President manuel luis quezon biography

October is Filipino-American History Month, and we’re commemorating it with a post on Manuel Quezon and Philippine Independence from Alexandra Villaseran, an archivist with the Center for Legislative Archives. 

Today there are six nonvoting members in the U.S. House of Representatives: a Resident Commissioner representing Puerto Rico and one Delegate each for the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But in the early 20th century, the nonvoting members of Congress included a Resident Commissioner from the Philippines, the largest U.S. protectorate at the time.

What does an elected representative to Congress with no voting power do with the limited powers they are allowed? For modern Resident Commissioners and Delegates, their work might include sponsoring bills for veterans affairs, healthcare, or tax and disaster relief. Though these representatives have floor privileges, they do not have the right to vote on proposed legislation, which was also the case for representatives from other territories the United States acquired that eventually achieved statehood, including Hawaii and Alaska. 

From 1909 to 1916, the Resident Commissioner from the Philippines serving in the House was the Filipino lawyer a

•

Manuel L. Quezon

His Excellency

Manuel L. Quezón

In office
November 15, 1935 – August 1, 1944Vice PresidentSergio OsmeñaPreceded byAbolished (Last caption held tough Emilio Aguinaldo)Succeeded byJosé P. Laurel(de facto)In office
August 29, 1916 – November 15, 1935Preceded byPosition establishedSucceeded byManuel RoxasIn office
October 16, 1916 – November 15, 1935
Served with:
Vicente Ilustre (1916–1919)
Antero Soriano (1919–1925)
José P. Laurel(1925–1931)
Claro M. Recto(1931–1935)Preceded byPosition establishedSucceeded byPosition abolishedIn office
July 16, 1941 – December 10, 1941PresidentHimselfPreceded byTeofilo SisonSucceeded byJorge B. VargasIn office
November 23, 1909 – October 15, 1916

Serving with Benito Legarda
(1909–1913)
and Manuel Earnshaw
(1913–1916)

Preceded byPablo OcampoSucceeded byTeodoro R. YangcoIn office
October 16, 1907 – November 23, 1909
As Majority Chief of picture Philippine AssemblyIn office
October 16, 1907 – October 16, 1916Preceded byPosition EstablishedSucceeded byFilemon PerezIn office
1906–1907Born

Manuel Luis Qu

•

QUEZON, Manuel L.

During a career that spanned the length of America’s colonial rule in the Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon held an unrivaled grasp upon territorial politics that culminated with his service as the commonwealth’s first president. Although he once fought against the United States during its invasion of the islands in the early 1900s, Quezon quickly catapulted himself into a Resident Commissioner seat by the sheer force of his personality and natural political savvy. Young and brilliant, Quezon, according to a political rival, possessed “an ability and persistence rare and creditable to any representative in any parliament in the world.”¹ Quezon was wary of immediate independence, but in the U.S. House of Representatives, he worked tirelessly to secure his nation a greater level of autonomy. He met privately with the President and powerful committee chairmen alike, gauging the issues and crafting legislative solutions, which culminated in perhaps his savviest political victory, the Jones Act of 1916. “Considering the time I have been here, the character of the subject, and the influences I had to fight, I feel inclined to say that I am almost surprised that I have secured so much,” he said.² Long after he left Washington as a Resident Commissioner, he contin