By: Keith Anthony S. Linan
| Manuel L. Quezon
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MANUEL L. QUEZON is known as the “Father of the Philippine National Language” and we always see him in a twenty pesos bill. But who is Manuel L. Quezon in Philippine history?
“I would rather have a country run like hell by Filipinos than a country run like heaven by the Americans, because however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it.”
This is one of the famous lines of former President Quezon which he held until the end. This also served as awareness and united the Filipinos to want and fight for the freedom of our country and to wake up from the deep slumber in the hands of foreigners.
President Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina was born on August 19, 1878, in Baler, district of El Principe, Tayabas province (present-day Baler, Aurora), Philippines. He was the eldest son of a veteran of the Spanish Army and school teacher, Lucio Quezon and Maria Dolores Molina.
In 1888, Quezon left Baler to attend Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila and graduated in 1894. Shortly after, he matriculated to the University of Santo Tomas, where he studied law.
Although he had supported the Spaniards against Filipino nationalists, in 1899 he joined General Aguinaldo's guerrilla war against the Americans, as a second lieutenant, and was eventually jailed for six months for allegedly murdering an American prisoner. After being released for lack of evidence, Quezon's sharp mind and considerable charisma caught the eye of American colonial officials, and his stratospheric political ascent began.
In 1906, after serving as a prosecutor in Mindoro, he was elected governor of Tayabas. In 1907, he was elected to the first Philippine Assembly (later became the House of Representatives) where he served as majority floor leader and chairman of the committee.
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 that provided for the grant of Philippine independence.
In 1934, he headed the first Independence Mission to the U.S. Congress, and brought home the Tydings-McDuffie Independence Law. Following the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which established the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1934.
Quezon ran and defeated Emilio Aguinaldo in the country's first presidential election in 1935. He is recognized as the second President of the Philippines and the first President of the Philippine Commonwealth.
During his administration, he released Executive Order No. 23, which contains technical descriptions and detailed specifications of the flag of the Philippines. He established also the "Surian" of the National Language which aims to create a general national language for Filipinos.
"Tagalog" was declared the national language of the Philippines on December 30, 1939, and was required to teach it as one of the subjects in schools.
On August 1, 1944, Quezon died at the age of 65 in Saranac Lake, New York, U.S., succumbing to the long-term effects of his battle with tuberculosis.
"I want our people to be like a molave tree, strong and resilient, standing on the hillsides, unafraid of the rising tide, lighting and the storm, confident of its strength."
In celebrating his 144th birthday, may we commemorate his passion and his ideals to love our nation, to be resilient in the face of difficulties, and to band together as Filipinos just like a molave tree, because we are the core of our nation and are responsible for its growth.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons