Dear Diary, 17th November 1898

I have witnessed how we Filipinos, heroically stood

up to the Spanish colonizers. All the while we thought

that we have already gained independence from them.

However, our total victory was impeded by the

collaboration between Spain and the United States,

where Spain handed over the Philippines to the US for

20M dollars.

• The Cuban revolution against the Spaniards broke out in 1895. The United States supported the Cubans because the latter’s liberation from Spain would benefit their trading interests.

• On February 15, 1898, the warship Maine of the Americans was blown up in the Port of Havana.

• On May 1, 1898, the fleet of Commodore George Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet led by Admiral Montojo.

• On May 17, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo left Hong Kong aboard the US ship McCulloch.

• Although he was assured by Dewey that the US had no plans to colonize the Philippines, unknown to him, US forged an agreement with General Fermin Jaudines where:– A mock battle between the Spaniards and

the Americans would be conducted.– The Spaniards would surrender to the

American troops.– The Filipinos would not be allowed to

participate in the Spaniards’ surrender.

Mock Battle in Manila

• It began on August 13, 1897 at around 9:30 am by the bombing of Olympia in Fort San Antonio Abad.

• After an hour, General Greene’s forces attacked from Malate. General Arthur MacArthur troops advanced from Singalong.

• By 11:20AM, the Spaniards waved their flag of surrender.

TREATY OF PARIS

The Peace Commission is composed of: 5 Spaniards:• Eugenio Montero Ríos• Buenaventura de Abarzuza• José de Garnica• Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa• Urrutia Rafael Cerero

5 Americans:• William R. Day• William P. Frye• Cushman Kellogg Davis• George Gray• Whitelaw Reid

• On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed. It stated that Spain would turn over the Philippines to the United States in exchange of $20,000,000.

• US would recognize the rights of Spaniards to sell their goods in the Philippines in the next ten years.

• This anti-Filipino treaty proved that US imperialists had never recognized the Republic of the Philippines.

THE PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE

• On July 12, 1898, Philippine independence was declared in Kawit, Cavite.

• It was the first time, the Philippine flag made in Hongkong by Mrs. Marcela Agoncillo was unfurled, while the “Marcha Nacional Filipina”, a composition of Juan Felipe, was playing.

• The Declaration of Independence was written and read by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista.

• Aguinaldo established a republic that was not sovereign, but a mere “protectorate”, under the protection of United States.

Revolutionary Government

• On June 23, 1898, Aguinaldo issued a decree establishing the Revolutionary Government.

• The decree created four agencies of the government:

- Department of Foreign Relations, Navy and Commerce

- Department of War and Public Works- Department of Police, Internal Order, Justice,

Education and Cleanliness- Department of Finance, Agriculture and

Industry and Manufacturing

• It also created the Congress which was tasked to look after the people’s interests, implement the revolutionary laws, uphold agreements and debts, study and affirm the reports of the Secretary of Finance and new taxes.

McKinley’s “Benevolent Assimilation

• On December 21, 1898, President McKinley made his benevolent assimilation proclamation.

• He announced that the US would enforce its sovereignty over the Filipinos.

• He also ordered his military chief in the Philippines to extend US rule in the country through the use of force.

• On January 4, 1899, General Elwell Otis attempted to hide the real contents of the “Benevolent Assimilation” by publishing a watered down version of the proclamation.

• But General Miller, another American Official, published the proclamation’s original version.

• When the revolutionary government had taken hold of the proclamation, they immediately condemned it.

• Antonio Luna, editor of La Independencia, led in assailing the proclamation.

• He called it “a plot to temporarily silence the people before launching and unleashing all the hateful characteristics of governance as employed by the Spaniards in the Philippines.”

• On January 5, 1899, Aguinaldo replied to the proclamation.

• Aguinaldo protested against the “harsh US invasion over a part of the territory of the Philippines.”

• In a revised proclamation on the same day, Aguinaldo opposed “the US intervention on the sovereignty of the islands.”

• He warned that the Filipino Government was prepared to fight should the US troops attempt to colonize the islands in the Visayas.

