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After Jose P. Laurel’s arrival from Yale University, he was then elected as the Undersecretary of Interior Department and was promoted as the secretary of interior in 1922. He resigned in 1923 along with the other cabinet officials who favored him in the Ray Conley case when he had a conflict with the American Governor Leonard Wood. Laurel was elected as an assemblyman and as the member of the senate in 1925. He served for a term and then lost his position in 1931 in favor of Claro M. Recto. He lived his private life for some years and then on 1935, he was elected as a delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention and was hailed as one of the “Seven Wise Men of the Convention”. He single-handedly revised the Bill of Rights and this was also the time when the Commonwealth Government was established. And in February 29, 1936, Jose P. Laurel was appointed as the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and became one of the most important Supreme Court justices in the Philippines. Angara v. Electoral Commission, 63 Phil. 139 (1936)- the most important contribution of laurel to jurisprudence and to the rule of law in the country states that the court has the authority to review the rulings of the Electoral Commission organized under the National Assembly. He also stressed out that the Philippine courts have the power to interpret the constitution and also to review the legality of the acts of the other branches of the government. Ang Tibay v. CIR, 69 Phil. 635 (1940)-states that administrative agencies are more flexible than in judicial proceedings. Also this case also paved way through the practice of the “cardinal primary rights” as the standard in testing due process claims in administrative cases. Calalang v. Williams, 70 Phil. 726 (1940)- is another case that banned the Kalesas at certain times during afternoon at Manila despite of the protest of others that it violates the Social justice.

In 1938, Jose P. Laurel received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Tokyo International University. This made Laurel and the Japanese forces to be in good terms and ordered him by the Japanese Imperial Army to establish a provisional government when they arrived and stayed in the Philippines during the world war 2. In Mandaluyong, on June 5, 1943 at wack wack golfcourse, Laurel was rushe to the Philippine General Hospital because he was shot 4 times by a 45 caliber pistol near his heart and liver and luckily had a fast recovery. The Kempetai and Feliciano Lizardo were the primary suspects of the incident. October, 1943, Laurel became the President as elected by the National Assembly. Food shortages and Filipinas being raped became prominent during his term. KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas or Association for the Services of the New Philippines) in 1944 was attempted to but organized but was unfortunately not supported by the women leaders.

August 15, 1945, Laurel was arrested for Collaboration with the Japanese and was charged with 132 counts of treason. This was ordered by Gen. Douglas McArthur but Laurel Gained an amnesty because of President Manuel Roxas in 1948. In year 1949 wherein the dirtiest election occurred, Laurel ran for the position as president and lost against Elpidio Quirino. Under the Nationalista Party, he was elected to the senate in 1951. In 1953, he declined to run as president and then he was appointed by Magsaysay in a mission for trade and other issues with the U.S. officials (Laurel-Langley Agreement)

Sources:

http://wikipedia.com, http://philippines-archipelago.com