Birthday of Manuel L Quezon in 2024

When is Quezon City Day?

Quezon City Day is a special nonworking public holiday in the Philippine city of Quezon, and the Provinces of Quezon and Aurora on August 19th each year.

This holiday honours an important figure in Philippine history, who gave his name to Quezon City and Quezon Province.

History of Quezon City Day

Manuel Quezon was a Filipino statesman, soldier and politician who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines, and was the second president of the Philippines.

Quezon was born on August 19th 1878 in what is now Aurora province. In 1899, he interrupted his law studies to join the independence movement, rising to become a Major. He later returned to finish his exams and worked as a clerk and surveyor for a few years, before entering politics in 1907. He became the leader of the Nacionalista Party alliance Partido Nacionalista-Colectivista in 1922.

He was elected President in 1935, winning a second term in 1941. The invasion by Japan in 1941 forced Quezon into exile to the USA. He died from tuberculosis in August 1944.

Quezon City and Quezon Province were named after him. He is also memorialized on Philippine currency. He appears on the Philippine twenty-peso bill. The province of Aurora was named after his wife, Aurora Antonia Quezon.

In 1989, the Republic Act 6741 declared August 19th of each year a special working holiday throughout the country and a special non-working public holiday in the provinces of Quezon and Aurora and Quezon City.