The continuing struggle under American and Japanese Occupation

AMERICAN INTRUSION AND COLONIALISM

1896-1897
Filipino autonomy battle that, after more than 300 a long time of Spanish colonial run the
show, uncovered the shortcoming of Spanish organization but fizzled to remove Spaniards from
the islands.
The Pact of Biak-na-Bato (1897) - the settlement brought a brief conclusion to the
Philippine Revolution. Aguinaldo and other progressive pioneers acknowledged oust in Hong
Kong and 400,000 pesos, furthermore Spanish guarantees of significant legislative changes, in
return for laying down their arms.

1898
In Hong Kong, Aguinaldo was told by U.S. diplomat Rounsenville Wildman that
Dewey needed him to return to the Philippines to continue the Filipino resistance.
o August 1898 – United States force occupied manila

o December 10 – Treaty of Paris signed by Spain and U.S. that ended the Spanish-
American war
o December 21 – President McKinley issued the Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation.

1899
The United States exercised formal colonial rule over the Philippines
o January 05 - Aguinaldo issued a counter-proclamation to McKinley's "Benevolence". He
warned that his government was prepared to fight any American attempt to forcibly take
over the country.
o January 20 - First Philippine commission also known as Schurman commission was set
up by U.S. Pres. William McKinley.
o February 04 (First shot of the war) - The Philippine-American War erupted when United
States troops fired on Philippine troops.
1900
In March 16, the second Philippine commission (Taft commission) was established by
U.S. Pres. William McKinley and headed William Howard Taft. It characterized the possible
freedom of the Filipinos.

1902
 o American forces suppressed a Filipino independence movement, and Congress passed the
Philippines Organic Act to establish civilian control.
o HENRY ALLEN COOPER (8 September 1850 - 1 March 1931) was a United States
Representative from Wisconsin, United States. He filed the Philippine Bill of 1902. That
is why it is also called the Cooper Act.

PHILIPPINE ORGANIC ACT (Philippine Bill of 1902 and Cooper Act)

It establishes a Bill of Rights for the Filipinos that ensured their rights to:
1. Live.
2. Obtain property.
3. Hone their religion.
4. Be subjected to handle.
5. Work out their obligations.
6. Appreciate compensations due to them.
7. Have flexibility of expressions.

1903
 While Filipino revolutionaries sought freedom and independent nationhood, U.S.
imperialism used the rest of the powers of the state against Filipino people.
The colonial state was inaugurated with a Repressive laws like the:
o Sedition Act – banned expression in support of Philippine Independence

o Banditary Act – criminalized ongoing resistance.

o Reconcentration Act – Authorize mass relocation of rural population.

William Howard

1903
Federalista Party
o Federalist Party refer to political parties that advocated federalism in the Philippines.
o Before the recognition of Philippine independence in 1946, several iterations advocated
the annexation of the Philippines as a U.S. state through Federalist Party.
o The Federalist Party was the first political party in the United States. Under Alexander

o Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801

1905 - 1907
 Nacionalista Party
o The Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in
Southeast Asia in general.
o It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since
its founding in 1907.
o It was the ruling party from

 1935- 1946
 1953- 1961
 1965- 1972

NACIONALISTA
PARTY
Manuel L. Quezon Sergio Osmeña

Woodrow
1912-1920
Francis Burton
Wilson Harrison
Democratic
Party
Democratic Party
o One of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States

o Main rival: The Republican Party.

Filipinization
o A nationalist movement and policy of local control in the Philippines.

o A policy of embracing native Philippine culture and control.

o Conversion to a form that reflects Filipino cultural influences.

o The spread of Philippine influence around the world.

1916
Jones Act
o Philippine Autonomy Act

o Federal law that regulates maritime commerce in the United States

o The Jones Act requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on ships that
are built, owned, and operated by United States citizens or permanent residents

1919
Declaration of Purpose
o Expressed the unbendable crave of the Filipino individuals to be free and paramount.
o Stated the inflexible desire of the Filipino people to be free and sovereign.

1934
Tydings- McDuffie Act
o The Philippine Independence Act

o United States federal law that established the process for the Philippines, then an
American colony, to become an independent country after a ten-year transition period.
 THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES

 The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the

administrative body that governed the Philippines
from 1935 to 1945.
 This was a preparation for independence from the
United States as provided for under the Philippine
Independence Act or more popularly known as the
Tydings - McDuffie Law
 Aside from a period of exile in the Second World
War from 1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied the
country. The Commonwealth era is the 10 years
transitional period in Philippine history from 1935
to 1945

