MANILA, Philippines?Dr. Sotero H. Laurel?Teroy to his many friends and admirers?has passed away to a more enlightened regime where learning is the key to a successful life. He died peacefully in his sleep and would have been 91 years of age this coming Sunday, ?bowed by the weight? of knowledge he shared with thousands of students in his Lyceum of the Philippines.

Teroy is the one who introduced me to the Laurel family, with whom I developed a relationship close to a valued kinship. In 1953, I went to see Dr. Laurel for a possible teaching position in the Lyceum College of Law then being organized. He asked to see my transcript of academic record, which I had the foresight to bring with me. After studying it, he offered me instead a job as his assistant executive secretary to his father as president of the Lyceum. I accepted on condition that I would be able to teach in the law college.

That is how I got the opportunity of working closely with Teroy, who proved to be a slave driver but a reasonable one. Working closely into the night, Teroy, Dean Jose A. Adeva, and I practically wet-nursed the infant institution until President Laurel could hopefully call it ?the Alexandria of the East,? of which I was a modest teacher of Roman law.

It was during these days that I got acquainted with what I would call then the legends of Philippine law, beginning with Jose P. Laurel Sr. as president, Claro M. Recto as law dean, and such prestigious law professors as Arturo Tolentino, Ambrosio Padilla, Jovito R. Salonga and Leon Ma. Guerrero. I also met the rest of the Laurel brothers, beginning with J. B. Laurel Jr., Jose III, Mariano, and Salvador teaching various branches of the law they had learned from reputable universities in America and Europe.

Of the brothers who went abroad for post-graduate studies, it was Teroy who had the most novel experience. Shortly after graduating from the UP College of Law and subsequently from the UST Graduate School of Law, he flew to the United States and enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Law in 1941. He found himself ?interned? in that country, unable to return to the Philippines until the end of Word War II. Employed as a secretary in the office of Vice President Sergio Osmeña Sr., he supplemented his insufficient income by becoming a taxi diver. He finally finished his studies in 1945 and was able to join his family back home later. It was during his sojourn in the United States that he married the charming Lorna Cobb Perez and also became excellent in the modern dances.

I should have been closest to Teroy among the Laurel brothers, but fate had other plans. Teroy was closely watching my progress in the field of legal education and my development as a professor of public law, largely through the advice of his father. Then, one day Teroy had to give up his assignment in Constitutional Law and asked me to take over. That gave me the chance to write a book on the subject that was subsequently prescribed as a textbook in many law schools. In 1962, Teroy offered me the deanship of the Lyceum College of Law that I declined because I was only 38 at the time. I finally accepted upon my own father?s advice.

I served as dean until a policy difference separated Teroy and me in 1968. He suggested the appointment of a professor to our faculty that I resisted because he was a martinet who could not be appreciated by the students. So be it, said Teroy, and I thought that was the end of the matter. Several weeks later, however, I received a copy of a letter from Teroy advising the professor of his appointment to the law faculty. I resigned immediately. When I showed my resignation letter to my younger brother, his only comment was, ?Of course!? My older brother, who was also a lawyer, had the same simple reaction: ?Of course!?

I stayed on as a member of the faculty and felt justified when, as I predicted, the class of the professor ?struck.? That professor and I remained close friends, so did Teroy and me. When I retired from the Supreme Court in 1994, Teroy invited me to lunch and offered me the deanship again. I reminded him that he had fired me from the position before, and we had a good laugh together.

Sotero H. Laurel distinguished himself in many other positions besides his efforts to improve education in this country in keeping with the noble objectives of his great father. There were many other public offices he filled that reflected the resplendent spirit of service that was the motto of his life. Teroy served in the Senate and kept alive the flame of Philippine nationalism there. He was also, among many outstanding civic positions, president of the Philippine Jaycees, director of the Manila Lions Club, supreme trustee of the Knights of Rizal, president of the Philippine Constitution Association, and president of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities.

The last time I saw Teroy was several months ago at the unveiling of the massive monument in honor of his father, Dr. Jose P. Laurel Sr. He acknowledged me automatically, perhaps not even remembering me, but I could not forget his efforts to make the Lyceum University his accomplished and enduring dream. I am proud he was my friend.