Commonwealth

What is Commonwealth
• Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political
community founded for the common good. Historically, it
has sometimes been synonymous with "republicanism".
• The Commonwealth of the Philippines
(Tagalog: Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative
body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946,
aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from
1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied the country. It
replaced the Insular Government, a United States
territorial government, and was established by
the Tydings –McDuffie Act. The Commonwealth was
designed as a transitional administration in preparation
for the country's full achievement of independence.

Manuel Luis Molina Quezon
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•Born on August 19, 1878 in Baler, Aurora, Philippines
•known as the "Father of the Philippine Republic" and the
"Father of the Philippine National Language
• also called the “Father of Philippine Independence”

In 1899, Quezón cut short his
law studies at the University of
Santo Tomás in Manila to
participate in the struggle for
independence against the
United States, led by Emilio
Aguinaldo. During
the Philippine-American War he
was an ayuda-de-campo to
Emilio Aguinaldo. He rose to the
rank of Major and fought in
the Bataan sector. However,
after surrendering in 1900
wherein he made his first break
in the American press, Quezón
returned to the university and
passed the bar examinations in
1903, achieving fourth place.

Quezón was married to his first
cousin, Aurora Aragón Quezón, on
December 17, 1918. The couple had
four children: María Aurora "Baby"
Quezón (1919–1949), María Zeneida
"Nini" Quezón-Avancena (born
1921), Luisa Corazón Paz "Nenita"
Quezón (1923–1923) and Manuel L.
"Nonong" Quezón, Jr. (1926–1998).
His grandson, Manuel L. "Manolo"
Quezón III (born 1970), a prominent
writer and current undersecretary of
the Presidential Communications
Development and Strategic Planning
Office, was named after him.

", he was the first Filipino president
of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines under U.S. rule in the
early 20th century. However, he is
considered by most Filipinos as the
second President after Emilio
Aguinaldo, whose República
Filipina did not receive international
recognition at the time and who
therefore was not considered the
first Philippine president by the
United States.
Malacanan Palace, Philippines

• During his presidency, Quezón tackled the
problem of landless peasants in the
countryside. Other major decisions include
reorganization of the islands' military defense,
approval of recommendation for government
reorganization, promotion of settlement and
development in Mindanao, dealing with the
foreign stranglehold on Philippine trade and
commerce, proposals for land reform, and
opposing graft and corruption within the
government. He established an exiled
government in the U.S. with the outbreak of
the war and the threat of Japanese invasion.
LAWRENCE B. DUQUE

On November 15, 1935, the Filipino people took the
penultimate step to independence with the
inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
Only two months prior, on September 16, a million
Filipinos had trooped to the polls to elect their two
highest officials – the President and Vice
President. This was the first time in the history of the
nation that a Filipino would finally sit as Chief
Executive and hold office in Malacañan Palace.
LAWRENCE B. DUQUE

Pres. Manuel L.
Quezon
• Senate President Manuel L. Quezon and his
running mate Senate President pro tempore
Sergio Osmeña were elected as President
and Vice President, while voters elected
representatives for the new unicameral
National Assembly and for local positions.
• The Commonwealth was the culmination of
efforts to secure a definitive timetable for
the withdrawal of American sovereignty over
the Philippines.
• The Constitution of the Commonwealth of
the Philippines provided for a presidential
system of government with a unicameral
legislature. It had the power to enact laws
for the Philippines, known as
Commonwealth Acts, through the National
Assembly.
Vice-Pres. Sergio
Osmeña

Priorities
• The Commonwealth was meant to lay down the foundations for an
independent, fully-functional state. Its priorities could be seen in
the first laws enacted by the new National Assembly:
• Commonwealth Act No. 1 established the Philippine Army and a
national defense policy;
• Commonwealth Act No. 2 established the National Economic
Council;
• Commonwealth Act No. 3 created the Court of Appeals.
• The 1935 Constitution was amended in 1940 to permit the
reelection of the president and the vice president, to restore the
Senate and thus shift the legislature back to the bicameral system,
and to establish a national electoral authority, the Commission on
Elections. The proposed amendments were ratified in a plebiscite
held on June 18, 1940.

