Yesterday I made a visit to the Library of the Congress to make my self busy and see what I found an article

about Quezon written by John Gunther: Inside sia! I"m sharing it with you # # # $ %&'L Q&'()% *rom John Gunther+s Inside sia ,-./01/. edition2

3$y loyalty to my 4arty ends where my loyalty to my country begins#5 1 $ %&'L Q&'()% 'lastic6 electric6 $anuel Quezon is a sort of 7eau 7rummel among dictators# 8ere is an e9traordinarily engaging little man# :he 4rankishness of Quezon6 the rakish tilt to the brim of his hat6 his love for the lights of 4leasure as well as the light of 4ower6 his dash and roguery6 the s4irited elegance of his establishments all the way from the yacht cruising on $anila 7ay to the refulgent 4earls 1 so luminous they seem 1 cruising on his shirtfront6 combine brightly to indicate a character straight off 7roadway or ;iccadilly Circus6 a lighthearted 4layboy among eastern statesmen# 7ut such an inter4retation would e94ress only a fraction of the com4le9 truth# $r Quezon6 the first 4resident of the Commonwealth of the ;hili44ines6 is a great deal more than a 4layboy# 8e is full of nerve 1 and nerves# 8e is one of the world+s best ballroom dancers< also one of the world+s su44lest and hardest1boiled 4ractical 4oliticians# 8e loves cards and alcohol< also he loves his country and his career# 8e likes to laugh 1 even at himself1but he is a genuine revolutionary6 as much the father of his country as =amal taturk# :he history of the ;hili44ine Islands in the twentieth century and the biogra4hy of $anuel Quezon are indissolubly one# >hen Quezon was a boy of eighteen or so he returned to his native village in the north6 feeling himself a grand cock of the walk with his newly gained academy degree# 7oth of his father and mother were school teachers# 8is father took him to see the chief authority of the village6 a local 4riest who had come there while Quezon was away at school# :he tradition in those days was that anyone visiting a 4riest must kiss his hand# :he 4riest was a very fat man who sat with one leg sagging over the arm of a chair# 8e e9tended his 4udgy hand for the boy to kiss6 not otherwise moving# ?o young $anuel gras4ed and shook the hand instead of kissing it# ?ensation# :he 4riest begged Quezon+s father to 4unish him for his irreverence# Young Quezon bided his time# 8e discovered that the 4riest was having a liaison with a girl in the village# Quezon became ac@uainted with her himself and then 4araded the main street1with the 4riest+s handkerchief stuck Aauntily in his 4ocketB t about the same time he came in conflict with the other source of authority in the village# 8e @uarreled with an officer of the civil guard over another girl# 8e managed to insert himself in the girl+s 4lace at a rendezvous with the officer6 knocked him down6 and fled# It was a bitterly serious offense then to assault a ?4anish officer# Quezon was caught6 arrested and sentenced to im4risonment# 7ut the authorities chose to mask the real reason for the @uarrel6 not caring to mention the female element< they Austified Quezon+s arrest merely by asserting that he was a revolutionary1which was untrue# 8e had scarcely heard of the *ili4ino inde4endence movement at this time# 8e began to get interested in it# :he affair gave him the

idea that the revolutionaries1no matter what their 4olitics1must be nice 4eo4le# :hese two anecdotes6 lost in years and trivial as they may seem to be6 were im4ortant# Quezon would have become a revolutionist anyway6 since it is his nature to e94and and rebel6 but this early conflict with authority shar4ened him for the struggle to come6 told him with irresistible 4ressure on which side be belonged# necdotes about Quezon are abundant# Yet they do not build u4 into a legend# :here is nothing hazy or mythological about him# 8e is an e9ce4tionally concrete and com4act man# 8e has a genius for directness6 and also for the une94ected# 8is ne4hew6 training to be a cadet in an army 4re4aratory school6 was one of a grou4 recently convicted of a hazing offense# Quezon is an enemy of ne4otism1 indeed it is rule in the civil service that no two relatives may work in the same office1and he e94elled the entire grou4 of cadets6 ne4hew included# 8is wife 4leaded with him< Quezon was adamant6 asserting that the 4unishment must be a lesson to the army as a whole# month later6 he gave the cadets a chance to get their commissions after all6 by serving for eighteen months as 4rivates# )nce6 the ne4hew was on guard duty at $alacaCang 4alace6 the residence of the 4resident# Quezon heard that his wife was secretly feeding the lad in the 4alace kitchen# 8e ordered her to sto4 this6 or else feed the entire two hundred 4rivates in the guard# 8e is e9ce4tionally im4ulsive and generous# )nce when $alacaCang was being restored he noticed a workman who didn+t seem to be the ordinarily ty4e of *ili4ino laborer# Quezon talked to him6 found that he was a student out of a Aob6 and gave him clerical work inside the 4alace# :he ne9t day the whole working crew struck and asked for the same kind of easier