Administration and cabinet First term (1935–1941) in
Manila on the 15th of November 1935|alt=Quezon taking the oath of office In 1935, Quezon won the Philippines'
first national presidential election under the
Nacionalista Party. He received nearly 68 percent of the vote against his two main rivals,
Emilio Aguinaldo and
Gregorio Aglipay. Quezon, inaugurated on November 15, 1935, is recognized as the second
President of the Philippines. In January 2008, however, House Representative Rodolfo Valencia (
Oriental Mindoro–
1st) filed a bill seeking to declare General
Miguel Malvar the second Philippine President; Malvar succeeded Aguinaldo in 1901.
Supreme Court appointments Under the Reorganization Act, Quezon was given the power to appoint the first all-Filipino cabinet in 1935. From 1901 to 1935, a Filipino was chief justice but most Supreme Court justices were Americans. Complete
Filipinization was achieved with the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935. Claro M. Recto and José P. Laurel were among Quezon's first appointees to replace the American justices. Membership in the Supreme Court increased to 11: a chief justice and ten associate justices, who sat
en banc or in two divisions of five members each. •
Ramón Avanceña – 1935 (
Chief Justice) – 1935–1941 •
José Abad Santos – 1935 •
Claro M. Recto – 1935–1936 •
José P. Laurel – 1935 •
José Abad Santos (Chief Justice) – 1941–1942
Government reorganization and Presidential Guard Battalion Commander Colonel Narciso Manzano. To meet the demands of the newly established government and comply with the
Tydings-McDuffie Act and the
Constitution, Quezon, true to his pledge of "more government and less politics,"initiated a reorganization of the
government. He established a Government Survey Board to study existing institutions and, in light of changed circumstances, make necessary recommendations. the
Board of National Relief, the
Mindanao and Sulu Commission, and the
Civil Service Board of Appeals.
Social justice program |alt=President Manuel L. Quezon wearing his inaugural barong Pledging to improve the conditions of the Philippine working class and inspired by the social doctrines of
Pope Leo XIII and
Pope Pius XI and treatises by the world's leading sociologists, Quezon began a program of
social justice introduced with executive measures and legislation by the
National Assembly. Quezon desired to follow the constitutional mandate on the promotion of social justice. Attention was paid to soil surveying and the disposition of public land. The act provided a better tenant-landlord relationship, a 50–50 sharing of the crop, regulation of interest at 10 percent per agricultural year, and protected against arbitrary dismissal by the landlord. Funds from the early Residence Certificate Law were devoted to maintaining public schools throughout the country and opening many more. There were 6,511 primary schools, 1,039 intermediate schools, 133 secondary and special schools, and five junior colleges by this time. Total enrollment was 1,262,353, with 28,485 teachers. The 1936 appropriation was . As a result of prolonged debate between proponents and opponents of women's suffrage, the constitution provided that the issue be resolved by women in a
plebiscite. If at least 300,000 women voted for the right to vote, it would be granted. The plebiscite was held on 30 April 1937; there were 447,725 affirmative votes, and 44,307 opposition votes.
Jewish refugees (1938–1941) in 1940 In cooperation with US
High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt, Quezon facilitated the entry into the Philippines of Jewish refugees fleeing fascist regimes in Europe and took on critics who were convinced by propaganda that Jewish settlement was a threat to the country. Quezon and McNutt proposed 30,000 refugee families on Mindanao and 30,000–40,000 refugees on
Polillo. Quezon made a 10-year loan to Manila's Jewish Refugee Committee of land adjacent to his family home in
Marikina to house homeless refugees in Marikina Hall (the present-day
Philippine School of Business Administration), which was dedicated on 23 April 1940.
Council of State expansion In 1938, Quezon expanded the
Council of State in Executive Order No. 144. This highest of advisory bodies to the president would be composed of the President,
Vice President,
Senate President,
House Speaker,
Senate President pro tempore,
House Speaker pro tempore, the majority floor leaders of both chambers of
Congress, former presidents, and three to five prominent citizens. and favored the governing
Nacionalista Party. As expected, all 98 assembly seats went to the Nacionalistas.
