MLQ: Sinner or saint?

A. Paulita Roa .

HIS is the face in the twenty-peso bill that millions of us put in our hands daily. But not only that – the capital city of our country, a huge province in Luzon, plus numerous municipalities, bridges, schools, a TB sanitarium and thousands of streets are all named in honor of Manuel Luis Quezon, the first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

He was described as handsome and flamboyant. He inherited his Spanish features from his mother Maria Dolores Molina, a mestiza, and his explosive temper from his father Luis Quezon who was of Chinese ancestry.

The older Quezon was a sergeant of the Spanish army who was later killed during the revolution for being a Spanish loyalist while his son joined the Filipino forces that fought against the Americans.

He had a flair for drama or as the millennials describe it as “ma-drama,” for Quezon once showed up in a meeting with the American Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood in Malacañang in a salakot and wearing slippers. When questioned by an American about his attire, he replied, “If I am going to be treated like a farmer, I might as well look like one!” But all throughout his life, he was dressed elegantly that he even popularized the chaquetilla, a white formal jacket that is cut below the waist with front and back ends shaped like a V. This is well-suited for men with small physical build like him. He loved two-toned shoes, sharkskin suits and wore his barong  with a sando underneath.

Quezon loved parties and was a good tango dancer that his favorite dance tune La Cumparsita was touted as the official anthem of the Commonwealth. One of his favorite songs was “Sa Kabukiran” by Kagay-anon composer Manuel Gabor Velez and he had this sung by a rumored girlfriend, a Miss Karagdag, before he gave a speech in the first ever nationwide radio broadcast.

Carlos P. Romulo, who wrote his memoirs on his experiences of working closely with Philippine presidents from Quezon to Ferdinand Marcos, said Quezon had a long affair with a Hollywood actress and that he was summoned by the president in a swanky New York hotel having breakfast with her in his birthday suit.

President Quezon was known to be a control freak. He controlled the Philippine Assembly and his party. He also kept an eye on the rich and had a symbiotic relationship with them. Sugar barons were allowed to obtain big crop loans from the Philippine National Bank at his approval. He was not embarrassed to ask from his rich donors. Historian Carlos Quirino wrote that on the birthday party of Quezon’s only son, he asked his compadre Don Vicente Madrigal if he had a gift for the education of his godson. Madrigal wrote a check for several thousands of pesos which Quezon immediately returned, and then he told him: “Is this the value you placed on our relationship?” Madrigal then gave him a blank check.

He was known to return the favors given to him by his wealthy donors who were mostly of Spanish descent with political appointments and to his limitless largesse. He gave handsome concessions to the sugar barons and the mining capitalists. He appointed Manuel Elizalde as the resident commissioner to Washington D.C. when the latter did nothing of service to the country. What remained a mystery was even when the national defense lacked funds, Quezon gave Gen. Douglas MacArthur $500,000 as a token of gratitude of the nation to him and this was long before World War II broke out. (to be continued)