FROM THE COMMONWEALTH

PERIOD TO JAPANESE
OCCUPATION

Beyond the Misconceptions

 OUTLINE
• To trace the establishment of the
Commonwealth Government,
• To identify the key features of
Japanese Occupation;
• To discuss the Filipino resistance

What We against the Japanese Occupation.

Could Expect
Road to Philippine
Commonwealth
Hare-Hawes Cutting Act
December 1932

Tydings-Mcduffie Act
March 1934
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH REPUBLIC

JANUARY 10 MARCH 23 MAY 14 NOVEMBER 15

1934 1935 1935 1935

Officials were elected to Constitutional Constitution was Inauguration of the

draft the Constitution in Convention ratified by Philippine
which Claro M. Recto plebiscite Commonwealth
was the head
 "We shall build a government that will
be just, honest, efficient, and strong
to satisfy not only the passing needs
of the hour but also the exacting
demands of the future."

Manuel L. Quezon
First president of the Philippine Commonwealth
PROGRAMS

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 184

Establish the Institute of National Language tasked to study the different Philippine languages for the
purpose of evolving and adopting a national language

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 570

Tagalog-based national language was declared the official national language effective upon
independence.
PROGRAMS

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 1:

NATIONAL DEFENSE ACT
•Ten-year period of training porgram of 21-year old men for 5½ months
•Preparatory Military Training (PMT) was given in elementary, high school, and college
levels

COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 211:

LABOR AND TENANCY REFORMS
•Established a minimum wage for laborers employed in public works projects
•Eight-hour labor law for persons employed in any public or private industry
“I would rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a
government run like heaven by Americans.” I want to tell you that I
have, in my life, made no other remark which went around the world
but that. There had been no paper in the United States, including a
village paper, which did not print that statement, and I also had seen
it printed in many newspapers in Europe. I would rather have a
government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like
heaven by any foreigner. I said that once; I say it again, and I will
always say it as long as I live."

Speech of President Quezon on Civil Liberties, December 9, 1939

from officialgazette.gov.ph
 • Period of Rapid Filipinization of the Colonial
Bureaucracy
• Entrenchment and and expansion of power of
the Filipino Elite
• Geographical consolidation and political
centralization at cost of brutal war
• Increasing Social Unrest: Colorums,
Juramentados, Communists, Suffragistas and
Sakdalistas

DEARTH OF GENUINE REFORMS

THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION

ASIA FOR ASIANS

The soldiers, and the Japanese people, were

indoctrinated that they were children of the Emperor.
With their belief in their divine origin (from sun deity
Amaterasu), they had the idea that they possessed
racial superiority and the burden of helping inferior
races.
JAPANESE EMPIRE
MID-1942
 JAPANESE INVASION:
A TIMELINE

DECEMBER 7 DECEMBER 8 DECEMBER 20 DECEMBER 22

1941 1941 1941 1941

Attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese attack US Bases Japanese troops land in Japanese troops land in
in the Philippines Davao and Jolo and Lingayen and advance
(Clark, Davao, Baguio, advance across Central Luzon
Appari) towards Manila.
 To prevent the use of the Philippines as
an advance base of operations by
Hidden American forces;

Agenda
In order to obtain resources from
To acquire staging areas and supply
Southeast Asian nations.
bases to enhance operations against the
Netherlands East Indies, and

To secure the lines of communication

between occupied areas in the south
and the Japanese Home Islands.
 JAPANESE INVASION:
A TIMELINE

DECEMBER 25 DECEMBER 31 APRIL 9 MAY 6

1941 1941 1942 1942

War Plan Orange: General On Corregidor, Manuel

MacArthur declares Manila Quezon and Sergio
The fall of Bataan The fall of Corregidor
an open city to spare it Osmeña take oath for
from Japanese bombings. second term in office.
 January 3, 1942
Manila was under control of Japanese. Martial law is
imposed.

December 30, 1942

Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas
(KALIBAPI) replacing all political parties

June 20, 1943

The Japanese government nominates 20 Filipinos to the
Preparatory Commission prior to Philippine independence.

September 4, 1943:
The Preparatory Commission drafts the 1943 Constitution.

September 20, 1943

Japanese Sponsored Second Republic of the
A NEW ORDER Philippines.

