With the 1945 defeat of the Japanese Empire and the re-establishment of the Commonwealth Government, the now-bicameral Congress of the Philippines convened on June 9, 1945, the first time since their election in 1941. During this special session, President Sergio Osmeña addressed lawmakers at their provisional quarters (a repurposed schoolhouse) along Lepanto Street in Manila, and gave a comprehensive report on the work carried out by the Commonwealth Government during its three-year as a government-in-exile in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, he described the conditions prevailing in the Philippines during the Japanese Occupation and an acknowledgment of the invaluable assistance rendered by recognized guerrillas to combined Filipino and American forces in the liberation of the Philippines.