THE COMMONWEALTH AND WORLD WAR II (1935 - 1945) o The government established by the Americans in the Philippines was democratic and republican in form; a government that was patterned after the United States. In this democratic government, the Filipinos began to govern themselves, though not completely. Nevertheless, this short period of apprenticeship in governance was a testimony not only to the American liberal tradition and tolerance, but also to the Filipino talent in learning the complex processes of running a government. It was for this reason that when the war broke out in the Pacific and the Japanese occupied the Philippines for three years, the Filipinos remained loyal to the Americans as they suffered hunger, atrocities, and death in the hands of the Japanese. As President of the Commonwealth, Manuel L. Quezon ably steered a country that was beseiged by internal problems while it tried to survive a government in transition to independence, World War II brought out not only the capacity of such leaders as Quezon, Osmefia, and Laurel to oversee a government amidst war, but also the courage and capacity of the Filipino people to defend themselves against aggression from the outside. In this war, the cooperation between the Filipinos and their colonizer, the Americans, was perhaps unrivaled and not easy to explain nor forget. eS C:PROBLEMS OF THE COMMONWEALTH Inhis inaugural speech as the first President of the Commonwealth, Manuel L. Quezon said in part: ...We shall build a government that will be just, honest, efficient and strong so that the foundations of the coming Republic may. be firm and enduring — a government, indeed, that must satisfy not only the passing needs of the hour but also the exacting demands of the future. The Commonwealth government was a transition government preparatory to granting of independence. It was a period of adjustment, of solving the many problems that confronted the nation as it marched toward its goal of complete emancipation from foreign rule. The problems st faced were on national security, social stability, and economic self- sufficiency. Quezon faced these problems with courage and optimisri. National Security Soon after the American occupation of the Philippines, some American, statesmen felt that the Philippines was difficult to defend. When World War II broke out, the United States which was hesitant about joining it at first, was not prepared to defend the Philippines as their colony. Japan's expansionist goal in the region would certainly include the Philippines as an object of conquest and the United States would not be able to do anything about it. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, believed that to avoid war with Japan, the United States should give the Philippines its independence. Japan then was arising power and had defeated China and Russia in separate wars. In the succeeding years, Japan invaded Korea, Manchuria, and finally, China. It was this thought of an expanding Japan that hounded Quezon. Consequently, the first law he recommended to be passed by the National Assembly was the National Defense Law: This law provided for a citizen army composed of trainees who belonged to the 21- year old group. To put the Jaw ‘into operation, Quezon appointed General Douglas MacArthur as Field Marshal of the Philippine Army. MacArthur estimated that at the end of the Commonwealth period, the Philippines would have an army of about 400,000 able-bodied citizens. Because there was not enough money to finance the construction of costly battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, MacArthur though: of the so-called “mosquito fleet” This was composed of small, fast, and well-armed boats. Aviation was also considered because in modern wars, the role of airplanes had become very important. Filipino pilots were trained in air warfare and prepared for possible war. These were the preparations made by Quezon to secure the military defense of the country against any foreign invader.Social Problems The agrarian problems that Quezon faced duringthe Commonwealth period could be traced to the Spanish period. The Filipino masses, particularly the peasants, had been exploited on the issue of friar estates by the few influential people in the community. Amidst poverty and ignorance, the masses toiled day after day without any hope of deliverance. This dire condition of the masses led many to rise in revolt, as noted in the various agrarian uprisings under Spanish rule. In the 1920s, the so-called Colorums took up arms against the authorities in Mindanao to show their displeasure over existing conditions. In Central and Southern Luzon and in the Visayas, the peasants also rose in revolt in the 1920s and the 1930s. In particular, the uprising in Tayug, Pangasinan in 1931 was a reaction to the oppression of some landlords. But the social discontent was well-illustrated by the Sakdal Uprising in 1935. Founded by Benigno R. Ramos, a Tagalog