1935 Constitution and its tabernacle

displayed
at Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon
City

The Commonwealth Era when the Japanese occupied the Philippines during World War II
 The Commonwealth era was interrupted when the Japanese occupied the Philippines
during World War II in January 2, 1942. Quezon and Osmeña were escorted by troops
from Manila to Corregidor, and later left for Australia prior to going to the U.S.
 The Commonwealth government, led by Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio S. Osmeña,
where they set up a government in exile, based at the Shoreham Hotel, in Washington,
D.C. Quezon died of tuberculosis while in exile and Osmeña took over as president.
 At the same time, the Japanese forces installed a puppet government in Manila headed by
Jose P. Laurel as president. This government is known as the Second Philippine Republic
 General Douglas MacArthur's army
landed on Leyte on October 20, 1944,
as well as the Philippine
Commonwealth troops

o After the war in the Philippines, the Commonwealth was restored and a one-year
transitional period in preparation for independence began. Congress convened in its first
President Manuel A. Roxas of the Philippines regular session on July 9, 1945. Elections
followed in April 1946 with Manuel Roxas winning as the first president of the
Independent Republic of the Philippines and Elpidio Quirino winning as vice-president.
o Jose Zulueta was speaker of the house, while Prospero Sanidad became speaker pro
Tempore. The first law of this congress, enacted as commonwealth act 672, organized the
central bank of the Philippines.
o In September 1945 the counter intelligence corps presented the people who were accused
of having collaborated with, or given aid to, the Japanese. Included were prominent
Filipinos who had been active in the puppet government that the Japanese had been
established.” A People’s Court" was created to investigate and decide on the issue.
o Amidst this sad state of affairs, the third commonwealth elections were held on April 23,
1946. Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas vied for the Presidency. Roxas won thus
becoming the last president of the Philippine Commonwealth. Roxas served as the
President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in a brief period.
o From his subsequent election on May 28, 1946 to July 4, 1946, the scheduled date of the
proclamation of Philippine Independence. Roxas prepared the groundwork for the advent
of a free and independent Philippines.
o The Commonwealth era formally ended when the United States granted independence to
the Philippines, as scheduled on July 4, 1946.
JAPANESE OCCUPATION AND WAR YEARS

1941

o December 08 - ten hours after the

attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii,
Japanese invades the Philippines and
attacked the Clark Air Base, a U.S.
military base in Philippines.

o December 22 - Japanese Troops landed

at the Lingayen Gulf, a gulf by the
provinces of Pangasinan and La Union,
and advances across central Luzon and
Northern Manila.

o December 26 - Proclamation
Making Manila an Open City advice by
President Quezon and General Douglas
MacArthur. This is an effort spare the
city and its inhabitants from damage and
harm.
o January 02 - Japanese
Troops occupied Manila for their plan
Greater East Asia War.
 o March 11 - General Douglas MacArthur was ordered out by President Franklin
Roosevelt, leaving his men at Corregidor, but he was reported to have said “I shall
return.”

o April 09 - the infamous Bataan Death March happened after the starving and sick
American and Filipino defenders of Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. An estimate of
7,000-10,000 soldiers died after an 84-mile, six days march from Mariveles to San
Fernando then to Capas.

o May 06 - U.S. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders all U.S. troops in the
Philippines to the Japanese. The island of Corregidor remained the last Allied stronghold
in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan

1942

o February - the Japanese issued Southern Development Bank

notes currency or as the Filipino locals called “Mickey mouse
money” because for them it has no value as the play money.

o March 29 - HUKBALAHAP (Hukbong Bayan

Laban Sa Hapon) was formed by the peasant
leaders. A guerilla army, who consists of mostly of
farmers, collected arms from civilians for
organized resistance against the Japanese.
1943
o October 14 - The third president of the Philippines, Jose P. Laurel is inaugurated for the
second Philippine Republic or commonly known as the puppet Republic. the Japanese
started using propaganda to gain the trust and confidence of Filipinos who refused to
cooperate with them.

1944
o September 21 - Planes from United States started bombing Manila

o October 20 - American troops led by General Douglas MacArthur landed onto the island
of Leyte and announced his return. The landings were accomplished massively with an
amphibious force of 700 vessels and 174,000 army and navy servicemen.
o October 20 - American troops led by General Douglas MacArthur landed onto the island
of Leyte and announced his return. The landings were accomplished massively with an
amphibious force of 700 vessels and 174,000 army and
navy servicemen.
o October 21-23 - the Americans engaged Japanese
forces in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Consider as the
biggest naval battle in World History, this historic
encounter almost destroyed the entire Japanese fleet
and rendered in incapable of further attack. The US
victory in the battle of Leyte Gulf is said to have
signaled the beginning of Philippine liberation from the
Japanese.
o December - The islands of Mindoro and Leyte were
cleared of Japanese.

1945

o January 9 - The American Troops surprised the

Japanese with Kamikaze pilots dove their planes in
Lingayen Gulf and destroying Japanese ships.
 o February 03 - Americans retaking Manila with the Allied forces and Guerillas. This
liberation took a month and left Manila in ruins.
o August 15 - The Japanese Imperial Army officially surrender in Baguio City.
o September 02 - The official liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese.

1946
o July 04 - Philippines celebrates its official independence.