page_title: Philippine Commission
section_title: Second Philippine Commission
hierarchical_section_title: Philippine Commission / Second Philippine Commission
caption_attribution_description: English: Historical marker at the site of the Taft Commission's First Session in Baguio (near the present Baguio Cathedral) from April 22 to June 11, 1904.
context_page_description: The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the President of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines.
  The first Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by President William McKinley on January 20, 1899 as a recommendatory body.
  The second Philippine Commission, also known as the Taft Commission, was a body appointed by the President to exercise legislative and limited executive powers in the Philippines. It was first appointed by President McKinley in 1900 under his executive authority. The Philippine Organic Act was passed by the United States Congress in 1902; this enshrined into law the Commission's legislative and executive authority. As stipulated in the Philippine Organic Act, the bicameral Philippine Legislature was established in 1907, with the Commission as the upper house and the elected Philippine Assembly acting as lower house. The Jones Act of 1916 ended the Commission, replacing it with an elected Philippine Senate as the Legislature's upper house.
context_section_description: From Philippines: A Country Study by Ronald E. Dolan:
  The Second Philippine Commission (the Taft Commission), appointed by McKinley on March 16, 1900, and headed by William Howard Taft, was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers. Between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws. A judicial system was established, including a Supreme Court, and a legal code was drawn up to replace antiquated Spanish ordinances. A civil service was organized. The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected presidents, vice presidents, and councilors to serve on municipal boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking necessary construction projects; they also elected provincial governors." On July 4, 1901, Taft became governor of a civil administration for the Philippines. This regime, called the Insular Government, administered the country until 1935.
  "The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902 stipulated that a Philippine Legislature would be established composed of a lower house, the Philippine Assembly, which would be popularly elected, and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission. The two houses would share legislative powers, although the upper house alone would pass laws relating to the Moros and other non-Christian peoples. The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos and sending two Filipino resident commissioners to Washington to attend sessions of the United States Congress. In July 1907, the first elections for the assembly were held, and the legislature opened its first session on October 16, 1907."
caption: Marker, Session Road
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