THE PHILIPPINES UNDER AMERICAN RULE
AMERICAN MOTIVES AND INTERESTS
1. DEITY
 Spread Protestantism to the Philippines (Methodists, Baptists, Lutheran, Anglicans, Mormons,
Seventh Day Adventists etc.)
 Philippines as base for Protestant missions
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DESTINY
Manifest Destiny
The United States had the God-given right to help countries and build democratic nations
DUTY
White man’s burden (burden of enlightened rule of foreign peoples)
Connected to manifest destiny, the United States has a divinely ordained duty to help troubled
countries
*Duty Destiny and Duty are intertwined and interconnected to one another as seen in President William
McKinley’s Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation
- indicated the intention of the United States to stay in the Philippines by exercising the right of
sovereignty over the Philippines and the Filipinos
- assume control and governance of the Philippines
*the sanitized version was published on Jan.4, 1899 but the original proclamation was erroneously
published in Iloilo by Gen. Miller, an American army officer which fell into the hands of the
Revolutionary Government
*this led Aguinaldo to issue a counter-proclamation that stated the Filipinos are determined to fight the
ally turned enemy
4. DOLLARS
 COMMERCE is America’s ultimate and real objective
 American economic interests on expanding American business in the orient with the Philippines
as the diving board to get huge opportunities from the China market
 To take advantage of natural resources that Americans needed for its industries
 to have another market for dumping their surplus products (need for a new foreign market;
growth of American industry made the conquest of foreign markets a necessity)
5. DEFENSE
 Trade co-mingles with defense
 Aimed at commercial supremacy in the pacific, its trade must have assurances of naval
protection (Philippines as the first line of defense)
 Possession of the Philippines served as a warning to all nations
 To prove that America is a strong nation by having a colony
France – French Ind0-Tsina (Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos)
Britain – India and Burma
Dutch – East Indies (Indonesia)
America - ?
AMERICAN PROPAGANDA
 American propaganda or the spreading of American influences to the Philippines can be seen in
two forms :
A. MILITARY PACIFICATION
 Pacification of the Filipinos through the military government that was established on August 14,
1898 based on the recommendations of the Schurmann Commission (First Philippine
Commission); First military governors : General Wesley Meritt, General Elwell Otis and General
Arthur McArthur
 Started the reorganization of the local government and establishment of the Supreme Court
B. NON-MILITARY PACIFICATION – policies of attracting the Filipinos through peaceful means
1. Establishment of the Civil Government
 The first Civil Government was established under the Taft Commission (Second Commission of
the Philippines); William Howard Taft also became the First Civil Governor
 Established in 1901 because of the recommendations of the Schurmann Commission
 Implemented because it has a deep connection with American economic interests; only this type
of government has the right to distribute franchises, sell public lands and allow the Americans to
have the right to own mining companies
 Started to Filipinized the government
2. Filipinization of the Government
 It started from the local level then implemented in the Central government with the election of
the Filipino members of the Second Philippine Commission (like Gregorio Araneta and Benito
Legarda)
 Through the Filipinization process, the elite’s or “ilustrados” involvement with the central level
or national level of administration became the most important proof and evidence of the elite’s
cooperation and complicity with the Americans
 Because the government became too centralized, the people who held legislative and judicial
positions became too powerful and influential
3. Laws enforced that prevented Filipino Nationalism
a. SEDITION LAW
 implemented in 1901, it granted the death penalty as punishment to those who would fight for
freedom and long jail-term for those who would stand for freedom, may it be through peaceful
or violent means (even those who would utter seditious words or speeches, publish or circulate
seditious articles against the American government in the Philippines
b. BRIGANDAGE ACT
 Pinagtibay noong 1902, it also granted the death penalty and long jail-term sentence on those
who would be found with circumstantial evidence of their membership with armed groups that
have the objective of destroying the American colonial rule
c. RECONCENTRATION ACT
 This law empowers the Governor-general to isolate and separate a particular province that has
been discovered as a haven for “ladrones” or “bandoleros” or has aided or protected Filipino
rebels
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d. FLAG LAW
Enforced in 1907, it prohibited the displaying or exhibition of any flag or symbol of Nationalism
that might awaken the nationalistic sentiments of the Filipinos (including the singing of the
national anthem)
Cooper Act
Signed by President Theodore Roosevelt after it has been ratified by Congress
This became a law known as the PHILIPPINE BILL OF 1902 or ORGANIC ACT
This ratifies the political reforms or changes created by the American President to the
Philippines
This law stipulated the formation of a Philippine Assembly as the lower house of the legislature
after peace has been proclaimed over the entire archipelago and two years after the publication
of a census
-the Philippine Commission was to be dominated by Americans while the Philippine Assembly
was to be composed of Filipinos
it stated the regulations on natural resources
this law also empowers the civil government to negotiate for the purchase of lands owned by
the friars or religious corporations
it also extended the United States’ “Bill of Rights” on Filipino citizens except the right to “jurytrial”
-freedom of speech, press and assembly
-right to due process of law
-freedom of worship
-right to petition the government for redress of grievances
-freedom from slavery or involuntary servitude
this also led to the appointment of 2 “Resident Commissioners” to the U.S.
