Sergio Osmea

Sergio Osmea (1878-1961) was the second president of the Philippine Commonwealth and a
distinguished statesman. He led the country in its initial stage of political maturation by his
honest and selfless devotion to public service.
Sergio Osmea was born in Cebu on the island of Cebu on Sept. 9, 1878. He entered the San
Carlos Seminary in Cebu in 1889 and then earned his bachelor's degree from San Juan de Letran
College. His schooling was interrupted by the 1896 revolution and the Filipino-American War.
During the revolution he edited the militantly nationalistic periodical El Nuevo Dia.After the
revolutionary struggles he continued his studies until he passed the bar examination on Feb. 20,
1903.
On March 5, 1906, Osmania was elected provincial governor of Cebu at the age of 28. Although
he had little political experience, he succeeded in solving the grave problems of public order and
community cooperation in his province, cultivating the people's trust in the municipal
enforcement officers.
Further Reading
The best sources of facts about Osmea's career are Joseph Ralston Hayden, The Philippines: A
Study in National Development (1942), and Theodore Friend, Between Two Empires: The Ordeal
of the Philippines, 1929-1946(1965). See also Hernando J. Abaya,Betrayal in the
Philippines (1946), and David Joel Steinberg, Philippine Collaboration in World War II (1967),
for Osmea's role in settling the collaboration

Dr. Jose P. Laurel

1. He often clashed with the American governor-general. During his service as Secretary of
the Interior under Governor-General Leonard Wood, Laurels high-spirited nationalism
often clashed with that of Wood whom many Filipinos viewed as unsympathetic to the
cause of freedom. Laurel also single-handedly caused a cabinet crisis in 1923 when his
resignation sparked his fellow Filipinos to also resign from their positions. Laurels
resignation was a form of protest against Wood for reinstating an American police he had
previously suspended for being corrupt.
2. He is the only president to have served in all three branches of government. No other
Filipino president apart from Laurel can claim to have worked in the executive,
legislative and judicial branches of government. Besides being a president, he had also
been a senator and an associate justice. Aside from that, he also served in numerous
government and cabinet, and elected posts during his long and illustrious career.
3. He was a reluctant collaborator. Perhaps the biggest myth that needs to be dispelled is the
notion that Laurel had been a willing collaborator with the Japanese. True, he liked to
criticize the Americans and MacArthur hated him enough to detain him upon his return.
However, in reality it was his boss Manuel Quezon who ordered him to stay because
someone will have to meet the Japanese. In this case, Laurel was the perfect man to
soften the blow of enemy occupation, having received an honorary law degree at Tokyo
University. Long story short, Laurel just got the lousiest job in the world, considering that
he had to appease the Japanese while at the same time look out for his fellow Filipinos.
4. He turned Malacaang Palace into A Filipino fortress. Although he was a puppet in the
hands of the Japanese authorities, Laurel made sure that Malacaang Palace would
remain firmly all-Filipino. He posted Filipino sentries, turned a blind eye to the
subversive activities of his subordinates, and was even said to have secretly provided
refuge to insurgents. His term in office was also marked with transparency and austerity
as Laurel did his best to empathize with the peoples suffering, methods which included
eating only root crops and vegetables.
However, his most courageous decision was barring Japanese soldiers and even officials from
hanging around the Palace. He essentially told one Japanese consul to get lost after the latter
offered to be his personal adviser. According to military historian Ricardo T. Jose, Laurel told the
Japanese I dont need an adviser. I could be your adviser Kihara, but you cannot be my adviser.
You had better get out!

5. Laurel would also be instrumental in saving Manuel Roxas life not just once but twice.
The first occurred in 1942 when Laurel successfully convinced General Masaharu
Homma to have Roxas, then languishing in a Mindanao prison camp, released.
Unfortunately, Laurel could not save Jose Abad Santos whom the Japanese hated for not
cooperating with them. The second occurred in 1944 when Colonel Akira Nagahama of
the dreaded Kempetai (Secret Police) came to Laurels office in Malacaang and
demanded he hand over Roxas. At this point, Roxas had become Laurels adviser but still
maintained contact with the rebels with the full consent of his boss. Although an
infuriated Nagahama showed a volume of evidence against Roxas and with the latter a
mere two rooms away, Laurel told him You can go and get Roxas, but youll have to kill
me first. Amazingly, the Japanese backed down. Aside from Roxas, Laurel also saved
the life of his aide-de-camp Major Jesus Vargas from the Kempetai. Apparently, the
Japanese police ordered him to turn over Vargas after they discovered that the latter had
also been secretly supporting the rebels just like Roxas. Laurel instructed Vargas to tell
the Japanese by phone that he could not accept their invitation. Afterwards, he placed a
hundred of his guards around the Palace and told them to shoot any Japanese who wanted
to enter. They never came.
6. He refused to draft a single Filipino into the Japanese military. Although we already
know that he declared martial law and war against America and the UK in September
1944, it is interesting to note that Laurel did so only under threat of death by Japanese
authorities.
Even more courageously, in the same speech he also proclaimed that there would be no
conscriptiona slap to the face of the Japanese who by then were being steadily beaten. Laurels
move reportedly prompted Yamashita to comment that the declaration of war was virtually
useless.
References
Chua, M. (2012). Jose P. Laurel, Taksil o Bayani?. [online] Its XiaoTime!. Available at:
http://goo.gl/Bm80JG [Accessed 29 Aug. 2014].
Halili, C. (2004). Philippine History. 1st ed. Rex Bookstore, Inc., pp.185-186.
Javines, F. (1992). Our March of Death and People Power from Mactan to EDSA: In Articles
and Poems. 1st ed. Rex Bookstore, Inc., p.62.
Jose P. Laurel Memorial Foundation Inc., (n.d.). Jose P. Laurel: Biographical Sketch. [online]
Available at: http://goo.gl/c7xbdx [Accessed 29 Aug. 2014].
Karnow, S. (2010). In Our Image: Americas Empire in the Philippines. 1st ed. Random House
Publishing Group.

Lawrence Journal-World, (1946). Foreign Briefs. [online] p.4. Available at: http://goo.gl/ISy9jq
[Accessed 29 Aug. 2014].