| Commonwealth Of The Philippines |
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| governments in exile | |
| american colonial period of the philippines | |
| former regions and territories of the united states | |
| military history of the philippines during world war ii | |
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Thereafter, the Filipino people would then be permitted to elect their own government with widely-expanded powers: virtually full autonomy. However foreign affairs, currency, and defense, would remain under the purview of the United States, represented by a resident High Commissioner . In October, 1935, Filipinos held the first national election in their history, to select a chief executive (to be known as the President of the Philippines), a vice president, and the members of a unicameral national assembly. The first president of the Commonwealth was Manuel L. Quezon . The Commonwealth embarked on a period of extremely ambitious efforts to set the stage for independence. It was hailed at the time as the first example of a colony being voluntarily relinquished by the occupier. Its nation-building efforts were widely studied by independence activists in South East and East Asia. The preparations for national defense, a more robust national economy, and the first efforts to build an independent foreign policy were hampered by the increasingly deteriorating diplomatic conditions of South East Asia at the time, and increasing political and economic disaffection locally. A proper evaluation of the effectiveness or failures of the ambitious nation-building schemes of the Commonwealth's pre-war government is made difficult by the conquest of the Philippines by the Empire Of Japan which invaded during World War II . The Philippine government had its army drafted into the service of the United States, and the Japanese conquest precipitated the establishment of a Commonwealth government-in-exile upon the invitation of the United States government. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was accorded membership in the United Nations and was considered part of the Allied cause. After the reconquest of much of the Philippines by American and Allied forces, the U.S. restored the Commonwealth to its duties in February, 1945. Under the provisions of the Philippine Independence Act , U.S. President Harry S. Truman issued a proclamation recognizing the independence of the Philippines, which was officially recognized as the Republic Of The Philippines on July 4 , 1946 . The Commonwealth of the Philippines constitution remained in effect until 1973. It marked the transition of the nomenclature of the Philippines from the colonial plural ("Islas Filipinas" and "Philippine Islands" of the Spanish and American colonial periods), to the unitary singular, "Philippines" as a sign of unity, sovereignty, and national identity. SEE ALSO |
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