History of the Philippines (1898-1946)
Encyclopedia
This article covers the history of the Philippines
from 1898 to 1946. It spans the Spanish-American War
which resulted in the United States acquiring sovereignty
over the Philippines from Spain via the Treaty of Paris
which ended that war, the Philippines as a U.S. territory and later as a U.S. Commonwealth, occupation of the Philippines by Japanese forces during the Second World War
, to eventual recognition of Philippine independence by the U.S. in 1946.
revolution which had begun in 1896 had formally ended with the Pact of Biak-na-Bato
, a truce between the Spanish government and the principal revolutionary leaders which had been signed in November 1897. Emilio Aguinaldo
, who held the office of President in the revolutionary government, and other revolutionary leaders were given amnesty and a monetary indemnity by the Spanish government in return for which the rebel government had agreed to go into voluntary exile in Hong Kong
.
signed an ultimatum demanding that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. This resulted on April 20 in a declaration of war
against the United States by Spain, followed on April 25 by a declaration of war by the U.S. against Spain.
in Havana Harbor on February 15, Theodore Roosevelt
sent the following cable to Commodore George Dewey
, commanding the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron
:
The gunboat USS Monocacy
was at the time on assignment to carry the U.S. Minister to China on visits to the open ports on the Yangtze River
.
On April 24 word was received that the U.S. and Spain were at war, and the squadron was ordered by the British (a non-belligerent) to leave Hong Kong. It first moved 30 miles north to Mirs Bay
on the Chinese coast and the departed from there for the Philippines on April 27, reaching Manila Bay
on the evening of April 30.
took place in the Philippines. On May 1, 1898. In a matter of hours, Commodore Dewey's Asiatic Squadron defeated the Spanish squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón. The U.S. squadron took control of the arsenal and navy yard at Cavite and Dewey cabled Washington stating that, although he controlled Manila Bay, he needed 5000 men to seize Manila itself.
, under the command of Major General
Wesley Merritt
. Meanwhile, Dewey dispatched the cutter McCulloch to Hong Kong to transport Aguinaldo to the Philippines. Aguinaldo arrived on May 19 and, after a brief meeting with Dewey, resumed revolutionary activities against the Spanish.
Public jubilance marked the Aguinaldo's return. Several revolutionaries, as well as Filipino soldiers employed by the Spanish army, submitted themselves to Aguinaldo's command and the Philippine Revolution
against Spain resumed. Soon, Imus
and Bacoor
in Cavite
, Parañaque
and Las Piñas
in Morong
, Macabebe and San Fernando in Pampanga, as well as Laguna, Batangas
, Bulacan
, Nueva Ecija
, Bataan
, Tayabas (now Quezon
), and the Camarines provinces, were liberated by the Filipinos and the port of Dalahican in Cavite was secured. The revolution was gaining ground.
On May 24, 1898, in Cavite, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation in which he assumed command of all Philippine forces and established a dictatorial government with himself as dictator.
was read. The act had been prepared and written by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista
in Spanish, who also read it. The act opens with the following words:
On 18 June, Aguinaldo issued a decree formally establishing his dictatorial government.
On June 23, Aguinaldo issued a decree replacing his dictatorial government with a revolutionary government, with himself as President.
Aguinaldo later claimed that an American naval officer urged him to return to the Philippines to fight the Spanish and said "The United States is a great and rich nation and needs no colonies." Aguinaldo said that after checking with Dewey by telegraph, Pratt had assured him: "That the United States would at least recognize the Independence of the Philippines under the protection of the United States Navy. The Consul added that there was no necessity for entering into a formal written agreement because the word of the Admiral and of the United States Consul were in fact equivalent to the most solemn pledge that their verbal promises and assurance would be fulfilled to the letter and were not to be classed with Spanish promises or Spanish ideas of a man’s word of honour." Aguinaldo received nothing in writing.
On April 28 Pratt wrote the Secretary of State, explaining he had met Aguinaldo, and stating just what he had done:
There was no mention in the cablegrams between Pratt and Dewey of independence or indeed of any conditions on which Aguinaldo was to coöperate, these details being left for future arrangement with Dewey; and that Pratt thought that he had prevented possible conflict of action and facilitated the work of occupying and administering the Philippines." and says that a subsequent communication written on July 28, 1898, Pratt made the following statement:--
On June 16 Secretary Day cabled Consul Pratt: "Avoid unauthorized
negotiations with the Philippine insurgents," and the Secretary wrote
the consul on the same day:
Filipino scholar Maximo Kalaw wrote in 1927: "A few of the principal facts, however, seem quite clear. Aguinaldo was not made to understand that, in consideration of Filipino cooperation, the United States would extend its sovereignty over the Islands, and thus in place of the old Spanish master a new one would step in. The truth was that nobody at the time ever thought that the end of the war would result in the retention of the Philippines by the United States."
. In his letter of transmittal for the compilation, Taylor wrote that the documents in the compilation
The first contingent of American troops under General Thomas Anderson
, arrived on 30 June, the second under General Frank V. Greene on July 17, and the third under General Arthur MacArthur on July 30. General Anderson wrote Aguinaldo requesting his cooperation in military operations against the Spanish forces. Aguinaldo responded, thanking General Anderson for his amicable sentiments, but saying nothing about military cooperation; General Anderson did not renew the request. In a July 9, 1898 letter, General Anderson informed the Adjutant-General (AG) of the United States Army that Aguinaldo "has declared himself Dictator and President, and is trying to take Manila without our assistance.", opining that that would not be probable but, if done, would allow him to antagonize any U.S. attempt to establish a provisional government.
On July 15, 1898, Aguinaldo issued three organic decrees
assuming civil authority of the Philippines.
On July 18, General Anderson wrote that he suspected Aguinaldo to be secretly negotiating with the Spanish authorities. In a 21 July letter to the Adjunt General, General Anderson wrote the Adjudant General that he had ignored Aguinaldo's assumption of civil authority, and had let him know verbally that he could, and would, not recognize it. In another July 21 letter, General Anderson said: "Since I wrote last, Aguinaldo has put in operation an elaborate system of military government, under his assumed authority as Dictator, and has prohibited any supplies being given us, except by his order."
On July 24, Aguinaldo wrote a letter to General Anderson in effect warning him not to disembark American troops in places conquered by the Filipinos from the Spaniards without first communicating in writing the places to be occupied and the object of the occupation. Murat Halstead, official historian of the Philippine Expedition writes that General Merritt remarked shortly after his arrival on 25 June, "As General Aguinaldo did not visit me on my arrival, nor offer his services as a subordinate military leader, and as my instructions from the President fully contemplated the occupation of the islands by the American land forces, and stated that 'the powers of the military occupant are absolute and supreme and immediately operate upon the political condition of the inhabitants,' I did not consider it wise to hold any direct communication with the insurgent leader until I should be in possession of the city of Manila, especially as I would not until then be in a position to issue a proclamation and enforce my authority, in the event that his pretensions should clash with my designs."
U.S. commanders suspected that Aguinaldo and his forces were informing the Spanish of American movements. Major J. R. M. Taylor later wrote, after translating and analyzing insurgent documents, "The officers of the United States Army who believed that the insurgents were informing the Spaniards of the American movements were right. Sastrón has printed a letter from Pío del Pilar, dated July 30, to the Spanish officer commanding at Santa Ana, in which Pilar said that Aguinaldo had told him that the Americans would attack the Spanish lines on August 2 and advised that the Spaniards should not give way, but hold their positions. Pilar added, however, that if the Spaniards should fall back on the walled city and surrender Santa Ana to himself, he would hold it with his own men. Aguinaldo's information was correct, and on August 2 eight American soldiers were killed or wounded by the Spanish fire."
General Anderson, sent Aguinaldo a telegram, received by the latter at 6:35 P.M., as follows
Aguinaldo demanded joint occupation of Manila. On August 13 Admiral Dewey and General Merritt informed their superiors of this and asked how far they might proceed in enforcing obedience in the matter.
General Merritt received news of the August 12 peace protocol on August 16, three days after the surrender of Manila. Admiral dewey and General Merritt were informed by a telegram dated August 17 that the President
of the United States had directed:
Insurgent forces were looting the portions of the city which they occupied, and as is abundantly shown by their own records were not confining their attacks to Spaniards, but were assaulting their
own people and raiding the property of foreigners as well, and U.S. commanders pressed Aguinaldo to withdraw his forces from Manila. Negotiations proceeded slowly and, on August 31, General Elwell Otis
(General Merritt being unavailable) wrote, in a long letter to Aguinaldo: "... I am compelled by my instructions to direct that your armed forces evacuate the entire city of Manila, including its suburbs and defences, and that I shall be obliged to take action with that end in view within a very short space of time should you decline to comply with my Government's demands; and I hereby serve notice on you that unless your troops are withdrawn beyond the line of the city's defences before Thursday, the 15th instant, I shall be obliged to resort to forcible action,
and that my Government will hold you responsible for any unfortunate consequences which may ensue." After some further negotiation and exchanges of letters Aguinaldo wrote on September 16: "On the evening of the 15th the armed insurgent organizations withdrew from the city and all of its suburbs, ..."
