First Independence, US Colonization

1898, Feb 8. The Katipunan is revived by Emilio Jacinto (Dec 15, 1875 – Apr 16, 1899) and Feliciano Jocson.

1898, Apr 24. The US government asks Aguinaldo for cooperation in its anti-Spanish politics, and offers in exchange the promise of US support for the Filipinos in their struggle for independence. Aguinaldo agrees.

1898, Apr 26. The US declares war on Spain.

1898, May 1. The US Navy, with heavily armed ships under the command of Commodore George Dewey, attack Manila.

1898, May 19. Aguinaldo and his companions return to the Philippines.

1898, May 24. Aguinaldo proclaims a dictatorial government and issues two decrees which show his trust and reliance in US protection.

1898, Jun 12. The Philippines is proclaimed independent from Spain in Kawit, Cavite. For the first time, the Philippine flag is officially raised and the Philippine National Anthem is publicly played. The proclamation places the US in the special position of protector of Philippine independence.

1898, Jun 23. Through the advice of Apolinario Mabini (Jul 23, 1864 – May 13, 1903), a paralytic but nevertheless the “brains of the Katipunan”, the Philippine dictatorial government is changed to a revolutionary government, and in Malolos, Bulacan the Malolos Republic is institutionalized. The Malolos republican government is geared to fight for Philippine independence until it is recognized by the free nations of the world.

1898, Jul 15. Aguinaldo appoints a cabinet with the following secretaries: Baldomero Aguinaldo, Secretary of War and Public Works; Leandro Ibarra, Secretary of Interior; Mariano Trias, Secretary of Finance.

1898, Jul 15. Aguinaldo greates the Malolos Congress with 136 members. 60 of them are appointed by Aguinaldo while the rest are chosen by representatives of the provinces.

1898, Jul 17. US reinforcements and troops arrive in the Philippines. They number 740 officers and 10,964 men and are commanded by General Wesley E. Meritt (died 1910). US treatment of Filipinos changes, as the US no longer needs the assistance of the natives in their war with Spain.

1898, Aug 14. The Spanish in Manila surrender to the US after a pre-arranged mock battle. A US military government is established by General Meritt.

1898, Sep 15. The Malolos Congress meets and elects its officers. They are: Pedro Paterno (Feb 27, 1858 – Mar 11, 1911), President; Benito Legarda, Vice President; Gregorio Araneta and Pablo Ocampo (Jan 25, 1850 – Feb 5, 1925), Secretaries.

1898, Dec 10. In the Treaty of Paris between the US and Spain, the latter sells the Philippines to the US for 20 million dollars.

1898, Dec 21. US President McKinley issues the Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation to extend the sovereignty of the US over the entire Philippines, even by force, if necessary.

1899, Jan 20. In the US, President McKinley appoints the First Philippine Commission, known as the Schurrman Commission, composed of Jacob Schurrman, George Dewey, Elwell Otis, Dean Worcester and Wesley Meritt.

1899, Jan 21. The Malolos Constitution is promulgated by Aguinaldo. It provides for a republican form of government with the legislature as the supreme branch. The constitution is designed after the constitutions of France, Belgium, and several South American Republics. It was drafted by Felipe Calderon (Apr 4, 1868 – Jul 6, 1908).

1899, Jan 23. The Malolos republic government is inaugurated. Aguinaldo takes his oath of office as President.

1899, Feb 4. Hostilities break out between the Filipinos and the US.

1899, Feb 6. The US Senate ratifies the Treaty of Paris with Spain and gives the US military a free hand to subdue the Philippines.

1899, Mar 4. The Schurrman Commission arrives in Manila. It proclaims the supremacy of the US over the entire archipelago, but promises full autonomy.

1899, May 6. Aguinaldo appoints a new cabinet which gives the US government confidence in securing a peaceful agreement with the Filipinos. Among the members are: Pedro A. Paterno, Premier; Felipe Buencamino, Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Severino delas Alas, Secretary of Interior; Mariano Trias, Secretary of War; Hugo Ilagan, Secretary of Finance; Aguedo Velarde, Secretary of Public Instruction; Maximo Paterno, Secretary of Public Works and Communications; Leon Ma. Guerrero, Secretary of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce.

1899, May 20. Aguinaldo’s moves face opposition from Apolinario Mabini and Antonio Luna. Antonio Luna, (Oct 29, 1866 – Jun 5, 1899) is the ablest Filipino general.

1899, Jun 5. Antonio Luna dies, shot by members of the Kawit Company, composed of Aguinaldo’s men.

1899, Oct 12. The US mounts a full scale offensive against the Filipinos. Aguinaldo goes into hiding.

1900, Jan 31. The Schurrman Commission returns to the US.

