DID YOU KNOW: Former President Jose P. Laurel birth anniversary

Today, March 9, is the 127th birth anniversary of former President Jose P. Laurel. A lawyer by profession, he obtained his law degree from the University of the Philippines in 1915 and an advanced jurisprudence degree in 1919. He earned his doctorate in civil law in Yale University in 1920. He was elected senator in 1925 and appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1936. He served as President of the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. He died on Nov. 6, 1959. In 1998, a historical marker was placed by the National Historical Commission at Laurel’s house in Paco, Manila, which he bought in 1926. —Marielle Medina