5. Jones Law of 1916
 Implemented under F.B. Harrison’s term
 This is the first formal and official promise of the Americans that independence will be given to
the Filipinos
 This law promised that independence will be given after the formation of an organized and
effectively running government run by the Filipinos
 This also established a legislature which consisted of the Senate and the Congress (Lower House)
which are both dominated by Filipinos
6. Tydings-Mcduffie Law of 1934
 Otherwise known as the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Bill (HHCL); named after the Americans who
sponsored the bill, and was rabidly supported by Manuel Roxas and Sergio Osmena
-Upon the arrival of Osmena and Roxas in the Philippines after the independence missions, it
was expected that both of them will be the “heroes” and the leaders of autonomy before
independence will be granted
-Because of Manuel Quezon’s fear that his political ambition might be ruined, he attacked the
HHCL and created his own independence mission; this independence mission resulted to the
Tydings-McDuffie Law (which is just an imitated version of the HHCL except for the provision of
the removal of the U.S. Naval Bases once independence was granted)
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-when Quezon arrived in the Philippines, he boasted that the law he delivered was more
beneficial and in this way, he became popular to the Filipinos
Provisions :
a. Philippine independence will be granted on July 4, 1946
b. The establishment of a Commonwealth Government that will serve as a transition phase
before granting independence
c. The creation of a Constitution (Philippine Constitution of 1935)
d. The provision for an election for president (which Quezon eventually won)
7. Improvement of the State of Education
 Included in the non-military pacification
 According to the Filipino Historian Teodoro Agoncillo, the most significant contribution of the
United States to Philippine civilization is the Public Education System
 The arrival of the Thomasites in the onset of American occupation paved the way for the
instruction of the Filipino youth. (It was first conceptualized not for giving education to the
Filipinos but to pacify the Filipinos who were still resisting the Americans
 The Public School System was the primary agent of Americanization and a tool used for
Colonialism
 The introduction of a free and co-educational system of education gave the women the
opportunity to study
 Under the Pensionado Program, Filipino youths who were gifted with a high level of intelligence
were sent to different American universities to give them a better education but it resulted to
the brain-wash of the pensionados (this ushered in the brain drain phenomena)
8. NATIONAL CIVIL SERVICE
 Because the Filipinos lacked training in governmental affairs, the Philippine Commission
classified all employees of all divisions under the Bureau of Civil Service
-a competitive examination was then given to give these employees eligibility
-qualified applicants were given probationary appointments after 6 months
9. The improvement of Transportation and Communication
 The growth of the economy (where the real interests of the Americans lay because they
controlled it) depends on the improvement of transportation and communication because the
transportation of commercial and industrial products must be effective to guarantee huge sales
and profits
-they improved these two aspects through the construction of roads and bridges and the
enhancement of the railroad system
 many piers were opened to help the field of inter-island shipping
 the telephone lines were introduced in Manila in 1905
 small towns were connected to the provincial capital by the telephone, telegraph lines and radio
even the postal system was also improved
ECONOMIC POLICIES IMPLEMENTED
1. TARIFF ACT OF 1901
 This lowered the tariffs on American products entering the Philippines
2. TARIFF ACT OF 1902
 Ratified by the United States congress, the tariffs on Philippine products entering the U.S. was
reduced to by 25% but no tariffs will be levied on American products that will enter the
Philippines
3. PAYNE – ALDRICH ACT
 Ratified in 1909, the act implemented that there will be no limitations as to the number of
American products that will be exported to the Philippines and that there will be no tariffs on
these products but the act limited the number of Philippine products exported the United States
most especially sugar cane and tobacco
4. UNDERWOOD – SIMMONS ACT OF 1913
 The limitations on the Philippine products exported to the United States were lifted therefore
until 1934 there was free trade between the United States and the Philippines
5. FRIAR LANDS ACT
 The act contained conditions for the sale or lease of friar-estates or friar-lands
6. LAND TITLING DRIVE
 This is the titling program for the lands owned by the principalias or wealthy Filipinos
 Related to this drive is the TORRENS TITLE ACT which established the Court of Land Registration
(now the Registry of Deeds which governed the titling of lands)