View source for Quezon Service Cross

{{Short description|Philippine order}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox award
| name          = Quezon Service Cross
| image         = Quezon Service Cross.svg
| image_size    = 150px
| caption       = Badge of the Quezon Service Cross
| country       = [[Philippines]]
| presenter    = the [[President of the Philippines]] with the concurrence of the [[Congress of the Philippines]]
| type          = [[State decoration|Decoration]]
| eligibility   = [[Philippine nationality law|Filipino citizens]]
| awarded_for           = "Exemplary service to the nation in such a manner and such a degree as to add great prestige to the Republic of the Philippines, or as to contribute to the lasting benefit of its people."<ref name="GovPH-EO236" />
| campaign      = 
| status        = Currently awarded
| description   = 
| motto         = ''SIC FLORET RESPUBLICA''<br /><small>''And thus, he distinguished the republic''</small><ref name="GovPH-QSC" />
| clasps        = 
| post-nominals = 
| established   = October 21, 1946
| firstawarded   = June 12, 1956
| lastawarded    = December 3, 2018
| total_awarded         = 6
| total_awarded_posthumously    = 5
| total_recipients    = 6
| individual    = 
| higher        = ''None (highest)''
| same          = 
| lower         = [[Order of Lakandula]]<br>[[Order of Sikatuna]]<br>[[Philippine Legion of Honor]]
| related       = 
| image2        = [[File:PHL Quezon Service Cross BAR.png|120px]]
| caption2      = Ribbon bar of the award
}}

The '''Quezon Service Cross''' ({{langx|fil|Krus ng Serbisyo ni Quezon}})<ref name="GovPH-EO236" /> is the highest [[Order (decoration)|order]] of the [[Philippines|Republic of the Philippines]]. It has been awarded to only a handful of [[Filipinos]] since its creation in 1946.<ref name="GovPH-QSC">{{cite web |title=History of the Quezon Service Cross |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/history-of-the-quezon-service-cross/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=December 14, 2019 }}</ref><ref name="ABSCBN-Miriam" />

==Background==

The award was created by ''Joint Resolution No. 4'' dated October 21, 1946, of the [[1st Congress of the Philippines]].<ref name="GovPH-JR4">{{cite web |title=Joint Resolution No. 4 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1946/10/21/joint-resolution-no-4/ |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=December 15, 2019 }}</ref> A joint resolution of the [[Congress of the Philippines]] has the force of law. The Quezon Service Cross is a {{linktext|decoration}} conferred by the [[President of the Philippines]] with the concurrence of the Congress of the Philippines on Filipino citizens for "exemplary service to the nation in such a manner and such a degree as to add great prestige to the Republic of the Philippines, or as to contribute to the lasting benefit of its people".<ref name="GovPH-EO236">{{cite web |title=Executive Order No. 236 |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2003/09/19/executive-order-no-236 |website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=December 14, 2019 }}</ref>

Nominations for the Quezon Service Cross need to state the services meriting the award and are made only in cases where the service performed or contribution made can be measured on the scale established by what the joint resolution terms "the benefaction" of the late President [[Manuel L. Quezon]], after whom the decoration is named.<ref name="GovPH-EO236" />

The Quezon Service Cross was proposed by President [[Manuel Roxas]]. It is also referred to as the ''Congressional Quezon Service Cross'', as conferment requires the approval of the [[Congress of the Philippines]] and is seldom awarded.<ref name="GovPH-QSC" />

