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| High Commissioner of the Philippines | |
|---|---|
| Alto Comisionado de Filipinas Kataas-taasang Komisyonado sa Pilipinas | |
.svg) | |
| Residence | High Commissioner's Residence |
| Appointer | President of the United States between 1935 and 1946 |
| Precursor | Governor-General of the Philippines |
| Formation | November 15, 1935 |
| First holder | Frank Murphy |
| Final holder | Paul V. McNutt |
| Abolished | July 4, 1946 |
| Succession | U.S Ambassador to the Philippines |
Thehigh commissioner to the Philippines was the personal representative of thepresident of the United States to theCommonwealth of the Philippines during the period 1935–1946. The office was created by theTydings–McDuffie Act of 1934, which provided for a period of transition from direct American rule to the complete independence of the islands on July 4, 1946. It replaced the office ofgovernor-general of the Philippines, who had direct executive authority. Under the commonwealth, executive power was held by an elected Filipino president. The executive power of the high commissioner was largely ceremonial, and its office is similar to that of an ambassador.
The office of high commissioner was held by:
Murphy had previously served as governor-general. Sayre's tenure was interrupted by theJapanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. McNutt became the firstUnited States ambassador to the Philippines afterPhilippine independence in 1946.
With the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth,Malacañang Palace was turned over to thepresident of the Philippines, necessitating a new home for the highest American government official in the Philippines. A new location was found along now-Roxas Boulevard and a High Commissioner's Residence was built. According to the book titledManila Americans by Lewis Gleeck. "On April 1, 1937, McNutt arrived (in Manila) with Mrs. McNutt and a sixteen-year-old daughter. Since the relinquishment of Malacañang, there had been no official residence for the High Commissioner, so (Paul) McNutt moved into El Nido, the sumptuous Dewey Boulevard residence of Attorney E.A. Perkins...".[3]
On January 2, 1942, as Japanese forces entered the city ofManila, four members of the high commissioner's staff, Elise Flahaven, George Gray, Virginia Hewlett and Margaret Pierce, lowered theAmerican flag that flew at the high commissioner's headquarters, burned it and buried its ashes to prevent its capture by the Japanese. On February 22, 1945, GeneralDouglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the Allied Forces in theSouthwest Pacific Area, again raised the flag at the high commissioner's headquarters after recapturing Manila.
The high commissioner's headquarters today houses the Americanembassy in the Philippines.
TheAmerican Residence in Baguio was built to be the summer home of the high commissioner, to replaceThe Mansion that was the governor-general's summer residence and that had been turned over to the president of the Philippines upon the inauguration of the commonwealth.[4][5]
