José Paciano Laurel y García – President of the Japanese – sponsored Republic

(October 14, 1943 – August 15, 1945)

History/Presidency:
From 1943 to 1945, he served as President of the Second Republic. During the commonwealth,
he served as secretary of the interior (1923), senator (1925–1931), delegate to the Constitutional
Convention (1934), and chief justice. When World War II broke out, Quezon told him to remain
in Manila and negotiate with the Japanese in order to lessen the blow of enemy occupation. He
defended Filipino rights as president and fought Japanese attempts to draft Filipinos into the
Japanese military. Laurel was imprisoned in Japan when Douglas Macarthur invaded the country
after the American forces returned. When President Roxas signed an amnesty proclamation, he
was recalled to the Philippines to face treason charges, which were dismissed. He was elected
senator in the Third Republic and signed the Laurel-Langley Agreement.