PRESS RELEASE
WDC-44- 2021
01 OCTOBER 2021
01 OCTOBER 2021, WASHINGTON D.C. – The Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC honors the late President Manuel L. Quezon by naming the event hall located on the second floor of the Philippine Chancery Annex Building as “Quezon Hall”. The naming ceremony is part of the year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of Philippines-US relations and coincides with the start of the Filipino American History Month.
The naming ceremony this morning was led by the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. and Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel G. Romualdez.
“President Quezon played a critical role in our nation’s history such that without him, we would not be celebrating our 75th anniversary of Philippines-US bilateral relations,” said Foreign Affairs Secretary Locsin.
Ambassador Romualdez expressed his sentiments and pride in sharing President Quezon’s similarly difficult yet fulfilling position when he came to Washington, D.C. in 1909 as the Resident Commissioner to the US. “Like Quezon, I am here to seek the friendship and cooperation of the American people and government in support of programs that are mutually beneficial to both our countries,” he said.
The Quezon Hall currently remains to be the primary event and social hall at the Philippine Chancery Annex Building and serves as the main venue for dual citizenship oath taking ceremonies. A portrait of President Quezon hangs at the center of the hall.
President Quezon was previously an elected Resident Commissioner to the US in 1909 where he resided at the Champlain Apartment House at the corner of 14th and K streets in Northwest. During his time in Washington D.C., President Quezon tirelessly and repeatedly called for Philippine Independence. Following the passage of the Tydings-Mcduffie Act in 1934 (or also known as the Philippine Commonwealth and Independence Act), Quezon was elected as the first president of the Philippines in 1935. During World War II, President Quezon established a government-in-exile in Washington DC. ###
