Jesus Gonzalo Barrera y Alimurung (December 18, 1896 – August 28, 1988) was a Filipino lawyer who served as the 67th Associate Justice of the

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

from 1959 to 1966.

Biography

He was born in Concepcion,

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...

. 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; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

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 (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

. He was first appointed a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

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 general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

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

Manuel Roxas Manuel Acuña Roxas (; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines from 1946 until his death in 1948. He served briefly as the third and last President of the ...

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.

Career

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 a ...

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 that 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