Lorenzo M. Tañada
Lawyer & Public Servant

Tañada started his legal career as a public servant. In 1929, he was an Assistant Fiscal of Manila. In 1936, his former mentor Justice Francisco Delgado invited him to become a partner, thus, was born the law firm of Delgado & Tañada. When World War II broke out, he joined the resistance movement. He co-founded the Civil Liberties Union that published the underground news sheet "Free Philippines". In 1945, President Sergio OsmeÒa appointed him Judge of the Court of First Instance of Manila. Three months later, the President named him Solicitor General and concurrently, Chief of the Office of Special Prosecutors.

As a private lawyer, one of his most important cases involved Tomas Confesor, who was elected governor of Iloilo although political bigwheels like Quezon and Roxas vigorously opposed him. Confesor however was charged with violating the election code, for he had entered the polling place while carrying a gun. The hearings were held in Iloilo, and when Tañada arrived there with his client, the people were disappointed for they had expected a bigtime counsellor to defend the popular governor-elect. The legal problem which faced him was enormous: How could one dispute the fact that Confesor was carrying a gun? On the third day of the inquiry at the packed Capitol, he unvailed his trump card - a Supreme Court decision barring the use of a private prosecutor for a public offense.

Accordingly, the private prosecutor, Manuel Soriano, had to be replaced, and the witnesses got all tangled up in their testimony. The aggressive cross-examinations of the defense did not help assuage their nervousness and Tañada went to win his case.

Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Taps for an Elderly Statesman, Graphic, 5 January 1972
Tañada with Confessor
The acquittal of Iloilo Gov. Tomas Confessor brought Tañada national recognition
Tañada did not have to wait long to figure in a case that attained national prominence. A seemingly indifferent charge for gambling before the Municipal Court of Manila developed into the notorious "Carambola Case", in which high government officials, including senators and representatives, were arrested in a gambling raid. Political pressure was brought to bear on the prosecuting attorney. But he insisted on doing his duty. The best lawyers of the day entered their appearance for the accused. Alone, on the other side, was Tañada. After a much-publicized series of sensational trials, in which Tañada proved his mettle against the best, the Municipal Court convicted the accused. It was indeed an exhilarating triumph for the youthful assistant fiscal.

Atty. Emmanuel Pelaez, Lorenzo M. Tañada: Counsel for the People, August 1945
Tañada served as Solicitor General under President Sergio Osmeña from 1945 to 1947
Tañada relates his earlier practice of law
Ang iba po naman sa manga taong nakakakilala sa akin ay ang sabi ay hindi nila akalaing tatangapin ko ang pagka Juez sa Maynila sapagkat ang sueldo ay P10,000 lamang sa isang taon, ay alam nilang mahigpit na totoo rito ang aking hahanapin sa ejercicio ng profesion. Siguro raw po and hinahanap ko ngayon ay honor at hindi cuarta sapagkat ang puesto ng Juez de Primera Instancia sa Maynila ay puesto de honor.
Ako po ay natawa lamang. Sapagkat sa aking palagay ay ang manga nanyari, nanyayari at manyayari pa sa buhay ko ay pawang tadhana ng Maykapal. Ang ginagawa ko na lamang po ay magpasalamat sa manga Biyayang ibinibigay sa akin, at gawin ang boo kong magagawa upang matupad ang aking manga tunkulin.

Tañada, in a letter to his father Vicente, affirming his belief that his appointment as Judge of the Court of First Instance of Manila by President Sergio Osmeña is part of God's Plan for him, 12 May 1945
Tañada with Confessor
Tañada's Service Record as Assistant Fiscal of Manila

Lorenzo M. Tañada

A Tribute To A Filipino Hero

Tañada's Service Record as Assistant Fiscal of Manila

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Tañada with Confessor
Tañada's service record as Solicitor General

Lorenzo M. Tañada

A Tribute To A Filipino Hero

Tañada's Service Record as Solicitor General

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The people have reason to congratulate themselves and President Osmeña for one of the best appointments made by him. The latter is the choice of Lorenzo M. Tañada for the office of Solicitor-General for the Commonwealth of the Philippines. A non-political office, the Solicitor-Generalship, perhaps more than any other appointive office in the government, requires talents hard to find in a single man. Unquestionable integrity, a full grasp of the many phases of law, experience in trial work, a keen mind, and above all, a fighting spirit and uncompromising faith in the liberties of the people --- these are the qualities which the nation expects of the counsel for the people. Mr. Tañada's background will convince anyone that he possesses these qualities. His recent actuations in office are already beginning to prove that the people are right in their expectations. Even the administration's most persistent critics have openly come out with the statement that Tañada's appointment as Solicitor-General is commendable.

Atty. Emmanuel Pelaez, Lorenzo M. Tañada: Counsel for the People, August 1945
The Solicitor General has to his credit a spotless record, both in private and public life. He also brings to his office a high concept of disinterested, earnest public service. His capabilities well qualify for even more responsibilities. His lucky star is on the ascendant. Not a few who have been speculating on who will be the leaders of the Philippines a few years from now, believe that the Solicitor General will certainly figure among them. Will today's counsel for the people be tomorrow's man of destiny?

