Jesus Gonzalo Barrera y Alimurung (December 18, 1896 – August 28, 1988) was a member of the

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 Ju ...

from 1959 to 1966. He was born in Concepcion,

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...

. His father, Marciano Barrera, served as the first appointive Governor of

province under the U.S. government. Barrera received his law degree from the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

in 1921 and then entered private law practice. He later received a master of law degree from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

. He was first appointed a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

in 1938. During the Japanese occupation, he headed the Civil Liberties Union of the Philippines, an underground movement of prominent former officials who furnished military information to guerillas to be passed on to Gen.

Douglas Macarthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

in Australia. In the late 1940s Barrera was a key figure who attempted to convince President

Manuel Roxas Manuel Acuña Roxas (born Manuel Roxas y Acuña; ; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines, who served from 1946 until his death due to heart attacks in 194 ...

to negotiate a peace with the Huk guerillas who had rebelled because the United States and Philippine governments refused to recognize their wartime activities vs the Japanese enemy. In 1956, while serving as

Undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

of the Department of Justice in the Philippines, Barrera stated that the situation with regard to U.S. military personnel off-base, where they were generally tried by Philippine authorities when accused of a crime was workable, but that the situation on the U.S. military bases where actions were not under Philippine criminal jurisdiction needed to change. He was the chair of the subcommittee negotiating the issue of jurisdiction during the 1956 U.S./Philippine talks trying to renegotiate the status of the U.S. military areas in the Philippines. Barrera was also the Secretary of Justice for the Philippines in 1958. In 1971 Barrera was a member of the Philippines Constitutional Convention and a contender for the presidency of the convention.Edward R. Kiunisala
"The Politicization of the Constitutional Convention"
''Philippines Free Press'', January 22, 1972] He was one of 19 convention delegates who refused to sign the Marcos-influenced 1972 Constitution which granted Marcos autocratic powers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrera, Jesus 1896 births Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines University of the Philippines alumni University of Santo Tomas alumni 1988 deaths People from Tarlac Secretaries of Justice of the Philippines Garcia administration cabinet members