The Claudio Teehankee Foundation and the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation recently held a book preview of Veritas Integritas Justitia: The Life and Times of Claudio Teehankee at the historic Club Filipino in Greenhills on the occasion of Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee’s 108th birth anniversary.

The book is the first official biography of the renowned jurist that is fully authorized by the Teehankee family and the Claudio Teehankee Foundation.

Widely considered as the Philippine Supreme Court’s bright light, conscience, and great dissenter during the time of martial law rule of President Ferdinand Marcos, the name of Claudio Teehankee is highly-regarded and legendary in Philippine legal circles. He was a standout since his youth for his intellectual brilliance.

A bar topnotcher, he had a successful career as one of the country’s top-caliber lawyers. When public service beckoned, he answered – and brought widely-praised administrative reforms in the justice department despite a brief stay.

But it was in the Supreme Court where he served for 20 years that he made the biggest difference as a champion for civil rights and the rule of law.

Co-authored by Nelson A. Navarro, C. Horatius Mosquera, and Manuel A. J. Teehankee, the book is an engaging narrative of interest that traces the life of Claudio Teehankee from his genteel upbringing in an upwardly-mobile second-generation Chinese Filipino home to the formative years of an elite Jesuit education and his trajectory as a successful lawyers in private practice, to his role in the early promise of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos through his many years of the Supreme Court and ending with his continuing impact and influence to existing Philippine jurisprudence.

Co-author Ambassador Manuel Teehankee, in a speech during the event, said that the biography was “both a compass and a reminder of the enduring principles that guided the man whose name we are honoring.”

Special guest retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. in his brief remarks also highlighted the timeliness of the book’s release, observing that there were “… so much violations of the rule of law, so much injustice, so much corruption” nowadays.”

“Chief Justice Teehankee will never tolerate what is happening in our country. He will never tolerate what is happening in the world. He is a living hero for me and my model. I will not use the word idol. Life and Times is beautifully written by Nelson and Harry. So, take your time and read it. You can even finish reading it in three days, and read it again, and again, and again.

As Chinese Filipino civic leader and writer Teresita Ang See notes, “Veritas Integritas Justitia: The Life and Times of Claudio Teehankee is a reminder that in these troubled times, when our beleaguered justice system is under assault on different fronts, sometimes “it takes just one man – with unwavering courage – to uphold what is just and what is right.”

Co-authors Mosquera and Teehankee recently made a courtesy call at the Supreme Court of the Philippines, to give copies of "Veritas Integritas Justitia: The Life and Times of Claudio Teehankee," the biography of the late great Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee.

A signed copy was presented to current Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who had previously given his personal message which was included in the book. A signed copy was also donated to the Supreme Court Library, which was received by Edeliza Gallo, the library’s head librarian.