Justiniano Montano

Montano was born in Amaya, Santa Cruz de Malabon (now Tanza), Cavite to Julian Taguan Montano Sr. and Irene Fojas Solis. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines College of Law, garnering a rare 100% bar rating in civil law.[1] He placed second in the bar examinations held in 1929.[2]

Montano was appointed as deputy fiscal of Cavite from 1930 to 1932. In 1934, Montano made his first entry into politics, unsuccessfully running for governor of Cavite. In elections for the Commonwealth National Assembly, he was tapped by Manuel Quezon to run as Cavite's representative for the Nacionalista Party to diminish support for the province's native son Emilio Aguinaldo, who was running against Quezon for president in the 1935 elections. Montano defeated Aguinaldo's candidate, Emiliano Tria Tirona, and reduced Aguinaldo's lead in Cavite to 5,000 votes, ensuring Quezon's landslide victory in the rest of the country. Montano himself survived a post-election ambush by suspected Aguinaldo supporters.[2]

Montano was reelected to the National Assembly in 1938 but resigned the following year due to an election protest. During the Second World War, he was appointed mayor of Cavite City by the Japanese occupation authorities but provided discreet logistical support to the guerrilla movement before resigning from office in 1944. After Liberation, Montano was elected to Congress representing Cavite in 1946,[2] and served in non-successive terms in the post until 1972. As a lawmaker, he authored and sponsored Act. No. 32, better known as the “Montano Law” which provides confiscation of vast haciendas in Cavite and their partitioning among their tenants.[1] He also sponsored Republic Act No. 981, which transferred the capital of Cavite from Cavite City to Trece Martires, formerly a barrio of Tanza largely owned by Montano's family.[2]

In 1949, Montano won a seat in the Philippine Senate and authored the resolution creating the Blue Ribbon Committee, tasked with investigating graft and corruption. He chaired the Committees on Labor and Immigration and on Provincial and Municipal Governments and Cities. Montano was also a member of the Commission on Appointments and the Senate Electoral Tribunal.[1]

During this time, Montano was implicated in political violence in Cavite, particularly involving his feud with governor Casimiro Camerino. To counter acts of intimidation and electoral violence by Camerino supporters, Montano built his own armed force, and was personally involved in a clash with police led by Maragondon mayor Patrocinio Gulapa, a Camerino supporter, during the 1947 elections. Montano was also accused of involvement in the Maragondon Massacre in 1952, during which Gulapa's successor Severino Rillo, Maragondon's police chief and several officers were killed by bandit Leonardo Manecio alias Nardong Putik, who was said to be acting on Montano's behalf. Montano was arrested but later acquitted of the crime. In the 1960s, Montano was also accused of involvement in smuggling imported cigarettes and other goods in Cavite, for which he later feuded with Ferdinand Marcos, Floro Crisologo and other Ilocano politicians and members of the tobacco lobby. Marcos, as President, later engineered Montano's ouster as House minority leader.[2]

Montano returned to the House of Representatives after his Senate term expired in 1955. During the 5th and 6th Congress, he served as majority floor leader, while he served as minority floor leader during the early part of the 7th Congress, and was cited for his perfect attendance record. Montano's political career ended when Congress was abolished by President Marcos after the declaration of martial law in 1972. Montano, who was in the United States at the time, stayed in exile until Marcos' overthrow in 1986, and withdrew from politics even after his return to the Philippines.[2]

Montano was married to Ligaya Nazareno and had seven children.[1] One of his sons, Delfin Montano, served as governor of Cavite from 1956 to 1971, while his youngest son, Justiniano Jr., became chair of the Games and Amusements Board.[2]

Montano died on March 31, 2005 at the age of 99, being the oldest surviving former Filipino senator.[3]