poet, the Sakdal organization identified itself with the peasants. It attacked graft and corruption in the government. It fought for immediate independence and, therefore, against the Tydings-McDuffie Act. On May 23, 1935, the Sakdalistas or members of the Sakdal organization revolted against the government. The government suppressed the uprising and punished those who participated in it. Ramos, then, fled to Japan. The period saw the rise of socialism and communism among the lower classes: peasants and workers. Through unions and associations, they worked for reforms beneficial to their class. Justlike the Sakdalistas, they were met with state violence and were outlawed. Quezon, in response, announced his policy of emancipating the masses from social injustices. The problem, he said, was how to “harmonize property rights with the right to live —and the right tolive is paramount and above every other right.” He initiated the policy of social justice for everyone. But because the government did not have enough money with which to purchase landed estates, Quezon tried to implement laws to improve the welfare of the rural population. However, the big and powerful landlords and Quezon’s private circle of friends and supporters resisted these social justice legislations. Thus, Quezon’s social justice program failed. Economic Problems Other economic problems occupied Quezon’s attention. Since the Spanish period, the Chinese had been dominating the retail trade industry in the country. On the other hand, Philippine foreign trade was dominated by foreigners: the Americans, the Chinese, and the Japanese. When free trade between the Philippines and the United States began in 1909, Philippine products like sugar, coconut oil, abaca fiber, copra, and others, entered the American markets free of duty. This led toartificial prosperity because those products had a ready market United States. Also, free trade led the Filipinos to depend, exclusively, on the American market and neglected the other forexga! markets. In 1937, Quezon made an agreement with President Frans D. Roosevelt regarding the creation of a joint preparatory commitzee composed of Filipino and American members. The committee studied the economic problems of the Commonwealth. It recommended thar Philippine-American free trade relations be extended so that the Philippines could have enough time to adjust its economy before independence. Some Philippine products would be allowed to enter the United States in limited quantities, while others would enter withox: export duties. Other Problems Quezon also realized the serious language problem. The Philippines has more than a hundred languages and dialects. Under American rule and during the Commonwealth, English served as the medium of instruction and communication. Filipinos had to use a foreign language to communicate with one another. To solve this problem, Quezon asked the National Assembly to pass a law providing for the creation of a national language institute which would study the language problem. On December 30, 1937, upon the recommendation of the Institute of National Language, composed of representatives from the different regions, Quezon proclaimed that Tagalog would be used as the basis of the national language. Quezon also realized that the Japanese in the Philippines were becoming strong. They had been developing Davao as their special economic province and although Filipinos were being employed, the political leaders nevertheless, felt that the increasing economic strength of the Japanese in Mindanao might endanger the security of the Philippines. To remedy the situation, Quezon recommended the passage of the Immigration Act, which was passed in 1940, It provided that every nation would be granted an annual immigration quota of 500. The Japanese thought that it was directed against Japan and consequently denounced the law as anti-Japanese. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH In a span of five years, from 1935 to the outbreak of the war in 1941, the Commonwealth government had achieved relative progress in commerce and industry, transportation and communication, public welfare, and art and literature. From 1930 to 1935, before the Commonwealth, the country’s performance in terms of foreign tradewas quite poor relative to the succeeding years. Statistical data reported that in 1933, the Philippine foreign trade amounted to only 346,000,000, but rose to 520,000,000 in 1936, the first year of the Commonwealth period. Foreign trade was made possible through the ports of Manila, Mindanao, and Southern Luzon. Quezon improved the country's transportation and communication facilities, Inter-island shipping was encouraged and the railway lines were improved and extended to La Union and Legazpi, Albay. The number of buses, cars, vessels, and taxicabs increased a great deal, thus making transportation and communication accessible at relatively cheap fares. Airfields were constructed