7.1 and 2 The American Occupation and the Commonwealth of the Philippines PDF

K A S AY S AYA N 1 | T H E A M E R I C A N O C C U PAT I O N A N D T H E C O M M O N W E A LT H T h e F i r s t Ye a r s o f A m e r i c a n Occupation and the Establishment of Civilian Government and Self-Rule With the capture surrender of Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901 signal the gradual end of elite-...

K A S AY S AYA N 1 | T H E A M E R I C A N O C C U PAT I O N A N D T H E C O M M O N W E A LT H T h e F i r s t Ye a r s o f A m e r i c a n Occupation and the Establishment of Civilian Government and Self-Rule With the capture surrender of Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901 signal the gradual end of elite-led nationalist resistance of the Philippine-American War, removal of the “political obstacle to the enforcement of American sovereignty” (Tan, A History of the Philippines). US President Roosevelt declared the “official end” of the War on July 2, 1902 The Second Philippine (Taft) Commission became the governing body of the islands, with William Taft as Governor-General, replacing the military government into a civilian government.  Sugar Businessman, Negros Vice President, Malolos Congress President, Constituent Assembly of the Negros Government Member, Aguinaldo’s Cabinet Appointed Delegate for Cebu, Malolos Congress Co-founder and first President, pro-American Partido Federal  Among included in the act were a “bill of rights” for Filipinos, disestablishment of the Catholic Church, the authority of the government over natural resources, the authority of the government to buy religious lands, the promise of self- governance through an elected assembly after the conduct of a census Also known as the “Cooper Act”, was passed alongside the official end of the Philippine-American War, providing a basic law governing the Philippines. The Census of the Philippine Islands of 1903 and the Philippine Exposition at the 1 9 0 4 S t. L o u i s Wo r l d F a i r Published in 1905, the purpose of the census was to know the population of the archipelago, “…full report for all the inhabitants, of name, age, sex, race, or tribe, whether native or foreign born, literacy in Spanish native dialect, or language, or in English school attendance, ownership of homes, industrial and social statistics, and such other information separately for each island, each province, and municipality, or other civil division” (Section 6, Philippine Organic Act of 1902) A precondition to self-rule and election, basis for legislative action. Former revolutionaries and nationalists, Civility were measured by racial and some of which became appointed religious terms. Civilized were governors of their respective provinces, synonymous with being “Christian”; and alongside local elites collaborated while “non-Christian”—including in this endeavor; they are Muslims—were synonymous with “wild”, “indispensable sources of support and “in various stages between almost information” (Rafael, White Love). complete savagery and dawning civilization” (Census, Vol. 1). Surgeon, US Volunteers Chief, Bureau of Health 1899 Census of the Philippine Islands, Volume 1, page 505 The Census of 1903, in essence, became a tool of the “civilizing mission”, utilized as a precondition in the exercise of “democracy”, testing the capacity of Filipinos of government rule through standards of the West, identities encoded through racialized categories. Like the Spanish, the Americans kept the mantra of conditioning natives under colonial standards. Supervisors of the Census. Tagálogs In view: Gov. Maximo Paterno, City of Manila; Gov. Ricardo Paras, Subprovince of Marinduque; Gov. E. de los Santos, Province of Nueva Ecija; Gov. Juan Cailles, Province of La Laguna; Gov. Arturo Dancel, Province of Rizal Political Parties, the Philippine Legislature, and the Independence Missions  On January 9, 1907, the Second Philippine Commission passed Act No. 1582, also known as Election Law of 1907, which provided for the organization of the Philippine Assembly. Political parties have already been organized, especially by those who are opposed to United States rule and called for immediate independence. 80* delegates were to be elected. As promised in the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, national elections were held for what would become the legislative lower house, the Philippine Assembly; the Philippine Commission still functioned as the upper house. The Partido Nacionalista was the result of The rebranding of the pro-American Partido the merging of the Partido Independista Federal in 1907; were popular and and the Partido Union Nacionalista, both occupied most government positions of which were pro-immediate available to Filipinos, but gradually independence, on March 12, 1907. declined since 1903 after Taft left. The Nacionalistas wanted nothing short of The Progresistas maintained that the “absolute, complete, and immediate Philippines was not yet ready for immediate independence.” independence and should instead focus on improving agriculture, industry, commerce, and education.  Sergio Osmeña Speaker of the Assembly Nacionalista, Cebu 2nd District Manuel Luis Quezon Majority Floor Leader Nacionalista, Tayabas 1st District The victory of Democratic Party Woodrow Wilson in 1912 US Presidential Elections saw directional changes in American policy towards the Philippines. 