work# %othing daunts him# Crossing the tlantic once he taught the shi4+s orchestra to 4lay the *ili4ino national anthem by ta44ing out the tune with one finger on the 4iano1though he hadn+t touched a keyboard for years1and though ;aderewski was a fellow 4assenger and startled onlookerB 8e is something of a scam4# )nce6 courting his wife6 he arrived wearing a s4ray of orange blossoms# ?he asked him why# 8e said airily65)h6 I+ve Aust been marriedB5 :he 4oor lady burst in tears6 so that Quezon knew that she really loved him# 8is a44roach is inveterately 4ersonal# >hen a 4olitical 4risoner is arrested6 which isn"t very oftenD Quezon usually talks to him himself# )nce a 4risoner had been arrested for making amateur bombs< he was a driver of a carabao ,buffalo2 cart earning fifteen cents a day# Quezon said6 5:his is ridiculous# %o wonder6 you are a bomb1thrower# %o one can live on fifteen cents a day#5 nd he ordered his release# 8is tem4er flashes @uickly over little things# 8e may violently rebuke a secretary6 and twenty minutes later com4letely forget what the trouble was about# 8e likes to @uote a saying of his father+s: 57etter one day red than three days blue#5 8e is full of histrionics# 8is wife6 intensely mobile features make him an e9cellent mimic and actor# >hen he is bored or 4etulant6 anyone who knows him well knows it instantly6 because his thick eyebrows shoot u46 and his long and e94ressive

nostrils twitch# 8e is almost startlingly informal< he makes his very informality dramatic# ?aying good1by to his great friend Eoy 8oward when 8oward was in $anila last6 he called alone at 8oward+s hotel6 and sim4ly walked in unattended and unannounced# 8e takes guests out yachting< he drives them home to their dwellings himself# 7ut woe anyone who abuses this informality by wanton insult to the dignity of his 4osition# ?wift and stinging rebuke came once to an merican who6 dancing at a 4arty where Quezon was a guest6 sla44ed him on the shoulder with a gay 58i6 $anuelB5 8e is very Latin and e94ensive with great affection for his own roots6 his own 4ast# In his home in ;asay 6 a suburb of $anila 6 he has a large air4lane 4hotogra4h of the village where he was born6 marked: 58ere I *irst ?aw the Light of Fay#5 In his official residence he has built u4 a veritable museum of Quezoniana # Last year he was 4leased beyond measure to recover at last a knife he lost when he was ca4tured in -0.. by merican troo4s# 7ut he was never been able to trace and find the sword he sold for twelve 4esos when the war was over# Loyalty6 gratitude are good 4olitical wea4ons6 and Quezon knows it well# Fozens of friends6 who hel4ed him in the early days6 have been rewarded with Aobs or 4ensions# 8e held a man named ntonio in such affection1 ntonio fed and housed him when he was 4oor1that he ado4ted his name as 4art of his own# 8e has great sym4athies for the old and 4oor# >hen he was a young lawyer he charged the 4oor no fees6 and soaked the rich# 8is wife told him recently6 with considerable 4erturbation6 that she had discovered their cook6 whom he greatly admired6 to be a communist# Quezon went straight to the kitchen# 8e returned and told his wife6 5:he cook is not a communist# If he were a duke6 he would be for the dukes# 7ut he+s a cook6 and so he+s for the cooks#5 8e likes to do things @uickly# 8e got General Fouglas $ac rthur to come to $anila as his military adviser and su4erintendent of the military establishment of the islands in five minutes of talk# 8e said to $ac rthur65I want your answer to Aust one @uestion: re the islands defensibleD! $acarthur said6 3Yes and Quezon offered him the Aob# 8e seldom stands on ceremony and he always knows when it is wise to recede# Eecently he stated that :agalog6 his native dialect6 should become the official language of the islands# :hen it was discovered that :agalog did not contain enough of the technical vocabulary necessary to modern government# ?o he dro44ed the idea without a murmur# fter his election to the 4residency he called together the rich $anilans who had su44orted him and 4aid for his cam4aign# 5Gentlemen65 he said in effect6! let there be no misunderstanding between us# )f course I know6 now that I am in office6 that you do not antici4ate any 4olitical favors# You have contributed to my cam4aign6 but surely you do not e94ect to derive 4rofit from having done so# If you should have such an assum4tion6 you would be dishonoring yourselves6 by suggesting that you had attem4ted to bribe the ;resident6 and also myself6 by suggesting that the ;resident could be bribed#5 :he rich $anilans were too staggered to say a word#