Many of today’s institutions in our government
trace their origins to the Commonwealth.
• These includes;
Executive Office (1935)
Court of Appeals (1935)
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office
Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (1936)
National Bureau of Investigation (1936)
Department of Budget and Management (1936)
Government Service Insurance System (1936)
Department of National Defense (1939)
Department of Health (1940)

 New Bilibid Prisons (1940)
 Presidential Communications Operations Office (from the
Department of Information and Public Relations, 1943)
 Boy Scouts of the Philippines
 Girl Scouts of the Philippines
 National Food Authority
 National Economic Development Authority
(originally National Economic Council, 1936)
 Bureau of Immigration and Deportation
 ROTC system Bureau of Aeronautics (1936 ;now the CAAP)
 Philippine Military Academy
 Philippine Air Force
 Articles of War (AFP)
 Comelec
 Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces

Other Implimentations
Chartered Cities
• Cebu City (1937)
• Bacolod (1938)
• Quezon City (1939)
• Davao City (1936)
• Cavite City (1940)
• Iloilo City (1937)
• San Pablo City, Laguna
(1940)
• Zamboanga City (1936)
Policies
• All Filipino Supreme Court
(1935)
• State of the Nation Address
(1935)
• Minimum Daily Wage
(1936)
• National Language
(1939)

1935 Constitutions
• 1935 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES
Preamble
The Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine
Providence, in order to establish a government that
shall embody their ideals, conserve and develop the
patrimony of the nation, promote the general welfare,
and secure to themselves and their posterity the
blessings of independence under a regime of justice,
liberty, and democracy, do ordain and promulgate this
Constitution.

Articles under 1935 Constitution
• ARTICLE I: The National Territory
• ARTICLE II: Declaration of Principles
• ARTICLE III: Bill of Rights
• ARTICLE IV: Citizenship
• ARTICLE V: Suffrage
• ARTICLE VI: Legislative Department
• ARTICLE VII: Executive Department
• ARTICLE VIII: Judicial Department
• ARTICLE IX: Impeachment
• ARTICLE X: Commission on Elections

Other articles in 1935 Constitution
• ARTICLE X: Commission on Elections
• ARTICLE XI: General Auditing Office
• ARTICLE XII: Civil Service
• ARTICLE XIII: Conservation and
Utilization of Natural Resources
• ARTICLE XIV: General Provisions
• ARTICLE XV: Amendments
• ARTICLE XVI: Transitory Provisions
• ARTICLE XVII: Special Provisions Effective
upon the Proclamation of the Independence
of the Philippines

ARTICLE XVIII: The Commonwealth and the
Republic
• ORDINANCE APPENDED TO THE 1935 CONSTITUTION
Not with standing the provisions of section one, Article Thirteen, and section
eight, Article Fourteen, of the foregoing Constitution, during the effectivity of the
Executive Agreement entered into by the President of the Philippines with the
President of the United States on the fourth of July, nineteen hundred and forty-
six, pursuant to the provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered Seven hundred
and thirty-three, but in no case to extend beyond the third of July, nineteen
hundred and seventy-four, the disposition, exploitation, development, and
utilization of all agricultural, timber, and mineral lands of the public domain,
waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential
energy, and other natural resources of the Philippines, and the operation of
public utilities, if open to any person, be open to citizens of the United States and
to all forms of business enterprises owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by
citizens of the United States in the same manner as to, and under the same
conditions imposed upon, citizens of the Philippines or corporations or
associations owned or controlled by citizens of the Philippines.
[The 1935 Constitution was ratified on May 14, 1935].

A Message of Pres. Manuel L. Quezon

Guide Questions
o1. Explain the legacy given by Quezon
during his term of Presidency?
o2. What are the important
details/message of Manuel L. Quezon
stated in the clips?
o3. Describe the privileges and life of
Filipinos during the Commonwealth
Period in the Philippines.

PREPARED BY: MR. LAWRENCE B. DUQUE

Commonwealth

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