Commonwealth of the Philippines | |||||||||||||
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| 1935–1942 1942–1945:Government-in-exile 1945–1946 | |||||||||||||
| Anthem: "The Philippine Hymn"[a] | |||||||||||||
 1939 map of the Philippines | |||||||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital and largest city | Manila[c] 14°35′45″N120°58′38″E / 14.59583°N 120.97722°E /14.59583; 120.97722 | ||||||||||||
| Official languages | |||||||||||||
| National language | Tagalog[6][d] | ||||||||||||
| Religion | None official Majority: Sunni Islam,Indigenous Philippine folk religions | ||||||||||||
| Government | Devolved presidentialdependency within a federal republic | ||||||||||||
| High Commissioner | |||||||||||||
• 1935–1937 | Frank Murphy | ||||||||||||
• 1937–1939 | Paul V. McNutt | ||||||||||||
• 1939–1942 | Francis Bowes Sayre Sr. | ||||||||||||
• 1942–1945 (in exile) | Harold L. Ickes | ||||||||||||
• 1945–1946 | Paul V. McNutt | ||||||||||||
| President | |||||||||||||
• 1935–1944 | Manuel L. Quezon | ||||||||||||
• 1944–1946 | Sergio Osmeña | ||||||||||||
• 1946 | Manuel Roxas | ||||||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||||||
• 1935–1944 | Sergio Osmeña | ||||||||||||
• 1946 | Elpidio Quirino | ||||||||||||
| Legislature |
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| Senate (1945–1946) | |||||||||||||
| House of Representatives (1945–1946) | |||||||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar,World War II | ||||||||||||
| November 15, 1935 | |||||||||||||
| March 12, 1942 | |||||||||||||
| February 27, 1945 | |||||||||||||
| July 4, 1946 | |||||||||||||
| October 22, 1946 | |||||||||||||
| Currency | |||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+08:00 (PST) | ||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Philippines | ||||||||||||
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TheCommonwealth of the Philippines (Spanish:Mancomunidad de Filipinas;[7][8]Tagalog:Komonwelt ng Pilipinas[9]) was anunincorporated territory andcommonwealth of theUnited States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following theTydings–McDuffie Act to replace theInsular Government of the Philippine Islands[10][11][12][13] and was designed as atransitional administration in preparation for full Philippine independence.[14] Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States.[15]
During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strongexecutive and asupreme court. Itslegislature, dominated by theNacionalista Party, was initially unicameral but later bicameral. In 1937, the government selectedTagalog – the language of the capitalManila and its surrounding provinces – as the basis of thenational language, although it would be many years before its usage became general.Women's suffrage was adopted, and theeconomy recovered to pre-Depression levels before theJapanese invasion of the islands in 1941. Aperiod of exile took place duringWorld War II from 1942 to 1945, whenJapan occupied the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth officially ended on July 4, 1946, as the Philippines attainedfull sovereignty as provided for in Article XVIII of the1935 Constitution.[16]
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was also known as the "Philippine Commonwealth",[17][18] or simply as "the Commonwealth". Its official name in Spanish, the other of the Commonwealth's two official languages, wasCommonwealth de Filipinas ([filiˈpinas]). The 1935 Constitution uses "the Philippines" as the country's short-form name throughout its provisions, and uses "the Philippine Islands" only to refer to pre-1935 status and institutions.[16] Under theInsular Government (1901–1935), both terms were official.[a][19] In 1937, Tagalog was declared to be the basis of a national language,[6] effective after two years. The country's official name translated into Tagalog would beKómonwélt ng Pilipinas ([pɪlɪˈpinas]).[20]
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The pre-1935 U.S. territorial administration, or Insular Government, was headed by aGovernor-General appointed by thePresident of the United States. In December 1932, theUnited States Congress passed theHare–Hawes–Cutting Act with the premise of grantingFilipinos independence. Provisions of the law included reserving several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports.[21][22] When it reached him for a possible signature, PresidentHerbert Hoover vetoed the Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act, but the United States Congress overrode Hoover's veto in 1933 and passed the law despite Hoover's objections.[23] The bill, however, was opposed by then-Philippine Senate PresidentManuel L. Quezon and was also rejected by thePhilippine Senate.[24]
This led to the creation and passing of theTydings–McDuffie Act[b] or the Philippine Independence Act, which allowed the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines with a ten-year period of peaceful transition to full independence – the date of which was to be 4 July after the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Commonwealth.[21][25][26]
A Constitutional Convention was convened inManila on July 30, 1934, and on February 8, 1935, the 1935 Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines was approved by the Convention by a vote of 177 to 1. The Constitution was approved by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt on March 25, 1935, and ratified byplebiscite on May 14, 1935.[27][28]
On September 16, 1935,[10]presidential elections were held. Candidates included former presidentEmilio Aguinaldo,Philippine Independent ChurchObispo MáximoGregorio Aglipay, and others. Manuel L. Quezon andSergio Osmeña of theNacionalista Party won the presidency and vice-presidency, respectively.[21]
The Commonwealth government was inaugurated on the morning of November 15, 1935, in ceremonies on the steps of theLegislative Building in Manila. The event was attended by a crowd of some 300,000 people.[10]
The new Commonwealth government embarked on ambitious nation-building policies in preparation for economic and political independence.[21] These included national defense (such as theNational Defense Act of 1935, which organizedconscription in the country), greater control over theeconomy, the perfection of democratic institutions, education reforms, the improvement of transport, the promotion of local capital, and industrialization.