)nce6 years ago in >ashington 6 he was chatting with friends in the office of ?ecretary of >ar ?timson# ?timson turned to him suddenly: 5Quezon6 do you really want inde4endence for the *ili4inosD5 Quezon smiled and told the anecdote of the young ?4aniard who always asserted that it was his ambition to become bisho4 of the church# :he ?4aniard ended u4 ha44ily enough as a Aanitor for the church 4ro4erty# Quezon winked# su4erb 4olitician6 he knows all the a44roaches# )nce a grou4 of legislators wasn+t doing the work he e94ected of it# 8e announced6 5I won+t fire you6 but if your Aob isn+t finished by ne9t $onday6 I+ll write a letter to the news4a4ers under my own name denouncing you as incom4etent#5 :he Aob was done by $onday# )nce Lloyd George said of Fe Galera: 5he is like trying to 4ick u4 mercury with a fork#5 Quezon has something of this defiantly fluid @uality# Fon $anuel Luis Quezon ntonio y $olina was born in 7aler6 a small town on the island of Luzon6 on ugust l.6 l0H0# 8is father was a *ili4ino schoolmaster6 certainly not rich6 but not des4erately 4oor6 a member of the illustrado class< his mother6 $olina by name6 who also taught school6 was 4artly ?4anish# Young Quezon was a bright lad6 but lazy# s a schoolboy his nickname was gulatero1bluffer# :he family 4inched itself to send him to $anila6 eighty miles away6 where he studied first at ?an Juan de Letran6 a Aunior college6 and then at the law school of the &niversity of ?anto :om as# 8is studies were interru4ted by the revolution against ?4ain in l0.0# :he ;hili44ine Islands 6 discovered by $agellan in lIJl6 were forlorn and almost forgotten remnants of the ?4anish 'm4ire# :hat 'm4ire6 corru4t and decadent6 was governed by remote control from $adrid 6 but most actual 4ower was in the hands of the local Catholic Church 4lus a few ?4anish grandees and landowners# :he *ili4inos 1 about .6KKK#KKK of them then and 4erha4s lL6KKK6KKK now 1 are in the main $alay by race6 Christianized by ?4ain and with strong admi9tures of ?4anish blood# :hey are an easygoing 4eo4le6 but they rose against ?4anish o44ression under the 4atriot guinaldo6 and were fighting a bloody and successful revolution when the ?4anish1 merican >ar broke out# merica attacked ?4ain in ;hili44ine waters6 4romising to hel4 the revolutionaries# :hen merica 6 victorious6 took the islands over< guinaldo continued his revolt against the &nited ?tates 6 but he was ca4tured in l.Kl6 and the fighting fizzled out# Young $anuel Quezon 4lunged melodramatically into this situation# 8e Aoined guinaldo6 in a year rose from 4rivate to maAor6 and fought the mericans# dvancing under a flag of truce he was told guinaldo had been taken and that the revolt was over# Quezon refused to believe this# :he mericans took him to $anila and showed him guinaldo in ca4tivity with his own eyes# Quezon s4ent si9 months in Aail< his cell was a dungeon in the city walls near the southeastern gate6 and not more than a hundred yards from the Letran ?chool he had attended# >hen fifteen years later he returned to $anila from >ashington with the Jones Law ,which 4re4ared the way for ;hili44ine inde4endence2 in his 4ocket6 the gate was renamed Quezon Gate in his honor# Quezon was furious at the &nited ?tates when the rebellion colla4sed# :he

insurrectionists who fought with the mericans in the original struggle considered themselves betrayed# )ut of Aail6 Quezon was so angry that he refused to learn 'nglish# 7ut he met an merican officer6 General 7andholtz1the first merican he had ever known well1and discovered 4rom4tly that mericans were not ?4aniards# 7andholtz said that Quezon must learn 'nglish and that he would 4ay Quezon6 instead of vice versa6 to take lessons from himB :hen 7andholtz was transferred from the islands< Quezon dro44ed 'nglish6 and did not take it u4 again until he becomes ;hili44ine Commissioner in >ashington in l.K.6 when he learned it with astounding s4eed# Quezon+s first years after the revolution were difficult# 8e resumed the study of law6 while scratching out a living at odd Aobs# 8is father died6 and he returned to 7aler to settle the family estate< then he began 4ractice in :ayabas 4rovince# 8e was at once successful# ;olitics beckoned# 8e gave u4 his Aob6 at which he was earning MIKK 4er month to acce4t a 4osition as local fiscal or 4rosecuting attorney6 at MHI# 8e got a national re4utation almost at once by daring to 4rosecute a 4rominent merican lawyer for fraud< this was as early as l.KL6 when it was almost unheard of for a youthful *ili4ino to attack a foreigner# 7y l.KN he had become governor of :ayabas< by l.K06 when he was thirty6 he was floor leader of the *ili4ino ssembly6 and obviously the coming man# :he ne9t twenty1five years were all variations on a single theme< the stubborn and wary cam4aign of $anuel Quezon to achieve inde4endence for his country# 7attles with ill1health< s4ectacular Aunkets< a local struggle for 4ower with ?enor )smena6 alternately his rival and running mate in *ili4ino affairs1these were subordinate to the unchanging main current of his life# :wo things hel4ed Quezon cardinally# )ne was the very considerable anti1im4erialist sentiment in the &nited ?tates which steadily favored liberation of the islands on 4olitical grounds# :he other was the sugar lobby in >ashington 6 which I will touch on later# Gery early Quezon saw that the key to everything was >ashington # ?o he contrived to become Eesident Commissioner there< a 4ost which he held from l.K. to l.lH# 8e was an effective lobbyist# 8e hel4ed arrange the