Cayetano Arellano

Cayetano L. Arellano ( born March 2, 1847 in Orion, Bataan Province; † December 23, 1920 in Manila ) was a Filipino jurist and the first Filipino who was appointed to the post of Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.

He was born the son of Don Servando Arellano and Cristina Lanzon. At the age of five he began his studies at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros, Manila. To fund the training at the Colegio, he worked at the Colegio. He was regarded as a student with a fast learner, so that he could get good grades without much problem. He closed his education with a Bachelor of Arts. Then stirred in him the desire to become a priest. He enrolled in 1858 at the Pontifical and Royal University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Manila and earned two academic degrees, the Bachelor of Philosophy in 1862 and a Bachelor of Theology in 1867. Later he studied again at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and acquired there the Bachelor of Laws. In 1876 he opened his own law firm where he worked with Felipe G. Calderon. He started after some time also teaching at the Pontifical and Royal University of St. Thomas Aquinas perceive in Manila. Among his students were going on under other Francisco Ortigas, Sergio Osmeña, Manuel Quezon and Epifanio de Santos.

In 1886 he was elected Judge in Suplente and in 1893 a member of the provincial board of directors, which led to his appointment as Judge in Suplente de la Audencia Territorial de Manila in 1897. 1898, the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the first Philippine Republic of him by Emilio Aguinaldo was offered, but he refused. 1899 Arellano began with the U.S. occupation forces and the Schurman Commission to cooperate. From them, he was appointed Judge of the Provisional Supreme Court of the Philippines. On May 1, 1901 Arellano was appointed by William Howard Taft to the chief judge and chairman of the now constituted by the Taft Commission Supreme Court of the Philippines. He remained in this position until April 1, 1920 and then went into retirement. He passed already on 23 December 1920 in Manila.

Due to its merits, the Arellano Law College in 1938, today Arellano University founded and named after him.