Other major decisions included the reorganization of the islands' military defense, approval of a recommendation for government reorganization, the promotion of settlement and development in Mindanao, dealing with the foreign stranglehold on Philippine trade and commerce, proposals for land reform, and opposing graft and corruption within the government.

Scholars have described Quezon's leadership as a "de facto dictatorship"[2] and described him as "the first Filipino politician to integrate all levels of politics into a synergy of power" after removing his term limits as president and turning the Senate into an extension of the executive through constitutional amendments.

According to historian Augusto de Viana in his timeline of Baler, Quezon's father was a Chinese mestizo who came from the Parián (a Chinatown outside Intramuros) in Paco, Manila.

Quezon told the U.S. House of Representatives during a 1914 discussion of the Jones Bill that he received most of his primary education at the village school established by the Spanish government as part of the Philippines' free public-education system.

[17] In 1921, Quezon made a public campaign against House Speaker Sergio Osmeña accusing him of being an autocratic leader and blamed him for the Philippine National Bank's financial mess.

[24] He established a Government Survey Board to study existing institutions and, in light of changed circumstances, make necessary recommendations.

[24][27] Pledging to improve the conditions of the Philippine working class and inspired by the social doctrines of Pope Leo XIII and Pope Pius XI and treatises by the world's leading sociologists, Quezon began a program of social justice introduced with executive measures and legislation by the National Assembly.

[30][31] The act provided a better tenant-landlord relationship, a 50–50 sharing of the crop, regulation of interest at 10 percent per agricultural year, and protected against arbitrary dismissal by the landlord.

Peasant organizations clamored in vain for a law which would make a contract automatically renewable as long as tenants fulfilled their obligations.

The proposal was well-received, despite the fact that director Jaime C. de Veyra was Waray, this is because Baler, Quezon's birthplace, is a native Tagalog-speaking area.

In December 1937, Quezon issued a proclamation approving the institute's recommendation and declaring that the national language would become effective in two years.

Quezon emphasized that he would remain loyal to the United States, assuring protection of the rights of the Japanese who resided in the Philippines.

Quezon's visits may have signalled the Philippines' inclination to remain neutral in the event of a Japanese-American conflict if the U.S. disregarded the country's concerns.

[33] The elections for the Second National Assembly were held on 8 November 1938 under a new law which allowed block voting[36] and favored the governing Nacionalista Party.

On 7 August 1939, the United States Congress enacted a law in accordance with the recommendations of the Joint Preparatory Commission on Philippine Affairs.

Speaker José Yulo and Assemblyman Dominador Tan traveled to the United States to obtain President Franklin D. Roosevelt's approval, which they received on 2 December 1940.

[47] After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II,[48] Quezon evacuated to Corregidor (where he was inaugurated for his second term) and then to the Visayas and Mindanao.

He was a member of the Pacific War Council, signed the United Nations declaration against the Axis powers and wrote The Good Fight, his autobiography.

[33] To conduct government business in exile, Quezon hired the entire floor of one wing of the Shoreham Hotel to accommodate his family and his office.

Government offices were established at the quarters of Philippine Resident Commissioner Joaquin Elizalde, who became a member of Quezon's wartime cabinet.

Other cabinet appointees were Brigadier-General Carlos P. Romulo as Secretary of the Department of Information and Public Relations and Jaime Hernandez as Auditor General.

[33] Sitting under a canvas canopy outside the Malinta Tunnel on 22 January 1942, Quezon heard a fireside chat during which President Roosevelt said that the Allied forces were determined to defeat Berlin and Rome, followed by Tokyo.

[51] Quezon then heard another broadcast by former president Emilio Aguinaldo urging him and his fellow Filipino officials to yield to superior Japanese forces.

MacArthur learned about the message, and ordered Major General Richard Marshall to counterbalance it with American propaganda whose purpose was the "glorification of Filipino loyalty and heroism".

[33] Quezon broadcast a radio message to Philippine residents in Hawaii, who purchased ₱4 million worth of war bonds, for his first birthday celebration in the United States.

[33] In early November 1942, Quezon conferred with Roosevelt on a plan for a joint commission to study the post-war Philippine economy.

After a discussion, the cabinet supported Elizalde's position in favor of the constitution, and Quezon announced his plan to retire in California.

[58] His grandson, Manuel L. "Manolo" Quezon III (born 30 May 1970), a writer and former undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, was named after him.

[61] Open Doors, a Holocaust memorial in Rishon LeZion, Israel, is a 7-metre-tall (23 ft) sculpture designed by Filipino artist Luis Lee Jr.

Quezon was played by Richard Gutierrez in the 2010 music video of the Philippine national anthem produced and aired by GMA Network.