MANUEL L. QUEZON
"I
prefer a government run like hell by Filipinos to a government run like
heaven by Americans."
Born: August 19, 1878
Died: August 1, 1944
Position in History: Philippines: 2nd President (1st internationally
recognised), Commonwealth: 1st President
First Presidential Term: November 15, 1935 - December 31, 1941
Second Presidential Term: December 31, 1941 - August 1, 1944 (extended
by US Congress, otherwise until December 30, 1943)
Duration of Terms: 2238 days (first), 944 days (second), 3182 days
(total)
Born in the small town of Baler in the province of Tayabas (Tayabas was
renamed Quezon while Baler and several other towns are now part of the
Auroro province which detached from Quezon) to Lucio Quezon and Maria
Dolores Molina. Manuel Luis Quezon was educated at an early age
learning Spanish at the age of five and Latin, religion, geography, and
Spanish grammar by age seven. Quezon had finished a Bachelor of Arts
degree with the highest honours at age 16 at the Colegio of San Juan de
Letran. He went on to study law and jurisprudence at the University of
Santo Tomas but cut off to join the Philippine-American War for
Philippine independence. He returned to his studies after the capture
and surrender of Emilio Aguinaldo.
In 1905, he ran for governor of Tayabas and served two years before
being elected a representative in the newly established Philippine
Assembly. Between 1909 - 1916 he was the appointed Resident
Commissioner to the US. He was entitled to speak but not vote in the US
House of Representatives. It was during this time that he pushed for
and fought for Philippine independence. Through his efforts, he
obtained the passage of the Jones Act in the US Congress which granted
Philippine independence but did not give a specific date as to when it
would take effect.
Quezon returned to Manila in 1916 to be elected into the Philippine
Senate. Two years later he was Senate president. In 1922, Quezon became
leader the of Nacionalista Party. In 1934, he returned to the US and
negotiated for passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act which set the date
for full Philippine independence. The date set was 1946. For the ten
years in the run-up to independence, a commonwealth government was
provided for. In 1935, Quezon was elected as president of the
Commonwealth government and Sergio Osmeña as vice-president.
Both were re-elected to their respective posts in 1941.
During his presidency, Quezon tackled the problem of landless peasants
in the countryside. Other major decisions include reorganisation of the
islands military defence, approval of recommendation for government
reorganisation, promotion of settlement and development in Mindanao,
tackling foreign strangle-hold on Philippine trade and commerce,
proposals for land reform and the tackling of graft and corruption
within the government. Quezon and Osmeña established an exiled
government in the US with the outbreak of the war and the threat of
Japanese invasion. During his exile in the US, Manuel Quezon died of
tuberculosis in Saranac Lake, New York.
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