However, several uncertainties proved to be major problems, especially the diplomatic and military situation inSoutheast Asia, the level of U.S. commitment to the eventualRepublic of the Philippines, and economic factors due to theGreat Depression. The situation was further complicated by the presence of agrarian unrest and power struggles between Osmeña and Quezon,[21] especially after Quezon was permitted re-election after a six-year term.[citation needed]
A proper evaluation of the policies'[clarification needed] effectiveness or failure is difficult due to the Japanese invasion andoccupation during World War II.[29]
Imperial Japan launched a surpriseattack on the Philippines on the morning of December 8, 1941. The Commonwealth government drafted thePhilippine Army into theU.S. Army Forces Far East, which would resist Japanese occupation. Manila was declared anopen city to prevent its destruction,[30] and occupied by the Japanese on January 2, 1942.[31] Meanwhile, fighting against the Japanese continued on theBataan Peninsula,Corregidor, andLeyte until the final surrender of joint United States-Philippine forces in May 1942.[32]
Quezon and Osmeña were escorted by troops from Manila toCorregidor, and later evacuated to Australia prior to heading for the mainland United States, where they set up a government-in-exile headquartered at theShoreham Hotel inWashington, D.C.[33] This government participated in thePacific War Council as well as theDeclaration by United Nations. Quezon fell ill withtuberculosis and died from it, with Osmeña succeeding him as president.[34]
The main general headquarters of thePhilippine Commonwealth Army (PCA), located at the military station inErmita, Manila, was closed down on December 24, 1941. It was seized by Imperial Japanese Imperial troops when they occupied the capital on January 2, 1942. Elsewhere in the country, other military posts of the PCA inLuzon, theVisayas, andMindanao engaged in military action against the Japanese.[citation needed]
Meanwhile, the Japanese military organized theSecond Philippine Republic, headed by PresidentJosé P. Laurel. This pro-Japanesepuppet state proved very unpopular.[35]
Resistance to Japanese occupation continued across the Philippines. This included theHukbalahap (from the Tagalog acronym for "People's Army Against the Japanese"), which consisted of 30,000 armed men and controlled much ofCentral Luzon;[35] they attacked both Japanese and other non-Huk guerrillas.[36] Remnants of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, as well as remnant Americans, also successfully fought the Japanese throughguerrilla warfare.[37] These efforts eventually liberated all but 12 of the country's then 48provinces.[35]
GeneralDouglas MacArthur's armylanded on Leyte on October 20, 1944,[21] as did the Philippine Commonwealth troops who arrived in otheramphibious landings. ThePhilippine Constabulary was placed on active service with thePhilippine Commonwealth Army and re-established from October 28, 1944, to June 30, 1946, during theAllied liberation and the post–World War II era. Fighting continued in remote corners of the Philippines until Japan's official surrender in August 1945, which was signed on September 2 inTokyo Bay. Estimates of Filipino war dead reached one million, and Manila was extensively damaged when Japanese marines refused to vacate the city despite orders from the Japanese High Command.[38] After thewar in the Philippines, the Commonwealth was restored, and a one-year transitional period began in preparation for independence. Elections followed in April 1946, withManuel Roxas winning as the first President of the independentRepublic of the Philippines andElpidio Quirino winning as vice-president.[citation needed]
The Commonwealth was dissolved when theU.S. recognized Philippine independence on July 4, 1946, as scheduled.[39][40] However, the economy remained dependent on the U.S.[41] due to theBell Trade Act, otherwise known as the Philippine Trade Act, which a precondition for receiving war rehabilitation grants from the United States.[42]