1913 saw the appointment of Francis Burton Harrison whose tenure until 1921 oversaw the process of “Filipinization” of the colonial government. In 1916, the Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Act) was passed inaugurating a restructured bicameral legislature; the Philippine Commission was replaced by a Senate as the upper house, while the Philippine Assembly became the House of Representatives. “La Gloriosa Ley Jones” A 1916 poster advertising the Jones Law In picture from left to right: Gov.-Gen Francis B. Harrison; Cong. William A. Jones, author of the Jones Act; US President Woodrow Wilson; Senate President Manuel L. Quezon; Speaker Sergio Osmeña; Resident Commissioner Manuel N. Earnshaw Electoral politics became more complex The 1916 election saw further dominance and the vie for parliamentary control: of the Nacionalista: Since 1914, Osmeña was criticized by Resident Commissioner Manuel L. fellow Nacionalistas for being too Quezon was elected as Senator and powerful—a faction separated forming became Senate President, a position he the Partido Democrata Nacional. held until 1935. The Democratas and Progresistas, both want independence with the status of a One must note, however, that right to vote was US protectorate—merged in April 1917 only for men of 21 years; able to read and write as Partido Democrata Spanish, English, or a native language; with real property (approx. P500) or pays tax totalling P30 annually. However, even within the Splits and reemergence among the Nacionalista, rivalries began to nationalist elite-politicians were a emerge between Quezon and constant feature in the 1920s. Osmeña, which can be traced from the passage of the Jones Good relations between Filipino elites Act and the establishment of the and American officials—characterized Senate: who should be powerful, by lavish parties and socializing, the President of the Senate or the appeasing American, cementing their Speaker of the House? alliance by appeasing. Moreover, each began accusing of abuse of political power, of “Fiesta politics” (Kramer, The Blood of dictatorial tendencies, and self- Government) interest. An important promise of the Jones Act: “independence as soon as a stable government can be established.” In 1918, the Philippine Legislature created the Commission of Independence—”to study all matters related to negotiation and organization of the independence” (cited in Agoncillo, History of the Filipino People) From 1919 until 1933, “independence missions” were sent to the US to lobby for independence; made up of Nacionalista members of the Legislature with occasional Democrata representative—”national unity” However, these “independence missions” functioned more to boost political imagery of the elites rather than to really advocate for independence; these trips became all- expense paid “vacations” courtesy of taxpayer money—until Governor- General Leonard Wood cut off budgetary provisions. “From the standpoint of actual legislative results, the missions were failures because no meaningful action came from the US Congress to give the missions what they wanted until 1932” (Tan, A History of the Philippines) “Calibrated colonialism involved the setting of criteria by which Filipinos would be recognized as having the capacity to responsibly exercise power in the colonial state and establishing credible, if illusory, markers in time that would signal devolutionary progress in the regime under construction. It could succeed only as long as freedom could be both reliably promised and endlessly deferred. As such, it was a colonialism predicated on the endless colonization of the future: by establishing temporal benchmarks whose marking was still an exclusive American preserve, calibrated colonialism could persuasiv ely generate what might be called the illusion of impermanence” (Kramer, The Blood of Government, p. 191). With the Great Depression kicking in the late 1920s and early 1930s, significant changes to the American colonial policy were brought in—the Philippines was now a liability than an asset. American businesses now see Filipino export products as competition. In 1931, Senator Sergio Osmeña and House Speaker Manuel Roxas led the 9th independence mission (the OsRox Mission), successfully lobbying for the enactment of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting (HHC) Act: Independence in 10 years, setting the date of independence on July 4, 1946. Provided for the general framework of a Commonwealth Government Quotas and limitations on Philippine products Tariffs remaining the same for the first 5 years, 5% increase every two years since. However, the Philippine Senate led by Quezon rejected the Act. The Philippine Legislature was divided into the Pros (favoring the HHC) and the Antis (against HHC)—another Quezon vs. Osmeña split within the Nacionalista In 1933, Quezon went to Washington and was able to lobby for the passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act in 1934— essentially like the HHC but minor changes regarding military bases. The election of 1934 was then a showdown of the Pros and the Antis: The Antis won the House of Representatives (75%) and the Senate (8) A victory for