A colleague of mine asked me, "Sir, who is Jose Abad Santos on the 1,000 bill?" I was a bit astounded that not all of us are familiar with Jose Abad Santos. I am sure that asked who the others are in the bill with him, I would be given a definite shrug on the shoulders.
The thousand peso bill contains the faces of then-Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos, Vicente Lim and Josefa Ilanes Escoda. You might want to memorize these names as it might be asked in some game shows. (Haha!)
To unravel the life of one of them, let me talk about Jose Abad Santos. He became Chief Justice of the Commonwealth Government on December 24, 1942. He was also the Secretary of Finance, Agriculture and Commerce by the time President Manuel L. Quezon and Vice President Sergio Osmena fled to the U.S. to escape from the Japanese forces. On the outbreak of the war, the Chief Justice chose to stay with his family in the country and was given full authority as caretaker on behalf of the President of the Philippines.
He was captured by the Japanese Forces at Carcar Cebu exactly 70 years ago today--April 11, 1942, together with his son and was forced to swear allegiance to the Japanese flag. But to his captors, the brave and unbowed Chief Justice said "I would rather die than be a traitor, I would prefer to die rather than live in shame." For his continuous refusal to cooperate with the enemy, the brave chief justice was sentenced for a firing squad on May 02, 1942.
With a heavy heart and tears in his eyes, his son Jose "Pepito" Abad Santos Jr. a Lt. Junior Aid of President Manuel L. Quezon, recalled the events on the execution of the brave Chief Justice:
He cautioned me and said "Do not cry Pepito, show these people that you are brave and not everybody has the opportunity to die for one's country, son."
He marched proudly with his shirt flapping and after that I went up to the house; I took my prayer book and read the prayer for the dead. After a few minutes I heard a volley of shots and I knew that my father was killed.
There are unspoken heroes, one of them is the former Chief Justice. All we have to do is look beyond the glamour of money and remember the bravery of these heroes.
By:
Diego Salvador
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