the Commonwealth of the Philippines (Spanish: Commonwealth deFilipinas;[1] Tagalog: Komonwelt

ng Pilipinas[3]) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946. 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.

The Tydings–McDuffie Act, officially the Philippine Independence Act (Pub.L. 73–127,
48 Stat. 456, enacted March 24, 1934), is a United States federal law that established the process for
the Philippines, then an American colony, to become an independent country after a ten-year transition
period.

The 1935 Constitution was written in 1934, approved and adopted by the Commonwealth of the
Philippines (1935–1946) and later used by the Third Republic (1946–1972). It was written with an
eye to meeting the approval of the United States Government as well, so as to ensure that the U.S.
would live up to its promise to grant the Philippines independence and not have a premise to hold
onto its possession on the grounds that it was too politically immature and hence unready for full,
real independence.

Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941. The Commonwealth
government drafted the Philippine Army into the U.S. Army Forces Far East, which would resist
Japanese occupation. Manila was declared an open city to prevent its destruction,[22] and it was
occupied by the Japanese on January 2, 1942.[23] Meanwhile, battles against the Japanese continued
on the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor, and Leyte until the final surrender of United States-Philippine
forces in May 1942

Japan occupied the Philippines for over three years, until the surrender of Japan. A highly effective
guerilla campaign by Philippine resistance forces controlled sixty percent of the islands, mostly jungle
and mountain areas. MacArthur supplied them by submarine, and sent reinforcements and officers.
Filipinos remained loyal to the United States, partly because of the American guarantee of
independence, and also because the Japanese had pressed large numbers of Filipinos into work
details and even put young Filipino women into brothels.

the Japanese military organized a new government in the Philippines known as the Second Philippine
Republic, headed by president José P. Laurel. This pro-Japanese government became very
unpopular.

Resistance to the Japanese occupation continued in the Philippines. This included

the Hukbalahap ("People's Army Against the Japanese"), which consisted of 30,000 armed men and
controlled much of Central Luzon.[26] Remnants of the Philippine Army also successfully fought the
Japanese through guerrilla warfare, eventually liberating all but 12 of the 48 provinces

The Constitution of the Philippines (Filipino: Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas or Konstitusyon ng

Pilipinas, Spanish: Constitución de la República de Filipinas) is the constitution or supreme law of the
Republic of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the Constitutional Commission on October
12, 1986 and was ratified by a nationwide plebiscite on February 2, 1987.