Quezon—leader of Filipino independence. The Provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Act: The US to maintain military forces in the Philippines To call all military forces of the Philippine government into US military service The act empowered the U.S. President, within two years following independence, to negotiate matters relating to U.S. naval reservations and fueling stations of in the Philippine Islands To reclassify all Filipinos living in the US as “aliens” rather than US nationals, denied of naturalization rights. On July 30, 1934, 202 elected delegates met to convene the framing of the Philippine Constitution which followed the American model in structure and formal appearance, except on several provisions on a unicameral legislature, system of government, among others. The constitution was approved on February 8, 1935; approved by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 23; May 14, a plebiscite ratified the constitution. On September 16, 1935, the first national elections in the Philippines were held. Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña (Nacionalista) Emilio Aguinaldo and Raymundo Melliza (National Socialist) Gregorio Aglipay and Norberto Nabong (Republican) A New Era of Dreams and Promises (?) Inaugurated on November 15, 1935, together with the inauguration of Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña as President and Vice President, respectively. A transitional 10-year period towards the promise of independence. The National Defense Act Aimed to create an independent Philippine military Regular army force of 10,000 troops Reserve army of 400,000 Offshore patrol Philippine Army Air Corps of 100 tactical bombers To be guided by a Field Marshal of the Philippines— General Douglas MacArthur A close friend of Quezon Got a suite in the Manila Hotel for agreeing. To eradicate illiteracy in the Philippines through the development of a system of education, the National Council of Education was created via Exec. Order 19, s. 1936 dealing with primary instruction and adult education. Commonwealth Act No. 184, establishing the Institute of National Language; Executive Order No. 134, 1937, Tagalog as basis for the National Language Also, on April 30, 1937, pursuant of Section 1 Article 5 of the 1935 Constitution and of Commonwealth Act No. 34, 1936, a plebiscite was held questioning to extend the right suffrage to women. 91% voted “Yes” The Commonwealth still retained the interests of the elite, and obviously patronage politics continued with Quezon as part of that system. Quezon was good at balancing provincial loyalties and American interests, manipulating them towards his goal of perpetuating power, turning executive power into his own personal demesne. The near dominance of the Nacionalista allowed him to put the National Assembly under his control—more so when the Senate was returned in 1941 (through a referendum), its members were elected at large, no longer via senatorial districts. Allowed to run for another term through the same referendum. Continually used the Philippine Constabulary as his own private army, especially against he deemed as threats. The University of the Philippines has had tensions with Quezon ever since he came into power. Then-UP President Rafael Palma and Dean Maximo Kalaw of UP College of Liberal Arts publicly supported the Osmeña and Roxas and the HHC Act. Budget cuts were his favorite threat when University officials and/or students opposed his policies. The planned move to Diliman was Quezon’s response to student protests and dissent: “There will be no politics in UP.” Quezon dreamt of a “capital city that, politically shall be the seat of the national government; aesthetically the showplace of the nation—a place that thousands of people will come and visit as the epitome of culture and spirit of the country.” Initially to be called “Balintawak City”, but with the request of his supporters in Senate, he relented and allowed the city to be named after him. Inspired by “Garden City Architecture” of Ebenezer Howard, and was an attempt to “spatialize” official nationalism, a state-sanctioned nationalism that pleased both colonizer and elites. O n t h e E c o n o m y, H e a l t h c a r e , Education, Literature, etc. Development… for whom? Seven schools were established in Manila in 1898; Around 100,000 Filipinos were enrolled in primary schools in 1899. As an incentive, authorities gave free books, pencils, and other school supplies. The first teachers were soldiers but soon were replaced by American teachers, dubbed Thomasites, from those who boarded the SS Thomas (and other ships). Schools such as the Normal School was established in Manila, alongside other teacher training institutions in the provinces. Technical schools were also established: Trade School (Technological University of the Philippines) Manila Business School (Polytechnic University of the Philippines) Philippine Medical School (UP College of Medicine Higher education was supported by the establishment of the University of the Philippines in 1908. Filipinos who excelled were sent to US as pensionados (Philippine Commission Act No. 854, s. 1903). Upon return, they either became government workers or taught in schools. Education being touted (both in the Philippines and the US) as