In later congressional testimony in the U.S., Dewey described an arrangement he had made with the Spanish commander for the surrender of Manila: "That the Spaniards were ready to surrender, but before doing so I must engage one of the outlying forts. I selected one at Malate, away from the city. They said I must engage that and fire for a while, and then I was to make a signal by the international code, 'Do you surrender?' Then they were to hoist a white flag at a certain bastion; and I may say now that I was the first one to discover the white flag. We had 50 people looking for that white flag, but I happened to be the first one who saw it. I fired for a while, and then made the signal according to the programme. We could not see the white flag—it was rather a thick day—but finally I discovered it on the south bastion; I don't know how long it had been flying there when I first saw it."
initially proposed to investigate and punish any offenders identified. Aguinaldo modified this, ordering, "... say that he was not killed by your soldiers, but by them themselves (the Americans) since they were drunk according to your telegram" An Insurgent officer in Cavite at the time reported on his record of services that he: "took part in the movement against the Americans on the afternoon of the 24th of August, under the orders of the commander of the troops and the adjutant of the post."
were held by the Revolutionary Government between June and September 10, resulting in Emilio Aguinaldo being seated as President in the seating of a legislature known as the Malolos Congress
. In a session between September 15 and November 13, 1898, the Malolos Constitution
was adopted, creating the First Philippine Republic
.
concluded. The Cantonal Republic of Negros
was established on November 27, 1898 and ended on April 30, 1901.
, formally ending the Spanish-American war. In Article III, Spain ceded the Philippine archipelago to the United States, as follows: "Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within the following line: [... geographic description elided ...]. The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.
In the U.S., there was a movement for Philippine independence; some said that the U.S. had no right to a land where many of the people wanted self-government. Andrew Carnegie
, an industrialist and steel magnate, offered to buy the Philippines for twenty million United States dollar
s and give it to the Filipinos so that they could be free of United States government.
. During military rule (1898–1901), the U.S. Military commander governed the Philippines under the authority of the U.S. President as Commander-in-Chief
of the U.S. Armed Forces. General Otis succeeded General Merritt as Military Governor, governing from 1898 to 1900. General Otis was succeeded by General MacArthur, who governed from 1900 to 1901.
Under the military government, an American-style school system was introduced, initially with soldiers as teachers; civil courts were organized, including a supreme court
; and local governments were established in towns and provinces. The first local election was conducted by General Harold W. Lawton on May 7, 1899, in Baliwag, Bulacan
.
was established on May 18, 1899 and ended on November 16, 1899.
. General Otis delayed its publication until January 4, 1899, then publishing an amended version edited so as not to convey the meanings of the terms "sovereignty", "protection", and "right of cessation" which were present in the unabridged version. Unknown to Otis, the War Department
had also sent an enciphered copy of the Benevolent Assimilation proclamation to General Marcus Miller in Iloilo for informational purposes. Miller assumed that it was for distribution and, unaware that a politically bowdlerized
version had been sent to Aguinaldo, published it in both Spanish and Tagalog translations which eventually made their way to Aguinaldo. Even before Aguinaldo received the unaltered version and observed the changes in the copy he had received from Otis, he was upset that Otis had altered his own title to "Military Governor of the Philippines" from "... in the Philippines." Aguinaldo did not miss the significance of the alteration, which Otis had made without authorization from Washington.
Three days later, Aguinaldo responded with his Otro Manifesto del Sr. Presidente del Gobierno Revolucionario, which was close to a formal declaration of war:
Meanwhile, Felipe Agoncillo
, who had been commissioned by the Philippine Revolutionary Government as Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties with foreign governments, and who had unsuccessfully sought to be seated at the negotiations between the U.S. and Spain in Paris, was now in Washington. On January 6, he filed a request for an interview with the President to discuss affairs in the Philippines. The next day the government officials were surprised to learn that messages to General Otis to deal mildly with the rebels and not to force a conflict had become known to Agoncillo, and cabled by him to Aguinaldo. At the same time, Aguinaldo's protested General Otis signing himself "Military Governor of the Philippines."
On January 8, Agoncillo gave out this statement:
The Filipino committees in London, Paris and Madrid about this time telegraphed to President McKinley as follows:
On January 8, Aguinaldo received the following message:
The New York Times reported on January 8, that two Americans who had been guarding a waterboat in Iloilo had been attacked, one fatally, and that insurgents were threatening to destroy the business section of the city by fire; and on January 10 that a peaceful solution to the Iloilo issues may result but that Aguinaldo had issued a proclamation threatening to drive the Americans from the islands.
By January 10, insurgents were ready to assume the offensive, but desired, if possible, to provoke the Americans into firing the first shot. They made no secret of their desire for conflict, but increased their hostile demonstrations and pushed their lines forward into forbidden territory. Their attitude is well illustrated by the following extract from a telegram sent by Colonel Cailles to Aguinaldo on January 10, 1899:
Aguinaldo approved the hostile attitude of Cailles, for there is a reply in his handwriting which reads:
On 31 January 1899, The Minister of Interior of the revolutionary First Philippine Republic
, Teodoro Sandico, signed a decree saying that President Agunialdo had directed that all idle lands be planted to provide food for the people, in view of impending war with the Americans.
Other sources name the two specific U.S. soldiers involved in the first exchange of fire as Privates William Grayson and Orville Miller of the Nebraska Volunteers.
Subsequent to the conclusion of the war, after analyzing captured insurgent papers, Major Major J. R. M. Taylor wrote, in part,
On February 8, New York Times reported Aguinaldo's proclamation, with minor wording variations.
On June 2, 1899, the Malolos Congress of the First Philippine Republic enacted and ratified a Declaration of War
on the United States, which was publicly proclaimed on that same day by Pedro Paterno, President of the Assembly.
As before when fighting the Spanish, the Filipino rebels did not do well in the field. Aguinaldo and his provisional government escaped the capture of Malolos on March 31, 1899 and were driven into northern Luzon. Peace feelers from members of Aguinaldo's cabinet failed in May when the American commander, General Ewell Otis, demanded an unconditional surrender. In 1901, Aguinaldo was captured and swore allegiance to the United States. A large American military force was used to occupy parts of the country, and would be regularly engaged in hostilities against Filipino rebels for another decade. The hostilities of the Philippine-American war began on February 4, 1899 and continued for two years. The United States used 126,000 soldiers to subdue the Philippines. The war took the lives of 4,234 Americans and about 16,000 Filipinos. As usually happens in guerrilla campaigns, the civilian population suffers the worst. As many as 200,000 civilians may have died from famine and disease.
had appointed a five-person group headed by Dr. Jacob Schurman, president of Cornell University
, on January 20, 1899, to investigate conditions in the islands and make recommendations. The three civilian members of the commission arrived in Manila on March 4, 1899, a month after the Battle of Manila which had begun armed conflict between U.S. and revolutionary Filipino forces. The commission published a proclamation containing assurances that the U.S. "... is anxious to establish in the Philippine Islands an enlightened system of government under which the Philippine people may enjoy the largest measure of home rule and the amplest liberty."
After meetings in April with revolutionary representatives, the commission requested authorization from McKinley to offer a specific plan. McKinley authorized an offer of a government consisting of "a Governor-General appointed by the President; cabinet appointed by the Governor-General; [and] a general advisory council elected by the people." The Revolutionary Congress voted unanimously to cease fighting and accept peace and, on May 8, the revolutionary cabinet headed by Apolinario Mabini was replaced by a new "peace" cabinet headed by Pedro Paterno. At this point, General Antonio Luna
arrested Paterno and most of his cabinet, returning Mabini and his cabinet to power. After this, the commission concluded that "... The Filipinos are wholly unprepared for independence ... there being no Philippine nation, but only a collection of different peoples."
In the report that they issued to the president the following year, the commissioners acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independence; they declared, however, that the Philippines was not ready for it.
Specific recommendations included the establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible (the American chief executive in the islands at that time was the military governor), including establishment of a bicameral legislature
, autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels, and a system of free public elementary schools.
, was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers. On September 1, the Taft Commission began to exercise legislative functions. Between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws, established a judicial system
, including a supreme court, drew up a legal code
to replace antiquated Spanish ordinances and organized a civil service
. The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected president
s, vice president
s, and councilors to serve on municipal
boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking necessary construction projects; they also elected provincial
governor
s.
A highly centralized public school system was installed in 1901, using English as the medium of instruction. This created a heavy shortage of teachers, and the Philippine Commission authorized the Secretary of Public Instruction to bring to the Philippines 600 teachers from the U.S.A. — the so-called Thomasites
. Free primary instruction that trained the people for the duties of citizenship and avocation was enforced by the Taft Commission per instructions of President McKinley. Also, the Catholic Church was disestablished, and a considerable amount of church land was purchased and redistributed.
of July 1902 approved, ratified, and confirmed McKinley's Executive Order establishing the Philippine Commission and stipulated that a legislature would be established composed of a lower house, the Philippine Assembly, which would be popularly elected, and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission. The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos.
On July 2, the Secretary of War telegraphed that the insurrection against the sovereign authority of the U.S. having come to an end, and provincial civil governments having been established, the office of Military governor was terminated. On July 4, Theodore Roosevelt
, who had succeeded to the U.S. Presidency after the assassination of President McKinley on September 5, 1901 proclaimed a full and complete pardon and amnesty to all persons in the Philippine archipelago who had participated in the conflict.
have suggested that the war unofficially continued for nearly a decade, since bands of guerrillas, quasi-religious armed groups and other resistance groups continued to roam the countryside, still clashing with American Army or Philippine Constabulary patrols. American troops and the Philippine Constabulary
continued hostilities against such resistance groups until 1913. Some historians consider these unofficial extensions to be part of the war.
was a constitution for the Insular Government, as the U.S. civil administration was known. This was a form of territorial government that reported to the Bureau of Insular Affairs
. The act provided for a governor general appointed by the U.S. president and an elected lower house. It also disestablished the Catholic Church as the state religion. The United States government, in an effort to resolve the status of the friars, negotiated with the Vatican. The church agreed to sell the friars' estates and promised gradual substitution of Filipino and other non-Spanish priests for the friars. It refused, however, to withdraw the religious orders from the islands immediately, partly to avoid offending Spain. In 1904 the administration bought for $7.2 million the major part of the friars' holdings, amounting to some 166000 hectares (410,194.6 acre), of which one-half was in the vicinity of Manila. The land was eventually resold to Filipinos, some of them tenants but the majority of them estate owners.