a44ointment of the ;ro1*ili4ino *rancis 7urton 8arrison as governor general in l.l/6 and he was s4iritual if not tem4oral author of the Jones 7ill in l.lN# 8e knew also that com4lete inde4endence1too soon1might wreck the islands economically< he had continually to 4lot a sinuous middle course# 7y l.lH he saw that $anila was a better strategic 4ost than >ashington < he became ;resident of the ;hili44ine ?enate and as such the first man of the islands# 8e had years of 4assionate struggled with General >ood6 a governor who reversed the 8arrison 4olicy< he ingratiated himself with other governors6 caAoling6 bluffing6 and threatening# 8e dodged back and forth to >ashington # *inally in l./L came the :ydings1$cFuffie 7ill6 which tentatively at least won the fight# :he ;hili44ine became a commonwealth of autonomous status with com4lete inde4endence 4romised in l.LN# Quezon went to the country and won its first 4residential election# 8is chief o44onent6 whom he overwhelmed was old General guinaldo6 who wanted inde4endence without com4romise and at once6 Quezon moved into $alacanan 4alace6 and the guinaldo governor6 now know as the high commissioner6 rented a house in town#

Quezon is si9ty1one# 8e doesn"t look like it# 8e lives hard still6 and works a long and restless day# &sually he is u4 at dawn6 and he likes to entertain at breakfast# s chief e9ecutive of the islands he has to face multitudinous administrative decisions< on anything im4ortant his is the final word# 8e reads the 4a4ers carefully6 and a cli44ing bureau in merica sends him by weekly airmail a big 4acket of news# 8e receives visitors in a comfortable airy room on the second floor of $alacanan decorated in gamboges and orange# 8e has what seems to be a velvet swivel chair6 and 4hotogra4hers sna4 4ictures of 'l ;resident and his guest as they converse# %e9t day the 4hotogra4hers try to sell the 4ictures to the visitors# :he ;resident two or three times a week makes sur4rise ins4ections anywhere in $anila # >ithout warning6 without ceremony6 he dro4s in at a local 4olice station6 a tobacco factory6 a 4rison or any government de4artment< if all is not in order6 the feathers fly# 8e likes to listen to grievances# ?ometimes he eats luncheon with workmen out in the yard# 8e loves good clothes< the s4lendor and multi4licity of his shirts are famous# *or his own dress he has invented a semi1uniform of high russet riding breeches6 a soft white shirt6 and a high buttoned military tunic with a high collar# 7ut often he receives visitors informally6 wearing a 4olo shirt o4en at the neck# t home he wears native :agalog dress6 which he claims to be e9ce4tionally comfortable# If he ever lost his Aob he could make an easy living at cards# 8e is indis4utably one of the best 4oker 4layers in the world# Lately he has taken u4 bridge6 too6 and like it even better than 4oker# $ost of his rela9ation nowadays comes on his yacht6 the Casiana6 on which he cruises and dines when the day+s work is done# 8e got it6 a bargain at a re4uted 4rice of lKK6KKK 4esos ,MIK6KKK26 from an merican oil magnate# 8e reads a good deal in a utilitarian way6 es4ecially when he wakes u46 restless6 very early in the morning6 but he is an im4atient reader who finds it hard to finish books he has begun# 8e 4lays golf a little and sometimes 4ractices mashie shots in $alacanan garden# 8e likes to ride6 and is a tolerable horseman# :here is bar in the 4alace6 and he asserts that he has never refused a drink6 but in fact he drinks rather little# t one rece4tion at $alacanan that I attended6 no alcohol was served at all# :he ;resident likes to Aoke about li@uor as he likes to Aoke about the ladies# )ld 4hotogra4hs show him with wonderful twirling mustachios over a Aaw1breaking collar< he says he cut them off because they tickled the girls too much# )nce he said6 3a4ro4os of alcohol# >hen I left $anila the doctors told me that I could drink nothing into9icating# >hen I reached Java I saw a doctor and he said a glass of beer would not hurt# ?o I drank beer from Java to ;aris # In ;aris another doctor said6 5You should not drink beer< wine is the thing#5 ?o I changed gratefully to wine# :hen a *rench s4ecialist told me6 5You should drink only cham4agne< it is the only drink for you#5 ?o I drank cham4agne for a time# :hen I reached the &nited ?tates 6 and the 4hysicians said6 5Fon+t drink wines or beer at all6 but only whisky#5 ?o now6 if I want a drink6 all I have to do is decide which 4hysician I shall obey# 8e is fond of good food6 but of his trim figure too# 7efore he underwent a serious o4eration at John s 8o4kins in l./L6 he asked for adobo6 a highly seasoned *ili4ino

