Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines (Spanish: Mancomunidad de Filipinas;[7][8] Tagalog: Kómonwelt nañg Pilipinas[9]) was an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the Tydings–McDuffie Act to replace the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands[10][11][12][13] and was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for full Philippine independence.[14] Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States.[15]
Commonwealth of the Philippines
Unincorporated and organized U.S. commonwealth (1935–1946)[b]
Government-in-exile (1942–1945)
National Assembly
(1935–1941)
Congress
(1945–1946)
Senate
(1945–1946)
House of Representatives
(1945–1946)
November 15 1935
March 12, 1942
February 27, 1945
October 24, 1945
July 4, 1946
October 22, 1946
- mm/dd/yyyy
- dd-mm-yyyy
left (before 1945)
right (after 1945)
During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strong executive and a supreme court. Its legislature, dominated by the Nacionalista Party, was at first unicameral but later bicameral. In 1937, the government selected Tagalog – the language of Manila and its surrounding provinces – as the basis of the national language, although it would be many years before its usage became general. Women's suffrage was adopted, and the economy recovered to its pre-Depression level before the Japanese occupation in 1942. A period of exile took place during World War II from 1942 to 1945, when Japan occupied the Commonwealth.
In 1946, the Commonwealth ended, and the Philippines attained full sovereignty as provided for in Article XVIII of the 1935 Constitution.[16]
Names[edit]
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was also known as the "Philippine Commonwealth",[17][18] or simply as "the Commonwealth". Its official name in Spanish, the other of the Commonwealth's two official languages, was Commonwealth de Filipinas ([filiˈpinas]). The 1935 Constitution uses "the Philippines" as the country's short-form name throughout its provisions and uses "the Philippine Islands" only to refer to pre-1935 status and institutions.[16] Under the Insular Government (1901–1935), both terms were used officially.[a][19] In 1937, Tagalog was declared to be the basis of a national language,[6] effective after two years. The country's official name translated into Tagalog would be Kómonwélt ng Pilipinas ([pɪlɪˈpinɐs]).[20]
Economy[edit]
The cash economy of the Commonwealth was mostly agriculture-based. Products included abaca, coconuts and coconut oil, sugar, and timber.[46] Numerous other crops and livestock were grown for local consumption by the Filipino people. Other sources for foreign income included the spin-off from money spent at American military bases on the Philippines such as the naval base at Subic Bay and Clark Air Base (with U.S. Army airplanes there as early as 1919), both on the island of Luzon.
The performance of the economy was initially good despite challenges from various agrarian uprisings. Taxes collected from a robust coconut industry helped boost the economy by funding infrastructure and other development projects. However, growth was halted due to the outbreak of World War II.[46]
In 1939, a census of the Philippines was taken and determined that it had a population of 16,000,303; of these 15.7 million were counted as "Brown", 141.8 thousand as "Yellow", 50.5 thousand as "Mixed", 29.1 thousand as "Negro", 19.3 thousand as "White", and under 1 thousand "Other".[47] In 1941, the estimated population of the Philippines reached 17,000,000; there were 117,000 Chinese, 30,000 Japanese, and 9,000 Americans.[48] English was spoken by 26.3% of the population, according to the 1939 Census.[49] Spanish, after English overtook it beginning in the 1920s, became a language for the elite and in government; it was later banned during the Japanese occupation.[50]
Estimated numbers of speakers of the dominant languages:[45]
Government[edit]
The Commonwealth had its own constitution, which remained effective after independence until 1973,[51] and was self-governing[16] although foreign policy and military affairs would be under the responsibility of the United States, and Laws passed by the legislature affecting immigration, foreign trade, and the currency system had to be approved by the United States president.[15] Despite maintaining ultimate sovereignty, in some ways the US Government treated the Commonwealth as a sovereign state, and the Philippines sometimes acted in a state capacity in international relations.[52]
During the 1935–41 period, the Commonwealth of the Philippines featured a very strong executive, a unicameral National Assembly,[53][54] and a Supreme Court,[55] all composed entirely of Filipinos, as well as an elected Resident Commissioner to the United States House of Representatives (as Puerto Rico does today). An American High Commissioner and an American Military Advisor,[39] Douglas MacArthur headed the latter office from 1937 until the advent of World War II in 1941, holding the military rank of Field Marshal of the Philippines. After 1946, the rank of field marshal disappeared from the Philippine military.
During 1939 and 1940, after an amendment in the Commonwealth's Constitution, a bicameral Congress,[56] consisting of a Senate,[56] and of a House of Representatives,[56] was restored, replacing the National Assembly.[56]