CHAPTER 11

THE COMMONWEALTH REPUBLIC

MANUEL LUIS QUEZON Y MOLINA

In 1935 Quezon won the Philippine's first national presidential election under the banner of
the Nacionalista Party. He obtained nearly 68% of the vote against his two main rivals, Emilio
Aguinaldo and Bishop Gregorio Aglipay. Quezon was inaugurated in November 1935. He is
recognized as the second President of the Philippines. When Manuel L. Quezon was inaugurated
President of the Philippines in 1935, he became the first Filipino to head a government of the
Philippines since Emilio Aguinaldo and the Malolos Republic in 1898. However, in January 2008,
Congressman Rodolfo Valencia of Oriental Mindoro filed a bill seeking instead to declare
General Miguel Malvar as the second Philippine President, having directly succeeded Aguinaldo
in 1901.[c]

SERGIO OSMENIA

Osmea became president of the Commonwealth on Quezon's death in 1944. He returned to

the Philippines the same year with General Douglas MacArthur and the liberation forces. After
the war Osmea restored the Commonwealth government and the various executive
departments. He continued the fight for Philippine independence.
For the presidential election of 1946 Osmea refused to campaign, saying that the Filipino
people knew of his record of 40 years of honest and faithful service. Nevertheless, he was
defeated by Manuel Roxas, who won 54% of the vote and became the first president of the
independent Republic of the Philippines.

MANUEL ROXAS

Roxas served as the President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines in a brief period, from
his subsequent election on May 28, 1946 to July 4, 1946, the scheduled date of the
proclamation of Philippine Independence. Roxas prepared the groundwork for the advent of a
free and independent Philippines, assisted by the Congress (reorganized May 25, 1946), with
Senator Jos Avelino as the Senate President and Congressman Eugenio Prez as the House of
Representatives Speaker. On June 3, 1946, Roxas appeared for the first time before the joint
session of the Congress to deliver his first state of the nation address. Among other things,
he told the members of the Congress the grave problems and difficulties the Philippines are
set to face and reports of his special trip to the U.S. the approval for independence.

RE-ADJUSTMENT OF ECONOMIC PROGRAM OF QUEZON

CHAPTER 12 THE SECOND REPUBLIC

Greater East Asia Conference

The Greater East Asia Conference ( Dai Ta Kaigi?) was an international summit held
in Tokyo from 5 to 6 November 1943, in which Japan hosted the heads of state of various
component members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The event was also
referred to as the Tokyo Conference. The Conference addressed few issues of any substance,
but was intended from the start as apropaganda show piece, to illustrate the Empire of
Japan's commitments to the Pan-Asianism ideal and to emphasize its role as the "liberator" of
Asia from Western colonialism.

TORA-TORA AIR STRIKE

The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in Afghanistan from
December 6, 2001 to December 17, 2001, during the opening stages of the War in
Afghanistan launched by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The U.S. and
its allies believed that Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, was hiding in the mountains
at Tora Bora.

WAR IN THE PACIFIC

The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War,[32] was the theatre of World War
II that was fought in the Pacificand East Asia. It was fought over a vast area that included
the Pacific Ocean and islands, the South West Pacific, South-East Asia, and in China (including
the 1945 SovietJapanese conflict).

JOSE P. LAUREL

Si Jos Paciano Laurel y Garca (Marso 9, 1891 - Nobyembre 6, 1959) ay ang

ikatlong Pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas(Oktubre 14, 1943-Agosto 17, 1945) sa ilalim ng
mga Hapon mula 1943 hanggang 1945. Isinilang si Laurel sa Tanauan, Batangas noong Marso
9, 1891 anak nina Sotero Laurel at Jacoba Garcia. Nagtapos siya ngabogasya sa U.P. noong 1915.

CHAPTER 13 THE THIRD REPUBLIC

The Third Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated on July 4, 1946. It marked the
culmination of the peaceful campaign for Philippine Independencethe two landmarks of
which were the enactment of the Jones Law in 1916 (in which the U.S. Congress pledged
independence for the Philippines once Filipinos have proven their capability for selfgovernment) and the Philippine Independence Act of 1934 (popularly known as TydingsMcDuffie) which put in place a ten-year transition period during which the Philippines had
Commonwealth status. The Third Republic also marked the recognition by the global community
of nations, of the nationhood of the Philippines.

President Roxas takes his oath of office during the Independence Ceremony of July 4, 1946.
Administering the oath is Chief Justice Manuel Moran.

President Manuel Roxas addressing the lawmakers of the Second Commonwealth Congress of
the Philippines during his first State of the Nation Address on June 3, 1946 at a converted
school house at Lepanto Street, Manila.

On April 17, 1948, Vice President Elpidio Quirino, back in Malacaan Palace, knelt and wept
unabashed before the casket bearing the remains of Manuel Roxas. (Photo courtesy of the
National Library of the Philippines.)

President Elpidio Quirino delivering his First State of the Nation Address on January 24, 1949