Quezon, Manuel

Quezon (y Molina), Manuel (Luis)

(born Aug. 19, 1878, Baler, Phil.—died Aug. 1, 1944, Saranac Lake, N.Y., U.S.) Filipino statesman. Quezon fought in the Philippine-American War but became convinced after the Philippines' defeat that the only way to independence was through cooperation with the U.S. He served in the Philippine Assembly (1907–09). As the Philippines' representative in the U.S. House of Representatives (1909–16), he played a major role in obtaining Congress's pledge of independence for the Philippines (1916) and fought for passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934), which laid out a timetable for independence. He became president of the Commonwealth (a precursor to the independent republic) in 1935 and was reelected in 1941; when Japan occupied the Philippines in 1942, he formed a government-in-exile in the U.S. He did not live to see full independence for the Philippines. Quezon City is named in his honour.