José Paciano Laurel y García CCLH was a Filipino politician and judge. He was the president of the Second Philippine Republic, a Japanese puppet state when occupied during World War II, from 1943 to 1945.
Laurel's Supreme Court tenure may have been overshadowed by his presidency, yet he remains one of the most important Supreme Court justices in Philippine history. He authored several leading cases still analyzed to this day that defined the parameters of the branches of government as well as their powers.
