Aurora Quezon

Aurora Antonia Aragón, viuda de Quezon

(née Aragón y Molina; February 19, 1888 –
April 28, 1949), usually known simply as
Aurora Quezon and sometimes as Aurora
Aragón-Quezon, was the wife of Philippine
President Manuel Luis Quezon and the
First Lady of the Philippines from 1935 to
1944. Although she is recognized as the
second First Lady of the Philippines, she
was actually the first spouse of a
Philippine president to be addressed as
such, the honorific being unknown in the
Philippines prior to Manuel Quezon's
presidency. Much beloved by Filipinos,
Quezon was known for involvement with
humanitarian activities and served as the
first Chairperson of the Philippine National
Red Cross.
 Aurora Quezon

2nd First Lady of the Philippines

In role
November 15, 1935 – August 1, 1944

President Manuel L. Quezon

Preceded by Hilaria Aguinaldo

Succeeded by Pacencia Laurel

Personal details

Born Aurora Antonia Aragón

y Molina

February 19, 1888

 Baler, Tayabas,
Captaincy General of
the Philippines (now
Baler, Aurora,
Philippines)

Died April 28, 1949 (aged 61)

Bongabon, Nueva Ecija,
Philippines

Resting place Quezon Memorial Circle

14°39′2″N 121°2′54″E

Spouse(s) Manuel L. Quezón

Five years after her husband's death, she

and her daughter "Baby" were
assassinated while they were en route to
open a hospital dedicated to her husband.
The province of Aurora was named in her
memory.

Early life

Doña Aurora Aragon-Quezon replica house (corner of

San Luis and Rizal St., Poblacion, Baler, Aurora),
owned by her father Pedro Aragón[1]

Aurora Aragón was born on February 19,

1888, to Pedro Aragón and Zenaida
Molina, in the town of Baler in Tayabas
province.[2] During the Philippine
Revolution, her father was imprisoned by
the colonial authorities for being
suspected as being a member of the
Katipunan; he would die in captivity.[2]
Among her tutors during her youth was her
mother's sister, María Dolores Molina, who
was the mother of her first cousin and
future husband Manuel Luis Quezon. After
her father's imprisonment, she was taken
in by her aunt María Dolores and uncle
Lucio, and she lived for a time under the
same roof as her future spouse.[3] After
Manuel's own parents had died, he would
stay with the Aragón family whenever he
was in Baler.[4]
After Pedro Aragón's death, his survivors,
including daughter Aurora, had been cast
into extreme poverty, surviving on
subsistence farming.[5] This experience
was said to have shaped young Aurora's
lifelong attitude of according equal
treatment to everybody, no matter their
status in life.[5] The Aragón family later
moved to Lucena where Manuel was then
serving as the provincial fiscal of
Tayabas.[6] Aurora, who had wanted to
become a school teacher, enrolled at the
Philippine Normal College in Manila at the
expense of her future husband,[6] but had
to stop her studies after two years due to
her poor health.
Marriage and family

Aurora and Manuel

In 1907, Manuel Luis Quezon was elected

to the Philippine Assembly. By 1916, he
was elected to the Philippine Senate and
as that chamber's President. Aurora often
visited Quezon in Manila.[6] In December
1918, they were married in Hong Kong.
They had four children: María Aurora
"Baby" (September 23, 1919 – April 28,
1949); María Zenaida "Nini" (b. 1922);
Luisa Corazón Paz (February 17, 1924 –
December 14, 1924); and Manuel Lucio, Jr.
"Nonong" (June 23, 1926 – September 18,
1998). Luisa would die in infancy.

The marriage lasted until Quezon's death

in 1944. It withstood despite Quezon's
reputation as a libertine; the author Stanley
Karnow described Aurora Quezon as
finding "solace in prayer and the Philippine
law against divorce".[7] Still, Aurora has
also been described as "a devoted wife
and a strict but understanding mother".[8]
Quezon himself publicly extolled his wife
as "my friend, companion and partner".[9]

Political wife and First Lady

Within the first seventeen years of the
marriage, Manuel Quezon emerged as a
dominant figure in Philippine politics. His
career reached its apex in 1935, when he
was elected President of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines. During
her husband's political life, Aurora stayed
in the background, involving herself with
women's organizations such as the
National Federation of Women's Clubs, of
which she was the honorary chairperson.
Time described Aurora as "dignified and
portly".[10] The Quezons were the first
presidential couple to reside in Malacañan
Palace, but she spent as little time as
possible there, preferring to stay in a "nipa
house" in Malacañang Park or in her farm,
Kaleidan, in Arayat, Pampanga. She
nevertheless was an active First Lady,
engaging herself in the campaign to give
Filipino women the right of suffrage, which
was achieved in 1937. She was
particularly involved in managing the
family's Arayat farm to demonstrate how
social justice could be applied to landlord-
tenant relationships in an agrarian setting.
She was involved in the Girl Scouts of the
Philippines and the Associación de Damas
Filipinas, a noted orphanage in Manila.[8]
She was also the honorary president of
another orphanage, the White Cross,
located in San Juan.