• General Otis considered Aguinaldo’s proclamations as challenges to war. The Americans silently prepared for a war aggression.

THE MALOLOS CONSTITUTION

• On January 21, 1899, Aguinaldo proclaimed the Malolos Constitution. It was drafted by the Constitutional committee created by the Congress.

• It created a state with the government divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The legislative, which was composed of the Assembly of Representatives, was the most powerful.

The Constitution was also firm on the following important provisions:

- Separation of the church and state- Recognition of each other’s situation-Free public education at the primary

level- Protection of lives, homes and

properties- Collection of taxes as mandated by law

• On January 23, 1899, Aguinaldo founded the Republic of the Philippines. He was also the first President of the Republic of the Philippines.

The Outbreak of the Filipino-American War

• The flames of war were ignited on the eve of February 4, 1899.

• Private Willie Grayson’s group patrolled at San Juan.

• Grayson fired at a Filipino soldier, prompting an exchange of fires between two groups.

• Gen. MacArthur ordered to or assault the Filipino troops.

• Aguinaldo to Otis: “I had not ordered the Filipino soldiers to fire” and “Armed fighting must be stopped.”

• Otis: “Fighting had begun, so we shall see it to the end.”

The Hunt for and the Capture of Aguinaldo

• When the anticipated reinforcement of the US troops arrived, the aggressors intensified the hunt for Aguinaldo.

• When General Luna died, a good part of Filipino troops lost heart.

• When Aguinaldo found this out, he escaped, hid and chose difficult area to assault.

• In order to capture not just Aguinaldo, but the whole land, the Americans made an extra effort to use wealthy Filipino traitors.

• Finally, Aguinaldo fell into the hands of Americans, but the other generals continued the struggles.

• US imperialism only managed to colonize the Philippines after thorough and merciless wars.

• 130,000 US troops ( seven thousand were killed and wounded) vs 7 M Filipinos (more than 50,000 were killed).

• They used several methods of cruelty: massacre, rape, zoning, torture and concentration camps.

UNITED STATES’ OBJECTIVE IN COLONIZING THE PHILIPPINES

• The Americans needed new market for their products.

• They were also on the lookout for new sources of cheap raw materials.

• The US hoped to use the Philippines as its base in its drive to control the entire Pacific Ocean and other countries.

• However, President McKinley and President Wilson made the Filipino believe that the Americans intention was to teach the latter about democracy and governance.

ECONOMIC POLICIES

• The American colonial government expanded and speeded up the production of raw materials like sugar, coconut, wood products etc.

• Philippine exports to the U.S. increased in 1913, after free trade was implemented.

• It was a set-up that made the entry of goods into Philippines duty-free and tax-free.

• Although it boosted production, free trade made our economy focused on exporting raw materials while importing expensive manufactured goods.

• With the Americans’ direct control of the country, they invested directly in:

1) Increasing raw materials production2) Trading in light manufactures3) Infrastructure development

• To facilitate transportation and communication, which were necessary in trading, the colonial government and the American firms built and profited from infrastructure projects.

• They utilized loans from foreign banks which resulted to Philippines incurring huge deficits since the cost of import products was more than that of the country’s earnings from exports.

• American government pushed landless peasants for the cultivation of more farmlands to further boost productions.

• To quell the peasants’ uprising in 1903, they brought lands from friars and implemented the Homestead Act so the people could avail of titles for the lands they started to farm.

• Landlords continued to exact rents or levy duties from their ‘tenant’ farmers. In other farmers, capitalist farming arose in which farmers became farm workers.

POLITICAL

POLICIES

The Military Government• The American troops went to a war towards establishing

the military government in August 1898 in the Philippines.

• The power of every Governor-General who served under this government came directly from the President of the United States, as the military’s Commander-in-Chief.

• They organized the civilian courts, including the Supreme Court Justice. They also appointed the first Filipino Supreme Court Justice.

• The American military government established a local government in every town and province that their troops had invaded. They called an election, but those who were educated and well-off could vote and get elected.

The Civil Government• Even as the American troops were still fighting the

Filipino revolutionaries, Pres. McKinley had sent two Philippine Commissions tasked to establish a civil government. The first failed to achieve anything significant, but the second was more successful.

