section_path: History/Commonwealth era/Creation of Quezon City
section_name: Creation of Quezon City
paragraph_text: Creation of Quezon City
  
  With the development of the People's Homesite Corporation housing in the Diliman Estate and the creation of the new UP Campus, the creation of Quezon City was justified. On October 12, 1939, Commonwealth Act No. 502, also known as the Charter of Quezon City, was passed by the National Assembly, which created Quezon City. Surprisingly, Quezon allowed the bill to lapse into law because he did not sign it. The city was originally to be known as Balintawak City according to the first bill filed by Assemblyman Ramon P. Mitra Sr. from Mountain Province, but Assemblymen Narciso Ramos and Eugenio Perez, both from Pangasinan, amended and successfully lobbied the assembly to name the city after the President in honor of his role in the creation of this new city. The creation of Quezon City halted the full implementation of the Burnham Plan of Manila and funds were diverted for the establishment of the new capital.
  
  Several barangays from different towns were carved out to correspond to the estates that PHC bought for the creation of Quezon City. The new city had an area of 7,355 hectares (73.55 km 2), and the barrios and sitios that were taken for its creation were the following: Bagubantay (Bago Bantay), Balingasa, Balintauac (Balintawak), Kaingin, Kangkong, Loma (La Loma), Malamig, Matalahib, Masambong, San Isidro, San Jose, Santol and Tatalon, were taken from Caloocan; Cubao, Diliman, Kamuning, New Manila, and San Francisco del Monte were taken from San Juan; Balara, Barranca (Barangka), Jesus de la Peña, Krus na Ligas, Tañong and the site of the new UP Campus were taken from Marikina; and, the barrios and sitios of Libis, and Ogong (Ugong Norte) from Pasig. Commonwealth Act No. 659, enacted on June 21, 1941, changed the city's boundaries. Under this law, the area of Wack Wack Golf and Country Club were to be reverted to Mandaluyong, and the barrios of lower Barranca and Jesus de la Peña were reverted to Marikina. However, Camp Crame was taken out of San Juan and was given to Quezon City.
  
  1939, the year the city was established, recorded a population of 39,103 people. The city in its early days was predominantly rural, but Quezon asked American Architect William Parsons to craft a master plan for the newly created city. Parsons was the one who advised Quezon to locate the National Government Center in Diliman instead of Wallace Field (now Rizal Park), due to the possibility of naval bombardment from Manila Bay. He died in December 1939 and his partner Harry T. Frost took over and become the lead planner. Frost arrived in the Philippines on May 1, 1940, and became the architectural adviser of the Philippine Commonwealth government. Together with Juan M. Arellano, Alpheus D. Williams, and Welton Becket, they created the Master Plan for Quezon City which was approved by the Philippine government in 1941. The Frost Plan featured wide avenues, large open spaces, and roundabouts at major intersections. The plan for major thoroughfares made by Louis Croft for the Greater Manila Area served as the backbone for the Plan of Quezon City. The center of the city was a 400-hectare (990-acre) quadrangle formed by four avenues — North, West, South and East — which was designed to be the location of the National Government of the Philippines. At the northeast corner of the Quadrangle was a large roundabout, a 25-hectare (62-acre) elliptical site, were the proposed Capitol Building is envisioned to rise.
  
  To make the city accessible, Quezon ordered Luzon Bus Lines to ply from Kamuning towards Tutuban in Divisoria, Manila to provide transport for the city's residents. However, the fare was not affordable to minimum wage earners. Because of the city's unaffordable housing prices and lack of transportation for low-income earners, the goal of creating mass housing for the working class was not met. Instead, those who opted to live in Quezon City consisted of middle-class households such as those in Kamuning, whose residents petitioned to rename it from Barrio Obrero (Worker's Community) to Kamuning (a type of tree that grows abundantly in the area) because its residents were not Obreros (Workers).