Two years after completion and publication of a census, a general election was conducted for the choice of delegates to a popular assembly. An elected Philippine Assembly
was convened in 1907 as the lower house
of a bicameral legislature
, with the Philippine Commission as the upper house
.
Every year from 1907 the Philippine Assembly and later the Philippine Legislature passed resolutions expressing the Filipino desire for independence.
Philippine nationalists led by Manuel Quezón and Sergio Osmeña
enthusiastically endorsed the draft Jones Bill of 1912, which provided for Philippine independence after eight years, but later changed their views, opting for a bill which focused less on time than on the conditions of independence. The nationalists demanded complete and absolute independence to be guaranteed by the United States, since they feared that too-rapid independence from American rule without such guarantees might cause the Philippines to fall into Japanese hands. The Jones bill was rewritten and passed Congress in 1916 with a later date of independence.
The law, officially the Philippine Autonomy Act but popularly known as popularly known as the Jones Law
, served as the new organic act (or constitution) for the Philippines. Its preamble stated that the eventual independence of the Philippines would be American policy, subject to the establishment of a stable government. The law maintained the Governor General of the Philippines, appointed by the President of the United States, but established a bicameral Philippine Legislature to replace the elected Philippine Assembly (lower house); it replaced the appointive Philippine Commission (upper house) with an elected senate.
The Filipinos suspended their independene campaign during the First World War
and supported the United States against Germany. After the war they resumed their independence drive with great vigor. On March 17, 1919, the Philippine Legislature passed a "Declaration of Purposes", which stated the inflexible desire of the Filipino people to be free and sovereign. A Commission of Independence was created to study ways and means of attaining liberation ideal. This commission recommended the sending of an independence mission to the United States. The "Declaration of Purposes" referred to the Jones Law as a veritable pact, or covenant, between the American and Filipino peoples whereby the United States promised to recognize the independence of the Philippines as soon as a stable government should be established. U.S. Governor-General of the Philippines
Francis Burton Harrison
had concurred in the report of the Philippine legislature as to a stable government.
The Philippine legislature funded an independence mission to the U.S. in 1919. The mission departed Manila on February 28 and met in the U.S. with and presented their case to Secretary of War
Newton D. Baker
. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
, in his 1921 farewell message to Congress, certified that the Filipino people had performed the condition imposed on them as a prerequisite to independence, declaring that, this having been done, the duty of the U.S. is to grant Philippine independence. The Republican Party
then controlled Congress and the recommendation of the outgoing Democratic
president was not heeded.
After the first independence mission, public funding of such missions was ruled illegal. Subsequent independence missions in 1922, 1923, 1930, 1931 1932, and two missions in 1933 were funded by voluntary contributions. Numerous independence bills were submitted to the U.S. Congress, which passed the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill on December 30, 1932. U.S. President Herbert Hoover
vetoed the bill on January 13, 1933. Congress overrode the veto on January 17, and the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
became U.S. law. The law promised Philippine independence after 10 years, but reserved several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports. The law also required the Philippine Senate to ratify the law. Quezon
urged the Philippine Senate to reject the bill, which it did. Quezon himself led the twelfth independence mission to Washington to secure a better independence act. The result was the Tydings-McDuffie Act
of 1934 which was very similar to the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act except in minor details. The Tydings-McDuffie Act was ratified by the Philippine Senate. The law provided for the granting of Philippine independence by 1946.
The Tydings-McDuffie Act provided for the drafting and guidelines of a Constitution, for a 10-year "transitional period" as the Commonwealth of the Philippines
before the granting of Philippine independence. On May 5, 1934, the Philippines legislature passed an act setting the election ofconvention delegates. Governor General Frank Murphy
designated July 10 as the election date, and the convention heldits inaugural session on July 30. The completed draft constitution was approved by the convention on February 8, 1935, approved by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
on March 23, and ratified by popular vote on May 14. The first election under the constitution was held on September 17, and on November 15, 1935 the Commonwealth government was inaugurated.
On May 14, 1935, an election to fill the newly created office of President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
was won by Manuel L. Quezon
(Nacionalista Party
) and a Filipino government was formed on the basis of principles superficially similar to the US Constitution. The Commonwealth as established in 1935 featured a very strong executive, a unicameral national assembly
, and a supreme court composed entirely of Filipinos for the first time since 1901. The new government embarked on an ambitious agenda of establishing the basis for national defense, greater control over the economy, reforms in education, improvement of transport, the colonization of the island of Mindanao, and the promotion of local capital and industrialization. The Commonwealth however, was also faced with agrarian unrest, an uncertain diplomatic and military situation in South East Asia, and uncertainty about the level of United States commitment to the future Republic of the Philippines.
In 1939–40, the Philippine Constitution was amended to restore a bicameral Congress, and permit the reelection of President Quezon, previously restricted to a single, six-year term.
During the Commonwealth years, Philippines sent one elected Resident Commissioner
to the United States House of Representatives
, as Puerto Rico
currently does today.
on December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched air raids in several cities and US military installations in the Philippines
on December 8, and on December 10, the first Japanese troops landed in Northern Luzon
. Filipino pilot Captain Jesús A. Villamor
, leading a flight of three P-26 "Peashooter" fighters of the 6th Pursuit Squadron, distinguished himself by attacking two enemy formations of 27 planes each and downing a much-superior Japanese Zero
, for which he was awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross
. The two other planes in that flight, flown by Lieutenant
s César Basa
and Geronimo Aclan were shot down.
General
Douglas MacArthur
, commander of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), was forced to retreat to Bataan
. Manila
was occupied by the Japanese on January 2, 1942. The fall of Bataan was on April 9, 1942 with Corregidor Island, at the mouth of Manila Bay
, surrendering on May 6.
The Commonwealth government by then had exiled itself to Washington, DC, upon the invitation of President Roosevelt; however many politicians stayed behind and collaborated with the occupying Japanese. The Philippine Army continued to fight the Japanese in a guerrilla
war and were considered auxiliary units of the United States Army. Several Philippine military awards, such as the Philippine Defense Medal
, Independence Medal
, and Liberation Medal
, were awarded to both the United States and Philippine Armed Forces.
As the Japanese forces advanced, Manila was declared an open city to prevent it from destruction, meanwhile, the government was moved to Corregidor
. In March 1942, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur
and President Quezon fled the country. The cruelty of the Japanese military occupation of the Philippines is legendary. Guerrilla units harassed the Japanese when they could, and on Luzon native resistance was strong enough that the Japanese never did get control of a large part of the island. Finally, in October 1944, McArthur had gathered enough additional troops and supplies to begin the retaking of the Philippines
, landing with Sergio Osmena
who had assumed the Presidency after Quezon's death. The battles entailed long fierce fighting; some of the Japanese continued to fight until the official surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945.
After their landing, Filipino and American forces also undertook measures to suppress the Huk movement
, which was originally founded to fight the Japanese Occupation.
The Filipino and American forces removed local Huk governments and imprisoned many high-ranking members of the Philippine Communist Party. While these incidents happened, there was still fighting against the Japanese forces and, despite the American and Philippine measures against the Huk, they still supported American and Filipino soldiers in the fight against the Japanese.
Over a million Filipinos had been killed in the war, and many towns and cities, including Manila, were left in ruins. The final Japanese soldier to surrender was Hiroo Onoda
, in 1974.
between the governments of the United States and the Philippines. The treaty provided for the recognition of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and the relinquishment of American sovereignty over the Philippine Islands. From 1946 to 1961, Independence Day was observed on July 4. On 12 May 1962, President Macapagal issued Presidential Proclamation No. 28, proclaiming Tuesday, June 12, 1962 as a special public holiday throughout the Philippines. In 1964, Republic Act No. 4166 changed the date of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12 and renamed the July 4 holiday as Philippine Republic Day.
which stripped Filipinos of the benefits they were promised.
Since the passage of the Rescission Act, many Filipino veterans have traveled to the United States to lobby Congress for the benefits promised to them for their service and sacrifice. Over 30,000 of such veterans live in the United States today, with most being United States citizens. Sociologists introduced the phrase "Second Class Veterans" to describe the plight of these Filipino Americans. Beginning in 1993, numerous bills titled Filipino Veterans Fairness Act
were introduced in Congress to return the benefits taken away from these veterans, only to die in committee. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
, signed into law on February 17, 2009, included provisions to pay benefits to the 15,000 remaining veterans.
On January 6, 2011 Jackie Speier
(D-CA), U.S. Representative
for , serving since 2008, introduced a bill seeking to make Filipino WW-II veterans eligible for the same benefits available to U.S. veterans. In a news conference to outline the bill, Speier estimated that approximately 50,000 Filipino veterans survive.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
from 1898 to 1946. It spans the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
which resulted in the United States acquiring sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
over the Philippines from Spain via the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....
which ended that war, the Philippines as a U.S. territory and later as a U.S. Commonwealth, occupation of the Philippines by Japanese forces during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, to eventual recognition of Philippine independence by the U.S. in 1946.
Historical perspective
The KatipunanKatipunan
The Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...
revolution which had begun in 1896 had formally ended with the Pact of Biak-na-Bato
Pact of Biak-na-Bato
The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, created a truce between Spanish Colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution...
, a truce between the Spanish government and the principal revolutionary leaders which had been signed in November 1897. Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...
