CHAPTER 11 THE COMMONWEALTH REPUBLIC

MANUEL LUIS QUEZON Y MOLINA

In 1935 Quezon won the Philippine's first national presidential election under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. He obtained nearly 68% of the vote against his two main rivals, Emilio Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay. Quezon was inaugurated in November 1935. He is recognized as the second President of the Philippines. When Manuel L. Quezon was inaugurated President of the Philippines in 1935, he became the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines since Emilio Aguinaldo and the Malolos Republic in 1898. However, in January 2008, Congressman Rodolfo Valencia of Oriental Mindoro filed a bill seeking instead to declare General Miguel Malvar as the second Philippine President, having directly succeeded Aguinaldo in 1901.[c]

SERGIO OSMENIA

Osmeña became president of the Commonwealth on Quezon's death in 1944. He

returned to the Philippines the same year with General Douglas MacArthur and the

liberation forces. After the war Osmeña restored the Commonwealth government and

the various executive departments. He continued the fight for Philippine independence.

For the presidential election of 1946 Osmeña refused to campaign, saying that the

Filipino people knew of his record of 40 years of honest and faithful service.

Nevertheless, he was defeated by Manuel Roxas, who won 54% of the vote and became

the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines.

MANUEL ROXAS

Roxas served as the President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in a brief period, from his subsequent election on May 28, 1946 to July 4, 1946, the scheduled date of the proclamation of Philippine Independence. Roxas prepared the groundwork for the advent of a free and independent Philippines, assisted by the Congress (reorganized May 25, 1946), with Senator José Avelino as the Senate President and Congressman Eugenio Pérez as the House of Representatives Speaker. On June 3, 1946, Roxas appeared for the first time before the joint session of the Congress to deliver his first state of the nation address. Among other things, he told the members of the Congress the grave problems and difficulties the Philippines are set to face and reports of his special trip to the U.S. — the approval for independence.

RE-ADJUSTMENT OF ECONOMIC PROGRAM OF QUEZON

CHAPTER 12 THE SECOND REPUBLIC

Greater East Asia Conference

The Greater East Asia Conference (大東亜会議 Dai Tōa Kaigi?) was an international

summit held in Tokyo from 5 to 6 November 1943, in which Japan hosted the heads of

state of various component members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The

event was also referred to as the Tokyo Conference. The Conference addressed few

issues of any substance, but was intended from the start as apropaganda show piece, to

illustrate the Empire of Japan's commitments to the Pan-Asianism ideal and to

emphasize its role as the "liberator" of Asia from Western colonialism.

TORA-TORA AIR STRIKE

The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place

in Afghanistan from December 6, 2001 to December 17, 2001, during the opening

stages of the War in Afghanistan launched by the United States following the September

11 attacks. The U.S. and its allies believed that Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-

Qaeda, was hiding in the mountains at Tora Bora.

WAR IN THE PACIFIC

The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War,[32] was the theatre of World

War II that was fought in the Pacificand East Asia. It was fought over a vast area that

included the Pacific Ocean and islands, the South West Pacific, South-East Asia, and in

China (including the 1945 Soviet–Japanese conflict).

JOSE P. LAUREL

Si José Paciano Laurel y García (Marso 9, 1891 - Nobyembre 6, 1959) ay ang

ikatlong Pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas(Oktubre 14, 1943-Agosto 17, 1945) sa ilalim

ng mga Hapon mula 1943 hanggang 1945. Isinilang si Laurel

sa Tanauan, Batangas noong Marso 9, 1891 anak nina Sotero Laurel at Jacoba Garcia.

Nagtapos siya ngabogasya sa U.P. noong 1915.

CHAPTER 13 THE THIRD REPUBLIC

The Third Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated on July 4, 1946. It marked the

culmination of the peaceful campaign for Philippine Independence—the two landmarks

of which were the enactment of the Jones Law in 1916 (in which the U.S. Congress

pledged independence for the Philippines once Filipinos have proven their capability for

self-government) and the Philippine Independence Act of 1934 (popularly known as

Tydings-McDuffie) which put in place a ten-year transition period during which the

Philippines had Commonwealth status. The Third Republic also marked the recognition

by the global community of nations, of the nationhood of the Philippines.

President Roxas takes his oath of office during the Independence Ceremony of July 4,

1946. Administering the oath is Chief Justice Manuel Moran.

President Manuel Roxas addressing the lawmakers of the Second Commonwealth

Congress of the Philippines during his first State of the Nation Address on June 3, 1946

at a converted school house at Lepanto Street, Manila.

On April 17, 1948, Vice President Elpidio Quirino, back in Malacañan Palace, knelt and

wept unabashed before the casket bearing the remains of Manuel Roxas. (Photo

courtesy of the National Library of the Philippines.)

President Elpidio Quirino delivering his First State of the Nation Address on January 24,

1949