The statutory transition period of ten
years for the Commonwealth Government, as provided in Section 10 (a) of the
Tydings-McDuffie Law (U.S. Public Act 127), was cut into halves as a result of
the Japanese invasion and occupation on the Philippines, 1942-1945.
The first half started from November 15, 1935, the
day the Commonwealth Government was inaugurated, until January 3, 1942, when
the Japanese Military Administration began after a bloodless occupation of the
open city of Manila. The second half
commenced on February 27, 1945, when General Douglas MacArthur, supreme
commander of the Allied Forces in the Western Pacific (AFWESPAC), turned over
the reins of civil government to President Sergio Osmeña, and ended on July 4,
1946, when the United States Government, recognizing Philippine Independence,
withdrew its sovereignty over the Philippines.
The election in September 1935 for the
presidency of the Commonwealth represented the culmination of the political
career of Manuel L. Quezon, son of Baler, Tayabas (now Quezon) province. Quezon first appeared on the national scene
as floor leader of the Philippine Assembly.
1907-1908. In May 1909 he was
chosen one of two Philippine resident commissioners to the United States, serving
in this capacity until 1916 when the Jones Law was enacted by the United States
Congress, creating the two chambers Philippine Legislature.
Returning to the Philippines after the
approval of the Jones Law, Quezon was elected senator, and thereafter he became
president of the Philippine Senate until 1935 when he ran for president of the
Commonwealth under the Tyding-McDuffie Law.
In the presidential election Quezon was opposed by his former chief,
General Aguinaldo, who had reluctantly thrown his hat into the political ring;
otherwise Quezon would have run unopposed, casting a reflection on our kind of
democracy in the Philippines. Long
retired from public life, and without any strong political machine o back him
up, Aguinaldo, Cavite'’ foremost citizen, as defeated by his former junior
officer. Quezon was sworn in as first
president of the Commonwealth on November 15, 1935. He was the first Filipino to occupy Malacañang Palace after more
than three centuries of foreign domination.
The three-year Japanese occupation of the
Philippines drove a wedge into the 10-year transition period, but did not in
any way delay the recognition and/or restoration of Philippine Independence on
July 4, 1946, as provided in the Tydings-McDuffie Law.
At this juncture it should be borne in
mind that the United States did not grant independence but merely “recognized”
or restored the Philippine Independence proclaimed by General Aguinaldo on June
12, 1898, in Cavite el Viejo (now Kawit).
U.S. President Harry S. Truman, in his independence day message on July
4, 1940, which was read by Paul McNutt, U.S. high commissioner to the
Philippines, said that “on behalf of the United States of America, I do hereby recognize the independence of the
Philippines as a separate and self-governing nation and acknowledge the
authority and control over the same of the Government instituted by the people
thereof under the constitution now in force.”
It is incorrect to say that the United
States “granted” independence to the Philippines. What the United States did on July 4, 1946 was to “recognize”
merely the independence proclaimed by Aguinaldo 48 years earlier. Independence is something deserved and
proclaimed by the nation concerned.
Stating it another way, no country undeserving of independence can be
freed or liberated by any nation or power on earth, as pretty soon that country
will be conquered, occupied, absorbed by a much stronger one. A nation is a free, independent, and
sovereign state standing on its own feet.
During the first half of the Commonwealth
Period the province of Cavite had the following governors: (1) Ramon Samonte,
1935-1940; (2) Emilio P. Virata (Acting), 1939; and (3) Luis Y. Ferrer, Jr.,
1940-1944. Ferrer’s term was extended
into part of the Japanese occupation period.
He had to remain in office as dictated by the Japanese Military
Administration.
On the other hand, Cavite had two
appointive governors during the second half of the Commonwealth Period: namely,
91) Rafael F. Trias, 1945; and (2) Francisco T. Arca, from 1945 to the
restoration of Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946.
Similarly, Cavite had had two
representatives to the Congress of the Philippines during the first half of the
Commonwealth: namely, (1) Justiniano S. Montano, Sr., 1935-1939; and (2) Manuel
S. Rojas, 1939-1941.
After the re-establishment of the
Commonwealth of February 27, 1945, Osmeña’s time was absorbed by the
reorganization of the government. He
constituted his cabinet so as to make it responsive to the needs of the people. On June 9, 1945, Osmeña convened a special
session of Congress, but nothing came of it.
Pressured by General MacArthur, who was obviously partial to Manuel A.
Roxas, his former aide and one of those elected to the Senate in 1941, Osmeña
in July called the Congress to a regular session.
Roxas was elected president of the Senate
shortly after the opening of the regular session. From this vantage position Roxas “harassed” Osmeña by either
sitting on or disapproving the president’s nominations to important positions
in the government.”
On January 4, 1946, exactly six months
before the scheduled restoration of Philippine independence under the
Tydings-McDuffie Law, Congress met in a special session and set the first
postwar election on April 23. Long out
of touch with local politics, Osmeña, who had succeeded President Quezon upon
the latter’s death on August 1, 1944, at Saranac Lake, New York, was defeated
by Roxas, a collaborator under the Japanese regime, in the presidential poll.
Roxas was inaugurated president of the
Commonwealth on May 8, 1946, and on July 4 he continued as president of the
“free and independence government of the Philippines” – the Third Republic – in
accordance with Section 1 (2) of the Constitution of 1935. Roxas was therefore the last president of
the 10-year Philippine Commonwealth, and the first president of the Third
Republic.
In the election of April 23, 1946,
Justiniano S. Montano, Sr., of Tanza was elected congressman of Cavite, serving
in this capacity for three years, 1946-1949, a great part of which was under
the Third Republic.