, who held the office of President in the revolutionary government, and other revolutionary leaders were given amnesty and a monetary indemnity by the Spanish government in return for which the rebel government had agreed to go into voluntary exile in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
Spanish-American War period (1898)
In April 1898, following on a joint congressional resolution, U.S. President William McKinleyWilliam McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
signed an ultimatum demanding that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. This resulted on April 20 in a declaration of war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
against the United States by Spain, followed on April 25 by a declaration of war by the U.S. against Spain.
Admiral Dewey and the Asiatic Squadron
On February 25, 1898, following the sinking of the USS MaineUSS Maine (ACR-1)
USS Maine was the United States Navy's second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship, although she was originally classified as an armored cruiser. She is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana harbor. Maine had been sent to Havana, Cuba to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt...
in Havana Harbor on February 15, Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
sent the following cable to Commodore George Dewey
George Dewey
George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
, commanding the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron
Asiatic Squadron
The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navy warships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century, it was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded...
:
The gunboat USS Monocacy
USS Monocacy
Several ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Monocacy for the Battle of Monocacy:, a gunboat launched in 1864, and served until 1903, commissioned in 1914 and decommissioned in 1939, originally the civilian tug Monocacy...
was at the time on assignment to carry the U.S. Minister to China on visits to the open ports on the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
.
On April 24 word was received that the U.S. and Spain were at war, and the squadron was ordered by the British (a non-belligerent) to leave Hong Kong. It first moved 30 miles north to Mirs Bay
Mirs Bay
Mirs Bay is a bay in the northeast of Crooked Island and Sai Kung Peninsula of Hong Kong. Ping Chau stands in the midst of the bay...
on the Chinese coast and the departed from there for the Philippines on April 27, reaching Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
on the evening of April 30.
Battle of Manila Bay
The first battle of the Spanish-American warSpanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
took place in the Philippines. On May 1, 1898. In a matter of hours, Commodore Dewey's Asiatic Squadron defeated the Spanish squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón. The U.S. squadron took control of the arsenal and navy yard at Cavite and Dewey cabled Washington stating that, although he controlled Manila Bay, he needed 5000 men to seize Manila itself.
U.S. preparation for land operations and resumption of the Philippine revolution
The completeness of Dewey's victory, so early in the war, prompted the administration of President William McKinley to send the troops necessary to capture Manila from the Spanish. The U.S. Army sent substantially more than Dewey asked for, the 10,844 man VIII Corps (PE)VIII Corps (PE)
The VIII Corps was formed on June 21, 1898 to provide a ground contingent to exploit Admiral Dewey's success in defeating the Spanish fleet in Manila harbor...
, under the command of Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Wesley Merritt
Wesley Merritt
Wesley Merritt was a general in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. He is noted for distinguished service in the cavalry.-Early life:...
. Meanwhile, Dewey dispatched the cutter McCulloch to Hong Kong to transport Aguinaldo to the Philippines. Aguinaldo arrived on May 19 and, after a brief meeting with Dewey, resumed revolutionary activities against the Spanish.
Public jubilance marked the Aguinaldo's return. Several revolutionaries, as well as Filipino soldiers employed by the Spanish army, submitted themselves to Aguinaldo's command and the Philippine Revolution
Philippine Revolution
The Philippine Revolution , called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.The Philippine Revolution began in August...
against Spain resumed. Soon, Imus
Imus, Cavite
The Municipality of Imus is a first-class municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines, and it is the officially designated capital of Cavite...
and Bacoor
Bacoor, Cavite
The Municipality of Bacoor is a first class urban municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines. It is a lone district congressional district of Cavite...
in Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
, Parañaque
Parañaque City
The City of Parañaque , or simply Parañaque , is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila in the Philippines....
and Las Piñas
Las Piñas City
The City of Las Piñas is a city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines...
in Morong
Morong, Rizal
Morong is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 50,538 inhabitants in 8,988 households. A popular attraction is Spanish-era St. Jerome's Parish Church...
, Macabebe and San Fernando in Pampanga, as well as Laguna, Batangas
Batangas City
- Foreign Rule :The first Spanish missionaries arrived in Batangas City since 1572. Finally on 1581 Spanish authorities governing the Philippines created a pueblo in the area which included the hill where the present Provincial Capitol of Batangas stands after the formal end of the Coumintang...
, Bulacan
Bulacan
Bulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro...
, Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is Palayan City...
, Bataan
Bataan
Bataan is a province of the Philippines occupying the whole of the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon. The province is part of the Central Luzon region. The capital of Bataan is Balanga City and it is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga to the north...
, Tayabas (now Quezon
Quezon
-History:Originally, what now forms Quezon was divided among the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, and Nueva Ecija. The area was first explored by Juan de Salcedo in 1571-1572, during his expedition from Laguna to Camarines provinces....
), and the Camarines provinces, were liberated by the Filipinos and the port of Dalahican in Cavite was secured. The revolution was gaining ground.
On May 24, 1898, in Cavite, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation in which he assumed command of all Philippine forces and established a dictatorial government with himself as dictator.
Philippine declaration of independence and establishment of Philippine governments
On 12 June 1898, at Aguinaldo's ancestral home in Cavite, Philippine independence was proclaimed and The Act of Declaration of Philippine IndependencePhilippine Declaration of Independence
The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II el Viejo , Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the...
was read. The act had been prepared and written by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista
Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista , also known as Don Bosyong, was a lawyer and author of the Declaration of Philippine Independence document...
in Spanish, who also read it. The act opens with the following words:
On 18 June, Aguinaldo issued a decree formally establishing his dictatorial government.
On June 23, Aguinaldo issued a decree replacing his dictatorial government with a revolutionary government, with himself as President.
Aguinaldo later claimed that an American naval officer urged him to return to the Philippines to fight the Spanish and said "The United States is a great and rich nation and needs no colonies." Aguinaldo said that after checking with Dewey by telegraph, Pratt had assured him: "That the United States would at least recognize the Independence of the Philippines under the protection of the United States Navy. The Consul added that there was no necessity for entering into a formal written agreement because the word of the Admiral and of the United States Consul were in fact equivalent to the most solemn pledge that their verbal promises and assurance would be fulfilled to the letter and were not to be classed with Spanish promises or Spanish ideas of a man’s word of honour." Aguinaldo received nothing in writing.
On April 28 Pratt wrote the Secretary of State, explaining he had met Aguinaldo, and stating just what he had done:
There was no mention in the cablegrams between Pratt and Dewey of independence or indeed of any conditions on which Aguinaldo was to coöperate, these details being left for future arrangement with Dewey; and that Pratt thought that he had prevented possible conflict of action and facilitated the work of occupying and administering the Philippines." and says that a subsequent communication written on July 28, 1898, Pratt made the following statement:--
On June 16 Secretary Day cabled Consul Pratt: "Avoid unauthorized
negotiations with the Philippine insurgents," and the Secretary wrote
the consul on the same day:
Filipino scholar Maximo Kalaw wrote in 1927: "A few of the principal facts, however, seem quite clear. Aguinaldo was not made to understand that, in consideration of Filipino cooperation, the United States would extend its sovereignty over the Islands, and thus in place of the old Spanish master a new one would step in. The truth was that nobody at the time ever thought that the end of the war would result in the retention of the Philippines by the United States."
Tensions between U.S. and revolutionary forces
This and some subsequent sections of this article extensively cite portions of Worcester's 1914 book which rely heavily on "insurgent documents" — documents of Aguinaldo's government which, after being captured by U.S. forces, were translated into English from the original Tagalog and Spanish and were compiled and annotated by U.S. Army Captain John R. M. TaylorJohn R. M. Taylor
John Roger Meigs Taylor was a captain of the US 14th Infantry. He was placed in charge of what became known as the Philippine Insurgent Records. That is, the collection of documents seized from Philippine revolutionaries during the Philippine-American war....
. In his letter of transmittal for the compilation, Taylor wrote that the documents in the compilation
The first contingent of American troops under General Thomas Anderson
Thomas M. Anderson
Thomas McArthur Anderson was a career officer in the United States Army who served as a general in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War.-Early Life and Civil War:...
, arrived on 30 June, the second under General Frank V. Greene on July 17, and the third under General Arthur MacArthur on July 30. General Anderson wrote Aguinaldo requesting his cooperation in military operations against the Spanish forces. Aguinaldo responded, thanking General Anderson for his amicable sentiments, but saying nothing about military cooperation; General Anderson did not renew the request. In a July 9, 1898 letter, General Anderson informed the Adjutant-General (AG) of the United States Army that Aguinaldo "has declared himself Dictator and President, and is trying to take Manila without our assistance.", opining that that would not be probable but, if done, would allow him to antagonize any U.S. attempt to establish a provisional government.
On July 15, 1898, Aguinaldo issued three organic decrees
Organic law
An organic or fundamental law is a law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state....
assuming civil authority of the Philippines.
On July 18, General Anderson wrote that he suspected Aguinaldo to be secretly negotiating with the Spanish authorities. In a 21 July letter to the Adjunt General, General Anderson wrote the Adjudant General that he had ignored Aguinaldo's assumption of civil authority, and had let him know verbally that he could, and would, not recognize it. In another July 21 letter, General Anderson said: "Since I wrote last, Aguinaldo has put in operation an elaborate system of military government, under his assumed authority as Dictator, and has prohibited any supplies being given us, except by his order."
On July 24, Aguinaldo wrote a letter to General Anderson in effect warning him not to disembark American troops in places conquered by the Filipinos from the Spaniards without first communicating in writing the places to be occupied and the object of the occupation. Murat Halstead, official historian of the Philippine Expedition writes that General Merritt remarked shortly after his arrival on 25 June, "As General Aguinaldo did not visit me on my arrival, nor offer his services as a subordinate military leader, and as my instructions from the President fully contemplated the occupation of the islands by the American land forces, and stated that 'the powers of the military occupant are absolute and supreme and immediately operate upon the political condition of the inhabitants,' I did not consider it wise to hold any direct communication with the insurgent leader until I should be in possession of the city of Manila, especially as I would not until then be in a position to issue a proclamation and enforce my authority, in the event that his pretensions should clash with my designs."
