1.

How Americans Trained the Filipinos for Self-Government

The destruction made by the Japanese imperialism in the 1940s greatly shook the Philippines and
left it hopeless. The Philippine government before the Japanese occupation was seen as
ineffective and weak as witnessed by its immediate loss against the Japanese troops. Aside from
the country’s weak military force, the government itself was not fully organized and managed for
the country to be self-sustaining.

The Americans took this as an opportunity to help the Filipinos in any means necessary. Aside
from the financial and health assistance provided by the Americans to the Filipino war victims,
the Americans also showed support for the Filipino cause by reorganizing their government and
transforming it entirely.

The Americans were determined to put into practice the promise made by their leaders during
their conference in Washington, D.C. (Blount, 1913). It was to provide the Filipinos the privilege
of a wise and humane administration. The government to be established by the Americans was
not an annexation of the United States territory but a government wholly for the Filipinos to rule
by themselves. But before that to happen, the Americans first needed to train the Filipinos for
self-government.

After the training, it was their promise to give the leadership of the government to the Filipinos
and grant them independence. Consequently, the Americans also promised the Filipinos to give
them the civil liberties they never enjoyed during or were not given by the Spaniards during the
Spain’s colonization in the country.

Basically, the training of the Filipinos was a preparation for the country’s independence (Blount,
1913). This privilege from the Americans has two reasons. First, the United States Government
did not believe that the Filipinos were already capable of holding the country alone. Secondly,
they could not still leave the Philippines and needed to govern the Philippines by themselves.
Meaning to say, the government of the Philippines to be formed must first to be controlled by the
Americans with the Filipinos as the direct in charge for the government’s positions.

The role of the Americans was to guide the Filipinos in their operation of the government. In
short, the Filipino politicians were subject to the dictate of the Americans.

2. What are the provisions of Philippines Bill of 1902

From 1907 to 1916, the Philippine Assembly served as the lower house of the legislature with
the Philippine Commission, headed by the American Governor-General, as the upper chamber.
The inauguration of the Philippine Assembly on October 16, 1907 is 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.

For more than three hundred years, the Filipinos were ruled by the Spaniards and their
occupation ended when Spain was defeated by the American Navy headed by Commodore
George Dewey in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1898. Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of
the revolutionary government in the Philippines was convinced by American Consul E. Spencer
Pratt, to return to the Philippines from Hong Kong to resume the revolution and break the truce
effected by the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. When Gen. Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines, he
summoned the revolutionaries and ordered the resumption of the armed struggle against the
Spanish government. Amidst the ongoing hostilities, Gen. Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine
Independence on 12 June 1898 at Kawit, Cavite. Soon enough, the relationship between the
Americans and the Filipinos turned sour after the American government agreed to negotiate with
the Spaniards that resulted to Spain’s surrender and the eventual signing of the Treaty of Paris
that ceded the Philippines to the United States.

President William McKinley’s Policy of Benevolent Assimilation, aimed to prepare the Filipinos
to direct their own government by having them under their tutelage. A military government was
initially established in the Philippines as soon as the Treaty of Paris was signed and when the
Filipino-American War erupted in February 1899. The three military generals who took charge
of the islands from 1898 to 1901 were Gen. Wesley Merritt, Gen. Elwell Otis and Gen. Arthur
MacArthur. In 1901, by virtue of the Spooner Amendment passed by the US Congress on 3
March 1901, the military rule in the Philippines ended paving way to the establishment and
inauguration of a civil government with William H. Taft as the first civil governor. The civil
government named the Philippine Commission as sole lawmaking body in the Philippine islands
from 1901 to 1907, and eventually acted as the upper house from 1907 to 1916 until the time the
Jones Law was passed on August 1916, that gave the Filipinos the opportunity to control both
legislative houses.

The Philippine Bill of 1902 is one of the most important decrees enacted by the American
government in the Philippines. Entitled “An Act Temporarily to Provide for the Administration
of the Affairs of Civil Government in the Philippine Islands, and for Other Purposes,” this law
contained two important provisions that strengthen both the civil and human rights of the
Filipino people, and bestowed on them the privilege of legislation.

Also known as Cooper Act, it provided a Bill of Rights for the Filipinos that protected their
rights: to live, to acquire property, to practice their religion, to be subjected to due process, to
exercise their obligations, to enjoy compensations due to them, and freedom of expression. But
the most important element contained in the bill was its clauses that called for the creation of a
lower legislative branch with elected Filipino representatives as legislators.
The bill also stated the American government’s readiness to call for a general election in the
islands should insurrection cedes and complete peace is maintained as attested by the Philippine
Commission. The decree mandates the US President to order the Philippine Commission to
perform a census of the islands and make a detailed report about the population and matters
about the people that may deemed by the Commission as necessary, while peace is being upheld.
Two years after the publication of the result of the census, and upon the satisfaction of the
Philippine Commission and the US President, a general election shall be called and the elected
Filipinos, not less than fifty but not greater than one hundred in number, will comprise the
Philippine Assembly—the body that will act as the lower house of the legislature in the
Philippines.
The Filipinos became very cooperative with the promises offered by the bill. Peace was
maintained, a census was conducted and after its publication, an election was held on 30 July
1907 and the assembly was convened and inaugurated on 16 October 1907 at the Manila Grand
Opera House. The Nacionalista Party, espousing “immediate and complete independence”
headed by Sergio Osmeña garnered the majority of the seats. The First Philippine Assembly is
best remembered for its effort in reviving the issue of independence and for passing laws that
improved the type of education enjoyed by the Filipinos.
3. What are the American policies on Filipinization?