Jose P. Laurel took place as a president.

This is the hour of fulfillment of the supreme aspiration of our people for centuries. It is but fitting that we should
on this momentous occasion dedicate a prayer of thanksgiving to those who paid the full price of blood and
treasure for the freedom which we have now achieved. Rest at long last in your hallowed graves: immortal heroes
of the Filipino race! The long night of vigil is ended. You have not cued in vain. The spirit of Mactan, of Balintawak,
of Bagumbayan, of Malolos, and Bataan lives again!

The Republic which we are consecrating here today was born in the midst of a total war. Our countryside was
transformed into a gory battlefield to become a historic landmark of that titanic conflict. From the crucible of a
world in turmoil was unleashed the mighty forces that were to spell the liberation of Asiatic peoples from foreign
domination. Today, as we witness the triumphal realization of our national ideal, we would be sadly wanting in
those magnanimous qualities which distinguished a noble and valiant race, if we did not forgive the wounds and
havoc inflicted by that war, the immolation of our youth with their golden promise of the future, the untold
sufferings and privations undergone by our innocent population. This is no time for indulging in unseemly
recriminations or for ventilating our grievances. In all dignity and out of the fullness of our hearts we could do no
less than acknowledge before the world our debt of honor to the August Virtue of His Majesty, the Emperor of
Nippon, for ordaining the holy war and hastening the day of our national deliverance.

Inaugural address of His Excellency, Jose P. Laurel, President of the Republic of the Philippines, at the
Legislative Building, October 14, 1943. Retrieved from Malacañan.gov.ph
"The work of our schools should be correlated with and supplemented by wholesome and substantial home life, in
order to afford the young a practical pattern of social behavior and a working demonstration of group
cohesiveness. It is imperative that we forge and rivet the links of family solidarity. The family is the basic unit of
society and the breakdown of the family can only result in the disintegration of society. The consolidation of the
authority of the paterfamilias, the cultivation of the Oriental virtues of filial piety and obedience, and the
restoration of womanhood to its proper place in the home—this is the tripod which should hold fast and elevate the
Filipino family under the Republic.

We cannot listen to the fads of modernism which seek to flatter our women by giving them more freedom for their
own undoing, without undermining the institution of the family. Nor can we deprive them of the rights they now
enjoy without turning back the clock to the days when they wore shackles and were regarded as mere chattel. As
we can neither advance nor retrocede, we have to maintain the rights which we have already conceded to our
women without impairing in any way the authority lodged in the head of the family to which they belong. This is
inevitable because the matriarchy of primitive times has long since ceased to exist. In every social unit there must
always be a focal center of authority, and in the Filipina family that epicentre has always been the father as head
of the first barangay."

Inaugural address of His Excellency, Jose P. Laurel, President of the Republic of the Philippines, at the
Legislative Building, October 14, 1943. Retrieved from Malacañan.gov.ph
"The Filipino woman must incarnate the purity and tenderness of Maria Clara, the solicitude and self-sacrifice of
Tandang Sora, the fecundity and motherly love of Teodora Alonso. The home is her sovereign realm and motherhood
is the highest position to which she should aspire. She should look forward to the rearing of children as the
consummation of her noblest mission in life. The young generation must suckle from her breasts not only the seeds
of patriotism but also those rudiments of familial discipline which will imbue them with respect for their elders and
obedience to constituted authority."

Inaugural address of His Excellency, Jose P. Laurel, President of the Republic of the Philippines, at the
Legislative Building, October 14, 1943. Retrieved from Malacañan.gov.ph
At no time in our history is the demand for unity amongst our people more urgent or more compelling. Only by
presenting a compact and undivided front to all vital issues of the day can we hope to erect the foundations of a
strong and enduring Republic. I consider as rallying centers of our national unity: The Flag, the Constitution, the
National Anthem and the President of the Republic. The Flag, I because it symbolizes the sacrifices of our heroes
and synthesizes our common imperishable tradition. The Constitution, because it expresses our collective and
sovereign will and embodies the sum of our political philosophy and experience. The National Anthem, because it
epitomizes the trials and tribulations, and crystallizes the longings and aspirations of our race. The President,
because he is the chosen leader of our people, the directing and coordinating center of our government, and the
visible personification of the State. Foursquare on these rallying points, the dynamic instinct of racial solidarity
latent in the heart of each and every Filipino must be roused from its lethargy and inflamed with the passion of
faith in our common destiny as a people.