During the Commonwealth period,tenant farmers held grievances often rooted in debt caused by thesharecropping system, as well as a dramatic population boom which further strained tenant farmers' families.[43] Anagrarian reform program was initiated by the Commonwealth government, but its success was hampered by ongoing clashes between tenants and landowners.[citation needed]
An example of class conflict was the violence instigated byBenigno Ramos through hisSakdalista movement,[44] which advocated tax reductions, land reform, the breakup of large estates orhaciendas, and the cutting of American ties. His uprising, which occurred in Central Luzon in May 1935, claimed about a hundred lives.[citation needed]
As per the 1935 Constitution, the Commonwealth had two official languages: English and Spanish.[4][5] Due to the diverse number ofPhilippine languages, a provision calling for the "development and adoption of a common national language based on the existing native dialects" was drafted into the 1935 Constitution.[45] In 1936, the National Assembly enacted Commonwealth Act No. 184, creating theSurián ng Wikang Pambansà (National Language Institute). This body was initially composed of President Quezon and six other members from variousethnic groups. In 1937, deliberations by theSurián had resulted in its selection ofTagalog as the basis for the national language.[45] This was made official on December 30, 1937, in an executive order which became effective two years later.[6]
In 1940, the government authorized the creation of adictionary and grammar for the language. In that same year, Commonwealth Act 570 was passed, allowingFilipino to become an official language upon independence.[45]
The cash economy of the Commonwealth was mostly agriculture-based. Products included abaca, coconuts and coconut oil, sugar, and timber.[46] Numerous other crops and livestock were grown for local consumption by the Filipino people. Other sources for foreign income included the spin-off from money spent at American military bases on the Philippines such as the naval base atSubic Bay andClark Air Base (with U.S. Army airplanes there as early as 1919), both on the island ofLuzon.[citation needed]
The performance of the economy was initially good despite challenges from various agrarian uprisings. Taxes collected from a robust coconut industry helped boost the economy by funding infrastructure and other development projects. However, growth was halted due to the outbreak of World War II.[46]
In 1939, a census of the Philippines was taken and determined that it had a population of 16,000,303; of these 15.7 million were counted as "Brown", 141.8 thousand as "Yellow", 50.5 thousand as "Mixed", 29.1 thousand as "Negro", 19.3 thousand as "White", and under 1 thousand "Other".[47] In 1941, the estimated population of the Philippines reached 17,000,000; there were 117,000Chinese, 30,000Japanese, and 9,000Americans.[48]English was spoken by 26.3% of the population, according to the 1939 Census.[49]Spanish, after English overtook it beginning in the 1920s, became a language for the elite and in government; it was later banned during the Japanese occupation.[50]
Estimated numbers of speakers of the dominant languages:[45]
The Commonwealth had its own constitution, which remained effective after independence until 1973,[51] and was self-governing[16] although foreign policy and military affairs would be under the responsibility of the United States, and Laws passed by the legislature affecting immigration, foreign trade, and the currency system had to be approved by the United States president.[15] Despite maintaining ultimate sovereignty, in some ways the US Government treated the Commonwealth as a sovereign state, and the Philippines sometimes acted in a state capacity in international relations.[52]
During the 1935–41 period, the Commonwealth of the Philippines featured a very strongexecutive, a unicameralNational Assembly,[53][54] and aSupreme Court,[55] all composed entirely of Filipinos, as well as an electedResident Commissioner to theUnited States House of Representatives (asPuerto Rico does today). An AmericanHigh Commissioner and an AmericanMilitary Advisor,[39] Douglas MacArthur headed the latter office from 1937 until the advent of World War II in 1941, holding the military rank ofField Marshal of the Philippines. After 1946, the rank of field marshal disappeared from the Philippine military.