to bring the cities and principal towns of the country closer together. Telephone and wireless services were improved and radio broadcasting was inaugurated in Manila, By 1940, the number of families owning radio sets was more than 60,000. The National Assembly, upon the recommendation of Quezon, created the National Economic Council whose primary duty was to “advise the government on economic matters.” In accordance with this policy, the National Development Company was reorganized to make it more efficient and responsive to the needs of the people. It also established government companies such as the National Food Products Corporation, the National Rice and Corn Corporation, and others, whose main duty was to protect the people from being exploited by unscrupulous producers or merchants. Public welfare was given priority as the government strengthened certain agencies like the Bureau of Public Welfare, the Associated Charities, and the National Relief Administration in order to improve and extend the scope of service to the people, especially to the poor.” People with mental illnesses, the children of poor families, and delinquent children were taken care of by agencies such as the Welfareville, the Settlement House, and the Child Welfare Division. Likewise, the jobless were given full or part time jobs by the National Relief Administration, which also distributed food to victims of natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, fires, and the like. Women’s suffrage, as mentioned earlier, was passed in 1937. ‘The arts and literature were encouraged by the government through contests and competitions for artists and writers. A contest in painting was held under government auspices in 1936. A national contest on writing the biography of Rizal was conducted by the government in 1938. In 1939, Quezon, acting through the recommendation of the Philippine Writers League, established the Commonwealth Literary Contests in Tagalog, English, and Spanish, The contests included writings for biographies, history, poetry, short stories, novels, dramas, and essaj Because of these contests, literary activities increased and many talex: writers were encouraged to write in the three languages. unscrupulous — dishonest, corruptTHE War IN THE Paciric The preparations of the Commonwealth for an independent Philippines was interrupted when the war in the Pacific broke out in 1941. The fear of Filipino political leaders, especially Claro M. Recto, that Japan was a menace to the security of the Philippines, came true. On December 7, 1941, Hawaiian time, Japanese bombers attacked the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Provoked by the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke before the joint session of the American Congress and urged it to declare war against Japan. “Yesterday,” Roosevelt said, “December 7, 1941, ... the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan.” Immediately, the Congress declared war against Japan. On December 8, British time, England also declared war against Japan and the war in the Pacific was on. The Occupation of Manila The Japanese naval, military, and.air forces took the offensive against the United States, Britain, and Holland. Their colonies in Asia were attacked—the Philippines, Malaya, and Indonesia. On December 8 and the succeeding days, the Japanese bombed many places, including Manila and the suburbs. In order to save Manila from destruction, General Douglas MacArthur declared it an open city. All guns and other defenses were withdrawn from Manila. But the Japanese did not honor the declaration of the open city. They continued bombingit, resulting in the destruction of properties and buildings like the old Santo Domingo Church, the Intendencia, which later on became the Central Bank Building, San Juan de Letran College, Santa Catalina College, and the offices of the newspapers, El Debate, Mabuhay, Philippines Herald, and Monday Mail. Meanwhile, Japanese forces landed simultaneously in Northern and Southern Luzon. Both forces knifed through the Filipino- American defenses, and on January 2 the Japanese forces entered and occupied Manila. The Fall of Bataan and Corregidor Quezon was very sick when the war broke out. His illness became serious when he learned that thousands of Filipinos died as a result of Japanese bombing in Bataan and other places. In order to save him from the Japanese who were driving toward Manila, MacArthur | suggested that Quezon, his family, together with Vice | President Osmeria and his family, as well as a few others, should go to Corregidor. In Corregidor, on December 30, Gen. Douglas McAQuezon took his oath of office to mark the beginning of his second term as President of the Commonwealth. With Manila and other parts of Luzon in the hands ofthe Japanese, Bataan and Corregidor, under the command of General MacArthur, began to take heavy beating from the enemy. The help that MacArthur and the Filipinos were