14 JUNE

1941 - President Manuel L. Quezon  signs the maternity-leave bill granting women in government service 60 days maternity leave with full pay in addition to the usual sick and vacation leaves during the period of imperialist American Occupation and several months before the Japanese occupies the Philippines; Quezon's advisers had recommended against the bill on economic grounds but the President, perceived champion of the underdog,  remarked "I’ll sign that bill if it bankrupts the treasury,” before promptly reaching for a pen.


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Photo credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:QuezonUS.jpg