José Yulo, Quezon's
Secretary of Justice from 1934 to 1938, was elected speaker. The
Second National Assembly intended to pass legislation strengthening the economy, but the Second World War clouded the horizon; laws passed by the First National Assembly were modified or repealed to meet existing realities. A controversial
immigration law which set an annual limit of 50 immigrants per country, primarily affecting Chinese and Japanese nationals escaping the
Sino-Japanese War, was passed in 1940. Since the law affected foreign relations, it required the approval of the U.S. president. When the 1939
census was published, the National Assembly updated the apportionment of legislative districts; this became the basis for the
1941 elections.
1939 plebiscite On 7 August 1939, the
United States Congress enacted a law in accordance with the recommendations of the Joint Preparatory Commission on Philippine Affairs. Because the new law required an amendment of the Ordinance appended to the Constitution, a plebiscite was held on 24 August 1939. The amendment received 1,339,453 votes in favor, and 49,633 against.
1940 plebiscites With the 1940 local elections, plebiscites were held for proposed amendments to the constitution about a bicameral legislature, the presidential term (four years, with one re-election, and the establishment of an independent
Commission on Elections. The amendments were overwhelmingly ratified. Speaker José Yulo and Assemblyman Dominador Tan traveled to the United States to obtain President
Franklin D. Roosevelt's approval, which they received on 2 December 1940. Two days later, Quezon proclaimed the amendments.
1941 presidential election Quezon was originally barred by the Philippine constitution from seeking re-election. In 1940, however, a constitutional amendment was ratified which allowed him to serve a second term ending in 1943. In the
1941 presidential election, Quezon was re-elected over former
Senator Juan Sumulong with nearly 82 percent of the vote. He was inaugurated on December 30, 1941, at the
Malinta Tunnel in
Corregidor. The oath of office was administered by
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines José Abad Santos. Corregidor was chosen as the venue of the inauguration and temporary seat of the government
in-exile to take refuge from the uninterrupted Japanese bombing raids during the
Japanese invasion.
Second term (1941–1944) Pre-war activity As crises mounted in the Pacific, the Philippines prepared for war. Youth military training under General
Douglas MacArthur was intensified. The first
blackout practice was held on the night of 10 July 1941 in Manila. First aid was taught in all schools and social clubs. Quezon established the Civilian Emergency Administration (CEA) on 1 April 1941, with branches in provinces and towns. Air-raid drills were also held. The dismal results of the practice blackouts raised concerns of the minimal preparedness in the Philippines. Problems arises when the army and Philippine Constabulary was needed to control the peasant violence throughout the Philippines. In 1942, during Quezon's evacuation in Visayas at
Negros Occidental, he spent frustrating hours communicating with officials. Quezon handled disputes between sugar workers and sugar central managers. In one occasion, Quezon ordered the manager of the
Binalbagan Sugar Central to obtain money from the
Philippine National Bank and pay its employees their salaries. As Binalbagan workers threatened Quezon that they would riot, he ordered the Philippine Constabulary to control the situation. Quezon evacuated to
Corregidor (where he was
inaugurated for his second term) and then to the
Visayas and Mindanao. At the invitation of the U.S. government, he was evacuated to Australia, and then to the United States. Quezon established the Commonwealth
government in exile, with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the
Pacific War Council, signed the United Nations declaration against the
Axis powers and wrote
The Good Fight, his autobiography. Quezon then heard another broadcast by former president Emilio Aguinaldo urging him and his fellow Filipino officials to yield to superior Japanese forces. Quezon wrote a message to Roosevelt saying that he and his people had been abandoned by the US and it was Quezon's duty as president to stop fighting. MacArthur learned about the message, and ordered Major General
Richard Marshall to counterbalance it with American propaganda whose purpose was the "glorification of Filipino loyalty and heroism". On 2 June 1942, Quezon addressed the
United States House of Representatives about the necessity of relieving the Philippine front. He did the same to the Senate, urging the senators to adopt the slogan "Remember
Bataan". Despite his declining health, Quezon traveled across the US to remind the American people about the Philippine war. ==Death and burial==