Jose P. Laurel on Stamps
Jose P. Laurel (March 9, 1891 - November 6, 1959) was the third president of the Republic of the Philippines. An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court before becoming president, he was also an educator, having founded the Lyceum of the Philippines. Laurel was born on 9 March 1891 in Tanauan, Batangas to Sotero Laurel and Jacoba Garcia. His father, who was the Secretary of the Interior in Emilio Aguinaldo's cabinet and a signatory to the Malolos Constitution, was taken prisoner during the Filipino-American War and died in captivity in 1902 when Laurel was only 11 years old. This led the young Laurel to work as an altar boy and chorister, later taking on a job as a part-time laborer at the Bureau of Forestry when he turned 18, for the money he needed to continue his studies. He later became a clerk for the Code Committee, where he met Thomas Atkins Street, a future member of the Philippine Supreme Court and who served as his mentor. After graduating from the Manila High School (now...