• The Philippine Commission composed mostly of American civilians and military personnel, performed the executive and legislative functions.

• Dr. T.H. Pardo Tavera, Felipe Buencamino and Dr. Pedro Paterno among others founded the first political party in the country, the Partido Liberal, which called for collaboration with the U.S. In 1901, the Americans installed some of the party’s members in the Philippine Commission.

• The Philippine Commission passed the Sedition Act, which imposed imprisonment and the death penalty to anyone advocating freedom or separation from the U.S. even through peaceful means.

• The Philippine Assembly was established in 1902 and served as the Lower Chamber. It took on the roles of facilitating tax collection and allocating government revenues.

• In 1916, the U. S. Congress passed the Jones Law, also known as the Law on Philippine Autonomy. It was the first formal and official American commitment to grant independence to the Philippines, “ as soon as a stable government can be established herein.”

• In 1901, the U.S. colonialists formed the Philippine Constabulary which was headed by American officials until 1917. It was used by U.S. colonialists to violently crush the peoples’ resistance.

Cultural Policies

• In the process of molding the Filipino market came American movies, radio, automobiles, literature, dances and games.

• The Americans established the public educational system that used English as the medium of instruction.

• As schools were established, the Americans gave away free books, supplies, candies and chocolates to encourage the children to attend.

• The first teachers were the American soldiers followed by trained teachers who arrived in the country aboard the SS Thomas.

• U.S. trade policies encouraged the export of cash crops and the importation of manufactured goods; little industrial development occurred. 

• Meanwhile, landlessness became a serious problem in rural areas; peasants were often reduced to the status of serfs.

INDEPENDENCE MISSIONS

• The first official and clear response to the call for independence was the Jones Law of 1916 which replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902. It established for the first time an elected upper house, which would eventually become the Philippine Senate.

• The Philippine Legislature constituted the Independence commission which recommended sending Independence Missions to the United States.

• In 1919, Senate President Quezon led the first Independence Mission. Unfortunately, it was not entertained by US President Woodrow Wilson.

• In all, eleven Independence Missions was sent annually. The government shouldered the huge costs of the missions until Insular Auditor Ben Wright disallowed the spending of public funds for such.

HARE-HAWES-CUTTING ACT AND TYDINGS-MCDUFFIE ACT on PHILIPPINE

INDEPENDENCE• The ninth Mission known as

“OSROX” (Osmeña and Roxas) brought home the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act.

• After that, Quezon, in his solo Independence Mission, asked for another law that will grant freedom to the Filipinos. He successfully brought home the Tydings-McDuffie Act in 1934.

• The Tydings- McDuffie Act allowed for a ten-year transition under a Philippine Commonwealth in preparing for the granting of freedom on July 4, 1946.

• Pursuant to the new Act, and after American Governor General Frank Murphy set the elections for the delegates to the convention in 1934, the Philippine Legislature called for a convention to draft a Constitution.

• After six months, the Convention finished and agreed on the Philippine Constitution in February 1935.

Commonwealth of the Philippines

• First election - September 1935• Quezon and Osmeῆa joined forces

against the Nationalist Socialist Party and Republican Party = victory

• Commonwealth Government was inaugurated in Manila

• Sec. George Dern (Secretary of War) read the proclamation under the Jones Law:– Ending the US government in the

Phil.– Start of Phil. Commonwealth

• Filipinos oversaw the affairs of the gov’t but still, all major decisions had to be approved first by the U.S.

• Economic set-up was retained.

• Free trade was extended until Dec. 31, 1960

• Intensification of production and Phil. consumption from the U.S.

• Philippine trade increased.

• Development of mining industry

• Revision of taxation system

Changes During the Commonwealth Period

• Establishment of Phil. Congress– Senate–House of Representatives

• Quezon reorganized gov’t bureaucracy – new departments formed:– Finance, Interior, Justice, Defense,

Commerce, etc.• Court of Appeals & Court of Industrial

Relations were added.– Increase in judges’ salaries

• National Defense Act – first law passed by Commonwealth