U.S. commanders suspected that Aguinaldo and his forces were informing the Spanish of American movements. Major J. R. M. Taylor later wrote, after translating and analyzing insurgent documents, "The officers of the United States Army who believed that the insurgents were informing the Spaniards of the American movements were right. Sastrón has printed a letter from Pío del Pilar, dated July 30, to the Spanish officer commanding at Santa Ana, in which Pilar said that Aguinaldo had told him that the Americans would attack the Spanish lines on August 2 and advised that the Spaniards should not give way, but hold their positions. Pilar added, however, that if the Spaniards should fall back on the walled city and surrender Santa Ana to himself, he would hold it with his own men. Aguinaldo's information was correct, and on August 2 eight American soldiers were killed or wounded by the Spanish fire."
Peace protocol between the U.S. and Spain
On August 12, 1898, the New York Times reported that a peace protocol had been signed in Washington at 4:23 that afternoon between the U.S. and Spain, suspending hostilities and defining the terms on which peace negotiations are to be carried on between the two. Due to time zone differences, this was in the very early morning of 13 August in Manila. The text of the protocol was not made public until November 5, but Article 3 read: "The United States will occupy and hold the City, Bay, and Harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines."Capture of Manila
On the evening of August 12, on orders of General Merritt, General Anderson notified Aguinaldo to forbid the Insurgents under his command from entering Manila. On 13 August, unaware of the peace protocol signing, U.S. forces assaulted and captured the Spanish positions in Manila. Insurgents made an independent attack of their own, as planned, which promptly led to trouble with the Americans. At 8 A.M. Aguinaldo received a telegram from General Anderson sternly warning him not to let his troops enter Manila without the consent of the American commander on the south side of the Pasig River. No attention was paid to General Anderson's request that the Insurgent troops should not enter Manila without permission. They crowded forward with and after the American forces and found American and Spanish troops confronting each other but not firing. A flag of truce was waving from the Spanish, nevertheless the insurgents fired on the Spanish forces, provoking a return fire which killed and wounded American soldiers. General Anderson's losses in the taking of the city was nineteen men killed and one hundred and three wounded.General Anderson, sent Aguinaldo a telegram, received by the latter at 6:35 P.M., as follows
Aguinaldo demanded joint occupation of Manila. On August 13 Admiral Dewey and General Merritt informed their superiors of this and asked how far they might proceed in enforcing obedience in the matter.
General Merritt received news of the August 12 peace protocol on August 16, three days after the surrender of Manila. Admiral dewey and General Merritt were informed by a telegram dated August 17 that the President
of the United States had directed:
Insurgent forces were looting the portions of the city which they occupied, and as is abundantly shown by their own records were not confining their attacks to Spaniards, but were assaulting their
own people and raiding the property of foreigners as well, and U.S. commanders pressed Aguinaldo to withdraw his forces from Manila. Negotiations proceeded slowly and, on August 31, General Elwell Otis
Elwell Stephen Otis
Elwell Stephen Otis was a United States of America General who served in the Philippines late in the Spanish-American War and during the Philippine-American War.-Biography:...
(General Merritt being unavailable) wrote, in a long letter to Aguinaldo: "... I am compelled by my instructions to direct that your armed forces evacuate the entire city of Manila, including its suburbs and defences, and that I shall be obliged to take action with that end in view within a very short space of time should you decline to comply with my Government's demands; and I hereby serve notice on you that unless your troops are withdrawn beyond the line of the city's defences before Thursday, the 15th instant, I shall be obliged to resort to forcible action,
and that my Government will hold you responsible for any unfortunate consequences which may ensue." After some further negotiation and exchanges of letters Aguinaldo wrote on September 16: "On the evening of the 15th the armed insurgent organizations withdrew from the city and all of its suburbs, ..."
In later congressional testimony in the U.S., Dewey described an arrangement he had made with the Spanish commander for the surrender of Manila: "That the Spaniards were ready to surrender, but before doing so I must engage one of the outlying forts. I selected one at Malate, away from the city. They said I must engage that and fire for a while, and then I was to make a signal by the international code, 'Do you surrender?' Then they were to hoist a white flag at a certain bastion; and I may say now that I was the first one to discover the white flag. We had 50 people looking for that white flag, but I happened to be the first one who saw it. I fired for a while, and then made the signal according to the programme. We could not see the white flag—it was rather a thick day—but finally I discovered it on the south bastion; I don't know how long it had been flying there when I first saw it."
U.S. and insurgents clash
In a clash at Cavite between United States soldiers and insurgents on August 25, George Hudson, a member of the Utah regiment, was killed, Corporal William Anderson, of the same battery, was mortally wounded, and four troopers of the Fourth Cavalry were slightly wounded. This provoked general Anderson to send Aguinaldo a letter saying, "In order to avoid the very serious misfortune of an encounter between our troops, I demand your immediate withdrawal with your guard from Cavite. One of my men has been killed and three wounded by your people. This is positive and does not admit of explanation or delay." Internal insurgent communications reported that the Americans were drunk at the time. Halstead writes that Aguinaldo expressed his regret and promised to punish the offenders. In internal insurgent communications, Apolinario MabiniApolinario Mabini
Apolinario Mabini y Maranan was a Filipino political philosopher and revolutionary who wrote a constitutional plan for the of 1899-1901, and served as its first prime minister in 1899...
initially proposed to investigate and punish any offenders identified. Aguinaldo modified this, ordering, "... say that he was not killed by your soldiers, but by them themselves (the Americans) since they were drunk according to your telegram" An Insurgent officer in Cavite at the time reported on his record of services that he: "took part in the movement against the Americans on the afternoon of the 24th of August, under the orders of the commander of the troops and the adjutant of the post."
Philippine elections, Malolos Congress, Constitutional government
ElectionsPhilippine Malolos Congress election, 1898
The Elections for the Malolos Congress, also known as the Revolutionary Congress were held in the Philippines from June 23 to September 10, 1898...
were held by the Revolutionary Government between June and September 10, resulting in Emilio Aguinaldo being seated as President in the seating of a legislature known as the Malolos Congress
Malolos Congress
-Further reading:*Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library...
. In a session between September 15 and November 13, 1898, the Malolos Constitution
Malolos Constitution
The Malolos Constitution was enacted on January 20, 1899 by the Philippine Malolos Congress, and established the First Philippine Republic. The original was written in Spanish, which became the first official language of the Philippines....
was adopted, creating the First Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...
.
Negros Revolution and Republic of Negros
November 6, 1898 was the day that the Negros RevolutionNegros Revolution
The Negros Revolution, now commemorated and popularly known as Al Cinco de Noviembre or Negros Day, was a political movement that in 1898 created a government in Negros Island in the Philippines, informally ending Spanish control of the island and resulting in a government run by the Negrense...
concluded. The Cantonal Republic of Negros
Republic of Negros
The Republic of Negros was a short-lived revolutionary republic, and later, administrative division, which existed while the Philippines was under Spanish and American sovereignty. It took its name from Negros Island.-History:...
was established on November 27, 1898 and ended on April 30, 1901.
Spanish-American War ends
Article V of the peace protocol signed on August 12 had mandated negotiations to conclude a treaty of peace to begin in Paris not later than October 1, 1898. President McKinley sent a five man commission, initially instructed to demand no more than Luzon, Guam, and Puerto Rico; which would have provided a limited U.S. empire of pinpoint colonies to support a global fleet and provide communication links. In Paris, the commission was besieged with advice, particularly from American generals and European diplomats, to demand the entire Philippine archipelago. The unanimous recommendation was that "it would certainly be cheaper and more humane to take the entire Philippines than to keep only part of it." On 28 October 1898, McKinley wired the commission that "cessation of Luzon alone, leaving the rest of the islands subject to Spanish rule, or to be the subject of future contention, cannot be justified on political, commercial, or humanitarian grounds.The cessation must be the whole archipeligo or none.The latter is wholly inadmissible, and the former must therefore be required." The Spanish negotiators were furious over the "immodist demands of a conqueror", but their wounded pride was assauged by an offer of twenty million dollars for "Spanish improvements" to the islands. The Spaniards capitulated, and on December 10, 1898, the U.S. and Spain signed the Treaty of ParisTreaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....
, formally ending the Spanish-American war. In Article III, Spain ceded the Philippine archipelago to the United States, as follows: "Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within the following line: [... geographic description elided ...]. The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.
In the U.S., there was a movement for Philippine independence; some said that the U.S. had no right to a land where many of the people wanted self-government. Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
, an industrialist and steel magnate, offered to buy the Philippines for twenty million United States dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
s and give it to the Filipinos so that they could be free of United States government.
U.S. military government
Following the capture of Manila on August 14, 1898, the U.S. established a military government in the Philippines under General Merritt as Military GovernorGovernor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
. During military rule (1898–1901), the U.S. Military commander governed the Philippines under the authority of the U.S. President as Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the U.S. Armed Forces. General Otis succeeded General Merritt as Military Governor, governing from 1898 to 1900. General Otis was succeeded by General MacArthur, who governed from 1900 to 1901.
Under the military government, an American-style school system was introduced, initially with soldiers as teachers; civil courts were organized, including a supreme court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
; and local governments were established in towns and provinces. The first local election was conducted by General Harold W. Lawton on May 7, 1899, in Baliwag, Bulacan
Bulacan
Bulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro...
.
