QUEZON CITY – The nation will commemorate the 145th birth anniversary of Manuel L. Quezon on August 19, 2023.

On Saturday at 8:00 a.m., National Museum Board of Trustees (NM-BOT) Chair Andoni M. Aboitiz will lead the flag-raising and wreath-laying ceremonies at the Manuel L. Quezon Memorial Shrine, Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City. He will also deliver the keynote address.

He will be joined by Quezon City Mayor Ma. Josefina G. Belmonte, NHCP Chairman Dr. Emmanuel Franco Calairo, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) Chairman Arthur P. Casanova, National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) Director-General Jeremy R. Barns, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Chairman Victorino M. Manalo, Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Carlo G. Sotto, Department of Tourism (DOT) Regional Director Sharleen Z. Batin, members of the City Council, and descendants of Manuel L. Quezon. 

It will be followed by the unveiling of a cultural marker by the NMP declaring the Quezon Shrine as a national cultural heritage site.

QC Vice Mayor Sotto, NHCP Chairman Calairo, Mr. Enrique Quezon-Avanceña and QC Mayor Belmonte will also deliver messages.

NHCP Chair Calairo will administer the oath-taking of the QC LGU as a member of the Local Historical Committees Network (LHCN) of NHCP.  

Also known by his initials, MLQ, Quezon is the first Commonwealth president from 1935 until his death in 1944.

He was a lawyer, a statesman, and a soldier. During his term, Quezon tackled the problem of landless peasants and established a  government in exile  in the U.S. with the outbreak of  World War II.

He died of tuberculosis in Saranac Lake in New York  during his exile. Quezon was buried at Arlington National Cemetery until the end of World War II, when his remains were moved to Manila. His final resting place is the Quezon Memorial Circle. 

The NHCP is the national government agency mandated to promote and preserve Philippine historical heritage through research and publication, heraldry, conservation, marking of historic sites and structures, and administration of national shrines and museums. (pia-ncr)