Inaugural address of His Excellency, Jose P. Laurel, President of the Republic of the Philippines, at the
Legislative Building, October 14, 1943. Retrieved from Malacañan.gov.ph
POLITICAL COLLABORATION

Among Among
Elites Non-Elites
 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL

Military
Re-Education
Rule
Japanese School, Davao, Mindanao, Philippines,
1930
Promoting the learning of Nippongo
Japanese bazaars, Manila, 1940
ATROCITIES OF WAR
 APRIL 9, 1942
•The Filipino and American soldiers walk from Mariveles to
San Fernando, Pampanga, and then to Capas, Tarlac. This
covers a distance over 100Kms
•10,000 Filipinos, 650 Americans died in the march while
another 15,000 died at the Prison camp.

Death March
BATAAN DEATH
MARCH
 TORTURE METHODS
“Beating, Roasting like a pig, Water cure, Electrocution ,
Burning of body parts, Requiring to shout for hours, Drinking
urine, Watching wife being tortured forcing to perform
sexual acts in front of soldiers

Kempei Tai
Elite Japanese force and the primary arm of the
Japanese military administration in making sure
that peace and order is maintained.
 Testimony of Maria Rose Henson
I was forced to stay at the hospital which they have made as a garrison. I
met six women in the garrison after two or three days in the place. The
Japanese soldiers were forcing me to have sex with several of their
colleagues. Sometimes 12 soldiers would force me to have sex with them
and then they would allow me to rest for a while, then about 12 soldiers
would have sex with me again.There was no rest, they had sex with me
every minute. That's why we were very tired. They would allow you to rest
only when all of them have already finished. Maybe, because we were
seven women in the garrison, there were a fewer number of soldiers for
each one of us.But then, due to my tender age, it was a painful experience
for me. I stayed for three months in that place after which I was brought to
a rice mill also here in Angeles. It was nighttime when we were fetched to
be transferred. When I arrived in the rice mill, the same experience
happened to us. Sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the evening...
not only 20 times. At times, we would be brought to some quarters or
houses of the Japanese. I remembered the Pamintuan Historical House. We

Comfort Women
were brought there several times. You cannot say no as they will definitely
kill you. During the mornings, you have a guard. You are free to roam around
the garrison, but you cannot get out. I could not even talk to my fellow
women two of whom I believed were Chinese. The others I thought were
also from Pampanga. But then, we were not allowed to talk to each other.
ALTERNATIVE TO
COLLABORATION Guerilla
March 29, 1942:
The Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon or
Resistance
HUKBALAHAP - a guerilla movement, is
founded by Luis Taruc.
AREAS OF GUERILLA
RESISTANCE
EVERYDAY STRUGGLES
The Day starts with the broadcasts
from the Radio Taiso, with exercise
routines that Filipinos are to follow.
Japanese sought not only to make
Filipinos obedient, but strong as well.
Then propaganda was seen
everywhere highlighting Axis victories
(Germany, Japan, Italy) vs (USA,
Soviet Union, Great Britain).
RED SUN SETTING

RESISTANCE AND LIBERATION

Despite Japan’s insistence that they are
bringing the Philippines to a better state,
actual actions of the Japanese military
brought terror, breeding anger and
animosity among Filipinos
 LIBERATION OF MANILA:
A TIMELINE

AUGUST 1 October 17 OCTOBER 20 FEBRUARY 3

1944 1944 1944 1945

Osmeña becomes the General MacArthur returns MacArthur lands in Leyte The battle for liberation in
President as the result of with a force of 700 vessels Manila begins.
Quezon's death and 175,000 men. The
battle of Leyte Gulf
begins.
 LIBERATION OF THE
PHILIPPINES

FEBRUARY 23 MARCH 4 JULY 5 AUGUST 15 JULY 4

1945 1945 1945 1945 1946

Japanese have retreated Manila was officially MacArthur officially Japan was forced to US grants Philippines
into Intramuros liberated announces the liberation surrender Independence
of the Philippines