Everything about The Commonwealth Of The Philippines totally explained
The
Commonwealth of the Philippines was the political designation of the
Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a
commonwealth with the
United States. Before 1935, the Philippines was an
insular area with non-commonwealth status, and before that, it had been a
U.S. territory. which was promised through the Philippine Autonomy Act or
Jones Law.
It marked the end of the colonial eras as well as the transition of the nomenclature of the Philippines from the plural
"Las Islas Filipinas" and "Philippine Islands" of the Spanish and American colonial periods, to the singular, "Philippines", which is a sign of unity, sovereignty, and national identity.
Structure
The Commonwealth had its own constitution, which remained effective until
1973, and was self-governing although foreign policy and military affairs would be under the responsibility of the United States, and certain legislation required the approval of the American president.
It featured a very strong
executive, a unicameral
National Assembly, and a
Supreme Court, all composed entirely of Filipinos, as well as an elected
Resident Commissioner to the
United States House of Representatives (as
Puerto Rico does today). An American
High Commissioner and an American
Military Advisor,
History
Creation
In December 1932, the
United States Congress passed the
Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act with the premise of granting Filipinos independence. Provisions of the bill included reserving several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports. It was vetoed by President
Herbert Hoover but the American Congress overrode his veto in 1933 and passed the bill. The bill, however, was opposed by the then Philippine Senate President Manuel L. Quezon and was also rejected by the
Philippine Senate. and was occupied by the Japanese on
January 2 1942. Meanwhile, battles against the Japanese continued in
Bataan,
Corregidor, and
Leyte until the final surrender of United States-Philippine forces on May 1942.
Quezon and Osmeña were escorted by troops to Corregidor and later left for the United States. There, they set up a government in exile, which participated in the
Pacific War Council as well as the
Declaration by United Nations. During exile, Quezon became ill with tuberculosis, and eventually died. Osmeña later replaced him as president.
Meanwhile, the Japanese military organized a new government in the Philippines known as the
Second Philippine Republic, which was headed by President
José P. Laurel. This government ended up being unpopular.
The resistance continued in the Philippines. This included the
Hukbalahap ("People's Army Against the Japanese"), which consisted of 30,000 armed people and controlled much of
Central Luzon. However, the
economy remained dependent to the U.S.. This was due to the
Bell Trade Act, otherwise known as the Philippine Trade Act, which was a precondition for receiving war rehabilitation grants from the United States.
Policies
Uprisings and agrarian reform
At the time,
tenant farmers held grievances often rooted to debt caused by the
sharecropping system, as well as by the dramatic increase in population, which added economic pressure to the tenant farmers' families. As a result, an
agrarian reform program was initiated by the Commonwealth. However, success of the program was hampered by ongoing clashes between tenants and landowners.
An example of these clashes includes one initiated by
Benigno Ramos through his
Sakdalista movement, which advocated tax reductions, land reforms, the breakup of the large estates or
haciendas, and the severing of American ties. The uprising, which occurred in Central Luzon on May, 1935, claimed about a hundred lives.
National language
Due to the diverse number
Philippine languages, a program for the "development and adoption of a common national language based on the existing native dialects" was drafted in the 1935 Philippine constitution.
Mindanao
The Commonwealth also had a policy involving the colonization of
Mindanao.
Economy
The economy of the Commonwealth was mostly agricultural based. Products included abaca, coconuts and coconut oil, sugar, and timber.
Demographics
In 1941, the estimated population of the Philippines reached 17,000,000 while
Manila's population was 684,000. The number of
Chinese rose to 117,000. There were also 30,000
Japanese, with 20,000 living in
Davao, and 9,000
Americans.
English was spoken by 27% of the population, while
Spanish was spoken by only 3%.
The following is the estimated number of speakers of the dominant languages:
- Cebuano: 4,620,685
- Tagalog: 3,068,565
- Ilocano: 2,353,518
- Hiligaynon: 1,951,005
- Waray: 920,009
- Kapampangan: 621,455
- Pangasinan: 573,752
List of Presidents
The colors indicate the political party or coalition of each President at Election Day.
1 Died due to tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, New York.
² End of Commonwealth government, independent Republic inaugurated.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Commonwealth Of The Philippines'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://commonwealth_of_the_philippines.totallyexplained.com">Commonwealth of the Philippines Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
