The Boix House in Quiapo,Manila was built on August 24,1895 by the Teotico-Crespo family perhaps related to former Manila Congressman,Mark Jimenez for his real name is Mario Crespo. It was occupied by a French family before the war surnamed Boix thus the name Boix House though not much is written about them. Then the Jesuits occupied it and still owned by their Order ,Society of Jesus. Now this house became a boarding house of students during the early American period because of its wide 10-room spaces. One of the young students who boarded here after the Filipino American War was Manuel Quezon.He was 25 yrs old in 1902 when he decided to continue his law studies in UST and passed the bar in 1903. Quezon had no money after the war and his parents died early.His mother died of TB in 1893 and his father and brother were killed in 1898. Quezon joined the Revolution and studies was cut short. One of the family or clan who secretly funded the war for independence effort was the Martinez-Ascue clan of Balayan,Batangas,my ancestral town. Don Pio Martinez y Ascue was a sugar baron and shipping magnate in Balayan who gave Gen.Emilio Aguinaldo a ship and served as his flagship. Quezon was then serving as aide De camp of Aguinaldo and even as messenger and emissary. He was able to meet and got in touch with the Martinez-Ascue clan of Balayan during those tumultuous period because of the generous support of the clan and became a good friend. Don Pio in particular,one of the Martinez brothers got fond of the young Quezon because he was bright and witty. After the war,it was Don Pio who put him to school to continue his law studies even the rent for the boarding house he chose which is this house----The Boix House. Quezon became a great lawyer and went all the way to become President. During his inauguration in 1935,the old and ailing Don Pio gave him a gift,the suit that Quezon wore during his inauguration because Don Pio was so proud that the young man he helped had finally occupied the highest position in the land---the Presidency. This house is now being restored by the group called Kapitbahayan sa Kalye Bautista,the house beside the Nakpil house. Im just wondering how come the Jesuits with all their money never took effort since they own it in order to restore it,I hope they are now aware about the importance of heritage conservation. In recent decades,the house had lots of occupants but they all left to pave the way for its restoration. Anyway modesty aside,Don Pio Martinez y Ascue is my greatgranduncle because he was an uncle of my grandma who belongs to the old Ascue clan of Balayan whose genealogy dates back to the 1700s in the said town.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 09:37:13 +0000
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