President Quezon was re-elected in

November 1941, but his presidency was
immediately beset with crisis when Japan
invaded the Philippines in the following
month. Aurora accompanied her husband
to Corregidor in December 1941, where the
President was sworn in by Chief Justice
José Abad Santos for his second term on
December 30, 1941. For the next two
months, the Quezon family remained in
Corregidor where, despite the difficult
living conditions, Aurora was said to have
maintained her poise and kept up with a
daily mass.[11] In February 1942, they
began their long journey via Australia to
escape the Japanese, finally reaching the
United States in June 1942.

While in exile, Aurora devoted her time to

the care of her ailing husband, who died in
Saranac, New York from tuberculosis on
August 1, 1944. She then moved to
California to await their return to the
Philippines. She and her daughters
volunteered as nurses for the Red Cross.[8]
Postwar activity
When Aurora Quezon returned to the
Philippines, she was voted a pension of
1,000 pesos a month by the Philippine
Congress.[8] She returned the check,
explaining: "I feel that on account of ...
countless war widows and orphans ... I
should waive collection of a pension . . . I
cannot, in good conscience, receive ...
Government assistance when so many of
my less fortunate sisters and their children
are not yet taken care of. . . I know [if I
accepted] I would not be keeping faith with
the memory of my beloved husband. . .
."[12] This act, it was said, "demonstrated
why thousands of Filipinos regard her as a
combination queen-mother and patron
saint".[12] Quezon was offered a slot in the
Liberal Party senatorial slate for the 1946
elections, which she declined. She,
however, endorsed the presidential
candidacy of Manuel Roxas,[13] who
defeated her husband's vice-president and
successor, Sergio Osmeña, to win the
presidency.

In 1947, with the active support of Quezon,

the Philippine National Red Cross was
established as an independent Red Cross
organization. She became the first
Chairperson of the Philippine National Red
Cross, holding the position until her
death.[8] She also was named as honorary
vice-president of the Philippine
Tuberculosis Society.

She continued to be involved in civic work,

such as the efforts to rebuild the Antipolo
Church. She received honorary doctorates
from the University of Santo Tomas, and
from the University of Michigan at Ann
Arbor. She was likewise bestowed the
Ozanam Award from the Ateneo de Manila
University, and the Pro Ecclessia et
Pontifice Cross from Pope Pius XII.

Assassination
On the morning of April 28, 1949, Quezon
left her home to travel to her husband's
hometown of Baler to open the Quezon
Memorial Hospital. She had been
cautioned about this trip beforehand due
to the frequent insurgency activities in
Central Luzon of the Hukbalahap, the
military arm of the Communist Party of the
Philippines. She shrugged off the threat,
remarking on the morning of the trip, "
[Hukbalahap Supremo] Taruc knows my
white hair and he will not hurt me."[14]
Nonetheless, a convoy of thirteen vehicles,
including two military jeeps full of armed
soldiers, accompanied Quezon.[15]
Together with Quezon in her Buick sedan
were her daughter "Baby", then a law
student at the University of Santo Tomas,
her son-in-law Felipe "Philip" Buencamino
(husband of "Nini"), Quezon City mayor
Ponciano Bernardo and retired Armed
Forces Chief of Staff Major General Rafael
Jalandoni.

They traveled along the Baler-Bongabon

Road connecting Baler with Nueva Ecija,
which Quezon herself inaugurated in
1940.[16] At Quezon's request, her vehicle
led the caravan, and it soon sped away
from the military jeep immediately behind
it.[15] As Quezon's vehicle traversed the
mountain road, it was blocked by a group
of armed men.[17] The men ignored the
protestations from General Jalandoni and
Mayor Bernardo that Quezon was in the
vehicle, and machine-gun fire erupted from
the side of the road and from the mountain
slopes.[17][18] It was later estimated that
between 100 and 200 armed men had
participated in the attack.[14] Mrs. Quezon,
her daughter, and Bernardo were killed
instantly, while her son-in-law was mortally
wounded.[17] The soldiers in the convoy
soon arrived at the scene and exchanged
fire with the assailants,[17] who were able
to seize the valuables of the victims before
fleeing the scene.[18] In all, twelve
members of the Quezon party and ten of
the assailants were killed.[17]

Aurora Quezon is buried a few meters away from her

husband inside the Quezon Memorial in Quezon City.

