As Quezon was about to start for Iloilo I asked his secretary, Vargas, to secure me an interview with the President as I wished to present my resignation as Adviser, to enter into business. I knew that with this, (to Vargas), delightful reason, I should (for the first time) get an immediate appointment. Quezon was very cordial, and asked me what I wished. I told him that ever since he had hinted to me in the South that I should settle down in the Philippines for good and go into investments, I had been opening lines of enquiry and that it was “like pulling the string of a shower-bath.” He then remarked that he had expected to keep me as an adviser all through his presidency, and I remarked that I had supposed my appointment had been for only one year. He replied that if I really wished it, he would accept it, provided my resignation was not for dissatisfaction. I said that if things had sometimes not gone as I might have wished, it was too small a matter for comment. I told him of my admiration and friendship for him, and we parted the best of friends. In response to my subsequent letter of resignation, he later wrote as follows:
Malacañan Palace
ManilaAugust 27, 1936
Dear Governor Harrison:
In reply to your letter of August 25, 1936, submitting your resignation as Adviser to the President, as you are desirous of entering the Board of Directors of several of the newly forming business Corporations in the Philippines, I beg to advise you that I accept, with great regret, your resignation effective at the close of business, August 31, 1936.
Your wealth of experience in Government administration and your enthusiasm and faith in our efforts have enabled you to assist most effectively in the delicate and important tasks given you which included Government reorganization, and having finished your major assignments, to retain you longer in the service would be at too great a sacrifice on your part, and I feel it would not be fair.
I wish to take advantage of this opportunity to state that when I asked you to serve in the capacity of Adviser for the Government of the Commonwealth, it was not only my object to secure the services of a man whose knowledge and experience in government would be of immense value to my administration, but also to give public recognition of the unexcelled contribution you have rendered to the cause of good government in general and Filipino self-government in particular. I dare say that the existence of the Government of the Commonwealth today and the certainty of the establishment of the Philippine Republic nine years hence have both been made possible because of what you have done as Governor General of the Philippines. Despite what your detractors have written and said of your administration, I confidently believe that History will yet do you justice.
I wish you success in your new ventures and I hope this means that you have decided to cast in your lot with us.
Need I say that our last association has given me a lot of pleasure?
Always your friend and admirer,
Manuel L. Quezon
Nothing could have been handsomer, nor more characteristically generous than this.