Filipino Grievances Against Governor Wood
I. Background of the Author
Gregorio Zaide
 “Dean of Filipino Historiographers”
 He was born on May 25, 1907 Pagsanjan,
Laguna, Philippines and died October 31,
1988, Manila, Philippines
 He is a Filipino historian, author and
politician who has made note-worthy
contributions to the study of Philippine
History
 He wrote more than 500 articles in history
printed in local and foreign journals &
authored 67 books, some were use as
textbooks in history for secondary and
colleges in the country
 Filipino Grievances Against Governor
Wood had been taken from his book,
Documentary Sources of Philippine
History which he compiled, edited and
annotated with the additional notes of his
daughter, Sonia Zaide.
Dr. Maximo Kalaw
 “The Foremost Student of Government”
 He was born in the then-town of Lipa on
May 20, 1891 then passed away on March
of 1954
 He worked as Associate Editor of The
Manila Times, served as Secretary of the
Philippine Mission to the United States and
became the first Filipino head of University
of the Philippines’ Political Science
Department and also be appointed Dean of
the university’s College of Liberal Arts
 He was a brilliant and prolific political writer
who published several books and wrote
many papers published in scholarly
journals, not to mention the articles that he
had published in newspapers to educate the
Filipino about the political dynamics of his
era.
 Before Zaide, Filipino Grievances Against
Governor Wood had been originally
published under the Appendix of his work,
the Philippine Government under the
Jones Law.
The Filipino Grievances Against Governor
Wood is not written by a single author. It is the
collective effort group of Filipino politicians
pressured by the circumstances to protest
against a common political enemy. Jose Abad
Santos is believed to be one of the leading
attributors of the draft.
Jose Abad Santos
 “Martyr of the Resistance Against the
Japanese”
 He was born on February 19, 1886, and
was raised in Pampanga at the height of the
Philippine Revolution against Spain. When
he declined to take an oath of allegiance to
Japan, or to cooperate with the Japanese
government, he was ordered executed on
May 2, 1942
 Fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of
the Philippines
 Briefly served as the Acting President of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines
 Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines during World War
II
 Served as Secretary of Justice under
various American Governors-General, first
under Governor-General Leonard Wood
from 1922 to 1923. During the “cabinet
crisis” of 1923, the Filipino members of the
cabinet, Abad Santos among them,
relinquished their posts to protest Governor-
General Wood’s handling of the Conley
Case.
II. Historical Background of the Document
Leonard Wood
 Governor Heneral in the Philippines of the
1920s
 He was born October 9, 1860 and died
August 7, 1927 due to surgery failure
 Served as Chief of Staff of the United States
Army and Military Governor of Cuba
 Arrived in the Philippine Islands on 1903
after his services in Cuba
 Appointed Governor of the Moro Province
 Also responsible for the districts and
commanding general of the troops in the
department of Mindanao at Sulu
 A prominent Republican party leader and
candidate for 1920 presidential nomination
 Served as Governor General in the
Philippines where he quarreled with
Filipinos who wanted home rule
 The document was written by Filipino
politicians of the time as a form of protest
against arbitrary and oppressive acts by
Governor Wood, specifically against
Executive Order No. 37.
 The document served as an impeachment
request for Governor Wood.
 It was approved by the Commission on
Independence on November 17, 1926
(Appointed: October 14, 1921 until August
7, 1927).
 A year after it was approved, Governor
Leonard Wood died due to surgery failure.
 The text was taken from Gregorio and Sonia
Zaide's Documentary Sources of
Philippine History, first published from Dr.
Maximo Kalaw’s the Philippine
Government under the Jones Law.
III. Content Analysis
American Flag - emblem of freedom, not of
subjugation; symbol of altruism, not of
selfishness or greed.
American sovereignty was implanted in our
country with the avowed purpose of training us
in;
 The Art of self-government and granting
us independence.
 Our good [Filipinos], not her gain was
America's aim.
Our country was committed to her [America] in
trust to be conserved and developed for the
benefit of the people.
FIRST 20 YEARS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT
• They were marked by mutual understanding
and loyal cooperation between American and
Filipinos.
AT THE END OF THAT PERIOD
 It seemed that the goal had finally been
reached.
 The President of the United States had
advised the Congress that the time had
come for America to fulfill her sacred
pledge.
 Major-General Leonard Wood was sent to
the Philippines as Major-General
The Filipinos being aware of the part taken by
General Wood in the liberation of Cuba,
expected that the administration under the latter
would maintain the spirit of cooperation and the
work of political emancipation would be
complete. However, contrary of the
expectations happened.
WOOD'S CONDUCT OF GOVERNMENT
 Characterized by a train of usurpations and
arbitrary acts that resulted to the curtailment
of our autonomy, destruction of our
constitutional system, and the reversal of
Americas Philippine policy.
Executive Order No. 37
 Declares that the laws creating and defining
the powers of the Board of Control which is
authorized to vote the sticks owned by the
government in certain private corporations,
are absolute nullities.
 In this order, the Governor-General also
announced his purpose to exercise solely
and by himself the powers and duties
developing upon the said board.
 This order is purported to be based on an
opinion rendered by the Judge Advocate
General of the United States Army and
conformatory opinion of the acting Advocate
General on November 7.
 Wood withheld the publication of his order
until November 10, a few hours after the
legislature had adjourned, thus depriving
the Legislature of the opportunity to
consider the matter.
 The laws creating and defining the powers
of the board of control have been in force
and acted upon the present Governor-
General and other officers of the
government for a number of years, and they
have neither been repealed by the
Legislatures, annulled by the Congress, nor
declared constitutionalized by the courts.
THE PROTEST
 The protest was carried out through a
Petition letter "Filipino Grievances
Against Governor Wood."
 By producing this document, Filipino officials
were able to appeal to the judgement and
conscience of the American people in order
to safeguard the rights and liberties of the
Filipino people.
 The document served as an impeachment
request for Governor Wood.
 Approved by the Commission on
Independence on November 17, 1926
IV. Relevance of the Document
 Details some of what happened during the
occupancy of Gov. Gen. Wood
 Details various atrocities done to the
Philippine government under Gov. General
Wood
 Uncovered the grievance of the Filipinos
with regards to how the grant of self
governance and independence was delayed
 It propagates Filipino values, mainly loyalty
to one's country and knowing their worth
through gained intellect and exercise the
right to fight for it.
V. Learning Experience
During the time of Gov. Gen. Leonard Wood, he
was oppressive and wasn't able to keep up the
"Sacred Pledge" of America during his time. He
took outrageous actions that made Filipinos
suffer such as: Choosing his own appointed
officers whose appointments had been rejected
by the senate, insistently sought amendments
of such would open up the sources of our
country to exploitation by predatory interests.
On the other hand, Filipinos were resilient and
wasted no time investing their time and effort to
protest against the arbitrary and oppressive
acts of Governor Wood. They used to be people
repressed from liberty for more than 300 years
but under the education of the Americans, they
have learned their constitutional rights and
expect justice against the difficulties existing in
the government of the Philippine Islands.
Prepared by:
JR Avanceña
Helaree Augee Guatelara
John Matthieu Gonzalez
Julie Ann Pachejo
Althea Mae Paclibar
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