Benevolent Assimilation
U.S. President McKinley's December 21, 1898 proclamation of Benevolent Assimilation was announced in the Philippines on January 4, 1899. Referring to the Treaty of Paris, it said that as a result of the victories of American arms, the future control, disposition, and government of the Philippine Islands are ceded to the United States. It enjoined the military commander (General Otis) to make known to the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands that in succeeding to the sovereignty of Spain, the authority of the United States is to be exerted for the securing of the persons and property of the people of the islands and for the confirmation of all their private rights and relations. It specified that it will be the duty of the commander of the forces of occupation to announce and proclaim in the most public manner that we come, not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights. On January 6, 1899, General Otis was quoted in the New York Times as expressing himself as convinced that the U.S. government intends to seek the establishment of a liberal government, in which the people will be as fully represented as the maintenance of law and order will permit, susceptible of development, on lines of increased representation, and the bestowal of increased powers, into a government as free and independent as is enjoyed by the most favored provinces in the world.Republic of Zamboanga
The Republic of ZamboangaRepublic of Zamboanga
The Republic of Zamboanga was a short-lived revolutionary republic, founded after the collapse of Spanish colonial rule in Zamboanga in 1899.-End of Spanish Occupation:...
was established on May 18, 1899 and ended on November 16, 1899.
Tensions escalate
The Spanish had yielded Iloilo to the insurgents for the purpose of troubling the Americans. On January 1, news had come to Washington from Manila that American forces which had been sent to Iloilo under the command of General Marcus Miller had been confronted by 6,000 armed Filipinos, who refused them permission to land. A Filipino official styling himself Presidente Lopez of the Federal Government of the Visayas informed Miller that "foreign troops" would not be landed "without express orders from the central government of Luzon" On December 21, 1898, President McKinley issued a Proclamation of Benevolent AssimilationBenevolent assimilation
The term Benevolent Assimilation refers to a proclamation about the Philippines issued on December 21, 1898 by U.S. President William McKinley during the Philippine-American War, which followed the defeat of Spain during the Spanish-American War. The proclamation reads in part:The proclamation was...
. General Otis delayed its publication until January 4, 1899, then publishing an amended version edited so as not to convey the meanings of the terms "sovereignty", "protection", and "right of cessation" which were present in the unabridged version. Unknown to Otis, the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
had also sent an enciphered copy of the Benevolent Assimilation proclamation to General Marcus Miller in Iloilo for informational purposes. Miller assumed that it was for distribution and, unaware that a politically bowdlerized
Expurgation
Expurgation is a form of censorship which involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive, usually from an artistic work.This has also been called bowdlerization, especially for books, after Thomas Bowdler, who in 1818 published an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's work that he...
version had been sent to Aguinaldo, published it in both Spanish and Tagalog translations which eventually made their way to Aguinaldo. Even before Aguinaldo received the unaltered version and observed the changes in the copy he had received from Otis, he was upset that Otis had altered his own title to "Military Governor of the Philippines" from "... in the Philippines." Aguinaldo did not miss the significance of the alteration, which Otis had made without authorization from Washington.
Three days later, Aguinaldo responded with his Otro Manifesto del Sr. Presidente del Gobierno Revolucionario, which was close to a formal declaration of war:
Meanwhile, Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo was the Filipino lawyer representative to the negotiations in Paris that led to the Treaty of Paris , ending the Spanish–American War and achieving him the title of "outstanding first Filipino diplomat."As a family friend and adviser of General Emilio Aguinaldo and General Antonio...
, who had been commissioned by the Philippine Revolutionary Government as Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate treaties with foreign governments, and who had unsuccessfully sought to be seated at the negotiations between the U.S. and Spain in Paris, was now in Washington. On January 6, he filed a request for an interview with the President to discuss affairs in the Philippines. The next day the government officials were surprised to learn that messages to General Otis to deal mildly with the rebels and not to force a conflict had become known to Agoncillo, and cabled by him to Aguinaldo. At the same time, Aguinaldo's protested General Otis signing himself "Military Governor of the Philippines."
On January 8, Agoncillo gave out this statement:
The Filipino committees in London, Paris and Madrid about this time telegraphed to President McKinley as follows:
On January 8, Aguinaldo received the following message:
The New York Times reported on January 8, that two Americans who had been guarding a waterboat in Iloilo had been attacked, one fatally, and that insurgents were threatening to destroy the business section of the city by fire; and on January 10 that a peaceful solution to the Iloilo issues may result but that Aguinaldo had issued a proclamation threatening to drive the Americans from the islands.
By January 10, insurgents were ready to assume the offensive, but desired, if possible, to provoke the Americans into firing the first shot. They made no secret of their desire for conflict, but increased their hostile demonstrations and pushed their lines forward into forbidden territory. Their attitude is well illustrated by the following extract from a telegram sent by Colonel Cailles to Aguinaldo on January 10, 1899:
Aguinaldo approved the hostile attitude of Cailles, for there is a reply in his handwriting which reads:
On 31 January 1899, The Minister of Interior of the revolutionary First Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...
, Teodoro Sandico, signed a decree saying that President Agunialdo had directed that all idle lands be planted to provide food for the people, in view of impending war with the Americans.
Outbreak of general hostilities
Worcester writes that General Otis' account of the opening of active hostilities was as follows:Other sources name the two specific U.S. soldiers involved in the first exchange of fire as Privates William Grayson and Orville Miller of the Nebraska Volunteers.
Subsequent to the conclusion of the war, after analyzing captured insurgent papers, Major Major J. R. M. Taylor wrote, in part,
War
On February 4, Aguinaldo issued the following proclamation:On February 8, New York Times reported Aguinaldo's proclamation, with minor wording variations.
On June 2, 1899, the Malolos Congress of the First Philippine Republic enacted and ratified a Declaration of War
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
on the United States, which was publicly proclaimed on that same day by Pedro Paterno, President of the Assembly.
As before when fighting the Spanish, the Filipino rebels did not do well in the field. Aguinaldo and his provisional government escaped the capture of Malolos on March 31, 1899 and were driven into northern Luzon. Peace feelers from members of Aguinaldo's cabinet failed in May when the American commander, General Ewell Otis, demanded an unconditional surrender. In 1901, Aguinaldo was captured and swore allegiance to the United States. A large American military force was used to occupy parts of the country, and would be regularly engaged in hostilities against Filipino rebels for another decade. The hostilities of the Philippine-American war began on February 4, 1899 and continued for two years. The United States used 126,000 soldiers to subdue the Philippines. The war took the lives of 4,234 Americans and about 16,000 Filipinos. As usually happens in guerrilla campaigns, the civilian population suffers the worst. As many as 200,000 civilians may have died from famine and disease.
First Philippine Commission
President McKinleyWilliam McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
had appointed a five-person group headed by Dr. Jacob Schurman, president of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, on January 20, 1899, to investigate conditions in the islands and make recommendations. The three civilian members of the commission arrived in Manila on March 4, 1899, a month after the Battle of Manila which had begun armed conflict between U.S. and revolutionary Filipino forces. The commission published a proclamation containing assurances that the U.S. "... is anxious to establish in the Philippine Islands an enlightened system of government under which the Philippine people may enjoy the largest measure of home rule and the amplest liberty."
After meetings in April with revolutionary representatives, the commission requested authorization from McKinley to offer a specific plan. McKinley authorized an offer of a government consisting of "a Governor-General appointed by the President; cabinet appointed by the Governor-General; [and] a general advisory council elected by the people." The Revolutionary Congress voted unanimously to cease fighting and accept peace and, on May 8, the revolutionary cabinet headed by Apolinario Mabini was replaced by a new "peace" cabinet headed by Pedro Paterno. At this point, General Antonio Luna
Antonio Luna
Antonio Luna y Novicio was a Filipino pharmacist and general who fought in the Philippine-American War. He was also the founder of the Philippines's first military academy.- Family background :...
arrested Paterno and most of his cabinet, returning Mabini and his cabinet to power. After this, the commission concluded that "... The Filipinos are wholly unprepared for independence ... there being no Philippine nation, but only a collection of different peoples."
In the report that they issued to the president the following year, the commissioners acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independence; they declared, however, that the Philippines was not ready for it.
Specific recommendations included the establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible (the American chief executive in the islands at that time was the military governor), including establishment of a bicameral legislature
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
, autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels, and a system of free public elementary schools.
Second Philippine Commission
The Second Philippine Commission (the Taft Commission), appointed by McKinley on March 16, 1900, and headed by William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers. On September 1, the Taft Commission began to exercise legislative functions. Between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws, established a judicial system
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
, including a supreme court, drew up a legal code
Legal code
A legal code is a body of law written by a governmental body, such as a U.S. state, a Canadian Province or German Bundesland or a municipality...
to replace antiquated Spanish ordinances and organized a civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
. The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
s, vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
s, and councilors to serve on municipal
Township
The word township is used to refer to different kinds of settlements in different countries. Township is generally associated with an urban area. However there are many exceptions to this rule. In Australia, the United States, and Canada, they may be settlements too small to be considered urban...
boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking necessary construction projects; they also elected provincial
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
s.
Establishment of civil government
On March 2, 1901 the U.S. Congress passed the Spooner Amendment to the Army Appropriation Act, providing legislative authority for the President to proceed with the establishment of a civil government in the Philippines. Up until this time, the President been administering the Philippines by virtue of his war powers. On July 1, 1901, civil government was inaugurated with William H. Taft as the Civil Governor. Later, on February 3, 1903, the U.S. Congress would change the title of Civil Governor to Governor-General.A highly centralized public school system was installed in 1901, using English as the medium of instruction. This created a heavy shortage of teachers, and the Philippine Commission authorized the Secretary of Public Instruction to bring to the Philippines 600 teachers from the U.S.A. — the so-called Thomasites
Thomasites
The Thomasites is a group of about five hundred pioneer American teachers sent by the U.S. government to the Philippines in August 1901.-Foundation, purpose and etymology:...
