Quezon City was established in 1939 with the vision to recreate Washington DC on the vast Diliman estate. The vision was drawn up by the City’s first masterplanner, Daniel Burnham, who was eventually succeeded by Harry Frost who completed the famous “Frost Plan” with architect Juan Arellano.

When Quezon City became the national capital in 1949, many national government departments began to set up office in the new city. To date, there are about 125 national government offices and 25 government-owned and controlled corporations located in Quezon City.

Many of these agencies are located in Diliman, the center of southern Quezon City, including the City Hall which is one of the highest and most expansive city halls in the country. Some of the national government agencies with head offices in Diliman include the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Social Security System (SSS), the National Power Corporation (Napocor), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs), the Court of Tax Appeals, the National Computer Center, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Agrarian Reform (DAR), Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Environment and National Resources (DENR).  The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources was the first national office building constructed in Quezon City, in 1957.

North of Diliman, in the Commonwealth area, lies the House of Representatives, where the country’s congressmen hold their legislative sessions. Also located here are the Sandiganbayan, a special court that exercises jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving graft and corrupt practices committed by public officials and employees, as well as the Office of the Ombudsman which prosecutes such cases. The main offices of the Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit (COA), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are likewise located here.