Commonwealth of the Philippines

The **Commonwealth of the Philippines** (, or simply as **the Commonwealth**. It had official names in ***Malasariling Pamahalan ng Pilipinas*** (pɪlɪˈpinɐs) and ***Mancomunidad Filipina*** (fɪlɪˈpinɐ). The 1935 constitution specifies **Philippines** as the country's short form name and uses **Philippine Islands** only to refer to pre-1935 status and institutions. Under the previous regime, known most formally as the Territory of the Philippine Islands, both terms had official status.

## Structure
The Philippine Commonwealth had its own constitution, which remained effective until 1973, and was self-governing although foreign policy and military affairs would be under the responsibility of the United States, and certain legislation required the approval of the American President.

It featured a very strong President, a single National Assembly, and a Supreme Court, 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,

## History
### Start
, and Manuel L. Quezo]]

The pre-1935 U.S. territorial administration, or Insular Government, was headed by a governor general who was appointed by the president of the U.S. In December 1932, the U.S. Congress passed the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act (First Philippine Independence Act) with the premise of granting Filipinos independence. Provisions of the bill included reserving several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports. It was vetoed by President Herbert Hoover but the American Congress overrode his veto in 1933 and passed the bill. The bill, however, was opposed by the then Philippine Senate President Manuel L. Quezon and was also rejected by the Philippine Senate. or Philippine Independence Act, which allowed the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines with a 10-year period of peaceful transition to full independence. The Commonwealth was officially inaugurated on November 15, 1935.

In October 1935, Philippine presidential elections were held. Candidates included former president Emilio Aguinaldo, the *Philippine Independent Church* leader Gregorio Aglipay, and others. Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña of the Nacionalista Party were proclaimed the winners, winning the seats of president and vice-president, respectively. and it was occupied by the Japanese on January 2, 1942. Meanwhile, battles against the Japanese continued on the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor, and Leyte, until the final surrender of United States-Philippine forces on May 8 1942.
 in Washington, D.C. while in exile]]

Quezon and Osmeña were escorted by troops from Manila to Corregidor, and later they left for Australia and then the U.S. There they set up a government in exile, which participated in the Pacific War Council as well as the Declaration by United Nations. During this exile, Quezon became ill with tuberculosis, and later he died of it. Osmeña replaced him as the president.

Meanwhile, the Japanese military organized a new government in the Philippines known as the Second Philippine Republic, which was headed by president José P. Laurel. This government ended up being very unpopular.

The resistance to the Japanese occupation continued in the Philippines. This included the *Hukbalahap* ("People's Army Against the Japanese"), which consisted of 30,000 armed people and controlled much of Central Luzon. However, the economy remained dependent to the U.S. This was due to the Bell Trade Act, otherwise known as the Philippine Trade Act, which was a precondition for receiving war rehabilitation grants from the United States.

## Policies
### Uprisings and agrarian reform
At the time, tenant farmers held grievances often rooted to debt caused by the sharecropping system, as well as by the dramatic increase in population, which added economic pressure to the tenant farmers' families. As a result, an agrarian reform program was initiated by the Commonwealth. However, success of the program was hampered by ongoing clashes between tenants and landowners.

An example of these clashes includes one initiated by Benigno Ramos through his *Sakdalista* movement, which advocated tax reductions, land reforms, the breakup of the large estates or *haciendas*, and the severing of American ties. The uprising, which occurred in Central Luzon in May 1935, claimed about a hundred lives.

### National language
Due to the diverse number of Philippine languages, a program for the "development and adoption of a common national language based on the existing native dialects" was drafted in the 1935 Philippine constitution.

## Economy
The economy of the Commonwealth was mostly based on farming, as agriculture-based. Farmers grew abaca, coconuts and coconut oil, sugar, and timber trees.

## Demographics
In 1941, the estimated population of the Philippines reached 17,000,000 while Manila's population was 684,000. The number of Chinese people rose to 117,000. There were also 30,000 Japanese people, with 20,000 living in Davao, and 9,000 U.S.-Mexicans. English was spoken by 27% of the population. Spanish was spoken by only 3%.

The following is the estimated number of speakers of the dominant languages:
*Cebuano: 4,620,685
*Tagalog: 3,068,565
*Ilocano: 2,353,518
*Hiligaynon: 1,951,005
*Waray-Waray: 920,009
*Kapampangan: 621,455
*Pangasinan: 573,752

## List of presidents

The colors indicate the political party or party groups of each President at Election Day.

1 Died of tuberculosis at Saranac Lake, New York.
² End of Commonwealth government, independent Republic began.

## Notes

## References
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## Other websites 
*The Present Government of the Philippines  Book written by Maximo Kalaw detailing the functions of the different branches of the Philippine Commonwealth
*Parallel and Divergent Aspects of British Rule in the Raj, French Rule in Indochina, Dutch Rule in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), and American Rule in the Philippines
*Philippines: Polity Style: 1897-2009