Public Administration during American Colonial Period (1898 – 1946)

In the fight against the Spaniards and achieve full independence from foreign invaders, Filipino
Revolution were successful and victorious in liberating its citizen against 300 years of Spanish rule. By
mid-June of the same year, there were already 30,000 Filipino Troops under the command of General
Antonio Luna. They had declared independence on June 12, 1898, and by August, they already had
effectively controlled most of the country.
The Spaniards, who refused to surrender in the hands of the Filipino Revolution, decided to have
an agreement with the Americans to have a mock battle, and showing the last hurrah of the Spaniards in
the Philippines. The Americans agreed to this agreement because they need legitimacy, while the
Spaniards proposed the war because they need to save their faces and honor as they have already been
defeated by the Filipinos. The Battle of Manila Bay (May, 1898) marked the start of Spanish-American
war, and the Mock Battle of Manila (August 13, 1898) marked the official end of the war in the
Philippines. The war was meant to be bloodless because of the agreement between the two countries but
the Filipinos, in response to help their “so called” allies, immediately joined it, and the mock battle ended
with the death of 6 Americans and 49 Spaniards. The Americans, whom the Filipinos thought were their
“allies”, were now the enemy, the invaders who sought to take away their freedom.
After the war, a conference was held on October of 1898 to determine the fate of the Philippines
and the Americans were given the three choices. The first choice was to give the Philippines back to the
Spaniards, the second was to give the independence that the Filipinos seek, and third, annexation. And by
December 10, 1898, the Spaniards sold the Philippines to the Americans through the Treaty of Paris.
General Emilio Aguinaldo ruled the country as the First President, and he ruled by decree
basically a dictatorship until a Democratic Constitution was put in place. Between June and September of
1898, elections were held in the Revolutionary Congress also known as “the country’s first legislature”.
On September 15 of the same year, the Malolos Congress, representing different provinces in the country,
officially met in Malolos, Bulacan. Committees are created, and one of them is the Committee to draft
the Constitution which was headed by Felipe Calderon. First on their agenda is to create a democratic
constitution for the independent Philippines. By September 29, the Congress ratified the Philippine
Independence reaffirming the proclamation that was made back in June, 1898 and put in place a new
constitution.
The Malolos Consitution became the basic law of the Independent Philippines. It establishes a
Democratic Republic, placing the sovereignty back to the Filipino People. The Constitution was inspired
by the constitutions of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Belgium and France. Felipe Calderon,
who authored the Constitution, reasoned that he chose these countries because they share similar social,
political, ethnological and governance conditions with the Philippine Islands. It was officially written in
Spanish, which was the official language of the country at that time, and was later on translated, to
Filipino Language.
After some minor revisions, mainly due to the objections of Apolinario Mabini (who authored the
Mabini Constitutional Plan), the final draft of the Constitution was presented to Aguinaldo. This paved
the way to launch the First Philippine Republic, which was inaugurated with much celebration, after all,
it was considered to be the first Constitutional Republic in Asia. The constitution guaranteed the civil
liberties of the people, the separation of church and state, and the protection of what we now call “Civil
Human Rights” against the abuses of those in power. It also established a Democratic Republican
Government with three branches – the Executive, Legislative, and the Judicial Branches. The Executive
powers were to be exercised by the President of the Republic with the help of his Cabinet, the Legislative
powers shall be exercised by an Assembly of Representatives of the Nation, and the Judicial powers were
given to the Supreme Court and other lower courts to be created by the law.
Other powers not legislative in nature were also given to the body of the Government such as, the
right to select its own officers, the right of censure and interpellation, and the right of impeaching the
President, Cabinet Members, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Solicitor General.
By February of 1899, the Filipino-American war would erupt. The war proved to be a prolonged
agony of the Filipino People led by Emilio Aguinaldo who sought complete independence rather than a
change of colonial rulers. The war caused a breakdown on the country’s infrastructure, causing hunger,
disease and displacement. An estimate of 34,000 – 220,000 Filipinos were either injured or killed.
