President Manuel Luis Quezon was labeled as such by former Senate President Edgardo Angara during the latter’s interview with TV5 journalist Lourd De Veyra for the “Diskarteng Quezon” segment of History with Lourd. Having watched the third installment of Jerrold Tarog’s Bayaniverse “Quezon” with actor Jericho Rosales playing the character of the late president, one may say that the description made by Senate Angara is a suiting one.
In one of our earlier column, we already tackled the life and achievements of President Quezon. Having hangovered by the movie, I considered it proper to tell the other the side of Manuel for my readers to get a comprehensive picture of this bigger than life persona who once claimed that he is the Filipino People and He is the Philippines (as the ending of the movie show).
After serving as a prosecutor in Mindoro, Quezon began his career and made a name in the political sphere when he became the Governor of Tayabas in 1906. Just one (1) year thereafter, in 1907, he was elected as member of the Philippine Assembly where he served as majority floor leader and chairman of committee on appropriations under the House Speakership of President Sergio Osmena, his “frenemy” but as history tells us, his most loyal wingman.
Rumors say that Osmena was threatened with Quezon’s charisma and his possible rise of speakership. Thus, in order to prevent this and retain his post, then Speaker Sergio appointed or exiled Quezon as resident commissioner to represent the Philippines in Washington D.C. for more than six (6) years, from 1909 to 1916. However, historians claimed that Quezon did not see this as a punishment but an opportunity – opportunity to build a network with the Americans, particularly with then US President Woodrow Wilson.
During his time as resident commissioner in Washington D.C, Quezon successfully lobbied that Jones Law, otherwise known as the Philippine Autonomy Act, which was signed into law on August 29, 1916 and superseded the Philippine Organic Act of 1902. Jones Law granted more autonomy to the Philippines and allowed a full-blown election of a bicameral legislature. Quezon took all the possible credits for the passage of Jones Law and utilized the same to be the Philippines “Hero of Independence”.
Having attained such fame, it is of no surprise that Quezon won the senatorial election on October 3, 1916 and Quezon was elected as the Senate President, the highest position at that time. He served as senator for nineteen (19) years from 1916 to 1935, making him the second longest continuous serving senator in history. (Senator Lorenzo Tanada held record for the longest tenure having served for four (4) consecutive terms or for twenty-four (24) years, from 1947 to 1972.
During his time as Senate President, Quezon ordered Sergio Osmena and Manuel Roxas for a mission to lobby before the US Congress a law finally declaring the independence of the Philippines. The efforts of the two emissaries were fruitful and resulted to the passage of Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act in 1933. The said law provided for a ten (10) year transition period for our country’s ultimate independence and the creation of our own constitution.
Then Senate President Quezon, however, vehemently opposed such law as it indefinitely allowed the retention of U.S. military bases in the Philippines. Some stories claimed, however, that Quezon’s true reason for opposing the said Act was his fear that Osmena and Roxas would be ultimately credited for bringing out independence in our island. With that, Quezon, by himself, set a mission to the United States purportedly to lobby for a better law granting independence to the Philippines.
In 1934, the Tydings-McDuffie Act or the Philippine Independence Law, a law which is almost identical with Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act, was passed. But this time, again, it was Quezon who took most, if not all, the credit. Again, he is the Hero of Independence. The said law gave birth to the 1935 Philippine Constitution which create a presidential form of government.
And to no one’s surprise, the first presidential election under the 1935 Philippine Constitution was between Manuel L. Quezon and our country’s first recognized president, Emilio Aguinaldo. Gregorio Aglipay also filed his candidacy for presidency, but everyone knows that such election was truly between Quezon and Aguinaldo.
And being the quintessential politician that he was, it has been said that one of the tactics employed by Quezon in order to demolish Aguinaldo’s hope to the presidency was to unearth the remains of the Supremo and revive the controversy that it was Aguinaldo who ordered the execution of Andres Bonifacio and Antonio Luna. With such cunning maneuver, Manuel L. Quezon won the said election with a big margin – he garnered 695, 332 votes as compared to Aguinaldo 179,349. With his inauguration on November 15, 1935, he became the second President of the Philippines and the first President of the Commonwealth Government.
In his speech on Civil Liberties Union on December 9, 1939, it was there when he declared, perhaps, his most famous quote, “I would rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans.”