THE COMMONWEALTH PERIOD

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH PERIOD

• In accord with the independence law, the Filipinos elected delegates to the Constitutional Convention to frame a constitution.• Approved by President Franklin Roosevelt on March 23, 1934

Pres. Franklin Roosevelt 1933-

1945

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH PERIOD

• As of May, a plebiscite ratified the constitution. • The Commonwealth of

the Philippines was inaugurated on November 15, 1935, with Quezon as president and Osmeña as the vice president

PREPARATION FOR INDEPENDENCE

National Security

Social Concerns

Economic Development

NATIONAL SECURITY

•Orange Plan – drafted in Washington, designed for hostilities with Japan envisioned a conflict waged mainly in the sea and with few provisions for protection of the Philippines. Revised in 1924 and garrisoned the Manila Bay

NATIONAL SECURITY

• The National Assembly passed Commonwealth Act No. 1 – the National Defense Act.• Quezon obtained the

services of Ret. Gen. Douglas McArthur, named as field marshall, to set up the Philippine defense system.

Douglas MacArthur

NATIONAL SECURITY

• McArthur’s defense plan included the creation of a citizen army consist of two components:• A regular force of

about 10,000 men, including the Philippine Constabulary

• A reserve force to number 40,000 by the end of 10 years.

Philippine Constabulary

NATIONAL SECURITY

• A Philippine Navy and an Army Air Corps would also be established• Financial constraints and the problems on education, health, and public works prevented the full realization of the defense plan by the time war in the Pacific broke out in 1941

SOCIAL CONCERNS

A Film in 1962 about Sakdalistas

In May 1935, the Sakdal uprising broke out in Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite as an answer to the land problem in those areasThe peasant and labor unrests in the 1920s and early 1930s

SOCIAL CONCERNS

• Movements or secret societies with semi-religious characteristics or colorums emerged not only in Luzon but also in Visayas and Mindanao

• Quezon work for a Social Justice Program but was not totally successful because he was influenced by the powerful landed class

SOCIAL CONCERNS

• Quezon pushed for a system of education focused primarily on primary and adult education

• The Institute of National Language was created to study the different Languages of the Philippine languages for the purpose of adopting a national language. In 1937, it recommended the adoption of Tagalog as the basis of the national language

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Philippines became dependent on the United States and agriculture was developed but mainly for exportBy 1934, 80% of the total Philippine export went to the US and 65% of Philippine imports were from US

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Economic re-adjustment plan:

• Diversification and increase in agricultural production• Development of the natural resources• Expansion of domestic market• Industrialization and development of markets outside of

the US

Another problem was the control of foreigners of the important businesses in the country

Anti-Dummy law and immigration law was passed. The government also granted credit facilities and established the National Economic Council in March 1936.

RESULTS OF THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION

RESULTS OF THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION

Political Demo-cracy

Partisan Politics

Civil Service System

Transpor-tation and

Commu-nication

Trade, Com-

merce, and

Industry

Education

Public Health

and Welfare

Social and

Cultural Results

POLITICAL DEMOCRACY

American policy provided for basic freedom

• Freedom of religion• Freedom of the press and speech• Freedom to assemble peaceably for the redress of grievances• Freedom to change domicile

The Philippine Assembly was “perhaps the most important single political novelty introduced by the United States in the Philippines”

Americans made democracy applicable to all

In 1937, Filipino women achieved political suffrage

PARTISAN POLITICS

• Political parties were founded• Filipinos learned the

ways of running the government under a policy of political education

CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM

Americans established an efficient and non-political civil service that would administer the affairs of the government

An article written in India and reported in Manila Times, the Philippine Civil Service was in many respects superior to the Indian Civil Service, which in later years would serve as model for the rest of the world (Gleeck, 1976:136)

TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION

• The Americans built roads, harbors, bridges, irrigation, and modern transportation and electricity systems

• More telephones, telegraph lines, and radios linked towns and cities

• Postal service was also improved

• Materials, tools, equipment, cars, motor vehicles, and gasoline were imported from the United States

TRADE, COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRY

• Establishment of free trade in the first decades of American rule led to increase in foreign and domestic trade.

• Various industries were developed such as textile, cigar, and mining.

• Sugar centrals, cordage, fishing and fish-canning factories, distilleries, and coconut mills were put up

TRADE, COMMERCE, AND INDUSTRY

Negative effects

Agriculture became “export-

oriented” and industry “import-oriented”

Philippine producers

concentrated on few

specialized exports

Unlimited entry of

American goods

strengthened the Filipino’s

colonial mentality

Free trade made the Philippines

dependent on the US

EDUCATION

The establishment of secular and free public school system

Stressed democratic traditions and the practical

application of the laws

Emphasized citizenship

training and doctrine of character “building.”

Extra-curricular activities such as athletics

were encouraged

Religious groups also

played a significant

role in education.

The YMCA was

established

EDUCATION

The introduction of English, which became the lingua franca of the

Philippines

Use of English was supposed to

promote the

democratic concepts

Filipino became

conversant with the outside world

Many English

words were adopted into the

Philippine languages

Became the medium of instruction

and language of

business and

government

EDUCATION

•The University of the Philippines was established in 1908 as well as the Protestant-managed schools like Central Philippine University in Iloilo and Silliman University in Negros Occidental

EDUCATION

• From 1903-1914, Filipinos with promising scholastic aptitude were sent to study in the US as scholars or pensionado.

• Education system increased the literacy rate of the Filipinos (65% in 1935)

• According to Constantino, the Filipinos were miseducated

PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

Americans introduced public health and welfare programs

They introduced new methods of prevention and treatment of disease.

Provided facilities and asylum for the orphans, insane, and juvenile offenders.

Tropical diseases like small pox, cholera, leprosy, bubonic plague, beri-beri and malaria were either eliminated or reduce to effective control

Life expectancy rose from 14 years in 1890 to 40 in 1940

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RESULTS

• By the end of WWI, the American technology and media (newspaper and films) completed the Americanization of the Filipinos• Colonial mentality persisted• The Filipinos suffered a partial loss of their heritage.

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