PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.

3
The Declaration of Philippine Independence After meeting the Americans in Hong Kong,
Aguinaldo immediately returned to the Philippines to work on our independence. Despite the valiant
efforts of Spain to win back the Filipino loyalty, a number of men volunteered to fight against Spain
under the leadership of Aguinaldo. Initially, Aguinaldo set up a 6 Dictatorial Government but was later
replaced with a revolutionary one upon the advice of Apolinario Mabini, the "Brain of the Philippine
Revolution" and "Sublime Paralytic." Believing that the right time has come, Aguinaldo proclaimedthe
Independence of the Philippines on June 12, 1898.

PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.4

First Philippine Republic

The Philippine Republic, more commonly known by historians as the First Philippine Republic or
the Malolos Republic, was an unrecognized independent sovereign state in the Philippines. It was
formally established with Emilio Aguinaldo as president by proclamation of the Malolos Constitution on
January 21, 1899, in Malolos, Bulacan, succeeding the previous Revolutionary Government of the
Philippines. It endured until 1901. April 1,

The First Philippine Republic was established during the Philippine Revolution against the
Spanish Empire and the Spanish-American War between Spain and the United States. Following the
American victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, issued the Philippine
Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898, and established successive revolutionary Philippine
governments on June 18 and 23 of that year. In December, Sovereignty over the Philippines was
transferred from Spain to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris, making the United States
formally the Philippines colonial power. The Malolos Constitution establishing the First Philippine
Republic was proclaimed the following month.

PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.5

The Schurman and Taft Commissions

The Schurman Commission, also known as the First Philippine Commission, was established by
United States President William McKinley on January 20, 1899, and tasked to study the situation in the
Philippines and make recommendations on how the U.S. should proceed after the sovereignty of the
Philippines was ceded to the U.S. by Spain on December 10, 1898 following the Treaty of Paris of 1898.
Its final report was submitted on January 3, 1900, and recommended the establishment of a civil
government having a bicameral legislature and being financially independent from the United States.
The report also recommended the establishment of a system of public education.
PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.6
The First Philippine Assembly

The Philippine Assembly (sometimes called the Philippine National Assembly) was the lower
house of the Philippine Legislature from 1907 to 1916, when it was renamed the House of
Representatives of the Philippines. The Philippine Assembly was the first national legislative body fully
chosen by elections.

The Assembly was created by the 1902 Philippine Organic Act of the United States Congress, which
established the Insular Government of the Philippines. Along with an upper house (the appointed
Philippine Commission), it formed the bicameral Philippine Legislature during the American colonial
period. In 1916, the Jones Act replaced the Philippine Organic Act and the Assembly became the current
House of Representatives of the Philippines.

The first Philippine Assembly elections were held on July 30, 1907.These were the first nationwide
elections ever held in the Philippines. The Assembly was inaugurated on October 16, 1907 with Sergio
Osmeña as Speaker of the Assembly, Manuel L. Quezon as majority leader, and Vicente Singson as
minority leader.

The inauguration of the assembly marked a "turning point in the country’s history, for its creation
marked the commencement of Filipino participation in self-governance and a big leap towards self-
determination.

PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.7

The Jones Law of 1916

On August 29, 1916, the Jones Law or the Act of Congress known as the Philippine Autonomy
Act of 1916, was approved. It was the first formal and official declaration of the United States
commitment to grant independence to the Philippines.

The law provides that the grant of independence would come only "as soon as a stable government can
be established" which gave the United States Government the power to determine when this "stable
government" has been achieved.

It aimed at providing the Filipino people broader domestic autonomy though it reserved certain
privileges to the United States to protect their sovereign rights and interests.

Jones Law replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 (Philippine Bill of July 1, 1902) that served as the
de facto initial constitution of the Philippine Islands after it was ceded by Spain to the United States by
virtue of the Treaty of Paris.