1900, Mar 16. US President McKinley appoints the second Philippine Commission, known as the Taft Commission. It is composed of Judge William Taft as president, Luke Wright, Henry Ide, Bernard Morris and Dean Worcester.

1900, Jun 3. The Taft Commission arrives in Manila.

1900, Dec 23. A Filipino organization, the Partido Liberal, is established with the aim of having the Philippines join the United States.

1901, Mar 2. The Army Appropriation Act, also known as the Spooner Amendment, is passed by the US Senate. It provides that the US President governs the Philippines by the authority of Congress and not as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, thereby formally ending the US military regime in the archipelago.

1901, Mar 23. Aguinaldo is captured by US authorities.

1901, Apr 1. Aguinaldo takes an oath of allegiance to the US.

1901, Apr 19. Aguinaldo issues a proclamation of his belief that freedom can be obtained through the magnanimity of the US.

1901, Jul 4. A civil government is established in the Philippines, with William Howard Taft (Sep 15, 1857 – Mar 8, 1930) as the first US Governor-General.

1901, Jul 18. The US organizes the Philippine Constabulary, a native adjunct of the occupation army.

1901, Aug 11. 74 Cuba war veterans are sent to Balangiga, at the south end of Samar, under the command of Captain Thomas Connel, presumably to protect the natives from the insurgents and Moro pirates.

1901, Sep. The first Filipino members of the second Philippine Commission are appointed, namely: Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, Benito Legarda and Jose Luzurriaga.

1901, Sep 27. Guerillas, headed by the Filipino Captain Daza, attack the US military barracks in Balangiga, Samar, by surprise, killing almost half of the US soldiers.

1901, Sep 28. Brigadier Gen. Smith, Commander of Samar, after being informed of the massacre of the soldiers, organizes a special unit of 300 Marines to be sent to Balangiga under the command of Captain Littleton Wallen.

1901, Oct 23. The special unit of Marines arrives in Balangiga. They immediately execute the orders of Brig. Gen. Smith to suppress insurrection. Among the orders is to kill all natives over 10 years old which are capable of carrying weapons.

1901, Nov 4. The Philippine Commission enacts the Sedition Law which imposes the death penalty or long imprisonment on anyone who advocates independence or separation from the US.

1901, Dec 14. An earthquake estimated of magnitude 7.8 shakes Lucena City.

1901. Various resistance groups under different leaders are organized in the entire country.

1902, Jan. The first labor union of The Country , Union de Litografose Impresores de Filipinas, is organized. The Union del Trabajo de Filipinas, and the Congreso Obrero de Filipinas follow.

1902. The Cooper Act, otherwise known as the Philippine Bill of 1902, is passed by a US Senate committee, establishing the Philippine Assembly as the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature. The Philippine Commission makes up the upper house. The Cooper Act also provides for a bill of rights.

1902, Mar 30. The US Marines leave Balangiga. During their 5 month stay in the region the Marines are on record to have killed ten thousand natives in revenge for the earlier surprise attack by the Filipinos. The US Army also conducted armed missions in Candaba and Macabebe in central Luzon.

1903. Governor Taft enunciates the policy of The Philippines for the Filipinos. This policy promises to put the administration of the Philippines into the hands of Filipinos.

1904, Feb 1. Governor-General Taft is succeeded by Luke Wright. Taft will serve as the 27th US President from 1909 to 1913.

1906, Apr 2. Governor-General Wright is replaced by Henry Ide.

1906, Sep 20. James Smith takes over the position of Governor-General Henry Ide.

1907, Jun 30. The first congressional election is held. There are 80 new assemblymen elected by 14.1% of the 104,966 registered voters. 59 are Nacionalistas, 16 are Progresistas and the rest come from smaller parties.

1909, Nov 11. Governor-General Smith steps down. Cameron Forbes becomes Governor-General.

1911, Jan 27. Mt Taal erupts, devastating Volcano Island and killing 1,334 persons

1913, Oct 6. Governor General Forbes is replaced by Francis Burton Harrison.

1916, Oct 16. The Jones Law, sponsored by US Congressman William Atkinson Jones, is enacted. It promises independence upon the establishment of a stable government.

1916, Oct 16. Manuel Quezon (Aug 19, 1898 – Aug 1, 1941) is elected President of the Senate and Sergio Osmena (Sep 9, 1898 – Oct 19, 1961) Speaker of the House of Representatives. There are 24 members of the Senate, 22 of whom are elected by districts while 2 are appointed.

1917, Jan 11. The first cabinet of Filipinos under the US regime is organized. It is composed of Rafael Palma (Oct 24, 1874 – May 24, 1939), Secretary of Interior; Alberto Barreto, (Oct 21, 1867 – Dec 7, 1951) Secretary of Finance; Dionisio Jakosalem, Secretary of Commerce and Communication; Victorino Mapa, Secretary of Justice; Galicano Apacible (Jun 25, 1864 – Mar 22, 1949), Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Charles Yeaster, Secretary of Information.

