Pedro Hernaez

Hernaez was born on 12 December 1899 in Talisay, Negros Occidental to Rosendo Hernaez and Teofila Conlu. He attended the Public School of Talisay and San Agustin College of Iloilo, and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from San Juan de Letran College and Bachelor of Laws degree from the Escuela de Derecho in 1921. He was admitted to the bar the same year.[1]

He practiced law while working as a sugar industry executive in Negros as well, serving as President of the Talisay-Silay Sugar Planters Association.[1]

His first stint in politics was in 1934, when he was elected to represent Negros Occidental to the Constitutional Convention that drafted the 1935 Philippine Constitution. When the Philippine Commonwealth was established in 1935, he was elected to the National Assembly representing the 2nd District of Negros Occidental. There, he served as Chairman of the Committees on Banks and Corporations[1] and was a main author of Commonwealth Act 326, which converted the municipality of Bacolod, Negros Occidental into a chartered city.[2]

In 1941, he was elected to the Philippine Senate as a candidate of the Nacionalista Party but was not sworn in until 1945 due to the Japanese occupation of the country during the Second World War. He served in office until 1947. During this time, he was also appointed by President Manuel Roxas to the United Nations on 14 October 1946 as one of the Congressional Members of the Philippine Delegation[3] and was later elected vice chairman of the United Nations General Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee, which dealt with postwar reconstruction, on 1 November that year.[4]

In 1949, he ran again for the Senate but lost.

In 1957, he was appointed by President Carlos P. Garcia as his Secretary of Commerce and Industry, serving until 1960 when he was appointed as Philippine Ambassador to Spain, serving until 1962.[5]

Hernaez was married to Encarnacion de la Rama and had two children.[1]

He died on 21 June 1978.