Jose Nergua Nolledo (born October 11, 1934) is a lawyer, constitutional law expert, and author in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He was a member of the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986 and a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

Early life and education

Nolledo was born in Inagawan, Puerto Princesa City,

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

. His parents were Nicomedes Fillaro Nolledo and Presentacion Florencondia Nergua, both natives of Miagao,

Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...

.Author profile, National Book Store Incorporated. 2000. He wrote poems in Filipino language at the age of nine. The poems were published in the ''Philippine Journal of Education'' edited by literary critic Paz Marquez Benitez, the ''Filipino Child Life'' edited by psychologist Dr. Eufronio Alip, and the ''Philippine School Life'' by educator Dr. Juliana Pineda. Some poems were included in ''Mga Tulang Pambata'' (Poems for Children), a reference book in Philippine grade schools. Nolledo earned a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B.) degree from the Far Eastern University Institute of Law. He placed third in the 1958

Philippine Bar Examination The Philippine Bar Examinations is the professional licensure examination for lawyers in the Philippines. The exam is exclusively administered by the Supreme Court of the Philippines through the Supreme Court Bar Examination Committee. History ...

s with a rating of 88.95%.List of bar topnotchers, Philippine Bar Examinations. 1913-2006.

Constitutional law expertise

Nolledo was elected as a delegate, representing the province of

, in the 1971 Constitutional Convention which drafted the 1973

Philippine Constitution The Constitution of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas'' or ''Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas'') is the supreme law of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the Constitutional Commission on October 12, 1986, and rat ...

. He was one of the principal sponsors of the constitutional definition of national territory. The work of the convention was affected by the proclamation of

martial law under Ferdinand Marcos At 7:15 p.m. on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the Philippines under martial law, stating he had done so in response to the "communist threat" posed by the newly founded Communist Part ...

in September 1972, with Nolledo being arrested as one of the convention delegates in the opposition bloc. He was appointed as a member of the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986, the body tasked to draft the 1987

. He was elected Chairman of the Committee on Local Governments. In this capacity, he authored provisions on local autonomy which were incorporated in the Local Government Code of 1991, a law principally authored by former Philippine Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Organizational activities

Nolledo has been a National President of the Holy Name Society of the Philippines; and Vice President of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa).

Publications

Nolledo has reputedly written roughly one-hundred-sixty-eight (168) titles in law, and has claimed to be the only man in the world to have written more than a hundred law books. He is presently the Chairman of the Editorial Staff of the National Book Store Incorporated (NBSI), the largest chain of

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

s in the

Awards

Nolledo has been cited as one of the ''Ten Most Outstanding Constitutional Convention Delegates'' in 1972. He was also voted as the ''Most Outstanding Student of the Year'' by the

Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private research non-sectarian university in Manila, Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and ...

in 1958; the ''Most Outstanding Holynamer'' by the Holy Name Society of the Philippines in 1963; and the ''Most Outstanding FEU Alumnus'' by the

Alumni Association in 1988. He topped the nominations for membership by the Board of Governors of the Philippine Constitution Association in 1971.

Private life

Nolledo is married to Mercedita Villarosa Santiago, a certified public accountant and lawyer. She placed second in the 1965

s with a rating of 89.55%. The couple has three children.

External links

Far Eastern University

National Book Store Incorporated

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolledo 20th-century Filipino lawyers Filipino educators Filipino writers 1934 births Living people People from Puerto Princesa Far Eastern University alumni Marcos martial law victims