3rd First Lady of the Philippines
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Hidalgo, the second or maternal family name is Valencia, and, for married women, the optional marital name is de Laurel.
Pacencia Laurel | |
|---|---|
| In role October 14, 1943 – August 17, 1945 | |
| President | Jose P. Laurel |
| Preceded by | Aurora Quezon |
| Succeeded by | Esperanza Osmeña |
| Born | Pacencia Hidalgo y Valencia (1889-04-30)April 30, 1889 Captaincy General of the Philippines |
| Died | January 1, 1963(1963-01-01) (aged 73) Tanauan, Batangas, Philippines[1] |
| Resting place | Tanauan City Public Cemetery, Tanauan, Batangas |
| Spouse | Jose P. Laurel (m. 1911; died 1959) |
| Children | 9 (including Jose Jr., Jose III, Sotero II, Salvador, Arsenio) |
Pacencia Valencia Hidalgo Laurel (néeHidalgo y Valencia; April 30, 1889 – January 1, 1963) was the wife of Philippine President Jose P. Laurel and the third First Lady of the Philippines and the only First Lady to serve under the Japanese-occupied Philippines during World War II.
She eloped and married Jose P. Laurel, a fellow Tanauan native who was then a fresh high school graduate, on April 9, 1911.[2] The couple had nine children:
Their marriage lasted until Laurel's death in 1959.
She held out both as first lady and mother to the nation during the dark days of the war. Laurel refused to live in Malacañang and opted for their family home in Paco, Manila. Like Mrs. Quezon, she involved herself in socio-civic and charitable activities. The best compliment paid her can be found in the dedication of her husband's book Bread and Freedom (1952) which states: "To my beloved and understanding wife, who shared uncomplainingly, all the hardships that are the lot of one who tries to serve the fatherland."
In March 1945, President Laurel, together with his family, Camilo Osías, Benigno Aquino Sr., Gen. Tomas Capinpin, and Jorge B. Vargas, evacuated to Baguio. Shortly after the city fell, they traveled to Tuguegarao, where they embarked a bomber plane to Japan via Formosa (now Taiwan) and Shanghai, China. Her husband, while in Japan, issued an Executive Proclamation on August 17, 1945 that declared the dissolution of the Second Philippine Republic.[5]
Her husband, son Jose III, and Aquino were subsequently incarcerated in Japan for collaboration with Imperial Japan, starting on September 15, 1945, and they remained there until July 23, 1946. Mrs. Laurel and her other children were then brought back home to Manila on November 2, 1945.[2]