. Free primary instruction that trained the people for the duties of citizenship and avocation was enforced by the Taft Commission per instructions of President McKinley. Also, the Catholic Church was disestablished, and a considerable amount of church land was purchased and redistributed.
Official end to the war
The Philippine Organic ActPhilippine Organic Act (1902)
The Philippine Organic Act, popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and sometimes known as the Cooper Act after its author Henry A. Cooper, was the first organic law for the Philippines enacted by the United States Congress during the American Colonial Period in the Philippines...
of July 1902 approved, ratified, and confirmed McKinley's Executive Order establishing the Philippine Commission and stipulated that a legislature would be established composed of a lower house, the Philippine Assembly, which would be popularly elected, and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission. The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos.
On July 2, the Secretary of War telegraphed that the insurrection against the sovereign authority of the U.S. having come to an end, and provincial civil governments having been established, the office of Military governor was terminated. On July 4, Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, who had succeeded to the U.S. Presidency after the assassination of President McKinley on September 5, 1901 proclaimed a full and complete pardon and amnesty to all persons in the Philippine archipelago who had participated in the conflict.
Post-1902 hostilities
Some Filipino nationalist historians like Renato ConstantinoRenato Constantino
Renato Constantino was an influential Filipino historian. He was a known leftist historian of the Philippines. He is the father-in-law of political commentator Randy David.-Works:*The Philippines: A Past Revisited...
have suggested that the war unofficially continued for nearly a decade, since bands of guerrillas, quasi-religious armed groups and other resistance groups continued to roam the countryside, still clashing with American Army or Philippine Constabulary patrols. American troops and the Philippine Constabulary
Philippine Constabulary
The Philippine Constabulary ' was the oldest of four service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It was a gendarmerie type para-military police force of the Philippines established in 1901 by the United States-appointed administrative authority replacing the Guardia Civil...
continued hostilities against such resistance groups until 1913. Some historians consider these unofficial extensions to be part of the war.
Insular Government (1901–1935)
The 1902 Philippine Organic ActPhilippine Organic Act (1902)
The Philippine Organic Act, popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and sometimes known as the Cooper Act after its author Henry A. Cooper, was the first organic law for the Philippines enacted by the United States Congress during the American Colonial Period in the Philippines...
was a constitution for the Insular Government, as the U.S. civil administration was known. This was a form of territorial government that reported to the Bureau of Insular Affairs
Bureau of Insular Affairs
The Bureau of Insular Affairs was a division of the United States War Department that oversaw United States administration of certain territories from 1902 until 1939....
. The act provided for a governor general appointed by the U.S. president and an elected lower house. It also disestablished the Catholic Church as the state religion. The United States government, in an effort to resolve the status of the friars, negotiated with the Vatican. The church agreed to sell the friars' estates and promised gradual substitution of Filipino and other non-Spanish priests for the friars. It refused, however, to withdraw the religious orders from the islands immediately, partly to avoid offending Spain. In 1904 the administration bought for $7.2 million the major part of the friars' holdings, amounting to some 166000 hectares (410,194.6 acre), of which one-half was in the vicinity of Manila. The land was eventually resold to Filipinos, some of them tenants but the majority of them estate owners.
Two years after completion and publication of a census, a general election was conducted for the choice of delegates to a popular assembly. An elected Philippine Assembly
Philippine Assembly
The Philippine Assembly was the lower house of the legislative body of the Philippines during the early part of American colonial period. It was created by the Philippine Organic Act, passed in 1902, which also established the Philippine Commission as the upper house of the Philippine Legislature,...
was convened in 1907 as the lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
of a bicameral legislature
Bicameralism
In the government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. Thus, a bicameral parliament or bicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of two chambers or houses....
, with the Philippine Commission as the upper house
Upper house
An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
.
Every year from 1907 the Philippine Assembly and later the Philippine Legislature passed resolutions expressing the Filipino desire for independence.
Philippine nationalists led by Manuel Quezón and Sergio Osmeña
Sergio Osmeña
Sergio Osmeña y Suico was a Filipino politician who served as the 4th President of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was Vice President under Manuel L. Quezon, and rose to the presidency upon Quezon's death in 1944, being the oldest Philippine president to hold office at age 65...
enthusiastically endorsed the draft Jones Bill of 1912, which provided for Philippine independence after eight years, but later changed their views, opting for a bill which focused less on time than on the conditions of independence. The nationalists demanded complete and absolute independence to be guaranteed by the United States, since they feared that too-rapid independence from American rule without such guarantees might cause the Philippines to fall into Japanese hands. The Jones bill was rewritten and passed Congress in 1916 with a later date of independence.
The law, officially the Philippine Autonomy Act but popularly known as popularly known as the Jones Law
Jones Law (Philippines)
The Jones Law or the Act of Congress of August 29, 1916, also known as the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 that earlier served as a constitution for the Philippine Islands. The Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898 and a civil...
, served as the new organic act (or constitution) for the Philippines. Its preamble stated that the eventual independence of the Philippines would be American policy, subject to the establishment of a stable government. The law maintained the Governor General of the Philippines, appointed by the President of the United States, but established a bicameral Philippine Legislature to replace the elected Philippine Assembly (lower house); it replaced the appointive Philippine Commission (upper house) with an elected senate.
The Filipinos suspended their independene campaign during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and supported the United States against Germany. After the war they resumed their independence drive with great vigor. On March 17, 1919, the Philippine Legislature passed a "Declaration of Purposes", which stated the inflexible desire of the Filipino people to be free and sovereign. A Commission of Independence was created to study ways and means of attaining liberation ideal. This commission recommended the sending of an independence mission to the United States. The "Declaration of Purposes" referred to the Jones Law as a veritable pact, or covenant, between the American and Filipino peoples whereby the United States promised to recognize the independence of the Philippines as soon as a stable government should be established. U.S. Governor-General of the Philippines
Governor-General of the Philippines
The Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed mainly by Spain and the United States, and briefly by Great Britain, from 1565 to 1935....
Francis Burton Harrison
Francis Burton Harrison
Francis Burton Harrison was an American statesman who served in the United States House of Representatives and appointed Governor-General of the Philippines by President of the United States Woodrow Wilson...
had concurred in the report of the Philippine legislature as to a stable government.
The Philippine legislature funded an independence mission to the U.S. in 1919. The mission departed Manila on February 28 and met in the U.S. with and presented their case to Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
Newton D. Baker
Newton D. Baker
Newton Diehl Baker, Jr. was an American politician who belonged to the Democratic Party. He served as the 37th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1912 to 1915 and as U.S. Secretary of War from 1916 to 1921.-Early years:...
. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, in his 1921 farewell message to Congress, certified that the Filipino people had performed the condition imposed on them as a prerequisite to independence, declaring that, this having been done, the duty of the U.S. is to grant Philippine independence. The Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
then controlled Congress and the recommendation of the outgoing Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
president was not heeded.
After the first independence mission, public funding of such missions was ruled illegal. Subsequent independence missions in 1922, 1923, 1930, 1931 1932, and two missions in 1933 were funded by voluntary contributions. Numerous independence bills were submitted to the U.S. Congress, which passed the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill on December 30, 1932. U.S. President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
vetoed the bill on January 13, 1933. Congress overrode the veto on January 17, and the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
The Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act was the first US law passed for the decolonization of the Philippines.By 1932, forces for the creation of this law coalesced around US farmers who were hit by the Great Depression and feared Filipino imports of sugar and coconut oil that were not subject to US tariff...
became U.S. law. The law promised Philippine independence after 10 years, but reserved several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports. The law also required the Philippine Senate to ratify the law. Quezon
Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines...
urged the Philippine Senate to reject the bill, which it did. Quezon himself led the twelfth independence mission to Washington to secure a better independence act. The result was the Tydings-McDuffie Act
Tydings-McDuffie Act
The Tydings-McDuffie Act approved on March 24, 1934 was a United States federal law which provided for self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence after a period of ten years. It was authored by Maryland Senator Millard E...
of 1934 which was very similar to the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act except in minor details. The Tydings-McDuffie Act was ratified by the Philippine Senate. The law provided for the granting of Philippine independence by 1946.
The Tydings-McDuffie Act provided for the drafting and guidelines of a Constitution, for a 10-year "transitional period" as the Commonwealth of the Philippines
Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth of the United States. The Commonwealth was created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934. When Manuel L...
before the granting of Philippine independence. On May 5, 1934, the Philippines legislature passed an act setting the election ofconvention delegates. Governor General Frank Murphy
Frank Murphy
William Francis Murphy was a politician and jurist from Michigan. He served as First Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Eastern Michigan District , Recorder's Court Judge, Detroit . Mayor of Detroit , the last Governor-General of the Philippines , U.S...
designated July 10 as the election date, and the convention heldits inaugural session on July 30. The completed draft constitution was approved by the convention on February 8, 1935, approved by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
on March 23, and ratified by popular vote on May 14. The first election under the constitution was held on September 17, and on November 15, 1935 the Commonwealth government was inaugurated.
Commonwealth era (1935–1946)
It was planned that the period 1935–1946 would be devoted to the final adjustments required for a peaceful transition to full independence, a great latitude in autonomy being granted in the meantime. Instead there was war with JapanOn May 14, 1935, an election to fill the newly created office of President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth of the United States. The Commonwealth was created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934. When Manuel L...
was won by Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines...
(Nacionalista Party
Nacionalista Party
The Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907...
