Lorenzo Tañada

Lorenzo Martinez Tañada, PLH (August 10, 1898 – May 28, 1992) was a Filipino politician. Elected to the first Philippine Senate in 1947, he was the longest-serving senator in Philippine history. He served as a Philippine senator for 24 years.

Early life

Tañada was born in Gumaca, Quezon on August 10, 1898. The son of Capitan Vicente Tañada, who served as the last Gobernadorcillo of Gumaca town in Quezon under the Spanish colonial government and Anastacia Martinez Tañada. His actions in life were governed by the philosophy ingrained in him by his mother. The phrase “fear of God is the start of wisdom” guided him in all his social dealings. As an elementary student in De La Salle, Manila, a school run by the Christian Brothers, Tañada joined a protest against his school’s American principal. The protest was prompted by the principal’s order for school children to stay during weekends to build a playground which prevented them from going home to their parents. As a law student at the University of the Philippines (U.P.), Tañada, completed his Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) prior to the academic Philippine educational system and obtained the rank of major, a lead actor in plays, and a national football team goalkeeper. It was during his years as a college student, during U.P.’s Armistice Day, when he exhorted “his fellow cadets to take their training seriously as they will soon be called upon to use their skill against the Americans if the country’s independence is not granted”. In 1924 he topped the government's examination for pensionados. In 1928, he obtained his Masters in Law from the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also acquired a Doctor in Civil Law meritissimus from the University of Santo Tomas.