s elder brother)
• Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal, Senator (granddaughter of Jose Abad Santos, daughter of Amanda Jr. with Vicente Madrigal)
• Rosanna Pangilinan Abad Santos, Actress (screen name: Roxanne Abad Santos, great grandniece of Jose Abad Santos. Daughter of Irineo Atienza Abad Santos, whose father was Manuel Dizon Abad Santos Sr.)
• Marina Abad Santos-Benipayo, Beauty Queen, Model, TV Personality (grandniece of Jose Abad Santos. Her mother, Nieves Abad Santos-Benipayo, is the daughter of Nieves Dayrit with Quirino Basco Abad Santos, Jose’s younger brother)
20. TRIBUTES AND HONORS TO ABAD SANTOS.
• Jose Abad Santos is honored with monuments at the Pampanga Provincial Capitol in San Fernando,Pampanga, at the heritage district of Angeles, in Tayabas City, and a bust at Rizal Park.
• Jose Abad Santos Memorial School. The primary and secondary education school of Philippine Women’s University was named after Abad Santos in 1949. JASMS QC was established in 1956.
•The municipality of Trinidad in Davao del Sur, created in 1948, was renamed as Jose Abad Santos in his honor in 1954.
• The Bureau of Posts issued an Abad Santos commemorative stamp in 1960.
• Abad Santos Avenue is the name of the main avenue in San Fernando, Pampanga, (formerly Olongapo-Gapan Rd.). There is also 3-km Abad Santos in Tondo, Manila, and at Clark Freeport Zone.
• Abad Santos is commemorated on the ₱1000-peso bill along with Gen. Vicente Lim and Josefa Llanes Escoda, who were all killed by the Japanese during the World War II.
Source:
Aquino, Ramon C., A CHANCE TO DIE, A Biography of Jose Abad Santos, the Late Chief justice of the Philippines, Alemar-Phoenix Publishing House and Jose Abad Santos Memorial Society of the Philippines. 1967 Graphic Magazine
There was a move made by then Congressman Oscar Rodriguez to change Jose Abad Santos Day from May 7 to May 2 of each year, which was considered as the correct date of his execution. But in one of the consultative meetings, then NHCP Chair Serena Diokno suggested that the more appropriate date to commemorate Jose is every February 19, his birthday, in the light of the lack of conclusive historical evidence as to the actual date of his execution.
ReplyDeleteI am the grandson of Irineo Atienza Abad Santos, nephew of Roxanne Abad Santos, and great great grandnephew of Jose Abad Santos
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