Parity Rights

March 11, 1947, the Parity Amendment to the 1935 Constitution was approved in a

nationwide plebiscite. The Parity Amendment gave the United States citizens equal rights with

the Filipino citizens to develop natural resources in the country and operate public utilities.

However, it was later revoked. When the Philippines became independent from the Americans

on July 4, 1946, its economy had been thoroughly devastated by World War II. Payment of war

damage claims by the U.S. government and an influx of capital were both desperately needed.

The Bell Act set quotas on Philippine exports to the U.S., pegged the Philippine peso to the U.S.

dollar at a rate of 2:1, and provided for free trade between the two countries for 8 years, to be

followed by gradual application of tariffs for the next 20 years. In order to acquire this, it

required an amendment to the Philippine constitution allowing U.S. citizens equal rights with

Filipinos in the disposition, exploitation, development, and utilization of natural resources and

operation of public utilities. This was in fact made a condition to the grant not only of the

preferential treatment “aid,” but also to that of full benefits of the Rehabilitation Act providing

for payment of war damages. And to accommodate this set-up, the Philippine Constitution had to

be amended, to insert an ordinance thereto providing for such national treatment of Americans in

the above-stated areas reserved to Philippine nationals, for a period not beyond July 3, 1974.

The Filipino people, heeding President Manuel A. Roxas’ persuasive harangue, ratified in

a nation-wide plebiscite the controversial “Parity Amendment” to the 1935 Constitution. The

night before the Plebiscite Day, Roxas narrowly escaped assassination by a disgruntled Tondo

barber named Julio Guillen, who hurled a grenade on the platform at Plaza Miranda, Manila,

immediately after the President had addressed a mammoth rally of citizens. The electorate, in a
turnout of almost two-thirds of registered voters, accepted the Parity Amendment to the

Constitution by an eight-to-one majority (1,696,753 for, 222,665 against).

The Bell Trade Act, known as Philippine Trade Act of 1946, an act passed by the U.S.

Congress, particularly the parity clause, was seen by critics as an inexcusable attack on

Philippine national sovereignty. The President of the Philippines under Elpidio Quirino formally

requested the revision of the 1946 Trade Agreement on March 7, 1953. The President of the

United States under Dwight D. Eisenhower, on March 16, 1953, expressed willingness thereto.

Negotiations started at Washington, D.C., on September 20, 1954. In the meanwhile, the two

governments extended the period of reciprocal free trade from July 3, 1954, as originally

scheduled to end under the 1946 Agreement, to December 31, 1955. The Revised Trade

Agreement, popularly known as the Laurel-Langley Agreement, was signed on September 6,

1955, proclaimed on October 26, 1955, and took effect on January 1, 1956. The Revised Trade

Agreement scrapped many of the provisions of the Bell Trade Act and superseded by an

agreement more favorable to Filipino interests.