Atty. Emmanuel Pelaez, Lorenzo M. Tañada: Counsel for the People, August 1945
For this is, indeed, the first time that an appointee, not yet confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, dared to criticize the Congress and in a manner, too, that leaves no doubt as to what he thinks of that body… It might have been a trifle indiscreet but then it is only through such indiscretion that our government can be given its periodical bath…The members of that body are caught flat-footed by the uncompromising attitude of our Solicitor General who practically told them: "Your People's Court bill is no good. It is not only no good, it stinks… Your bill is rotten. After it becomes a law, my office will have to enforce it. I do not want to have anything to do with it. Appoint somebody else to do the dirty job for you. I want to quit." The matter with Solicitor Tañada is that he is capable, honest and upright. And when he thinks that his usefulness as a public servant is at an end…he is honest enough to say so and then resign. And to make the whole situation worse, he does not need the job. He can, by quitting, earn more and he does not care. If we were Congress, we would listen to this bright young man and modify the bill accordingly. And if we were the Commission on Appointments, we would spite him by confirming his appointment unanimously.

C. Moran Sison, The Guerilla Newspaper, 12 September 1945
Solicitor General Tañada with his staff of brilliant lawyers
Tañada with President Manuel Quezon
Tañada and his mentor, Harvard Professor Felix Frankfurter, who later became an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
My dear Tañada,

Colonel Joseph Rauh brought me some warm messages from you and I was delighted to have them. I recall our days in Cambridge with vividness. And I learn with satisfaction but without surprise that you have reached a position of such eminence as well as of such importance for your people. Difficult problems beset every country. Their solution depends on men like you who devote themselves to the public good with ability, disinterestedness and determination. As you know, the happy future of the Filipino people has been an interest of long-standing with me, and I watch with eagerness every manifestation of progress in the unfolding of your national life.

Justice Felix Frankfurter, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, in a letter to Tañada, 20 October 1945
Solicitor General Lorenzo M. Tañada deserves the ribbon for the Truman "hands-off" on the collaboration question here. It will be remembered that the fighting prosecutor took on all corners in defense of his stand against an extra-territorial court in the Philippines, and whatever views were aired in the United States to convince the American people of our determination to be left alone, were mostly Tañada's.

Daily News, 20 March 1946
When James Hutchinson of the U.S. Department of Justice suggested the establishment of an extraterritorial court in the Philippines so that he could personally prosecute Laurel, Tañada opposed the proposal. "As long as I am the Solicitor General, I will not allow Americans to try Filipinos." This is not because he doubted American sense of fairness but because he has implicit faith in the Philippine courts of justice.

The Manila Post, 10 September 1946
Tanada
In all this collaboration and treason business there is one man who stands out uncompromising, four-square, immovable as a massive block of granite. He is Solicitor General and Chief Prosecutor Lorenzo M. Tañada. In his biggest case he was called upon to prosecute one who was not only his professor but also his friend, Jose P. Laurel, President of the puppet republic during the Japanese occupation. As if that were not enough, he is, to use his own words "up against strong public opinion in favor of the accused," and not only that, but arrayed against him is the whole hierarchy of former government officials from President Roxas down, who conscientiously and patriotically or not, co-operated with the Japanese. Add to all that the tremendous moral pressure --- felt though unseen --- of the hundreds of relatives and friends of others accused, many of them persons of influence, and we can form some idea of the heroic stature of the man Tañada. In him there is "neither variableness nor shadow of turning." He has sworn to do his duty, and that he will do, "though the heavens fall." By such men as Tañada is a people made great.

Philippine Free Press Editorial, 17 August 1946
Tanada
Tension eases in the crowded People's Court as Tañada smilingly greets Jose P. Laurel before the hearing of the latter's petition for bail, October 1949
As prosecutors determined to convict those accused of having given aid and comfort and shown adherence to the enemy, Tañada and his staff of brilliant attorneys face a not-too-bright future. Time and circumstances are conspiring together against these attorneys for the people. Tañada may not know it, but he is on the spot. All the odds are against him. But he assured this writer that he would fight his cases to the last ditch no matter what the consequences to his career may be.

Leon O. Ty, Phil. Free Press, 9 November 1946
Tañada recalls "I was in the resistance movement, together with Liling Roces, Jose Bautista and others who died fighting the enemy. They fought for a cause --- the very cause I am now defending with every ounce of my energy. Those people are dead and I'd be committing a sacrilege to their memory if I faltered now. I may lose all my cases but I will not quit. I have nothing to lose but my name. And what's a man's name, compared to the lives of friends?"

Leon O. Ty, Phil. Free Press, 9 November 1946

In 1947, President Manuel Roxas drafted Tañada to run for senator on the Liberal Party ticket. Thus began the longest Philippine Senate career, all of 24 consecutive years, in Philippine history.