There was national and international

condemnation of the massacre. United
States President Harry Truman was
shocked and simply declared, "It was
awful."[19] A nine-day national mourning
period was declared, and President Elpidio
Quirino openly wept during the funeral.[18]
Quezon was buried at Manila North
Cemetery. The mourners included her two
surviving children, Manuel, Jr., and Nini,
who herself was widowed by the
massacre. While no Philippine President
has ever been assassinated, Aurora
Quezon is one of three presidential
spouses to have been murdered. (The
other two were Alicia Syquia-Quirino and
Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., both of whom
died before their spouses were elected
president.)
It was widely believed that the Hukbalahap
was responsible for the killings.[11][16][18][20]
In preparation of the attack, the insurgents
had blockaded the road and rounded up
passengers from passing vehicles, and
one of those passengers claimed seeing a
former employee of his who had joined the
Huk as among the armed men.[14] While
General Jalandoni, who survived the
attack, tagged the Huks as responsible,
the Chief of the Philippine Constabulary
laid blame instead on bandits.[21]
President Quirino blamed the Huks and
responded by calling for "a people's war on
the dissidents".[22]
Luis Taruc, Supremo of the Hukbalahap,
denied that his group was responsible for
the crime,[21] though he also claimed that
the Huk were conducting an investigation
of their own if one of the group had
breached ranks and participated in the
killing.[18] Nonetheless, after Taruc's
surrender in 1954, he was formally
charged for the murder of Quezon and
other members of her party; these charges
would be dropped before they could be
heard on trial.[23] Throughout the 1950s,
several other captured Huk members
would be charged for participation in the
assassination, with five of them being
sentenced to death by a Cabanatuan City
trial court.[22] Luis Taruc later wrote the
killings were discussed as an agenda item
at the Dec. 1949 to Jan. 1950 Politburo
meeting,"...the accidental killing in a Huk
ambush of Mrs. Quezon, widow of the late
President Quezon, and her daughter. The
majority took a characteristic Communist
attitude toward this deplorable event. The
victims had been 'class enemies', and that
settled everything."[24]:75

On April 28, 2005, exactly fifty-six years

after her death, the remains of Quezon
were transferred from North Cemetery for
interment in a black crypt beside her
husband's sarcophagus at the Quezon
Memorial in Quezon City.[25] The re-
interment rites were attended by President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Quezons'
sole surviving child, Zenaida "Nini"
Quezon-Avanceña.[25]

Legacy

Aurora Boulevard

The Manila Provincial Road that traverses

Quezon City to Manila was renamed
Aurora Boulevard in her honor in 1951. In
the same year Elpidio Quirino created the
Aurora sub-province comprising Baler and
surrounding areas in the adjacent Quezon
Province. In 1978, Aurora became a
separate province. Manuel and Aurora
Quezon are the only spouses to have
respective provinces in the Philippines
named after them.[26] The first major
building erected on Aurora Boulevard (also
called Aurora Avenue), that is, the Aurora
Tower at the Araneta Center in Cubao, was
named after her. Her foremost legacy in
the field of education was Mount Carmel
College of Baler (formerly called Mount
Carmel High School), a Catholic mission
school founded in 1948 by American
Carmelite missionaries who came to this
town upon her invitation. The Concerned
Women of the Philippines named the
Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Awards after
her. Aurora A. Quezon elementary school
at San Andres Malate, Manila is also
named for her. According to folktales,
Doña Aurora Quezon wished to have a
flower entitled to her, thus the 'Doña
Aurora' (Mussaenda philippica) flower.