s4ecialty consisting of beef steamed in venegar6 then fried with garlic# :he doctors wouldn+t let him have it# 8e enAoyed his o4eration6 which was for gallstones6 immensely< he dramatized every detail6 and the news4a4ers in $anila carried front 4age 4hotogra4hs of all the instruments the surgeons used# 8e said afterward6 5 ll I have is a thin red line that looks like a 4in scratch6 and I can say that it is even elegant#5 7ut what he likes most of all is a Aunket# 8is 4olitical 4ilgrimages have carried him all over the world6 and nothing is lacking to make the Aourneying im4ressive# 'l ;residente travels with a flash and a flourish# ?4ecial trains6 mass meetings6 s4eeches are in order6 and the entourage is huge# &sually Quezon takes with him a doctor6 two or three secretaries6 a military aide and half dozen hangers1on# 8e has learned more than one lesson from the 4olitics of the &nited ?tates < he is a Aunketeer 4ar e9cellence and his e94ense accounts are wonderful to behold# In $anila 6 Quezon goes from 4lace to 4lace in a big Chrysler irflow with s4ecial glass which im4edes the view inside# Contrary to re4ort it is not armored or bullet 4roof# 7ut there is a small revolver in the side com4artment which contains writing materials6 cigarettes6 and the like# It bears license 4late %o# l# 8e wanted to attend the coronation of George GI of 'ngland during his 'uro4ean tri4 in l./H6 but the 7ritish foreign office didn+t know @uite what 4recedence to give him6 and informally 4ersuaded the mericans to ask him not to go# )n this tri46 he had 4lanned to go to Ireland and Fen mark 6 also the &#?#?#E#6 to study agrarian 4roblems< time cut his itinerary short# In Germany he saw ?chacht6 but not 8itler# )n the way he visited Cuba and $e9ico < for the $e9ican ;resident Cardenas he has terrific admiration# bout $ussolini Quezon once said6 58e talks loudly but everyone can rely u4on him to do the right thing#5 bout 8itler: 5:hat+s not my idea of a leader#5 :he ;resident calls himself 5almost a communist5 e9ce4t that he believes in the right of 4rivate 4ro4erty# 7ut he also believes that the government has the 4rivilege of curbing the right of 4rivate 4ro4erty 5if and when 4ublic good demands it#5 8is wife6 whom he adores6 and who has considerable influence over him6 is his first cousin# 8er name was urora ragon< he elo4ed with her to 8ongkong in l.l0 after an interru4ted boyhood romance# ?he is a 4retty and cultivated woman6 and a good Eoma n Catholic# >hen they were in $e9ico she told her husband that 4erha4s she might ski4 going to church for once6 if church1going should embarrass his conversations with Cardenas< the ;resident re4lied that she could blankety1blank well go to church any time and any 4lace she chose# :he Quezons have three children6 $ar ia urora 6 who is eighteen6 (enaida6 seventeen and $anuel Jr6 twelve# Fonna urora doesn+t 4ay much attention to 4olitics1her hobbies are orchids6 her collection of dolls6 and her two thousand books 1but she did contribute something to the woman suffrage movement in the islands# Quezon was lukewarm on the issue6 and6 ho4ing to forestall it6 arranged a com4romise 4roviding that suffrage should come if /KK6KKK women voted for it within a year# %o one thought that /KK6KKK

women could be found who would vote# 7ut $me6 Quezon 4lunged into the cam4aign and the votes were found Quezon was uneasy6 because most women voters are in the hands of the 4riests6 whom he thinks have enough 4ower already## 7ut he did not want to o44ose his wife+s wishes# Quezon and ;aul G# $c%utt6 the 4resent high commissioner6 are not intimate friends6 but relations between the governments are @uite correct# Quezon ho4ed that another man would be a44ointed and that in any case he should be consulted on the a44ointment< $c%utt+s name was rushed through before Quezon got to >ashington6 and for several days he sulked6 refusing to call on $c%utt until Eoy 8oward smoothed the matter6 over6 Quezon says that nowadays he likes to see $c%utt in order to get away from the local 4oliticians# 8e records that his friendshi4 with him was cemented by a 4oker game6 in which both were winners 1 Quezon6 however6 by a bigger margin# :he $c%utt toast story set tongues wagging on several continents# >hat really ha44ened was this# >hen $c%utt arrived on the islands the Ja4anese Consul General gave him an official dinner6 at which the first toast was to the 'm4eror of Ja4an6 the second to the ;resident of the &nited ?tates6 the third to ;resident Quezon6 the fourth ,after rather a long 4ause2 to 8igh Commissioner $c%utt# :he ne9t day $c%utt wrote a 4rivate and confidential memorandum to the consular cor4s asking that this 4rocedure be henceforth corrected6 since officially he6 as re4resentative of the ;resident of the &nited ?tates 6 outranked Quezon# 8e didn+t want a scandal< he was as embarrassed as was Quezon when the story got out6 which it did when the Ja4anese ti44ed off the news4a4ers# ?ome time later6 asserting his 4rerogative to be consulted in all international matters6 $c%utt asked that corres4ondence between the various consuls and $alacanan be routed6 as was correct6 through him# :he Ja4anese sought to get around this by using the tele4hone instead of writing# Quezon has a fabulous number of friends all over the world# In $anila those closest to him are 4robably his secretary Jorge Gargas6 who is his man1about14olitics6 and his aide1de1cam4 $aAor $anuel %ieto# %ieto is the 7ruckner of the regime6 the confidential bodyguard# 8e knows