Formally, the first Philippine Republic ended when Aguinaldo was captured at the end of 1901. By 1902,
the United States declared an end on the Filipino-American war. The approval of the Philippine Organic
Act of 1902 also coincided with the end of this war.
During the aforementioned conference held on October, 1898, William McKinley proposed that it
was God’s will for the Americans to uplift, civilized and Christianize the Filipinos. Thus, the Philippine
Organic Act of 1902, also known as the Cooper Act, is a basic law for the Insular Government that was
enacted by the United States Congress on July 02, 1902. The Act provided the creation of an elected
Philippine Assembly after the following conditions were met; the cessation of the existing insurrection in
the Philippine Islands; the completion and publication of census; and two years of continued peace and
recognition of the authority of the United States after the publication of census.
Other key provisions include; a bill of rights for the Filipinos; an appointment of two Filipino
non-voting Resident Commissioners to represent the Philippines in the United States Congress; the
disestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church; conservation of natural resources for Filipinos; exercise
the executive power by the Civil Governor who would have several Executive departments; and
establishment of Philippine Assembly to be elected by the Filipinos two years after the publication of a
census and only after peace had been restored completely in the country.
In as early as 1901, Theodore Roosevelt said that he wanted the Philippines to be able to self-
govern. And by 1907, he said that he is ready to figure out a way to grant the islands their independence.
The Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, also known as the Jones Act was passed promising the eventual
independence of the islands. The Act statute announcing the intention of the United States Government to
“withdraw their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands as soon as stable government can be established
therein”.
One of the most significant sections of the Jones Act is the replacement of the Philippine
Commission into an Elective Senate, and with a minimum property qualifications, extended the franchise
to all Filipino males. The law also incorporated a bill of rights. American sovereignty was retained by
provisions of the act reserving to the Governor General power to veto any measure passed by the new
Philippine Legislature. The Liberal Governor General Francis B. Harrison rarely used his power and
moved rapidly to appoint Filipinos in place of Americans in the civil service. By the end of Harrison’s
term in 1921, Filipinos had taken charge of the internal affairs of the islands.
By 1932, two main groups supported a law outlining the specifics of Philippine Independence:
Great-depression era American farmers competing against tariff free Filipino sugar farmers and coconut
oil; and Filipinos seeking independence. The Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act was passed setting a process and
date for the Philippines to gain independence from the United States. The law promised the independence
after 10 years, but reserved several military and naval bases for the US as well as imposed tariffs and
quotas on Philippine imports. It was passed by the US Congress in December 1932 but was vetoed by US
President Herbert Hoover. Congress overrode the veto on January 17, 1933 and the Philippine Senate was
required to ratify the law, but with leaders of such as Manuel Quezon opposing it, the Philippine Senate
rejected it.
The Jones Act remained in force as a de facto constitution for the Philippines until it was
superseded by the Tydings McDuffie Act, also known as The Philippine Independence Act of 1934, in
which US stated that they will provide the Philippine their independence, and will take effect on July 4,
1946, after a 10-year transitional period of Commonwealth Government. The Bill was signed by US
President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 24, 1934, and was sent to the Philippine Senate for approval.
The Act was approved by the Senate on May 1, 1934.
Following the terms of the Independence Act, Filipinos elected delegates for a constitutional
convention on July 10, and Roosevelt approved the constitution on March 23, 1935. The Commonwealth
Government, under the Presidency of Manuel Quezon, was inaugurated in November of that year. And
for the next ten years, the Philippines remained under US territory. Foreign affairs, defense, and monetary
matters remained under US jurisdiction, but all other internal matters were in the hands of the Filipinos.
The 1935 Constitution provided the legal basis of the Commonwealth Government which was
considered a transition government before the granting of the Philippine independence with American-
inspired constitution. The Constitution was ratified by the Filipino people through a national plebiscite,
on May 14, 1935 and came into full force and effect on November 15, 1935 with the inauguration of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines. Among its provisions was that it would remain the constitution of the
Republic of the Philippines once independence was granted on July 4, 1946.