==Awardees==
Only six Filipinos have been conferred this decoration:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="2"| Awardee
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Designation
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Date Awarded
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| President

|-
! scope="col"| Image
! scope="col"| Name

|-
| [[File:Emilio_Aguinaldo_ca._1919_(Restored).jpg|100px]]
| [[Emilio Aguinaldo]]
| [[President of the Philippines|President]]
| June 12, 1956<ref name="GovPH-QSC" />
| rowspan="2" | [[Ramon Magsaysay]]

|-
| [[File:Manuel Roxas 2.jpg|100px]]
| [[Manuel Roxas]]
| [[President of the Philippines|President]]
| 3 July 1956 (posthumous)<ref>[https://nlpdl.nlp.gov.ph/OG01/1956/jul/16/bs/7 Official Month in Review] Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Retrieved 26 August 2024.</ref>

|-
| [[File:Ramon-Magsaysay-01.jpg|100px]]
| [[Ramon Magsaysay]]
| [[President of the Philippines|President]]
| July 4, 1957 (posthumous)<ref name="GovPH-QSC" />
| [[Carlos P. Garcia]]
|-
| [[File:Ninoy_Aquino_3.jpg|100px]]
| [[Benigno Aquino Jr.]]
| [[List of senators of the Philippines|Senator]]
| August 21, 2004 (posthumous)<ref name="GovPH-QSC" /><ref name="OPSGovPH-Ninoy">{{cite news |title='Ninoy' posthumously conferred the Quezon Service Cross |url=http://www.news.ops.gov.ph/archives2004/aug21.htm |access-date=December 14, 2019 |work=Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) |date=August 21, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041031012844/http://www.news.ops.gov.ph/archives2004/aug21.htm |archive-date=October 31, 2004}}</ref>
| [[Gloria Macapagal Arroyo]]
|-
| [[File:DILG_Secretary_Jesse_Robredo.jpg|100px]]
| [[Jesse Robredo]]
| [[Secretary of the Interior and Local Government]]
| November 26, 2012 (posthumous)<ref name="GovPH-QSC" /><ref name="Inquirer-Robredo">{{cite news |last1=Burgonio |first1=T. J. |title=Quezon Service Cross award conferred on Robredo |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/313311/quezon-services-cross-award-conferred-on-robredo |access-date=December 14, 2019 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=November 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128055858/https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/313311/quezon-services-cross-award-conferred-on-robredo |archive-date=November 28, 2012 |language=en}}</ref>
| [[Benigno Aquino III]]

|-
| [[File:Senator_Miriam_Defensor_Santiago_(cropped).jpg|100px]]
| [[Miriam Defensor Santiago]]
| [[List of senators of the Philippines|Senator]]
| December 3, 2018 (posthumous)<ref name="ABSCBN-Miriam">{{cite news |last1=Placido |first1=Dharel |title=Miriam Defensor Santiago becomes 6th recipient of PH's highest civil service award |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/03/18/miriam-defensor-santiago-becomes-6th-recipient-of-phs-highest-civil-service-award |access-date=December 14, 2019 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=December 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328080901/https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/03/18/miriam-defensor-santiago-becomes-6th-recipient-of-phs-highest-civil-service-award |archive-date=March 28, 2019}}</ref>
| [[Rodrigo Duterte]]

|-
|}

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Quezon Service Cross copy.jpg|Quezon Service Cross design specification
File:QSCMedal.jpg|Quezon Service Cross given to [[Jesse Robredo]] in 2012
File:Jesse Robredo 2013 stamp of the Philippines.jpg|Robredo on a 2013 stamp of the Philippines featuring the QSC
File:President Rodrigo Duterte posthumously confers the Quezon Service Cross Award to the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago during a ceremony at the Malacañan Palace on December 3, 2018.jpg|President [[Rodrigo Duterte]] posthumously confers the Quezon Service Cross to Miriam Defensor-Santiago at the Malacañan Palace on December 3, 2018. Accepting the award is Santiago's husband, Narciso Santiago, Jr.

</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Orders, decorations, and medals of the Philippines]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2003/09/19/executive-order-no-236/ Official Gazette: Executive Order No. 236, s. 2003]
* [http://www.quezon.ph/2004/08/21/quezon-service-cross/ Quezon.ph – Quezon Service Cross]

{{Philippine honours}}
{{QSC Recipients}}

[[Category:Orders, decorations, and medals of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Manuel L. Quezon]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Quezon Service Cross|*]]