all the secrets< when Quezon went on the o4erating table at John s 8o4kins 6 he dictated to %ieto the letters that were to be o4ened only in the event of his death# %ieto6 a fine athlete and bo9er6 was in the tobacco business before taking his 4resent 4ost# lso close to Quezon are the four 'liza lde brothers6 of an old and distinguished ?4anish family who took out *ili4ino citizenshi4 recently# :hey are very rich< the four com4ose their own @uite good 4olo team# nother 4erson close to the ;resident is dong6 the seventy1year1old Chinese body servant who goes with him everywhere6 who has been with him forty years6 and who slee4s on a bench outside the master+s bedroom# Like most good merican 4oliticians Quezon gets on nicely with news4a4er men# )nce he 4romised Fick >ilson6 $anila corres4ondent of the &nited ;ress6 some letters of introduction to friends in China< he was suddenly stricken with a44endicitis and actually while being wheeled to the o4erating theater he saw >ilson in the hall6 and remembered to call a secretary to tell him not to forget the letters# 8is 4ress conferences are @uite informal# %inety 4ercent of what is said is off1the1record#

)nce the corres4ondents asked him about a matter in connection with his 4ersonal religious history6 Quezon couldn+t remember a date e9actly# 8e reached for the 4hone6 tele4honed his wife6 and got it from her# %o one knows with certainty that will succeed Quezon when his si9 years are concluded in l.Ll# Eesolutely6 the ;resident has stated that he will take no second term6 which indeed is forbidden by the new constitution## )ne obvious candidate is Gice1;resident )smena6 who6 incidentally6 is 4artly Chinese in origin as Quezon is 4artly ?4anish# nother is $anuel Eo9as6 a lawyer for the sugar interest and former s4eaker of the assembly6 who like )smena has a checkered career of affiliation and o44osition to Quezon# nother is the 4resent minister of the interior6 'l4idio Quirino6 dictatorial in tendency6 which the ;resident finds useful6 but who is said to be rough and too an9ious for the Aob# Insiders say that another 4ossibility is Judge :eofilo ?ison6 who was a good secretary of the interior and chairman of the inauguration committee when Quezon became ;resident# Quezon+s religious history is curious# 8e was6 of course6 born a Eoma n Catholic6 but he was not confirmed until he was fourteen6 although the usual age is three or four# :hen he Aoined the revolution and became a *reemason6 when $asonry6 forbidden by the ?4anish regime6 was a symbol of the inde4endence movement# 8e rose to be a thirty1second degree $ason6 but was reconverted to Catholicism in l.J0 after two decades of a4ostasy# 8is wife strongly wanted him to reenter the church for the sake of the children# 8e was ill with tuberculosis< he took communion when he thought he might be on his deathbed6 but only1a ty4ical enough Quezon touch1after saying he would refuse to believe in miracles# 8e is a Catholic6 like everything else6 on his own terms# ?tories to the contrary6 Quezon is not 4articularly rich# 8is salary is only /K6KKK 4esos ,MlI6KKK2 4er year6 and he needs every cent of it# 8e was always an easy s4ender< after several years of successful law 4ractice in l.KI6 he made a great ceremony of giving a friend all the money he had saved1four dollarsB 8e has some real estate6 but he is no millionaire# )ne could list many of the sources of Quezon+s 4ower# *or instance he is indis4utably the best orator in the islands in any of three languages# 'nglish6 ?4anish6 or :agalog# 8is considerable charm6 his 4atriotism6 his e9ecutive ca4acity6 his curious combination of merican characteristics6 like aggressive 4ractically6 4lus a Latin heritage of su44leness and adroit facility in negotiation6 all contributed to his career# 7ut his knack of getting along well with both rich and 4oor6 with the miserably fed 4easants of the countryside as well as the ?4anish millionaires in $anila6 is 4robably his single most valuable characteristic6 according to the best informants in $anila# :he masses adore him6 because he give them something# :he rich like him too# 7y using both he has built u4 an irresistible machine# :he @uestion of inde4endence is alluringly com4le96 even if we do not touch u4on the @uestion whether or not the *ili4inos are ca4able of self1government# 'arly in l./. the situation 4rovided one of the most attractive 4arado9es we shall find in all this long tour of the 'ast# It is that $anuel Quezon6 having devoted the whole of his life to ;hili44ine inde4endence6 isn+t so sure that he wants it< it is that the 4eo4le of the ;hili44ine Islands6 after forty years of agitation which have brought them to the