) and a Filipino government was formed on the basis of principles superficially similar to the US Constitution. The Commonwealth as established in 1935 featured a very strong executive, a unicameral national assembly
National Assembly of the Philippines
The National Assembly of the Philippines refers to the legislature of the Philippine Commonwealth from 1935 to 1941, and the Second Philippine Republic. The National Assembly of the Commonwealth of the Philippines was created under the 1935 Constitution, which served as the Philippines' fundamental...
, and a supreme court composed entirely of Filipinos for the first time since 1901. The new government embarked on an ambitious agenda of establishing the basis for national defense, greater control over the economy, reforms in education, improvement of transport, the colonization of the island of Mindanao, and the promotion of local capital and industrialization. The Commonwealth however, was also faced with agrarian unrest, an uncertain diplomatic and military situation in South East Asia, and uncertainty about the level of United States commitment to the future Republic of the Philippines.
In 1939–40, the Philippine Constitution was amended to restore a bicameral Congress, and permit the reelection of President Quezon, previously restricted to a single, six-year term.
During the Commonwealth years, Philippines sent one elected Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioners from the Philippines
From 1907 until 1946, the Philippines sent Resident Commissioners to the United States House of Representatives to represent the island state, which was a U.S. territory from 13 August 1898...
to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, as Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
currently does today.
Japanese occupation and World War II (1941–1945)
A few hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl HarborAttack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched air raids in several cities and US military installations in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
on December 8, and on December 10, the first Japanese troops landed in Northern Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
. Filipino pilot Captain Jesús A. Villamor
Jesus A. Villamor
Jesús Antonio Villamor was a Filipino pilot who fought the Japanese in World War II.-Early life and career:Villamor was one of seven children...
, leading a flight of three P-26 "Peashooter" fighters of the 6th Pursuit Squadron, distinguished himself by attacking two enemy formations of 27 planes each and downing a much-superior Japanese Zero
A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the , and also designated as the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen and Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter. The A6M was usually referred to by the...
, for which he was awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree...
. The two other planes in that flight, flown by Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
s César Basa
César Basa
César Fernando Basa was a Filipino pilot and hero of World War II. Born in 1915, he was one of the pioneer fighter pilots in the Philippine Air Force and the first Filipino casualty during World War II.-Death:...
and Geronimo Aclan were shot down.
General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
, commander of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), was forced to retreat to Bataan
Bataan
Bataan is a province of the Philippines occupying the whole of the Bataan Peninsula on Luzon. The province is part of the Central Luzon region. The capital of Bataan is Balanga City and it is bordered by the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga to the north...
. Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
was occupied by the Japanese on January 2, 1942. The fall of Bataan was on April 9, 1942 with Corregidor Island, at the mouth of Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
, surrendering on May 6.
The Commonwealth government by then had exiled itself to Washington, DC, upon the invitation of President Roosevelt; however many politicians stayed behind and collaborated with the occupying Japanese. The Philippine Army continued to fight the Japanese in a guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
war and were considered auxiliary units of the United States Army. Several Philippine military awards, such as the Philippine Defense Medal
Philippine Defense Medal
The Philippine Defense Medal is a decoration of the Republic of the Philippines which is awarded to commemorate the initial resistance against Japanese invasion between the dates of December 1941 and June 1942.The decoration was first created as ribbon in December, 1944, and a full-sized medal was...
, Independence Medal
Philippine Independence Medal
The Philippine Independence Medal is a military decoration of the Republic of the Philippines which was created by order of the Philippine Army Headquarters on July 3, 1946...
, and Liberation Medal
Philippine Liberation Medal
The Philippine Liberation Medal is a military award of the Republic of the Philippines which was created by an order of Commonwealth Army of the Philippines Headquarters on December 20, 1944...
, were awarded to both the United States and Philippine Armed Forces.
As the Japanese forces advanced, Manila was declared an open city to prevent it from destruction, meanwhile, the government was moved to Corregidor
Corregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...
. In March 1942, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
and President Quezon fled the country. The cruelty of the Japanese military occupation of the Philippines is legendary. Guerrilla units harassed the Japanese when they could, and on Luzon native resistance was strong enough that the Japanese never did get control of a large part of the island. Finally, in October 1944, McArthur had gathered enough additional troops and supplies to begin the retaking of the Philippines
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
, landing with Sergio Osmena
Sergio Osmeña
Sergio Osmeña y Suico was a Filipino politician who served as the 4th President of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was Vice President under Manuel L. Quezon, and rose to the presidency upon Quezon's death in 1944, being the oldest Philippine president to hold office at age 65...
who had assumed the Presidency after Quezon's death. The battles entailed long fierce fighting; some of the Japanese continued to fight until the official surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945.
After their landing, Filipino and American forces also undertook measures to suppress the Huk movement
Hukbalahap
The Hukbalahap , was the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines , formed in 1942 to fight the Japanese Empire's occupation of the Philippines during World War II. It fought a second war from 1946 to 1954 against the pro-Western leaders of their newly independent country...
, which was originally founded to fight the Japanese Occupation.
The Filipino and American forces removed local Huk governments and imprisoned many high-ranking members of the Philippine Communist Party. While these incidents happened, there was still fighting against the Japanese forces and, despite the American and Philippine measures against the Huk, they still supported American and Filipino soldiers in the fight against the Japanese.
Over a million Filipinos had been killed in the war, and many towns and cities, including Manila, were left in ruins. The final Japanese soldier to surrender was Hiroo Onoda
Hiroo Onoda
is a former Japanese army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and did not surrender until 1974, having spent almost 30 years holding out in the Philippines. He held the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army.-Early life:...
, in 1974.
Independence (1946)
Philippine independence finally came on July 4, 1946, with the signing of the Treaty of ManilaTreaty of Manila (1946)
The Treaty of Manila is a treaty of general relations signed on July 4, 1946 in Manila, capital of the Philippines. Parties to the treaty were the governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines...
between the governments of the United States and the Philippines. The treaty provided for the recognition of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and the relinquishment of American sovereignty over the Philippine Islands. From 1946 to 1961, Independence Day was observed on July 4. On 12 May 1962, President Macapagal issued Presidential Proclamation No. 28, proclaiming Tuesday, June 12, 1962 as a special public holiday throughout the Philippines. In 1964, Republic Act No. 4166 changed the date of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12 and renamed the July 4 holiday as Philippine Republic Day.
World War II veteran benefits
During World War II, over 200,000 Filipinos fought in defense of the United States against the Japanese in the Pacific theater of military operations, where more than half died. As a commonwealth of the United States before and during the war, Filipinos were legally American nationals. With American nationality, Filipinos were promised all the benefits afforded to those serving in the armed forces of the United States. In 1946, Congress passed the Rescission ActRescission Act of 1946
-Summary:Service before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, while such forces were in the service of the Armed Forces of the United States pursuant to the military order of the President dated July 26, 1941, including among such...
which stripped Filipinos of the benefits they were promised.
Since the passage of the Rescission Act, many Filipino veterans have traveled to the United States to lobby Congress for the benefits promised to them for their service and sacrifice. Over 30,000 of such veterans live in the United States today, with most being United States citizens. Sociologists introduced the phrase "Second Class Veterans" to describe the plight of these Filipino Americans. Beginning in 1993, numerous bills titled Filipino Veterans Fairness Act
Filipino Veterans Fairness Act
The Filipino Veterans Fairness Act is the name of a number of acts that have been introduced to the United States Congress in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate since the 103rd Congress in 1993. Since then, nearly every session of Congress has seen a new...
were introduced in Congress to return the benefits taken away from these veterans, only to die in committee. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...
, signed into law on February 17, 2009, included provisions to pay benefits to the 15,000 remaining veterans.
On January 6, 2011 Jackie Speier
Jackie Speier
Karen Lorraine Jacqueline "Jackie" Speier is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and the southwest quarter of San Francisco.She is also a former member of the California State...
(D-CA), U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 2008, introduced a bill seeking to make Filipino WW-II veterans eligible for the same benefits available to U.S. veterans. In a news conference to outline the bill, Speier estimated that approximately 50,000 Filipino veterans survive.
See also
- History of the PhilippinesHistory of the PhilippinesThe history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, who sighted Samar on March 16, 1521 and landed on Homonhon Island southeast of Samar...
- Philippine–American War
- Philippine CommissionPhilippine CommissionThe Philippine Commission was a body appointed by the President of the United States to exercise legislative and limited executive powers in the Philippines. It was first appointed by President William McKinley in 1901. Beginning in 1907, it acted as the upper house of a bicameral Philippine...
- Malolos CongressMalolos Congress-Further reading:*Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library...
- Philippine Malolos Congress election, 1898Philippine Malolos Congress election, 1898The Elections for the Malolos Congress, also known as the Revolutionary Congress were held in the Philippines from June 23 to September 10, 1898...
- Republic of NegrosRepublic of NegrosThe Republic of Negros was a short-lived revolutionary republic, and later, administrative division, which existed while the Philippines was under Spanish and American sovereignty. It took its name from Negros Island.-History:...
- Republic of ZamboangaRepublic of ZamboangaThe Republic of Zamboanga was a short-lived revolutionary republic, founded after the collapse of Spanish colonial rule in Zamboanga in 1899.-End of Spanish Occupation:...
- Moro RebellionMoro RebellionThe Moro Rebellion was an armed military conflict between Moro revolutionary groups in the Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan and the United States military which took place in the Philippines as early as between 1899 to 1913, following the Spanish-American War in 1898...
External links
- Law Against Treason, Sedition etc. The law framed by the American colonial government to prosecute Filipino revolutionaries.
- Philippine Life in Town and Country An American view on the life and social customs of the Filipinos during the American period.
- The Timeline of Philippine History: US Colonization