Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Thirty years after the American takeover of the Philippines, the U.S.
Congress began seriously considering the possibility of independence for the
Philippines. This was partly due to the work of the Filipino independence
missions which kept the independence issue alive in the U.S. Ever since the
American takeover; Filipinos had sought independence from the U.S., using
various means to gain recognition. Manuel Luis Quezon was one Filipino who
had fought against American rule, first as an officer in Aguinaldo’s army.
In 1933 the U.S. Congress passed the Hare-Haws Cutting Bill which
provided for a ten-year transition period, during which time the Philippines
would be virtually autonomous, save for financial matters, coinage, duties,
and foreign relations. To represent the U.S. president in the Philippines would
be a high commissioner, but all bills passed by the Philippines encroaching
on the matters still in the hands of the U.S. had to be approved by the U.S.
president. Free trade, which had been imposed on the Philippines by the
Americans in 1909, would be phased out with the gradual imposition of
duties. U.S. Pres. Herbert Hoover voted the bill due to its imperfections and
weaknesses, but the U.S. Congress passed it over his veto. Sergio Osmeña
and Manuel Roxas, who comprised an independence mission lobbying for
independence in the U.S at that time, would get the credit for bringing the
independence legislation back home, but Quezon fought agianst it. He went
to the U.S. to try to block it, but failed. The honor of garnering the legislation
fell on Osmeña’s Roxas’ shoulders, and Quezon bitterly opposed the act.
Quezon won the battle, and the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act was rejected
in the halls of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives. Quezon
went to the U.S. try to get a better bill, but was not very successful for the
basic points of the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act was passed as the Tydings-
McDuffie Act which Quezon, purportedly the victor in the independence.
Struggle brought home.
Quezon was a skilled politician, but he was known for his temper and
emotional outbursts, accompanied by appropriate Spanish curses and flaring
nostrils. He was notorious for his many and varied love affairs, but he was
passionate and charismatic leader. He married his first cousin, Aurora
Aragon, in 1919, with whom he had three children. Because of his stressful
political life, he contracted tuberculosis which would afflict him throughout
the Commonwealth years and eventually cause his death in 1944.
Policies of Commonwealth
The Philippine Flag was allowed to be flown, but as a sign that the
Philippines was not yet independent, the U.S. flag had to be flown above it.
All Commonwealth officials and employees had to take their oath of
allegiance to the U.S. before they took their oath of allegiance to the
Commonwealth. Representing the president of the United States, a U.S. high
commissioner replaced the governor-general of the pre-Commonwealth
period. The last governor general, Frank Murphy, became the first high
commissioner.
7. The poor and weak would not be oppressed and government policy
would be to make the poor rich and to provide relief for the needy.
There was no time for bickering and disunity; the government should
work as one, following its leader, Quezon. He declared that there would be
more government less politics, and that immediate and decisive action was
needed. By the end of the 6th year, however, war in the Pacific had broken
out and Quezon would not be able to carry out all the dreams he had for the
country.
To carry out his plans for the country, Quezon had seven departments
in the executive branch, and he planned to curtail the powers of the National
Assembly so that it would work more smoothly with the president.
Quezon felt that the National Assembly should work together with the
executive branch, rather than serve as an independent check and balance as
in the U.S. Even before the Commonwealth was inaugurated, Quezon had
made clear that he preferred a legislature with a figurehead Speaker, clipped
of the powers the Speaker traditionally held.
National Defense
Economic Policies
Ten years was a short time to achieve this; however Under the
Tydings-McDuffie Act, gradual levying of duties would begin in 1941, such
that by 1946, the scheduled date for the independence, duties would be 100
percent. Faced with these problems, Quezon worked on developing and
diversifying local industries, increasing local consumption, improving
transportation and communication, and seeking and other markets, but time
was short, and incentives and funds were lacking. Furthermore, sugar and
tobacco interests the free-trade relationship with the U.S.
Social Justice
Government Reform
The first census under Filipino administration was held in 1938, and the
women’s right to vote was formally recognized in a nation plebiscite. The
National Assembly virtually became a rubber stamp for Quezon’s policies
(although it did have its own stand on many issues), and government
appointments were all made with Quezon’s approval or at his behest Quezon
further worked to unite some of the political factions to produce what he
called a “partyless democracy.” As international conditions deteriorated
because of German, Italian, and Japanese militarism and the outbreak of war,
Quezon asked for and was granted emergency powers by the National
Assembly. To some Americans, Quezon was becoming a dictator as
totalitarianism rose in various parts of the world. Quezon defended his
additional powers; by saying emergency conditions were already being felt in
the Philippines, to which Roosevelt acceded.
Foreign Policies
Relations with the U.S. focused manly on resolving trade issues and
the expiration of free trade, and military assistance to the defense plan as
discussed above. Although the Commonwealth was autonomous in almost all
fields, the U.S. government still stood watching over Quezon to ensure that
his actions were consistent with the responsibility, interests and dignity of
the U.S. The U.S. was still sovereign, and could, if it perceived necessary,
take steps to meet is obligations to protect its own interests and those of the
Philippines. In this respect, friction was bound to erupt. This friction,
however, tended to be relatively minor, and the relationship between the two
countries was generally harmonious.
The relationship with the U.S. regarding legislation and reports was
between Quezon and President Roosevelt, but for other matters, it was
between Quezon and the U.S. high commissioner to the Philippines. Quezon
got along with the first two U.S. high commissioners, Frank Murphy and Paul
V. Mcnutt, although the two did not fully agree with all of Quezon’s policies.
The third high commissioner, however, Francis B. Sayre, did not sympathize
with Quezon’s one-man rule and disagreed.
Chinese control over rice and food distribution and sales, for example,
provoked outcries after natural calamities when merchants raised their
prices while controlling supply. This prompted the government to create the
National Rice and Corn Corporation to try to shift the distribution and sale of
rice to the government.
Because of Chinese and Japanese control of the retail trade and the
increasing number of Chinese and Japanese immigrants, the Commonwealth
government sought to control immigration into the Philippines. In 1940 the
National Assembly of the Commonwealth passed an immigration act-an
American immigration expert helped in drafting the bill-which limited
immigration from any country to 500 a year. The Japanese and Chinese
protested and made threats, but an assembly passed the bill anyway. Since
the bill bordered on foreign relations, it had to be sent o resident Roosevelt
who approved the bill.
The 1935 Constitution fixed the term of the president only six years
without reelection. Quezon floated the idea of amending the constitution to
allow for a four-year term with reelection, so that the maximum term for any
one president would be eight years. Quezon also suggested to the National
Assembly that the constitution be amended to create a bicameral legislature
rather than keep the unicameral system.
Assessment