threshold of nationhood6 are increasingly alarmed that they are going to get1what they asked for# word of background# :he :ydings1$cFuffie ct 4rovides an interim 4eriod until l.LN in which the &nited ?tates retains certain rights in the islands6 and is res4onsible for their defense# merica is to give u4 its military bases in l.LN6 though the @uestion of naval bases is left o4en# &ntil ll.LN6 merican law controls matters of tariff6 immigration6 debt6 currency6 and foreign trade# In l.LN6 all this is cut off# :he country becomes the ;hili44ine Ee4ublic and swims1or sinks1alone# :he theory behind the ct was to 4rovide a ten1year transition during which the islands could learn1to swim# %ow there are several 4oints of view among *ili4inos in regard to inde4endence# ?ome outright folk like guinaldo want unconditional inde4endence at once# :hey call Quezon a trimmer# ?ome would like a 5 ;ermanent Commonwealth 65 i#e#6 the status @uo e9tended in 4er4etuity in the form of something resembling Fominion ?tatus# :here are some who stand by the :yding1$cFuffie ct# nd there are the Eetentionists6 who do not want inde4endence at all6 though they are not often hold enough to say so outright# mong Eetentionists are the reactionary clergy6 who fear social revolution when the islands are left to themselves6 and the sugar interests6 who know that they will no longer sell sugar 4rofitably to the &nited ?tates1and sugar is by far the most im4ortant item in the economic life of the islands 1when it becomes a foreign commodity and must 4ass an merican tariff wall# t 4resent *ili4ino sugar enters the &nited ?tates duty free# :he :ydings1$cFuffie ct 4rovides that beginning in l.LK the *ili4inos will be charged a five 4ercent e94ort ta9 on sugar6 rising five 4ercent 4er year until a full ta9 of twenty1five 4ercent is reached by l.LN6 so that the economy of the islands may adAust itself to the loss of the free merican market# %o one knows what future revenue will be# %o one can dare to estimate future 4rograms of 4ublic work6 national finance6 and the like6 4lanning of which ought to begin to1day# In essence the struggle for *ili4ino freedom is a struggle between two com4eting s4heres of sugar interests# :his is basic fact# merican sugar6 and Cuban sugar which is controlled by %ew York finance6 want the islands to be inde4endent6 so that *ili4ino sugar will have to 4ay duty in merica and enter the merican market at a severe and 4ossibly fatal handica4# *ili4ino sugar fears full inde4endence# It 4refers the status @uo6 so that it may continue to flourish by free entry into the merican market6 which will be lost when the islands become a foreign state and have to climb a tariff barrier# :hus an odd situation< merican interests tend to su44ort the liberation of the ;hili44ines 6 whereas *ili4ino interests tend to 4refer the 4resent situation6 i#e#6 their own servitude6 4atriotismD 7ut the *ili4inos say that real 4atriotism is to avoid inde4endence if its result is suicide# ?eventy1two 4ercent of ;hili44ine trade is with the &nited ?tates < si9ty 4ercent of this is sugar# merican im4erialism has never been as tenacious or gras4ing as 'uro4ean

im4erialism< the &nited ?tates is not a one hundred 4ercent im4erialist 4ower# :he *ili4inos know this6 and are grateful# If you ask a *ili4ino why almost no one harbors dee4 or 4assionate resentment against the &nited ?tates1as a rab6 say6 may harbor resentment against an 'nglishman1he will say that6 first6 merica was a veritable fairy godmother com4ared to ?4ain6 and second that merica has always been willing to clear out# Immediately after Quezon+s inauguration a curious thing occurred# :he ;resident took Eoy 8oward for a cruise on the Casiana# >hen 8oward returned he wrote an obviously ins4ired story1this was in l./IB1to the effect that the 5dream of ;hili44ine Inde4endence was fading#5 If Quezon6 having Aust won his fight6 was indicating by this that he hadn+t wished to win it6 he might Austly have been accused to monstrous hy4ocrisy# 7ut 4robably the story was a ballon d+essai to sound out 4olitical o4inion in the &nited ?tates < Quezon didn+t want merica to cut the ;hili44ines adrift too soon# In l./H6 Quezon took the uttermost o44osite line# 8e came to >ashington and asked for com4lete inde4endence at once# 8e said: :he ;hili44ines have been assisted economically and schooled 4olitically by the &nited ?tates for almost forty years# %o 4eo4le in history6 coming under a foreign flag6 have ever been treated so generously # # # >e are as com4etent to govern ourselves now as we can 4ossibly be eight year+s hence # # # # &nder actual test the terms of the Inde4endence ct are 4roving sur4risingly ca4able of creating irritation# )ne high commissioner6 even if of the highest character6 if lacking in sym4athy could create a most unfortunate clash # # # # )ne , merican2 Congressman# Conse@uently6 as long as we are bound by the 4resent Inde4endence ct which we have no 4ower to alter6 the ;hili44ines will continue to be at the mercy of every self1seeking grou4 of lobbyists ca4able of log1rolling a tariff or commercial @uota to our disadvantage# lso Quezon must have feared that ;resident Eoosevelt might be succeeded by a Ee4ublican dministration in l.LK6 which might re4eal the :ydings1$cFuffie 7ill# :his was in early l./H# 7y l./. the situation had changed again# Eeason: the Ja4anese cam4aign in China # :he flamboyant $ac rthur6 former chief of staff of the &nited ?tates rmy and now a ;hili44ine *ield $ar shal6 believes firmly that the *ili4inos6 even if absolutely cut off from merica6 could defend themselves# General $ac rthur has a battery of technical reasons to su44ort his claim# :he *ili4ino general staff agrees with him# *or one thing they say that air 4ower would not be effective against the islands6 and that an infantry invasion is hardly 4ossible# :he *ili4ino army is training LK6KKK recruits a year6 and is turning into a good fighting force# 7ut the islands have little of the industrial e@ui4ment u4on which modern war de4ends# :hey have no navy6 and to assert that they could alone withstand a maAor war seems childish# war would be a disaster# Gery much in the islands have genuine fear of Ja4an # :hey think that if merica goes6 Ja4an will come in# :here is a close1knit and 4owerful Ja4anese colony in Favao 6 4erha4s lI6KKK in all6 growing hem41and 4ossibly trouble#

In July l./06 Quezon made a sudden brief holiday visit to :okyo # 8e had been there several times before6 and the Ja4anese do their utmost to be nice to him# Quezon denied hotly a story to the effect that he sounded out official o4inion in regard to Ja4anese intention toward the ;hili44ines # Ja4an6 he said6 was willing after l.LN to adhere to an agreements neutralizing the islands6 according to former 4ronouncements of 4olicy# Yet it would be an insult to $r# Quezon+s very active intelligence to suggest that he does not know that Ja4an is hungry for Aust the sort of loot the riches of the ;hili44ines6 including very large gold de4osits6 4rovide# )ne can be sure that Quezon has heard of Czechoslovakia # 8e will not be caught and s@ueezed out like Fr# 7enes# )ne can be sure at least of one thing< if the islands are alone6 Quezon will make the best terms with Ja4an that he can get# ;olitically the ;hili44ines are an advanced democracy6 at least in theory< economically they are still in the feudal age# ?4ain left its ugly heritage# Industry is largely in the hands of a few ?4anish aristocrats< the land is held largely by great landowners or by the Church# Less than one1fifth of one 4ercent of the landowners own twenty1one 4ercent of the total arable land# :hey give staggeringly lavish 4arties in $anila < their tenants 4ay the ta9es< the 4easants starve# In one district in central Luzon ninety 4ercent of the land is owned by two 4ercent of the 4eo4le# :he landless 4roletariat numbers ten 4ercent of the total 4o4ulation# grarian wages may be as low as fifteen cents a day# :he church has vast 4ro4erties6 some gained by gifts or 4urchases through the title6 some donated by the 4enitent# Quezon has begun cautiously a 4rogram of breaking u4 the big estates# 8e would like6 as he says6 to 5com4lete the revolution65 and abolish feudalism< he must move very slowly# 8e 4romises much# 7ut he is roughly in the 4osition that ;resident Eoosevelt would face if6 attacking >all ?treet6 he knew that all his cabinet and 4erha4s seventy 4ercent of his maAority were >all ?treet men# Quezon knows that to make a real revolution he must destroy feudalism# i#e# the 4ower of the Church# :his he can do only by destroying himself too# )44osition to Quezon is feeble# In l./I6 a grou4 known as the ?akdalists staged an u4rising6 and its leader6 7enigno Eamos6 fled to Ja4an # %owadays a ;o4ular *ront embracing everyone from communists to the 5national socialists5 of guinaldo has been organized to combat the ;resident6 but it has not got very far# )ne dissident leader of conse@uence is the liberal head of the ;hili44ine Inde4endent Church 6 7isho4 gli4ay# :he 4o4ularity of Quezon is great1and carefully nurtured1and no real o44osition leader is in sight# In the last election Quezon won every seat# :here is not a single o44osition de4uty# Indeed6 members of the ;o4ular *ront do not dislike or o44ose Quezon6 whom they regard as the father of the country6 as a man or a leader< they sim4ly want him to modify his 4olicy# :heir com4laints are that he has created a bureaucratic dictatorshi4< that he controls not only the e9ecutive6 but the Audiciary6 the army6 the legislature6 the entire com4le9 of government< that he is afraid of the Church and the big landowners< that his economic 4rogram is too slow# :hey do not want to re4lace Quezon< they want to swing him to the Left# Quezon was 4rofoundly im4ressed by Eoosevelt and Cardena in l./H< he returned to announce a kind of %ew Feal for the islands under the name of the 5?ocial Justice5

4rogram# :his6 he announced6 gave e94ression to a 5distributes5 4hiloso4hy6 a middle 4ath between ca4italism and socialism< he said that it was the duty of the government to use every means it had to force the distribution of wealth so that the rich would be less rich and the 4oor less 4oor# 5I do not believe65 he said6 5that any one can earn a million 4esos by his brain alone# If that is communism6 then I am a communist#5 8e inaugurated a minimum wage for government em4loyees ,one 4eso 4er day2# nd set about a new ta9 4rogram# :hus6 Quezon at si9ty1one# ;erha4s a tongue is in that roguish check# :he ne9t few years will tell#