Filipinization Policy It is the reconstruction of the governemnt system of the Philippines during
the American period. Filipinos were given the oppurtunity to serve in the gorvernement. What do
you mean by Filipinization policy?
In 1912 the American Insular Government adopted new policies which had
importantimplications for the Muslim inhabitants of the Southern Philippines:1. Bangsamoro had
previously been administered separately from the NorthernPhilippines, but now the U.S. began
to consider the two as a single colony.2. The new policy of “Filipinization” affected
Bangsamoro: the American Governor,Frank Carpenter, transferred supervision of the Muslim
south over to Filipinoadministrators from the north. Until this time, the Moro did not consider
themselvesFilipinos. The result of the “Filipinization” program was that by 1920, the majorityof
government administrators in the Southern Philippines were Catholic Christians,giving rise to
Moro complaints that the real meaning of “Filipinization” was“Christian Filipinization.” In 1913,
the insular government introduced a policy moving Christian settlers to Mindanao, allegedly to
address the growing problem of landless farmers in Luzon and Visayas. The Moro had been a
majority in Mindanao and owned most of the land, but it seems that the real goal of the
American policy was to break down the historical autonomy of the Muslim territories.
Eventually the Moro became s marginalized minority with greatly reduced landholdings.
Christian Resettlement in Mindanao In 1913, the Moro province was renamed as the Department
of Mindanao and Sulu and its integration with the rest of the Philippine colony began.

4. What Are The Significance Of Jones Law In The Live Of The Filipino?

To the Filipinos, the Jones Law was the first American formal and official commitment to grant
independence to the Philippines, previous utterances made by the American Presidents being
more executive opinions not necessarily binding on the American people. Now, the Jones Law in
its preamble proposed “to withdraw their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands and to
recognize their independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein.” To
achieve this purpose, the preamble declared it “desirable to place in the hands of the people of
the Philippines as large a control of their domestic affairs as can be given (so that) they may be
better prepared to fully assume the responsibilities and enjoy the privileges of complete
independence.” Thus, the Jones Law became the virtual constitutional compact between the
Americans and the Filipinos. The Filipinos accepted the autonomous, though temporary
government under American sovereignty by the people of the United States” would not be
impaired.

Some Filipino critics regarded the Law as defective, Maximo M. Kalaw pointed out that
it was “too elastic: the governor-general could be powerful or as liberal as he wanted so that he
and the Filipino leaders were hound to clash if they differed in the interpretation of the Jones
Law.” The Law according to him, did not provide for an “undisputed and recognized official
position in the government for the political leaders of the people” and therefore was conducive to
conflict between the Filipino leaders. Moreover, some skeptics noted the Law failed to provide
the criteria for the vague and ambiguous phrase “stable government”. Whatever its
imperfections, it was admitted that the Jones Law was the best legislation obtainable from the
United States Congress at the time.

5. Discuss the importance of Tydings Mcduffie.

With the passage of Tydings-McDuffie law and its subsequent ratification by the Philippine
legislature, Quezon won a total victory over his opponents and retained supreme leadership over
the Nacionalista Party and the government. The overwhelming victory of the Partido
Nacionalista Consolidado, the party headed by Quezon, in the elections of June 4, 1935,
confirmed beyond question Quezon’s leadership. Osmeña and Roxas and he Partido Nacionalista
Pro-Consiladado, which they founded, sufferd a severe trouncing in the elections. Of the eleven
seats in the Senate, which were contested, they won only three, and of the ninety-nine elective
members in the lower house, they won only nineteen. Only four out of forty-eight provincial
governors elected were Osmenistas or Pro candidates.

Tydings-McDuffie Act, also called Philippine Commonwealth and Independence Act, (1934),
the U.S. statute that provided for Philippine independence, to take effect on July 4, 1946, after a
10-year transitional period of Commonwealth government. The bill was signed by U.S. Pres.
Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 24, 1934, and was sent to the Philippine Senate for approval.
Although that body had previously rejected the similar Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act, it approved the
Tydings-McDuffie Act on May 1.

Following the terms of the independence act, Filipinos elected delegates for a constitutional
convention on July 10, and Roosevelt approved the Philippine constitution on March 23, 1935.
The Commonwealth government, under the presidency of Manuel Quezon, was inaugurated in
November of that year. For the next 10 years the Philippines remained U.S. territory. Foreign
affairs, defense, and monetary matters remained under U.S. jurisdiction, but all other internal
matters were in the hands of the Philippine people. During the Commonwealth period, duties
were to be imposed on a graduated scale, but the trade provisions were subsequently amended in
1939 in favour of the Philippines.