Manuel L. Quezon

Manuel L. Quezon
Quezon in 1942
2nd President of the Philippines
In office 15 November 1935 – 1 August 1944 Serving with Jose P. Laurel (1943–1944)[a]
Vice President	Sergio Osmeña
Preceded by	Emilio Aguinaldo Frank Murphy (as Governor-General)
Succeeded by	Sergio Osmeña Jose P. Laurel (de facto)
Secretary of National Defense
In office 16 July 1941 – 11 December 1941
President	Himself
Preceded by	Teófilo Sison
Succeeded by	Jorge B. Vargas
Mayor of Quezon City
Acting
In office 12 October 1939 – 4 November 1939
Vice Mayor	Vicente Fragante
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Tomas Morato
Secretary of Public Instruction
In office 1 December 1938 – 19 April 1939
President	Himself
Preceded by	Sergio Osmeña
Succeeded by	Jorge Bocobo
Government offices 1906‍–‍1935 1st President of the Senate of the Philippines In office 29 August 1916 – 15 November 1935 Succeeded by Gil Montilla (National Assembly Speaker) Manuel Roxas (Senate President) Senator of the Philippines from the 5th district In office 16 October 1916 – 15 November 1935 Serving with Vicente Ilustre (1916–1919) Antero Soriano (1919–1925) José P. Laurel (1925–1931) Claro M. Recto (1931–1935) President of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation In office 1916–1935 Preceded by William Cameron Forbes Succeeded by Jorge B. Vargas Resident Commissioner of the Philippines In office 23 November 1909 – 15 October 1916 Preceded by Pablo Ocampo Succeeded by Teodoro R. Yangco Assembly Majority Leader In office 16 October 1907 – 23 November 1909 Succeeded by Alberto Barreto Member of the Philippine Assembly from Tayabas' 1st district In office 16 October 1907 – 15 May 1909 Preceded by District established Succeeded by Filemon Pérez Governor of Tayabas In office 1906–1907 Preceded by Ricardo G. Parás Succeeded by Alfredo Castro Member of the Lucena Municipal Council In office 1906
Personal details
Born	Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (1878-08-19)19 August 1878 Baler, El Príncipe, Nueva Écija, Captaincy General of the Philippines, Spanish East Indies (now Baler, Aurora, Philippines)
Died	1 August 1944(1944-08-01) (aged 65) Saranac Lake, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Tuberculosis
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia (1944–1946) Manila North Cemetery, Santa Cruz, Manila, Philippines (1946–1979) Quezon Memorial Shrine, Quezon City, Philippines (since 1979)
Political party	Nacionalista (1907–1944)
Spouse	Aurora Aragon ​ (m. 1918)​
Children	4
Relatives	Manuel L. Quezon III (grandson)
Education	Colegio de San Juan de Letran
Alma mater	University of Santo Tomas
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	First Philippine Republic Philippine Commonwealth
Branch/service	Philippine Revolutionary Army Philippine Commonwealth Army
Years of service	1899–1900 1941–1944
Rank	Commander-in-Chief Major
Battles/wars	Philippine–American War World War II Philippines campaign (1941–1942) Japanese occupation of the Philippines

Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina^[b] GCGH KGCR (UK: /ˈkeɪzɒn/, US: /ˈkeɪsɒn, -sɔːn, -soʊn/, Tagalog: [maˈnwel luˈis ˈkɛson], Spanish: [maˈnwel ˈlwis ˈkeson]; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his death in 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines and is considered the second president of the Philippines after Emilio Aguinaldo (1899–1901), whom Quezon defeated in the 1935 presidential election. He is often regarded as the greatest President of The Philippines, and the quintessential Filipino statesman. Known as "The Father of The National Language", and "The Father of the modern Republic of The Philippines". He was also known as "One of the Finest Statesmen in the world" during his time.

During his presidency, Quezon tackled the problem of landless peasants. Other major decisions included the reorganization of the islands' military defense, approval of a recommendation for government reorganization, the promotion of settlement and development in Mindanao, dealing with the foreign stranglehold on Philippine trade and commerce, proposals for land reform, and opposing graft and corruption within the government. He established a government in exile in the U.S. with the outbreak of World War II and the threat of Japanese invasion. Scholars have described Quezon's leadership as a "de facto dictatorship"^[1] and described him as "the first Filipino politician to integrate all levels of politics into a synergy of power" after removing his term limits as president and turning the Senate into an extension of the executive through constitutional amendments.^[2]

In 2015, the Board of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation bestowed a posthumous Wallenberg Medal on Quezon and the people of the Philippines for reaching out to victims of the Holocaust from 1937 to 1941. President Benigno Aquino III and then-94-year-old Maria Zenaida Quezon-Avanceña, the daughter of the former president, were informed of this recognition.^[3]

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