expecting from the United States did not come. Food was scarce in Bataan and as a result, Filipino and American soldiers suffered from hunger and diseases. Realizing that Bataan would soon fall, President Roosevelt ordered Quezon to be transferred to Australia. In March, he also ordered MacArthur to fly to Australia, from where he would direct military operations against Japan. Having suffered not only from hunger and diseases but also from enemy bombs and cannon fire, the American commander in Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942. Hundreds were killed during the transit of Filipino and a few American prisoners of war to Capas, Tarlac. This atrocious event was referred to as the “Death March”. The Japanese were now free to devote their entire offensive against Corregidor. This tiny island suffered from the almost ceaseless bombing attacks of the enemy and on May 6, General Jonathan Wainwright surrendered the Philippines to the Japanese. GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION Shortly after the occupation of Manila by the Japanese forces, General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander-in-chief, ordered the reorganization of the central government, This was renamed Central Administrative Organization composed of six executive departments— Interior, Finance, Justice, Agriculture and Commerce, Education, Health and Public Welfare, and Public Works and Communications. In each department, Japanese “advisers” were installed. The advisers were actually spies or agents of thé Japanese military. All appointments to the headship of departments had to be approved by the Japanese military authorities. On the provincial and municipal levels, however, nothing was changed. Educational Policy of the Japanese To gain the sympathy of the Filipinos, the Japanese military authorities declared that Japanese educational policy would be based on the spiritual rejuvenation of the Filipinos; the propagation of Filipino culture; the propagation of the Japanese language and culture; the encouragement of vocational and elémentary education; and the promotion of love of labor. To implement this policy, the Japanese military authorities ordered the opening of schools, especially thosegiving courses in agriculture, fisheries, medicine, and engineerim In spite of attempts to encourage Filipinos to go to school, many children remained in their homes or on their farms. Enrollm in the schools throughout the Philippines did not exceed 300,000 The uncertainty of war conditions discouraged schooling and othe activities. The Second Republic To win the trust of the Filipinos, the Japanese authorities in Japan decided that the Philippines should be given its independence. The reall intention of the Japanese was to show the Filipinos that they were better than the Americans, such that, in just a very short period of more than a year, they offered independence to the Filipinos. Consequently, a commission created for the purpose of framing a constitution was headed by Jose P, Laurel as president. On September 4, 1943, the constitution prepared by the Commission wasapproved by a convention. On September 25, the National Assembly elected Jose P. Laurel as President of the Second Republic. This was inaugurated on October 14, 1943. In his inaugural speech, Laurel said: ..J am sure our people will rise as one to meet the challenge. ... We shall encounter difficulties greater than we have ever faced in our national history...God helping us, we shall march with steady, resolute steps forward, without doubt, vacillation, or fear. In spite of great efforts exerted by Laurel and other government officials, the prices of commodities, especially foodstuff, increased daily until it was impossible for most Filipinos to eat three times a day. At such times, the Filipinos ate substitutes. Thus, mango or avocado leaves were boiled as substitute for tea. Papaya leaves were dried, cut, and used as substitute for tobacco. Corn was boiled and sprinkled with salt to be eaten. The lowly kangkong was cultivated for food. Most Filipinos lived on these substitutes. Rice was very scarce. The Japanese army either bought all the rice or confiscated it. Thousands died of hunger in Manila and in other centers of population where food was scarce. Brutalities and rapes were also recorded. Jose P. LaurelGUERRILLA WAREARE The Filipinos, with very few exceptions, were anti-Ji Many of the soldiers who escaped Bataan and Corregidor j founded guerrilla organizations. Throughout the entire Philipp’ guerrilla outfits sprang like mushrooms. Patriotism was at its height. The guerrillas harassed Japanese army units, ambushed, and killed them. Filipino spies in the employ of the Japanese sent reports to their guerrilla units. These in turn sent the reports to General MacArthur in Australia. Among the most famous guerrilla leaders were Governor Tomas Confesor of Iloilo; Colonel Macario Peralta, of Panay; Colonel Ruperto Kangleon of