Top leaders pay tribute to Quezon

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday that hard work, coupled with effective fiscal management, was the key to progress and prosperity for the country.

Speaking during a ceremony marking 127th birth anniversary of the late President Manuel L. Quezon, the two leaders acknowledged it was hard work and perseverance that helped Quezon become the first Commonwealth president of the Philippines.

"President Quezon has proven that hard work is the key to success," Belmonte said at the formal ceremonies held at the Quezon Memorial Shrine.

The mayor later introduced Gordon, the former Olongapo mayor who transformed an abandoned US naval base in Subic into a flourishing free port.

It was also Gordon who introduced the dictum "Bawal ang Tamad sa Olongapo," which helped make the city a model for discipline and cleanliness.

Also present during yesterday’s affair were Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista, members of the City Council, led by majority leader Ariel Inton, representatives from civic groups and officials of the National Historical Institute and relatives of former President Quezon, led by Zenaida Quezon Avancena.

Also present were members of the Quezon City Police District, Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippies, Knights of Columbus, Lions Club and Philippine National Red Cross.

In his speech, Gordon cited Belmonte’s government of fiscal management as the secret to the transformation of Quezon City, which rose from a financially distressed local government unit to become the richest city in the country.

He said the transformation of Quezon City was the dream of Quezon when he founded the city in the late 1930s.

The senator said Quezon was a strong leader who called the shots during his time, but never imposed dictatorial rule during his presidency.

He said Quezon was firm, but fair in resolving the issues during his time.

Prior to his election as the first Commonwealth president, Quezon was the Resident Commissioner in the US, where he strongly lobbied for the passage of the Jones Law that paved the way for the independence of the Philippines.

Gordon said it was also Quezon who worked for the approval of the Defense Act to ensure that the Philippine would be truly independent of American colonial rule.

Quezon was born on Aug. 19, 1878 in Baler, Aurora, formerly the province of Tayabas, to Lucio Quezon, a native of Paco, Manila and Maria Dolores Molina, a Spanish mestiza.

He was re-elected as Commonwealth president in 1941, but with the outbreak of the World War II, he escaped to the US, where he set up the Commonwealth Government in Exile in Washington D

Quezon died of tuberculosis at a sanitarium in Saranac Lake in New York on Aug. 1, 1944.