August 19 is Quezon City Day

August 19 is Quezon City Day

Republic Act No. 6741 declares August 19 as a special working holiday for the entire Philippines and a special non-working holiday in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora and in Quezon City to commemorate the birth anniversary of the former Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon. RA 6741 was approved on August 4, 1989.

There will be no work tomorrow and classes will not be held for students for those institutions and offices located in the Quezon City area as well as those from the Quezon and Aurora provinces

Manuel Luis Molina Quezon was born in Baler, Tayabas on August 19, 1878 to Lucio Quezon and Maria Dolores Molina. He married Aurora Molina with whom he had three daughters and a son. He finished his Law studies in the University of Santo Tomas and he ranked fourth in the Bar Examination.

He served as a councilor and later on as Governor of Tayabas. Manuel Quezon became an assemblyman, senator and in 1935 as President of The Commonwealth Republic when he defeated former President Emilio Aguinaldo and Religious Leader Gregorio Aglipay in the elections.

Some of his accomplishments as President of The Commonwealth were:

He worked with High Commisioner Paul V. McNutt to speed up the entry of the Jews to the Philippines who at the time were fleeing from the Nazis. Manuel Quezon established a community for Jews in Minadanao. Before his presidency the positions at the Supreme Court were all held by American Justices, under his leadership, he made sure that the Supreme Court were manned by Filipino Justices. Manuel Quezon tasked General Douglas MacArthur as Field Marshal of the Philippines to oversee the National Defense of the Philippines. In 1936, Manuel Quezon signed Executive Order No . 23 - the official specifications of the Flag of the Philippines. Manuel Quezon in 1937 formed a commission tasked to study the dialects of the Philippines in order to come up with the national language of the Philippines - Tagalog became the official language of the Philippines. On October 12, 1939, he signed Batas Commonwealth 502 which aimed to establish a city outside of Manila which became the capital of the Philippines and was named after him - Quezon City.

When the Pacific War broke out in December 8, 1941, Luzon fled to Corrugators and in front of Melinda Tunnel in Corregidor on December 30, 1941 took his oath as President of the Commonwealth for the second term. When the Japanese forces advanced towards Corregidor, the President against his will fled to Visayas then to Mindanao and finally to the United States of America where he continued his government in exile.

He died in Saranak, New York in August 1, 1944 due to tubercolosis.