04-05-2K9 President Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina at Quezon Island, Lucap, Alaminos, Pangasinan

President Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina's Statue and Me
At Quezon Island in Lucap, Alaminos, Pangasinan
April 5, 2009

Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina
BORN: August 19, 1878 in Baler, Tayabas, Philippines
DIED: August 1, 1944 in Saranac Lake, New York, United States
was the first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under U.S. occupation rule in the early period of the 20th century. He is also considered by most Filipinos to have been the second President,after Emilio Aguinaldo, whose administration did not receive international recognition at the time and is not considered the first Philippine president by the United States. He has the distinction of being the first Senate President elected to the presidency,the first president elected through a national election and was also the first incumbent to secure re-election, for a partial second term, later extended, due to amendments to the 1935 Constitution.He is known as the "Father of the National Language".

Quezon, was born in Baler, Tayabas (now found at Aurora) His parents were Lucio Quezon and Maria Dolores Molina. While serving as aide-de-camp to Emilio Aguinaldo He had been a Lieutenant, then a Major, in the Bataan sector during the retreat and surrender in 1901. He fought with Filipino nationalists in the Philippine-American War.He received his primary education from his motherand school teacher in their home town and tutors. His father from Paco, Manila, was a Sergeant in the Spanish Army and later boarded at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he completed secondary school. After the war, he completed Law at the University of Santo Tomas and passed the bar examinations in 1903, placing fourth. He worked for a time as a clerk and surveyor, entering government service as an appointed fiscal for Mindoro and later Tayabas. He became a councilor and was elected governor of Tayabas in 1906 as an independent. In 1907, he was elected to the first Philippine Assembly, where he served as majority floor leader and chairman of the committee on appropriations. From 1909-1916, he served as one of the Philippines' two resident commissioners to the U.S. House of Representatives, lobbying for the passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act or Jones Law. In 1935 Quezon won the Philippine's first national presidential election under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. He obtained nearly 68% of the vote against his two main rivals, Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay. Quezon was inaugurated in November, 1935.
He is recognized as the second President of the Philippines. However, in January 2008, Congressman Rodolfo Valencia of Oriental Mindoro filed a bill seeking instead to declare General Miguel Malvar as the second Philippine President, having directly succeeded Aguinaldo in 1901.

Quezon had originally been barred by the Philippine constitution from seeking re-election. However, in 1940, constitutional amendments were ratified allowing him to seek re-election for a fresh term ending in 1943. In the 1941 presidential elections, Quezon was re-elected over former Senator Juan Sumulong with nearly 82% of the vote. In a notable humanitarian act, Quezon, in cooperation with United States High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt, facilitated the entry into the Philippines of Jewish refugees fleeing fascist regimes in Europe. Quezon was also instrumental in promoting a project to resettle the refugees in Mindanao.