Leyte; Tomas Cabili, Salipada Pendatun, and Wendell Fertig of Mindanao; Wenceslao Q. Vinzons of Camarines Norte; Miguel Ver and Eleuterio Adevoso, who headed the Hunters R.O.T.C. Guerrillas; Marcos Agustin or Marking, who headed the Marking’s Guerrilla; and Luis Taruc, who led the Hukbalahap. Their guerrilla warfare tactics made the Japanese conquest of the Philippines very difficult. Because of the Filipino guerrillas, MacArthur's return to the Philippines was facilitated. When MacArthur and his forces returned, the ground was ready for clearing operations. THE GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE Quezon and his party left Corregidor in February 1942. They were brought to Australia and from there they took a boat to San Francisco, and then by train, reached Washington, D.C. It was in the U.S. that Quezon reorganized the Commonwealth government. His Cabinet included General Basilio Valdes, Secretary of National Defense; Manuel Nieto, Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce; Joaquin Elizalde, Resident Commissioner; Dr. Arturo B. Rotor, Executive Secretary; and Jaime Hernandez, Secretary of Finance. Because of war conditions, the Commonwealth government thought it wise to extend the presidency of Quezon beyond his term of office. However Quezon was very sick, and on August 1, 1944 he died at Saranac Lake, New York. He was succeeded by Vice President Sergio Osmefia. THE RETURN OF MACARTHUR In 1944, the United States began its offensive against Japan. Island after island in the Pacific, which the Japanese had captured early in the war, fell into the hands of the Americans. In severel naval battles,the American navy won over the Japanese navy. MacArthur, feeling that it was time to return to the Philippines, ordered all his naval, marine, and air forces to begin the attack on the Japanese in the Philippines who had for the most part been defeated by the Filipino guerrillas. Manila and other places were heavily bombed by American airplanes. On October 20, the American air and naval forces bombarded the Japanese positions in Leyte, On the same day, the Americans landed on Leyte and the battle for Philippine liberation began. In several encounters, the Japanese navy was defeated by elements of the American navy which guarded Leyte. As the Japanese military forces weakened, MacArthur landed in Lingayen, Pangasinan on January 9, 1945. From Lingayen, the American army sliced through Central Luzon and reached Manila at twilight of February 3, 1945. The American and allied prisoners of war at the University of Santo Tomas were freed. The Leyte Landing Memorial in Palo, Leyte THE COMMONWEALTH REESTABLISHED When Leyte was liberated from the Japanese, MacArthur reestablished the Commonwealth on October 23, 1944, with Tacloban as the temporary capital. MacArthur was the military administrator; but on February 27, 1945, he turned over the reins of government to President Osmefia. Then on July 4, MacArthur proclaimed the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese. Sergio OsmefiaTue END OF THE WAR With the Japanese defeated in the Philippines, MacArthur now proposed to carry the war to Japan itself. Hundreds of huge bombexs. called Superfortresses, bombed Japan, particularly Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and other Japanese cities. President Harry S. Truman, who had succeeded Roosevelt after his death, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of England demanded for Japan to surrender unconditionally. At first Japan refused to surrender. The Americans then dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Faced with thieats of annihilation, Japan surrendered unconditionally. On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the terms of surrender on board the battleship USS Missouri at Tokyo Bay. The war in the Pacific was finally over. Stupy GUIDE ‘1. Enumerate and discuss the problems of the Commonwealth. In your opinion, which of these problems was the most serious? Why? 2. Discuss national security as a problem. How did Quezon try to solve the problem? 3. What is meant by a citizen army? Who composed it? Do you think MacArthur was right in establishing such kind of army? Explain your answer. 4, What social problems did Quezon face? Which of these social problems was the most serious? How did he try to solve it? 5. What is meant by “social justice?” How did Quezon implement it? Did he succeed in completely implementing it? Why? 6. How did Quezon meet the problems of rural and labor unrest of the period? 7. Discuss the achievements of the Commonwealth government. Which of these achievements appear to be the most important for you? Explain your answer. 8. Why and how did the war in the Pacific break out? Was Japan justified in bombing Pearl Harbor without a declaration of war? 9. What is meant by “open city?” Why did MacArthur declare Manila an open city? Was he right in declaring Manila as an open city? Give your reason or reasons.