altruistic efforts, reinforcing imperialistic attitudes. Being educated is one of the set criteria for self-government by the Americans Schools made to imbibe values of “dignity of labor”—based upon the assumption that Filipinos were lazy. “Little brown brothers”  5-8% 44.2% 65% Spanish 1903 Census Commonw ealth, Period Inaugurated Cholera and smallpox were problems during the Spanish period. The Board of Health (later, Bureau of Health) was created in 1901 The Philippine General Hospital was founded in 1907; Religious institutions also founded their own hospitals The American colonial government invested in: Dispensaries Leprosaria (Culion Leper Colony) Hospitals Asylums for the orphans, the insane, and the juvenile were also founded. School of Hygiene (UP Manila College of Public Health) was founded in UP. Vocational training was given to internees Lack of hygienic practices were associated with race. White Man’s Burden included teaching natives how to be “clean”. Improvement of water systems to prevent cholera; burning of districts infested by cholera. The economy of the Philippines was characterized by free trade with the United States Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, 1909 Philippine exports (except rice) allowed to enter US duty free within certain quota; American exports were unlimited Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act, 1913 – abolished quota limits Philippines invested on textile, cigar, and cigarette factories. While free trade relations improved the standard of living, it was artificial as economic prosperity was dependent on an unsustainable relationship. Dependent mostly on the US market, foreign markets were overlooked. The US colonial government oversaw the end of the friar estates, lands were sold to the state which, in paper, would soon be sold to tenant farmers. But the price of land was beyond the reach of small farmers, which in turn were bought by rich landowners with some into haciendas. The American Occupation also saw the establishment of the Manila Railroad Company (later, Philippine National Railways); Panay Railroad Company; Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (MERALCO) The earlier part of American period was dubbed the era of “suppressed nationalism” Sedition Law of 1901 Flag Law of 1907 Nonetheless, freedoms such as freedom of religion and of the press were given to the Filipinos. Except that freedom of the press was not absolute In 1908, an editorial entitled “Aves de Rapiña (Birds of Prey)” was published in El Renacimiento. Secretary of Interior, Dean Worcester, felt that it was about him and sued for libel. The case went on until 1914. The newspaper closed and was sold for auction. The rise of English as the medium of instruction in schools derailed/delayed the flourishing of Filipino languages as mediums of creative expression. Despite the uncertainty of independence, Filipino middle classes and the intelligentsia found the American period relatively free. Thus, the project of nationalism shifted from espousing a political program to emphasizing cultural roots and nationalistic symbols. Nationalism from the Peripheries, Social and Political Movements The American Occupation also saw the rise of labor unions, social and political movements that espoused sentiments of exploited peasants and factory workers— all the while lawmakers were busy legislating wealth and politicking. Founded in 1930 by labor organizers and intellectuals—Crisanto Evangelista, Dr. Antonio D. Ora, and Jacinto Manahan. Merged with the Partido Sosyalista of Pedro Abad Santos. Founded as alliance of worker unions and peasant organizations Founded by Benigno Ramos as the newspaper Sakdal in 1930, and was active in Central and Southern Luzon which lasted for at least fifteen years. Started in the 1930s when Ramos, then a government employee under Quezon, witnessed some events of violence and discrimination against Filipinos. Giving sympathy, Quezon urged he resign for being political. After resignation, Ramos founded the newspaper, naming it from James 1:4 and a nod to the French editorial J’Accuse…!, its articles were critical of the government, especially of Quezon and the Nacionalista. In 1933, became a political party, adding “Lapian ng Bayang Api, Sankapuluang Filipinas (Party of the Oppressed People, Philippine Islands)” with a platform of direct independence and land redistribution. In the 1934 elections, the Party won 3 seats in the House of Representatives and in some local government positions. On May 2-3, 1935, a week before the plebiscite of the 1935 Constitution, around 65,000 armed Sakdalistas rose in an uprising that extended in the surrounding provinces outside Manila. Confrontation with the Philippine Constabulary put the uprising down. Ramos went on a exile to Japan. Post-uprising saw the reorganization of the Party and the movement; In 1938, became the Ganap Party. More than the Partido Komunista and the Sakdal, various groups from below expressed their discontent with the colonial government and the elites that held on to the colonial bureaucracy. Colorum and messianic groups staged their own uprisings and revolts. The Muslim leaders in Mindanao, for example, voiced out against independence—specifically being under a Christian- dominated government. Synthesis: