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Era: Second President of the Philippines
First President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines |
Constitution: 1935 Constitution;
Amended 1935 Constitution |
| Succeeded by: Sergio Osmeña |
| First Inauguration: November 15, 1935, Legislative Building, Manila (aged 57) |
| Second Inauguration: December 30, 1941, Malinta Tunnel, Corregidor (aged 63) |
| Third Inauguration: November 15, 1943, Washington, D.C. (aged 65) |
| Capital: Manila (1935–1942);
Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C. (1942–1944) |
| Vice President: Sergio Osmeña (Nov. 15, 1935–December 30, 1941; December 30, 1941–August 1, 1944) |
| Chief Justice: Ramon Avanceña (April 1, 1925-December 24, 1941);
Jose Abad Santos (December 24, 1941–May 2, 1942) |
| Speaker of the National Assembly: Gil Montilla (November 25, 1935-December 30, 1938);
Jose Yulo (January 24, 1939-December 30, 1941) |
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Previous Positions
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| Executive |
Provincial: Governor of Tayabas (1906-1907)
Bureaucracy: Provincial fiscal of Mindoro
Bureaucracy: Provincial fiscal of Tayabas |
| Legislative |
Local: Municipal Councilor of Tayabas, Province
of Tayabas (January-February 1906)
Lower House: Member and Majority Floor Leader of the First Philippine Assembly; Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations (1907-1909)
Lower House: Resident Commissioner to the U.S. Congress (1909–1916)
Upper House: First President of the Philippine Senate (August 29, 1916-November 15, 1935)
Upper House: Senator for the Fifth Senatorial District (October 19, 1916-November 15, 1935) |
| Judicial |
None |
| Others |
Major, Philippine Army (1898-1901) |
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Personal Details
|
| Born |
August 19, 1878
Baler, Tayabas |
| Died |
August 1, 1944
Saranac Lake, New York |
| Resting Place |
Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City |
| Political Parties |
Partido Nacionalista (1907-1921)
Partido Colectivista Liberal (1922)
Partido Nacionalista Consolidado (1923-1933)
Partido Nacionalista-Democrata (1934)
Nacionalista Coalition (Coalition Party) (1935-1937)
Nacionalista Party (1937-1944) |
| Parents |
Lucio Quezon
Maria Dolores Molina |
| Spouse |
Aurora Aragon |
| Children |
Maria Aurora Quezon
Maria Zenaida Quezon Avanceña
Manuel L. Quezon Jr.
Luisa Corazon Paz Quezon |
| Alma Mater |
Secondary education, Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1892);
Bachelor of Arts, Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1894);
Bachelor of Laws, University of Santo Tomas (1903) |
| Occupation |
Land Surveyor
Lawyer (4th Place, 1903 Bar) |
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Department of Agriculture and Commerce
|
| Rafael Alunan |
Secretary |
1941–1942 |
| Benigno Aquino |
Secretary |
1938–1941 |
| Eulogio Rodriguez |
Secretary |
1935–1938 |
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Department of Public Instruction
|
| Jorge Bocobo |
Secretary |
April 19, 1939–January 22, 1941 |
| Sergio Osmeña |
Secretary |
November 13, 1935–April 18, 1939 |
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Department of Finance
|
| Serafin Marabut |
Secretary |
August 21, 1941–December 29, 1941 |
| Manuel Roxas |
Secretary |
November 26, 1938–August 28, 1941 |
| Antonio de Las Alas |
Secretary |
February 19, 1936–November 15, 1938 |
| Elpidio Quirino |
Secretary |
July 25, 1934–February 18, 1936 |
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Department of Interior
|
| Sotero Baluyut |
Secretary |
1938–1941 |
| Rafael Alunan |
Secretary |
1938 – 1940 |
| Elpidio Quirino |
Secretary |
1935 – 1938 |
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Commission of Justice
|
| Teofilo L. Sison |
Commissioner |
July 18, 1941 – November 1941 |
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Department of Justice
|
| Jose Abad Santos |
Secretary |
December 5, 1938 – July 16, 1941 |
| Jose M. Yulo |
Secretary |
July 6, 1934 – November 1938 |
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Department of National Defense
|
| Manuel L. Quezon |
Concurrent capacity as President |
July 16 – December 10, 1941 |
| Teofilo Sison |
Secretary |
November 1, 1939 – July 15, 1941 |
| Jorge B. Vargas |
Acting capacity |
December 11 – December 22, 1941 |
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Department of Public Works and Communications
|
| Jose Avelino |
Secretary |
1940-1941 |
| Mariano J. Cuenco |
Secretary |
1936-1939 |
| Antonio De Las Alas |
Secretary |
1933-1936 |
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Secretary to the President
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| Jorge Vargas |
Executive Secretary |
November 15, 1935 – December 11, 1941 |
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Department of Labor
|
| Sotero Baluyots |
Secretary |
1938 – 1941 |
| Jose Avelino |
Secretary |
1935 -1938 |
War Cabinet (December 30, 1941-August 1, 1944)
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Department of Justice
|
| Jose Abad Santos |
Secretary |
March 26, 1942– May 2, 1942 |
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Department of Finance, Agriculture and Commerce
|
| Andres Soriano |
Secretary |
March 26, 1942 – July 31, 1944 |
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Department of National Defense, Public Works, Communications and Labor
|
| Basilio J. Valdes |
Secretary |
December 23, 1941 – August 1, 1944 |
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Department of Public Instruction, Health and Public Welfare
|
| Sergio Osmena |
Secretary |
December 24, 1941 – August 1, 1944 |
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Secretary to the President
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| Arturo Rotor |
Secretary to the President |
June 13, 1942 – November 31, 1944 |
| Manuel Roxas |
Secretary to the President |
December 24, 1941 – March 26, 1942 |
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Department of Information and Public Relations
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| Carlos P. Romulo |
Secretary |
1943–1944 |
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Secretary to the Cabinet
|
| Manuel Nieto |
Secretary |
May 19, 1944 – August 1, 1944 |
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In 1935, President Quezon signed Executive Order No. 1, s. 1935, which began the numbering of executive issuances. Wartime issuances were affixed with a “W”. Executive Orders are defined in the 1987 Administrative Code as “acts of the President providing for rules of a general or permanent character in implementation or execution of constitutional or statutory powers.”
- Executive Orders: 1-251; 1-W – 14-W(total:266)
- Administrative Orders: 1-44
- Proclamations: 1-292
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- Population: 14.00 million (1936)
- Population: 17.00 million (1941)
- Total exports: P295.36 million (1936)
- Total exports: P 322.26 million (1941)
- U.S. Direct Investments in the Philippines: US$ 90.7 million (1940)
Source: A.V.H. Hartendorp, History of Industry and Trade of the Philippines (Manila: American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc., 1958)
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Legislative Acts passed by the legislature established by virtue of the 1935 Constitution were called Commonwealth Acts.
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1935 Presidential Elections
Under the Tydings-McDuffie Independence Act, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established. On September 16, 1935, the first national presidential election in the Philippines was held, resulting in an overwhelming victory for the Coalition ticket led by Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña.
1935 Legislative Elections
By virtue of the 1935 Constitution, legislative power was vested in a unicameral National Assembly.
Of the 98 members elected to the National Assembly in 1935, 87 were from existing representative districts, three were from Mountain Province, and one from each of the eight existing special provinces.
A significant majority of representatives elected (72%) belonged to Quezon’s Partido Nacionalista Democrata (Antis), while 21% belonged to Osmeña’s Partido Pro-Independencia Democrata (Pros). While both factions of the Nacionalista Party coalesced on the national level, they were less united in the National Assembly.
1937 Plebiscite
In 1937, women’s suffrage in the Philippines was approved in a special plebiscite where voting was restricted to women.
1938 Legislative Elections
The election of November 8, 1938, was the first and last time that one single party would secure 100 percent of the seats in the legislature, with a reunited Nacionalista Party winning all 98 seats.
1939 Plebiscite
1940 Plebiscite
A constitutional plebiscite on June 18, 1940, ratified the following amendments to the 1935 Constitution:
The unicameral National Assembly was replaced by a bicameral legislature composed of the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives.
In 1941, elections were held for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, as well as for members of both chambers.
1941 Presidential Elections
1941 Legislative Elections
The new terms of office for Congress were scheduled to begin on December 30, 1941, but the onset of World War II prevented the elected members from assuming their posts and the legislature of the Commonwealth of the Philippines was dissolved upon the exile of the government of the Philippines.
Click here for more information on the Philippine Legislature published on the Official Gazette.
