Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Tydings, McDuffie Act received approval on the 24th of March 1934. This legislation established a ten-year transition period for the Commonwealth of the Philippines to prepare for full independence. A Constitutional Convention convened in Manila on the 30th of July 1934. Delegates drafted a new constitution that would replace the previous Insular Government structure. The convention approved the document by a vote of 177 to 1 on the 8th of February 1935. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Constitution into law on the 25th of March 1935. Filipino voters ratified the charter during a plebiscite held on the 14th of May 1935. Presidential elections took place on the 16th of September 1935. Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña won the presidency and vice-presidency respectively under the Nacionalista Party banner. The government officially inaugurated its operations on the 15th of November 1935. A crowd of approximately 300,000 people gathered at the Legislative Building in Manila for the ceremony.
Ambitious nation-building policies emerged immediately after the 1935 inauguration. The National Defense Act of 1935 organized conscription within the country. Economic reforms aimed to perfect democratic institutions and improve transport infrastructure. Education reforms were implemented alongside efforts to promote local capital. Industrialization projects sought to reduce dependence on foreign imports. Agrarian unrest plagued the countryside as tenant farmers struggled with debt from sharecropping systems. Benigno Ramos led the Sakdalista movement which advocated tax reductions and land reform. His uprising occurred in Central Luzon in May 1935 and claimed about one hundred lives. The economy recovered to pre-Depression levels before the Japanese invasion began in 1941. In 1937, Tagalog was selected as the basis for a national language. This decision became effective two years later through an executive order dated the 30th of December 1937. The National Language Institute drafted a dictionary and grammar for the new standard by 1940. Commonwealth Act No. 184 created this body initially composed of President Quezon and six other members.
Imperial Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines on the morning of the 8th of December 1941. Manila was declared an open city to prevent destruction but fell to Japanese forces on the 2nd of January 1942. Fighting continued on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor until the final surrender in May 1942. Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña were evacuated from Corregidor via submarine on the 20th of February 1942. They relocated first to Australia then to Washington D.C. where they established a government-in-exile at the Shoreham Hotel. This administration participated in the Pacific War Council and signed the Declaration by United Nations. Quezon suffered from tuberculosis during his exile and died on the 1st of August 1944. He spent his final years in a cure cottage located in Saranac Lake, New York. Sergio Osmeña succeeded him as president while the war continued elsewhere. The main headquarters of the Philippine Commonwealth Army closed down on the 24th of December 1941. It was seized by Imperial Japanese troops when they occupied the capital.
Manuel L. Quezon won nearly 68% of the vote in the 1935 presidential election against Emilio Aguinaldo and Gregorio Aglipay. Constitutional amendments ratified in 1940 allowed him to seek re-election for a fresh term ending in 1943. He defeated former Senator Juan Sumulong with nearly 82% of the vote in the 1941 elections. Quezon facilitated entry into the Philippines for Jewish refugees fleeing fascist regimes in Europe. His humanitarian act included a project to resettle these refugees in Mindanao. After his death in 1944, Sergio Osmeña assumed the presidency without campaigning for the 1946 election. Osmeña returned to the Philippines the same year with General Douglas MacArthur and liberation forces. Manuel Roxas won the 1946 presidential election with 54% of the vote. He became the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines. Roxas served from the 28th of May 1946 until the 4th of July 1946 when independence was proclaimed. Elpidio Quirino won the vice-presidency alongside Roxas.
Resistance to Japanese occupation continued across the entire archipelago despite military collapse. The Hukbalahap movement consisted of 30,000 armed men who controlled much of Central Luzon. They attacked both Japanese forces and other non-Huk guerrilla groups. Remnants of the Philippine Commonwealth Army fought alongside American troops through guerrilla warfare. These efforts eventually liberated all but twelve of the country's forty-eight provinces. General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte on the 20th of October 1944. Philippine Commonwealth troops arrived during subsequent amphibious landings. Fighting continued in remote corners of the Philippines until Japan surrendered officially in August 1945. Estimates of Filipino war dead reached one million people. Manila suffered extensive damage when Japanese marines refused to vacate the city. The Philippine Constabulary was placed on active service between the 28th of October 1944 and the 30th of June 1946. A one-year transitional period began after the war ended to prepare for full independence.
The Commonwealth dissolved when the United States recognized Philippine independence on the 4th of July 1946. This date marked the scheduled end of the ten-year transition period outlined in the Tydings, McDuffie Act. However, economic dependence on the U.S. remained due to the Bell Trade Act. Also known as the Philippine Trade Act, this law served as a precondition for receiving war rehabilitation grants from Washington. Manuel Roxas appeared before Congress on the 3rd of June 1946 to deliver his first state of the nation address. He reported on grave problems facing the new republic including approval for independence. On June 21, he urged acceptance of two important laws passed by the U.S. Congress on the 30th of April 1946. These were the Philippine Rehabilitation Act and the Philippine Trade Act which subjected the economy to continued American control. Elections followed in April 1946 with Manuel Roxas winning as president and Elpidio Quirino as vice-president. The Commonwealth officially ceased operations upon the transfer of sovereignty.
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Common questions
When did the Commonwealth of the Philippines officially begin operations?
The government officially inaugurated its operations on the 15th of November 1935. A crowd of approximately 300,000 people gathered at the Legislative Building in Manila for the ceremony.
Who won the presidential election for the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935?
Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña won the presidency and vice-presidency respectively under the Nacionalista Party banner. They defeated Emilio Aguinaldo and Gregorio Aglipay with nearly 68% of the vote.
What happened to the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II?
Imperial Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines on the morning of the 8th of December 1941. Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña were evacuated from Corregidor via submarine on the 20th of February 1942 to establish a government-in-exile.
Why did the Commonwealth of the Philippines dissolve in 1946?
The Commonwealth dissolved when the United States recognized Philippine independence on the 4th of July 1946. This date marked the scheduled end of the ten-year transition period outlined in the Tydings, McDuffie Act.
How long was the transition period established by the Tydings, McDuffie Act for the Commonwealth of the Philippines?
This legislation established a ten-year transition period for the Commonwealth of the Philippines to prepare for full independence. The period began after the Constitutional Convention approved the document on the 8th of February 1935.