Among the salient provisions of the Autonomy Act of 1916 was the creation of an all Filipino legislature
which created the Philippine Senate to replace the Philippine Commission which had served as the
upper chamber of the legislature.
Performance activity 1.8
The Commonwealth Period

The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the administrative body that governed the
Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to
1945 when Japan occupied the country. It replaced the Insular Government, a United States
territorial government, and was established by the Tydings–McDuffie Act. The Commonwealth
was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for the country's full achievement of
independence. Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States.
During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strong executive and a
Supreme Court. Its legislature, dominated by the Nacionalista Party, was at first unicameral, but
later bicameral. In 1937, the government selected Tagalog – the language of Manila and its
surrounding provinces – as the basis of the national language, although it would be many years
before its usage became general. Women's suffrage was adopted and the economy recovered to
its pre-Depression level before the Japanese occupation in 1942.
The Commonwealth government went into exile from 1942 to 1945, when the Philippines was
under Japanese occupation.

PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.9

The Second Republic

The Second Philippine Republic, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines and
also known as the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic, was a puppet state established on
October 14, 1943, during the Japanese occupation.

PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.10

The Third Republic

The Third Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated on July 4, 1946. It marked
the culmination of the peaceful campaign for Philippine Independence—the two
landmarks of which were the enactment of the Jones Law in 1916 (in which the U.S.
Congress pledged independence for the Philippines once Filipinos have proven their
capability for self-government) and the Philippine Independence Act of 1934 (popularly
known as Tydings-McDuffie) which put in place a ten-year transition period during which
the Philippines had Commonwealth status. The Third Republic also marked the
recognition by the global community of nations, of the nationhood of the Philippines—a
process that began when the Commonwealth of the Philippines joined the Anti-Axis
Alliance known as the United Nations on June 14, 1942, receiving recognition as an
Allied nation even before independence.

Thus, the inauguration of the Third Republic marked the fulfillment of the long struggle
for independence that began with the Philippine Revolution on August 23, 1896 (recent
scholarship suggests, on August 24) and which was formalized on June 12, 1898 with
the Proclamation of Philippine Independence at Kawit, Cavite.
From 1946 to 1961, Independence Day was celebrated on July 4. On May 12, 1962,
President Diosdado Macapagal issued Proclamation No. 28, s. 1962, which declared
June 12 as Independence Day. In 1964, Congress passed Republic Act No. 4166,
which formally designated June 12 of every year as the date on which we celebrate
Philippine independence. July 4 in turn has been observed as Republic Day since then.

PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.11

The Martial Law Period

In September 1972 Marcos declared martial law, claiming that it was the last defense against
the rising disorder caused by increasingly violent student demonstrations, the alleged threats of
communist insurgency by the new Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the Muslim separatist
movement of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). One of his first actions was to arrest
opposition politicians in Congress and the Constitutional Convention. Initial public reaction to martial
law was mostly favourable except in Muslim areas of the south, where a separatist rebellion, led by the
MNLF, broke out in 1973. Despite halfhearted attempts to negotiate a cease-fire, the rebellion
continued to claim thousands of military and civilian casualties. Communist insurgency expanded with
the creation of the National Democratic Front (NDF), an organization embracing the CPP and other
communist groups.

PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY 1.12

Post-EDSA to the Present

The Post EDSA macroeconomic history of the Philippines covers the period from 1896 to the
present time and takes off from the acclaimed People Power Revolution in the EDSA Revolution of 1986
(named after Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue in Manila) that brought democracy and development
potentials back to the country that was once in the perils of the Martial Law Era.
From days, months and even years of economic and financial collapse towards the end of that
Martial Law Era came revolution, reform and sustenance spearheaded by the Aquino, Ramos, Estrada
and Arroyo administrations that saw the Philippines gets back on track and even throughsome of the
wildest financial and political crises, such as the succeeding EDSA Revolutions, the Asian Financial Crisis
and the most recent “bubble bursts” among others.