Quezon was the son of a
schoolteacher and small
landholder of Tagalog descent on
the island of Luzon. He cut short
his law studies at the University
of Santo Tomás in Manila in 1899
to participate in the struggle for
independence against the United
States, led by Emilio Aguinaldo.
Manuel Quezon was born to Spanish
mestizo parents in the remote town of
Baler in Tayabas province, on the east
coast of Luzon. His father, a former
soldier in the Spanish army, operated a
small rice farm, but as mestizos the
family enjoyed a higher social status
than even wealthy Filipinos.
later boarded at the Colegio de San
Juan de Letran, where he graduated
from secondary school in 1894. In 1899,
Quezon left his law studies at the
University of Santo Tomas to join the
independence movement.
He started his political career as Fiscal of the
Province of Mindoro (1903-1906), subsequently
serving as Municipal Councilor of Tayabas Town
in Tayabas, his home province (1906); Governor
of Tayabas Province (1906); and First
Assemblyman from Tayabas Province to the
First Philippine Assembly (1907).
His most significant achievement was the passage of
the Jones Act that provided for the grant of Philippine
independence. He was elected senator in 1916 and
eventually became Senate President. He headed the
first Independence Mission to the U.S. Congress, and
brought home the Tydings-McDuffie Independence Law
in 1934.