Nation & States 1872 - 1913 IV

The Philippine-American War

Nation & States 1872 - 1913 IV
The Philippine-American War

- Described by the United States as the first Vietnam war due to its brutality
and severity
- Death toll according to PAWCI (Philippine-American War Centennial
Initiative)
- Luzon and Visayas : 22,000 Soldiers & half a million civilians
- Mindanao : 100,000 Muslims
- Causes of deaths aside from the crossfire:
- Famine
- Cholera epidemic (137,505)
- Philippine Insurrection ended at July 1902
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

McKinley’s Benevolent Assimilation

-the American promise to train Filipinos in democratic governance until

they were “ready” to govern themselves

Insular Government (1901-1935) - Commonwealth (1935-1946)

The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

Institutional Pillars of the Colonial State Building:

● Professional civil service

● Public education
● Formation and training of a Philippine Constabulary
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

Filipinization

- Implemented by the new

governor-general in the late 1912,
Francis Burton Harrison
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

Filipinization

- One of Harrison’s orders was to curtail American executive power

especially on the local and rural areas
- To minimize opposition from American bureaucrats he encourage many to
resign by cutting executive salaries
- Then gave the Nacionalistas (led by Quezon and Osmena) a free hand in
determining local and provincial appointments
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

Filipinization

- In 1916 the US gave its stamp approval to the Filipinization with the
Philippine Autonomy Act, a.k.a Jones Law
- The Law abolished the Philippine Commision and passed on its
remaining legislative functions to the upper house of the bicameral
legislature
- Then created the Council of State “to harmonize the executive and
legislative departments
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

“It will now never be so … for an executive to ride ruthlessly over the person
he is sent here to given, without due regard for their sentiments and due
consideration of their wishes.”

- Francis Burton Harisson

The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

Philippine Commonwealth

- Upon numerous attempts from the American government to restrain

filipinization, the last governor-general to have governed the Philippines is
Leonard Wood (1921-1926), under the presidency of Republican Warren
Harding
- In March 1934, being unable to find a governor-general to represent
Washington in the Philippines the Philippine political leaders lobbied to
hasten its self-government.
-
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

Philippine Commonwealth

Washington responded with the Tydings-McDuffie Act, a.k.a Philippine

Independence act

- The administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 - 1946
- The 10-year transitional commonwealth of the Philippines, with the
indepence scheduled for

Under the Commonwealth Constitution, executive-legislative configuration was

retained, with a single National Assembly and a popularly elected president and
vice president
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946
Politics and the Philippines Assembly

Criticism on Filipinization -

“Filipinization produced a political system directed by indigenous leaders but failed to

provide practical methods for contesting or transforming the landed elites conventional
economic values … Mass education created literacy rates … , but neglected to supply
adequate roots for upward mobility. More disturbing still was the demographic outcome of
efficient public-health programs. Between 1903-1939, the archipelago’s population soared
from seven to approx. sixteen million. Productivity and diversification, unfortunately did
not keep pace”

- David Sturtevant (Popular Uprisings in the Philippines), 1976

The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946 II
World War II and the Second Republic
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946 II
World War II and the Second Republic

December 8, 1941, within hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor the Japanese
launched an air raid on military facilities in the Philippines.

Filipino-American forces resisted the invasion but were eventually outnumber

General Douglas MacArthur retreated to Australia, vowing to return to liberate

the Philippines.

Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmena and a number of their staff were ferried to
Australia and hence to the United States to establish a government in exile
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946 II
World War II and the Second Republic

Question:

Did the Commonwealth end upon the arrival of the Japanese

forces?
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946 II
World War II and the Second Republic

As per most Philippine historians observations the Japanese occupation

represented continuity with Quezon’s commonwealth.
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946 II
World War II and the Second Republic

The Japanese occupation and Anti-colonialism

The Japanese colonial regime in the Philippines invoked the

nationalist themes of the Revolution and implemented to
programs to eliminate American influence in society

Asia for Asian - the Golden Age of the Filipino language

In 1943 the Japanese granted the Philippines “independence”

and installed a “Second Republic”

This interregnum period allowed the constanstanly

suppressed nationalist visions to emerge
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946 II
World War II and the Second Republic

The Japanese occupation and Anti-colonialism

José P Laurel (President of the Second Republic)

- Still loyal to Quezon

- However defended the Second Republic as an order to
revive long-suppressed “anti-imperialist” sentiments

Hukbalahap - was the only sustained armed resistance

against the Japanese
The Philippine Colonial State, 1902-1946 II
World War II and the Second Republic

In the late 1944, Gen. McArthur invaded the Philippines and

advance their landing towards Manila.

A one-month brutal battle to reclaim Manila costs the lives of:

1000 American troops, 16 000 Japanese troops, and an
estimate of 10 000 Filipinos

80% of Manila was destroyed making the 2nd most destroyed

country in WWII after Warsaw