Manuel Luis Quezon Y Molina was born on August 19, 1878 in Baler, Tayabas (now Baler, Aurora). He is known as the "Father of the National Language".
He served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines (as opposed to other historical states), and is considered by most Filipinos to have been the second president of the Philippines, after Emillio Aguinaldo.
During his presidency, he tackled the problem of landless peasants in the countryside. Other major decisions include dealing with the foreign stranglehold on Philippine trade and commerce, proposals for land reform, and opposing graft and corruption within the government.
He suffered from tuberculosis and spent his last years in a "cure cottage" in Saranac Lake, New York, where he died on August 1, 1944. His final resting place is the Quezon Memorial Circle.