{{Short description|Filipino politician (1880-1975)}} {{Philippine name|Leuterio|Sison}} {{more citations needed|date=November 2025}} {{Use Philippine English|date=May 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Teófilo Sison | image = Teófilo Sisón.jpg | image_size = | caption = Photograph from The Commercial & Industrial Manual of the Philippines, 1941 | office = Commissioner of Justice | term_start = December 4, 1942 | term_end = October 14, 1943 | appointer = Manuel Quezon | predecessor = Jose P. Laurel | successor = Quintin Paredes | office1 = Secretary of Justice | term_start1 = July 18, 1941 | term_end1 = November 27, 1941 | appointer1 = Manuel Quezon | predecessor1 = Jose Abad Santos | successor1 = Jose P. Laurel | office2 = 1st Secretary of National Defense | term_start2 = November 1, 1939 | term_end2 = July 15, 1941 | appointer2 = Manuel Quezon | predecessor2 = ''Post established'' | successor2 = Manuel Quezon<br><small>''in concurrent capacity as President''</small> | office3 = Secretary of the Interior | term_start3 = 1933 | term_end3 = 1935 | predecessor3 = Honorio Ventura | successor3 = Elpidio Quirino | office4 = Senator of the Philippines from the 2nd district | term_start4 = June 5, 1928 | term_end4 = November 15, 1935 | alongside4 = Camilo Osías <small>(1928–1929)</small><br>Alejandro de Guzman <small>(1929-1931)</small><br>Alejo Mabanag <small>(1931–1935)</small> | predecessor4 = Alejo Mabanag | successor4 = ''Post abolished'' | order5 = 8th | office5 = Governor of Pangasinan | term_start5 = October 16, 1922 | term_end5 = June 25, 1928 | predecessor5 = Daniel Maramba | successor5 = Pedro Quintans | office6 = Member of the Lingayen Municipal Council | term_start6 = June 1916 | term_end6 = October 1919 | birth_date = {{birth date|1880|02|29}} | birth_place = Dagupan, Pangasinan, Captaincy General of the Philippines | death_date = {{death date and age|1975|4|13|1880|2|29}} | death_place = Marikina, Rizal, Philippines | occupation = Politician | party = Nacionalista | children = 2 | alma_mater = University of Santo Tomas }}
'''Teófilo Leuterio Sison''' (February 29, 1880 – April 13, 1975) was a Philippine legislator and the first Secretary of National Defense of the Philippine Commonwealth.
==Early life== Sison was born on February 29, 1880, in Dagupan, Pangasinan, to Benito Sison and Escolastica Leuterio.
He studied at the College of San Alberto Magno, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1896 and the University of Santo Tomas, B.A., in the same year. He taught in the public schools of Binmaley, Pangasinan from October 1900 until June 1901.
==Career== ===Legal career=== On July 1, 1901, he was appointed interpreter for the Court of First Instance Third Judicial District. It was during his term as court interpreter that he married Filomena Solis in Lingayen, Pangasinan on November 19, 1910. He served in such capacity until July 1, 1914, when he was reappointed to a similar position in the 5th District where he remained until September 30, 1914.
After he passed the Philippine Bar examination on September 7, 1914, he established his own law office and engaged in the active practice of his profession.
===Political career=== In June 1916, he was elected Municipal Councilor of Lingayen, a position he held until October 1919. He went on to become Provincial Governor of Pangasinan during the June 1922 election and was re-elected in the general elections of 1925.
Then in June 1928, he was elected for the Second Senatorial District, comprising the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union and Zambales. As Senator during the period 1928–1931, he was Chairman of the Committees on Civil Service and National Enterprise, and member of the following committees: Finance, Public Works and Communication, Appointments, Justice, Municipal and Provincial Governments, Election and Privileges, City of Manila, Commerce and Industry, Labor and Immigration.
During the 9th Legislative Assembly, he was chairman of the Committee of Justice and member of the following committees: Finance, Public Works and Communication, Appointments, Public Instruction, External Relations, Banks Corporations and Franchise, Commerce and Industry, City of Manila, Municipal and Provincial Governments, Labor and Immigration, Civil Service and Library.
===Secretary of National Defense===
He was appointed Secretary of National Defense on November 1, 1939, during the presidency of Manuel Quezon pursuant to the enactment of Commonwealth Act No. 1 or the National Defense Act.
==Death== He died two months after his 95th birthday on April 13, 1975. He was buried at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina.
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Teofilo Sison.jpg|Official portrait as Secretary of National Defense File:FvfPangasinan230.JPG|Don Teofilo Sison Bridge, Carmen, Rosales </gallery>
==See also== *List of secretaries of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines
==References== {{Reflist}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120519064530/http://www.dnd.gov.ph/DNDWEBPAGE_files/past-snd/sison.html Sison's Biography]
{{Commons category}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sisón, Teófilo}} Category:1880 births Category:1975 deaths Category:Senators of the 10th Philippine Legislature Category:Senators of the 9th Philippine Legislature Category:Senators of the 8th Philippine Legislature Category:Nacionalista Party politicians Category:Governors of Pangasinan Category:People from Dagupan Category:Secretaries of national defense of the Philippines Category:20th-century Filipino lawyers Category:University of Santo Tomas alumni Category:Burials at the Loyola Memorial Park Category:Quezon administration cabinet members Category:Members of the Senate of the Philippines from the 2nd district