In popular culture
Portrayed by Rachel Alejandro in the film
Quezon's Game (2019).
Notes
1. http://batangbaler.net/2009/06/14/th
e-new-aragon-house/
2. Filipinos in History, p. 117
3. Filipinos in History, p. 117. "Quezon's
mother took her under her wings. As
a consequence, she became the
favorite of Manuel's father. Living in
the same roof, Manuel and his first
cousin shared a joyful company."
4. Manuel F. Martinez (2002). "Mission
Possible:Assassinate Quezon – and
Mrs. Quezon". Assassinations and
Conspiracies: From Rajah Humabon
to Imelda Marcos. Pasig City: Anvil
 Publishing, Inc. p. 147. ISBN 971-27-
1218-4.
5. Martinez, p. 138
6. Filipinos in History, p. 118
7. Karnow, Stanley (1989). In Our File:
America's Empire in the Philippines.
New York: Ballantine Books. p. 233.
ISBN 0-345-32816-7.
8. Filipinos in History, p. 119
9. Martinez, p. 146
10. "Prelude to Dictatorship?" . Time
Magazine. September 2, 1940.
Retrieved May 3, 2008.
11. Leon Ma. Guerrero (1953). "Mrs.
Quezon" . Family Info. We Filipinos
 (1953) & Manuel Luis Quezon III
(2006). Retrieved May 3, 2008.
12. "The Letter" . Time Magazine.
January 14, 1946. Retrieved May 3,
2008.
13. "Mud & Cigars" . Time Magazine.
April 22, 1946. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
14. Martinez, p. 149
15. Martinez, p. 148
16. "The Town Where Time Stands Still" .
Aurora, Philippines:News. BizNews
Asia & Aurora.ph. December 2004.
Retrieved May 3, 2008.
17. Martinez, p. 150
18. "Murder in the Mountains" . Time
Magazine. May 9, 1949. Retrieved
May 3, 2008.
19. Martinez, p. 151
20. Major Lawrence M. Greenberg (July
1986). "Chapter IV: The Insurrection –
Phase I (1946–1950)" . The
Hukbalahap Insurrection: A Case
Study of a Successful Anti-
Insurgency Operation in the
Philippines, 1946–1955 . Historical
Analysis Series. United States Army
Center of Military History. p. 62.
Retrieved April 28, 2013. "The Huk
campaign that began in November
1948 reached its peak in April 1949,
with the ambush of Senora Aurora
Quezon, widow of the former
Philippine president. Commander
Alexander Viernes, alias Stalin, took
two hundred men and laid an ambush
along a small country road in the
Sierra Madres mountains and waited
for a motorcade carrying Sra. Quezon,
her daughter, and several government
officials. When the ambush ended,
Senora Quezon, her daughter, the
mayor of Quezon City, and numerous
government troops lay dead
alongside the road. Although Viernes
claimed a great victory, people
 throughout the islands, including
many in central Luzon, were
outraged."
21. Agoncillo, Teodoro (1990). History of
the Filipino People. Quezon City:
Garotech Publishing. p. 233.
ISBN 971-8711-06-6.
22. Martinez, p. 152
23. "Guilty Your Honor" . Time Magazine.
September 6, 1954. Retrieved May 3,
2008.
24. Taruc, L., 1967, He Who Rides the
Tiger, London: Geoffrey Chapman
Ltd.
25. "Doña Aurora Quezon's remains
transferred to QC Shrine" . Official
Website of the Republic of the
Philippines. Republic of the
Philippines. April 28, 2005. Archived
from the original on April 6, 2009.
Retrieved April 28, 2013.
26. Martinez, p. 147

References
Filipinos in History, Volume II. Ermita,
Manila: National Historical Institute.
1990. pp. 117–120. ISBN 971-538-003-
4.
Manuel F. Martinez (2002). "Mission
Possible:Assassinate Quezon – and
 Mrs. Quezon". Assassinations and
Conspiracies: From Rajah Humabon to
Imelda Marcos. Pasig City: Anvil
Publishing, Inc. pp. 138–152. ISBN 971-
27-1218-4.

External links
Wilkins, Ford (April 29, 1949). "Mrs.
Quezon Slain with 12 of Party in Filipino
Ambush; First President's Widow, Two of
Kin, Others Are Shot, Apparently by
'Huks' Army Hunts Attackers Quirino,
Who Had Shifted Plan to Be With
Motorcade Victims, Discounts Reports
of Plot (pay site)" . New York Times.
Retrieved January 8, 2008.
 "Audio of Mrs. Aurora Quezon, Speaking
during the 1948 Red Cross Fund Drive
Appeal" (MP3). Manuel L. Quezon
III:The Daily Dose. Retrieved May 4,
2008.

Honorary titles

Vacant
Title last held First Lady of Succeeded by
by the Philippines Pacencia
Hilaria 1935–1944 Laurel
Aguinaldo

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