Vicente Abad Santos

Summary

Vicente Abad Santos (12 July 1916 – 30 December 1993) was a Filipino who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

Vicente Abad Santos
96th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
In office
January 17, 1979[1] – July 12, 1986
Appointed byFerdinand Marcos
Preceded byFred Ruiz Castro
Succeeded byAbraham Sarmiento
Secretary of Justice
In office
August 2, 1970 – January 16, 1979
PresidentFerdinand Marcos
Preceded byFelix Makasiar
Succeeded byCatalino Macaraig Jr.
Member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa
In office
June 12, 1978 – June 5, 1984
ConstituencyRegion III
Personal details
Born(1916-07-12)July 12, 1916
San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippine Islands
DiedDecember 30, 1993(1993-12-30) (aged 77)
Manila, Philippines[citation needed]
NationalityFilipino
Political partyKilusang Bagong Lipunan
RelationsJosé Abad Santos (uncle)
Pedro Abad Santos (uncle)
Jamby Madrigal (niece)
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines Diliman (LL.B)
Harvard University (LL.M)
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer, jurist

Profile edit

Abad Santos was born in San Fernando, Pampanga, a city in Central Luzon to a single mother Escolastica Abad Santos. The two maternal uncles were prominent Filipinos during the American period, Chief Justice José Abad Santos, and his brother Pedro, a leading socialist leader during the Commonwealth era.

Abad Santos earned his bachelor's degree and degree in law at the University of the Philippines in Manila before earning a master's degree at Harvard Law School in the United States. After serving briefly as a trial court judge, he joined the faculty of the University of the Philippines College of Law as its dean in 1958. He would serve as dean for the next 11 years.

Public service edit

Abad Santos was appointed Secretary (later Minister) of Justice by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1970. He would serve in that capacity until January 1979. As early as June 1977, he was appointed to the Supreme Court, but he deferred accepting the appointment until January 17, 1979, when he was finally seated on the High Court.

Long viewed as a supporter of Ferdinand Marcos, he displayed considerable independence from the Marcos government once he was seated on the Supreme Court. By 1986, he was asked by the anti-Marcos opposition to swear into office Corazon Aquino's vice-presidential candidate Salvador Laurel at the height of the EDSA Revolution.[2] When Aquino assumed the presidency on February 25, 1986, she asked for the resignation of the incumbent justices of the Supreme Court to allow her a free hand in reorganizing the Court. Abad Santos and fellow incumbent Justice Claudio Teehankee were the President's first two appointments to the reorganized Supreme Court. However, Abad Santos retired shortly after, in July 1986, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Reappointed to the Court on April 3, 1986
  2. ^ Del Mundo, Fernando (February 23, 2013). "Doy Laurel: Forgotten patriot of EDSA I". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 1, 2022.

References edit

  • Sevilla, Victor J. (1985). Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Vol. III. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers. pp. 137–138. ISBN 971-10-0139-X.
Preceded by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
1979–1986
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Vicente G. Sinco
Dean of the U.P. College of Law
1958–1969
Succeeded by