Cayetano Arellano
Encyclopedia
Cayetano L. Arellano was the first Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the Philippines
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines presides over the Supreme Court of the Philippines and is the highest judicial officer of the government of the Philippines...

 of the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the Philippines
The Supreme Court of the Philippines is the Philippines' highest judicial court, as well as the court of last resort. The court consists of 14 Associate Justices and 1 Chief Justice...

 of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 under the American Civil Government. He was Chief Justice from 1901 until his retirement on April 12, 1920, making him the longest serving Chief Justice.

Born in Orion, Bataan
Bataan
Bataan is a province of the Philippines occupying the whole of the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon. The province is part of the Central Luzon region. The capital of Bataan is Balanga City and it is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga to the north...

, He started as a working student in San Juan de Letran. After finishing his High School he transferred to University of Santo Tomas
University of Santo Tomas
The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines , is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. Founded on April 28, 1611 by archbishop of Manila Miguel de Benavides, it has the oldest extant university charter in the...

, where he finished his Bachelor of Philosophy in 1862 and Bachelor of Theology in 1867, he then continued studying and finished law in 1876. During the Spanish regime, he was appointed Magistrado Suplente of the Audiencia Tribunal de Manila. He later become the Chief Justice of the Provisional Supreme Court created by the military in 1899.

The American Occupation

Arellano, together with Pedro Paterno
Pedro Paterno
Pedro Alejandro Paterno y de Vera-Ignacio, also spelled Pedro Alejandro Paterno y Debera Ignacio was a Filipino politician, as well as a poet and novelist.His intervention on behalf of the Spanish led to the signing of the Pact of...

, Benito Legarda
Benito Legarda
Benito Legarda y Tuason was a Philippine legislator who became a Resident Commissioner from the Philippine Islands. He was born in Manila, Philippines on September 27, 1853, and attended the Jesuits’ College and the University of Santo Tomas of Manila...

, Florentino Torres and Felipe Buencamino, testified before the Schurman Commission
Schurman Commission
The Schurman Commission also known as the First Philippine Commission was the legislature of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States during the Philippine-American War...

 that the Philippines was not yet ready for self-rule. They together form the Federal Party to "promote the annexation of the Philippines as a state". In lieu of this objective, they petitioned the U.S. Congress to create representation, as well as a Philippine Congress and a federal Court.

Upon the onset of the American civil government in 1901, William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

 appointed Arellano as the first Supreme Court Chief Justice.

Legacy

Many historians doubt the legacy of Arellano, for being one of the persons who literally 'placed' the Philippines under American Rule, he was considered a lackey of the American rule in the Philippines. It was shown that he was pro-American from the start.
However, his judicial expertise and know-how was one of the reasons why he was chosen to be the first leader of the Philippine Judiciary. All misgivings about his motives have been erased by the fact that he gave honor to the office of the Supreme Court to a high degree that remains unsurpassed.
Arellano High School in Sta. Cruz, Manila is named after him.
Arellano gave his name to Arellano University
Arellano University
Arellano University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Manila, Philippines, established in 1938 by Florentino Cayco, Sr. as the Arellano Law College which was later known as Arellano Colleges...

, opened in 1938 as the Arellano Law College. The School had multiple campuses, including a law school.

External links

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