Salvador Roman Hidalgo Laurel (November 18, 1928 – January 27, 2004), also known as
Doy Laurel, was Vice President of the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
from 1986 to 1992 under
Corazon AquinoMaria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Aquino was also the first elected female head of state in Asia...
. Before that, he briefly served as
AquinoMaria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Aquino was also the first elected female head of state in Asia...
's first (and only)
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of the Philippines was the official position of the head of the government of the Philippines...
from February 25 to March 25 of 1986.
Laurel is the fifth son of
PresidentThe President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. The President of the Philippines in Filipino is referred to as Ang Pangulo or Pangulo...
José P. LaurelJosé Paciano Laurel y García was the president of the Japanese-Sponsored Republic of the Philippines during World War II, from 1943 to 1945....
, president of the second Philippine Republic.
style="font-size: larger;" | Other Positions in Government
| Philippine Presidential José Paciano Laurel y García was the president of the Japanese-Sponsored Republic of the Philippines during World War II, from 1943 to 1945....
Son
1943–1945 |
Senator of the Philippines
1967–1972 |
Assemblyman, Region IV
1978–1984 |
Chairman, National Centennial Commission
1996–1999 |
Salvador Roman Hidalgo Laurel (November 18, 1928 – January 27, 2004), also known as
Doy Laurel, was Vice President of the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
from 1986 to 1992 under
Corazon AquinoMaria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Aquino was also the first elected female head of state in Asia...
. Before that, he briefly served as
AquinoMaria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Aquino was also the first elected female head of state in Asia...
's first (and only)
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of the Philippines was the official position of the head of the government of the Philippines...
from February 25 to March 25 of 1986.
Early life and Career
Laurel is the fifth son of
PresidentThe President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. The President of the Philippines in Filipino is referred to as Ang Pangulo or Pangulo...
José P. LaurelJosé Paciano Laurel y García was the president of the Japanese-Sponsored Republic of the Philippines during World War II, from 1943 to 1945....
, president of the second Philippine Republic. He first enrolled at
Centro Escolar de SeñoritasCentro Escolar University is a private university in the Philippines. It was founded on June 3, 1907 by two women, Librada Avelino and Carmen de Luna, and was originally called Centro Escolar de Señoritas. It became a university in 1933...
(1933-35) then Paco Elementary School (1935-36) followed by Justo Lukban Elementary School (1936-1937) and he graduated from elementary at
Ateneo de ManilaThe Ateneo de Manila University is a private university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits. It was then a state-subsidized school...
in 1941. He graduated from high school at
De La Salle College High SchoolDe La Salle University is a Catholic private university located in Taft Avenue in the district of Malate in Manila, run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools. It is the oldest campus of De La Salle Philippines, a system composed of 17 Lasallian institutions in the Philippines established in 2006...
in 1946.
At La Salle he joined a group of young men who planned to go to Indonesia to join Sukarno in his struggle for independence from the Dutch, but local authorities stopped them at the pier.
Although all his older brothers were lawyers, Laurel took up medicine at the
University of the PhilippinesThe University of the Philippines is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
, but after two years switched to law. He obtained his
Bachelor of LawsThe Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and which originated in England. It was established as a liberal arts degree, which requires that the student undertake a certain amount of study of the classics...
(LL.B.) degree from the
University of the Philippines College of LawThe University of the Philippines College of Law or UP Law is the law college of the University of the Philippines System, the National University of the Philippines. Since 1948, it has been located at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City, UP's flagship campus.. Until the 1970s,...
in 1952.
Without waiting for the results of the bar exams, he left for
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
to study at
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
, where he earned his
Master of LawsThe Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, or research degree , and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister...
degree (LL.M.) in 1953. He earned the title
Doctor of Juridical ScienceDoctor of Laws is a doctoral degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country, and includes degree such as the LL.D., Ph.D., Dr. iur., D.C.L., and S.J.D. or J.S.D...
(J.S.D.) also
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
in 1960.
He married Celia Diaz, a society debutante, but left his family behind to finish his studies. He got the degree of Doctor in Judicial Science in 1960, and upon his return practiced law with his brothers.
It was not until 1967, a decade after his father’s death, that he seriously entered politics when he ran and won a Senate seat. He became the youngest Nacionalista senator. Laurel was named the most outstanding senator from 1968 to 1971. He was the author of five “Justice for the Poor” laws, also called “Laurel Laws,” nine laws on judicial reforms, the Government Reorganization Act, and the amendment to the Land Reform Code.
He founded
United Nationalists Democratic OrganizationsUnited Nationalists Democratic Organizations was the main umbrella of the traditional political opposition, another was the PDP-LABAN during the turbulent last years of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in the mid-1980s...
(UNIDO) that became the main voice of opposition in the 1980s. Laurel was unanimously nominated standard bearer of the opposition in 1985. Laurel decided to run for president of the Philippines against Marcos. However after long negotiations with
Corazon AquinoMaria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Aquino was also the first elected female head of state in Asia...
, the widow of Laurel ally
Ninoy AquinoBenigno Servillano "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. was a Philippine Senator, Governor of Tarlac, and an opposition leader against President Ferdinand Marcos. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport upon returning home from exile in the United States...
, at the last minute he withdrew his candidacy in favor of her and decided instead to run for vice president. Aquino and Laurel became president and vice president respectively in February 1986.
Vice-Presidency
See Also: Presidency of Corazon Aquino
Laurel became the first and only man to hold the positions of foreign minister, prime minister and vice president concurrently in 1986. The prime minister post was abolished though in March 1986, and Laurel was replaced in his foreign affairs post by
Raul ManglapusRaúl Sevilla Manglapus was a prominent post-World War II Filipino politician. He co-founded the reformist Progressive Party of the Philippines and the Christian Democratic Socialist Movement in 1968 .He was appointed as the Philippines' youngest-ever foreign minister in...
in 1987.
He ran for president in 1992 as the head of the
Nacionalista PartyThe Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907...
. However, he did not gain Aquino's support and lost a bid to replace her as president. He also served as the prime minister of
Corazon AquinoMaria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. Aquino was also the first elected female head of state in Asia...
for the first month of Aquino's presidency.
Post Vice-Presidency
In 1996, he was appointed by
PresidentThe President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. The President of the Philippines in Filipino is referred to as Ang Pangulo or Pangulo...
Fidel V. RamosFidel Valdez Ramos , also known as FVR, was the 12th President of the Philippines. He succeeded Corazon Aquino and governed until 1998, when he was succeeded by Joseph Estrada...
as the chairman of the Philippine National Centennial Commission. Through his unwavering leadership, he revived Filipino nationalism by promoting the Filipino heritage and culture using heavy advertising. The Philippines celebrated its Independence Day centennial on June 12, 1998.
He was supposed to resign after the centennial celebrations, but
PresidentThe President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. The President of the Philippines in Filipino is referred to as Ang Pangulo or Pangulo...
Joseph EstradaJoseph Ejercito Estrada was the 13th President of the Philippines, serving from 1998 until his ouster in the 2001 EDSA Revolution....
extended his term. Estrada abolished the commission in 1999. A few months after, he was charged with graft before the
SandiganbayanThe Sandiganbayan is a special court in the Philippines which was established under Presidential Decree No. 1606. Its rank is equivalent to the Court of Appeals. The court consists of 14 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice...
(Anti-graft court) for misappropriation of funds in constructing the regarding the controversial construction of a P1.165-billion Centennial Expo in
ClarkfieldClark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
,
Angeles CityAngeles City , located within the province of Pampanga in the Philippines, is locally classified as a first-class, highly-urbanized city...
,
PampangaPampanga is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Pampanga is bordered by the provinces of Bataan and Zambales to the west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija to the north, and Bulacan to the southeast...
. Laurel, whose family has never been tainted with corruption vehemently denied the allegation and chose to stand as his own defense counsel.
He returned to private life and spent most of his retirement in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He died from
lymphomaLymphoma is a cancer that begins in the lymphocytes of the immune system and presents as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. They often originate like balls in lymph nodes, presenting as an enlargement of the node...
on January 27, 2004 at
AthertonAtherton is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 7,194 at the 2000 census. It is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.- History :...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. His remains were cremated days after and were buried in the
Libingan ng mga BayaniCemetery of the Heroes is a national cemetery within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, Metro Manila in the Philippines. It was established as a fitting resting place for Filipino military personnel from privates to generals, as well as heroes and martyrs...
.
External links