Quezon: A Story Untold ….

Who is Manuel L. Quezon to you? To us? How much do we know about this man who served the country way back during the year 1935? How was he as a second President? Did he rule or serve in a clean way/manner or was he like any other government official that ruled our country in this recent period?

About Manuel Quezon/His Background

Manuel Quezon or mostly known through his initials MLQ, became a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician (then second President of the Philippines). He was born on August 19, 1878 in Baler, Philippines

Manuel Luis Quezon in fact was the first Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines and was considered to be the second President after defeating Emilio Aguinaldo (1899-1901) in the 1935 presidential election. He was the son of a school teacher and small landholder of Tagalog descent in the island of Luzon. Manuel Quezon’s education at University of Sto Tomas as a law student was cut short when he joined the Filipino war effort as well as the Republican army during the Philippine-American war. He resumed his studies and passed the bar examination in the year 1903. (Source: “Manuel Quezon” ; https://www.britannica.com/biography/Manuel-Quezon).

In the year 1909, Manuel was appointed as resident commissioner for the Philippines giving him the entitlement to speak but not vote in the U.S House of Representatives. He fought vigorously for a speedy grant of independence by the U.S during his stay in Washington D.C . Manuel played a vital role in obtaining Congress passage in the year 1916 of the Jones Act and also fought for passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934) , providing for full independence of the Philippines 10 years after the creation of a constitution and establishment of Commonwealth government that would be a forerunner of an independent republic. (Source: “Manuel Quezon” ; https://www.britannica.com/biography/Manuel-Quezon). He was then elected as president of the newly formulated Commonwealth on Sept 17, 1935 where he reorganized the islands’ military defense, tackled the huge problems of landless peasants in the countryside, promoted settlement and development of the large southern island of Mindanao as well as fought graft and corruption.

Manuel Quezon married his first cousin Aurora Aragon Quezon on the 17th of December 1918 and had four children namely: Maria Aurora “Baby” Quezon, Maria Zenaida “Nini” Quezon-Avanceña, Luisa Corazón Paz “Nenita” Quezon and Manuel L. “Nonong” Quezon, Jr. In the later years of his life, Maneul Quezon developed tuberculosis and spent the last years in hospital, including the Miami Beach Army Hospital in April 1944.

Quezon In Movie

Manuel Quezon here was portrayed by 2 actors in this film: Jericho Rosales (Manuel in his later years) and Benjamin Alves (younger Manuel). In the movie, Manuel Quezon (Rosales) was seen in his first film in seven years to be caught in a fight for Philippine Independence from US as well as his own political games against fellow senator Sergio Osmena (portrayed by Romnick Sarmenta), Governor General Leonard Wood (Iain Glen) and Joven Hernando (Cris Villanueva).

Also seen in the film was Quezon’s relentless quest for power where he faces off with Emilio Aguinaldo (Mon Confiado) in the 1935 Philippine presidential elections using his charms and favoritism as both his weapons and currency in a campaign that ultimately changes the face of Philippine politics and history

My reflections on this film:

*No political government is perfect even during Manuel Quezon’s time

*Even politicians from Manuel Quezon’s era or time use dirty means of winning an election