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Claudio Teehankee, CCLH (April 18, 1918 – November 27, 1989) was the 16th Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
from 1987 to 1988. He was also the most senior associate justice and chairman of the First Division of the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
.


Personal life

Teehankee was born on April 18, 1918 in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
,
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. His father, José Tee Han Kee (), immigrated to the Philippines in 1901 from
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...
province in China. He was a close associate and friend of
Sun Yat-Sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
, and was active in the struggle to liberate China from the Qing dynasty.Tan, Antonio S. (1972), ''The Chinese in the Philippines, 1898–1935: A Study of Their National Awakening'', Manila: R.P. Garcia Publishing Co. Teehankee was married to Pilar D. Javier with whom he had nine children. He received his A.B.
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
in 1938 and LL.B. summa cum laude in 1940 from the Ateneo de Manila. He also garnered first place in the 1940 bar examination with an average of 94.35 percent. He became Secretary of Justice under the Marcos administration in 1967 before being appointed as associate justice in 1968. His son Claudio Jr. though would be imprisoned for homicide in the early 1990s. The death penalty was reinstated because of concurrent debates after reactions to the public sentence were mixed.


Accomplishments

He was known as the court's "activist" justice because of his dissenting opinions in many vital cases affecting the Marcos administration. He was the lone
dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, ...
in many cases, such as the High Tribunal's decision upholding the constitutionality of the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980. He also dissented in policies which would seem to curtail the basic liberties of people. For a time, Teehankee and Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma would dissent together. After Muñoz-Palma's retirement, he was joined by Associate Justice
Vicente Abad Santos Vicente Abad Santos (: 12 July 1916 – 30 December 1993) was a Filipino who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Profile Abad Santos was born in San Fernando, Pampanga, a city in Central Luzon to a single mot ...
in dissenting. It was this activism that made Marcos 'by-pass' him twice for the position of Chief Justice (the most senior associate justice is most likely to succeed after the retirement of the Chief Justice) in 1985. It was after the removal of Marcos that he was appointed Chief Justice by
Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...
in 1987.


Later years

After his retirement, he was appointed as the Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations, where he died of
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
on November 27, 1989. He is interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.


See also

*
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines The chief justice of the Philippines ( fil, Punong Mahistrado ng Pilipinas) presides over the Supreme Court of the Philippines and is the highest judicial officer of the government of the Philippines. As of April 5, 2021, the position is cu ...
* Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines *
Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court ( fil, Kataas-taasang Hukuman; colloquially referred to as the ''Korte Suprema'' lso used in formal writing is the highest court in the Philippines. The Supreme Court was established by the Second Philippine Commission on J ...
*
Constitution of the Philippines The Constitution of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas'' or ''Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas'', Spanish: ''Constitución de la República de Filipinas'') is the constitution or the supreme law of the Republic of the Philippin ...


References


Further reading

Cruz, Isagani A. (2000). "Res Gestae: A Brief History of the Supreme Court". Rex Book Store, Manila


Sources


Supreme Court of the Philippines – Claudio Teehankee biodata


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Teehankee, Claudio 1918 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Filipino lawyers Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Ateneo de Manila University alumni Burials at the Libingan ng mga Bayani Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Centro Escolar University alumni Chief justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines Filipino judges Filipino people of Chinese descent People from Manila Secretaries of Justice of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos administration cabinet members Filipino politicians of Chinese descent Individuals honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Judges and justices honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Permanent Representatives of the Philippines to the United Nations