During 1939 and 1940, after an amendment in the Commonwealth's Constitution, a bicameralCongress,[56] consisting of a Senate,[56] and of aHouse of Representatives,[56] was restored, replacing the National Assembly.[56]
The colors indicate the political party or coalition of each president at Election Day.
| # | President | Took office | Left office | Party | Vice President | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manuel L. Quezon | November 15, 1935 | August 1, 1944[c] | Nacionalista | Sergio Osmeña | 1 | |
| 2 | |||||||
| 2 | Sergio Osmeña | August 1, 1944 | May 28, 1946 | Nacionalista | vacant | ||
| 3 | Manuel Roxas | May 28, 1946 | July 4, 1946[d] | Liberal | Elpidio Quirino | 3 | |
In 1935 Quezon won the Philippines'first national presidential election under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. He obtained nearly 68% of the vote against his two main rivals, Emilio Aguinaldo and BishopGregorio Aglipay.[57] Quezon was inaugurated on November 15, 1935.[58] He is recognized as the secondPresident of the Philippines.[59] WhenManuel L. Quezon was inaugurated President of the Philippines in 1935, he became the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines since Emilio Aguinaldo and theMalolos Republic in 1898. However, in January 2008, Congressman Rodolfo Valencia ofOriental Mindoro filed a bill seeking instead to declare GeneralMiguel Malvar as the second Philippine President, who took control over all Filipino forces after American soldiers captured President Emilio Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901.[60]
Quezon had originally been barred by the Philippine constitution from seeking re-election. However, in 1940, constitutional amendments were ratified allowing him to seek re-election for a fresh term ending in 1943.[61] In the1941 presidential elections, Quezon was re-elected over former SenatorJuan Sumulong with nearly 82% of the vote.[62]
In a notable humanitarian act, Quezon, in cooperation with U.S.High CommissionerPaul V. McNutt, facilitated the entry into the Philippines ofJewish refugees fleeingfascist regimes in Europe. Quezon was also instrumental in promoting a project to resettle the refugees in Mindanao.[63]
TheJapanese invasion of the Philippines began with aninvasion of Batan Island on December 8, 1941. When advancing Japanese forces threatened Manila, President Quezon, other senior officials of the Commonwealth government, and senior American military commanders relocated toCorregidor island, and Manila was declared anopen city. On February 20, Quezon, his family, and senior officials of the Commonwealth government were evacuated from the island by submarine on the first leg of what came to be a relocation of theCommonwealth government in exile to the U.S.[34]
Quezon suffered fromtuberculosis and spent his last years in a "cure cottage" inSaranac Lake, NY, where he died on August 1, 1944.[64] He was initially buried inArlington National Cemetery. His body was later carried by theUSS Princeton[65] and re-interred in Manila at theManila North Cemetery in 1979, his remains were moved toQuezon City within the monument at theQuezon Memorial Circle.[66]
Osmeña became president of the Commonwealth on Quezon's death in 1944.[67] He returned to the Philippines the same year with GeneralDouglas MacArthur and the liberation forces.[68] After the war Osmeña restored the Commonwealth government and the various executive departments. He continued the fight for Philippine independence.[citation needed]
For the presidential election of 1946 Osmeña refused to campaign, saying that the Filipino people knew of his record of 40 years of honest and faithful service.[69] Nevertheless, he was defeated by Manuel Roxas, who won 54% of the vote and became the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines.[67]
Roxas served as the President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in a brief period, from his subsequent election on May 28, 1946, to July 4, 1946, the scheduled date of the proclamation of Philippine Independence.[70] Roxas prepared the groundwork for the advent of a free and independent Philippines, assisted by the Congress (reorganized May 25, 1946), with SenatorJosé Avelino as the Senate President and CongressmanEugenio Pérez as theHouse of Representatives Speaker.[71] On June 3, 1946, Roxas appeared for the first time before thejoint session of the Congress to deliver his firststate of the nation address. Among other things, he told the members of the Congress the grave problems and difficulties the Philippines were set to face and reported on his special trip to the U.S. – the approval for independence.[72]
On June 21, he reappeared in another joint session of the Congress and urged the acceptance of two important laws passed by the U.S. Congress on April 30, 1946, regarding the Philippine lands. They are thePhilippine Rehabilitation Act and thePhilippine Trade Act, which subjected the Philippine economy to continued American control.[73][74] Both recommendations were accepted by the Congress, after elected Congressmen from the leftist Democratic Alliance and Nacionalistas were denied the right to take their seats to vote against them.[75]
Officials of the Commonwealth of the Philippines – Funcionarios del Commonwealth de Filipinas
This Proclamation shall be effective upon its promulgation at Manila, Philippine Islands, on November 15, 1935, by the Secretary of War of the United States of America, who is hereby designated as my representative for that purpose.
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