1921, Oct 5. Governor-General Harrison is replaced by Warren Woods.

1925. Rural and urban strikes begin among the discontented peasants and workers of the agricultural and industrial sectors. They continue until 1939.

1927. Henry Stimson becomes the new Governor-General of the Philippines.

1930, Nov 30. The Communist Party of the Philippines is formally established under the leadership of Crisanto Evangelista and Jacinto Manahan.

1932. Governor-General Stimson is replaced by Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

1932, Oct 26. The Communist Party of the Philippines is declared illegal by the Supreme Court.

1933, Jun 15. The last US Governor-General of the Philippines, Frank Murphy, begins his term of office.

1934, Mar 24. The Tydings-McDuffie Law, known as the Philippine Independence Law, is approved by US President Roosevelt. It provides for a ten year transition period of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under a constitution to be drafted by a Constitutional Convention, the members of which are to be elected by the people.

1934, Jul 10. Election by the Filipino people of the 202 delegates to the Constitutional Convention is held in fulfillment of the Tydings-McDuffie Law.

1934, Jul 30. The Philippine Constitutional Convention is inaugurated. The officers are: Claro M. Recto (Feb 8, 1890 – Oct 2, 1960), President; Ruperto Manansala and Teodorico Sandico, Vice Presidents; Narciso Pimentel, Secretary; and Jose Diokno, Sergeant-at-arms.

1935, Feb 8. Members of the Constitutional Convention approve the Constitution by a vote of 177 to 1.

1935, Feb 8. Members of the Constitutional Convention approve the Constitution by a vote of 177 to 1.

1935, Feb 15. The Philippine Constitution is signed.

1935, Mar 23. US President Franklin Roosevelt approves the Constitution.

1935, May 14. The Philippine electorate ratifies the Constitution in a referendum.

1935, Sep 17. The Philippines holds its first presidential election. Manuel Quezon is elected President, and Sergio Osmena Vice-President for a term of 6 years. The other presidential and vice-presidential candidates were Emilio Aguinaldo and Raymundo Milleza; Gregorio Aglipay and Norberto Nabong; and Pascual Racuyal.

1935, Nov 15. The Philippine Commonwealth is inaugurated with Manuel Quezon as the first President and Sergio Osmena as the first Vice-President. At this juncture, the office of the US Governor-General is abolished.

1935. Strikes and protests, which reject the Constitution and favor the establishment of a Soviet form of government, accelerate until 1940.

1941, Nov 11. The Philippines holds its 2nd presidential election under the Commonwealth government. Quezon and Osmena are re-elected. Other presidential candidates were: Juan Sumulong, Pedro Abad Santos and Hilario Moncado.

1941, Dec 8. Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese fighter planes attack the Philippines as an ally of the US, shocking the unprepared US and Filipino troops. Douglas MacArthur, the Commander of the US Armed Forces in the Far East, decides to retreat to the Bataan peninsula.

1941, Dec 20. President Quezon, his family and the war cabinet move to Corregidor Island.

1941, Dec 26. US troops leave the capital. General MacArthur declares Manila an open city, virtually surrendering it to the Japanese.

1941, Dec 28. Filipino and US armies retreat to Bataan.

1941, Dec 30. President Quezon and Vice-President Osmena take their oath of office inside the Corregidor Tunnel.

1942, Jan 2. Japanese forces enter Manila.

1942, Jan 3. The Japanese Commander in Chief, General Masaharu Homma, proclaims the end to US occupation of the Philippines. He declares that the Japanese Imperial forces came to the Philippines to emancipate the Filipinos from the oppressive domination of the US and to promote the well-being of the people under their military administration. He also imposes martial law.

1942, Jan 13. A law is enacted providing for the death penalty for acts ranging from sedition to rumor mongering, from destruction of military property to pollution of drinking water, from robbery and looting to concealing clothing to avoid confiscation by the military.

1942, Jan 23. An executive committee, composed of Filipinos, is formed as a conduit of the military administration’s policies and requirements. Jorge Vargas, the mayor of Greater Manila, is appointed chairman and assigns his colleagues to various departments, e.g. Benigno S. Aquino Sr, Interior; Jose P. Laurel (Mar 9, 1891 – Nov 6, 1959), Justice; Antonio delas Alas, Finance; Rafael Alunan (Dec 16, 1885 – May 18, 1947), Agriculture and Commerce; Claro M. Recto, Education, Health and Public Welfare; Quintin Paredes, Public Works and Communications.

1942, Feb 17. The Japanese issue an order adopting the Japanese educational system in The Country , eradicating the one established before by the US and the Spanish. The new educational system deals with the propagation of Filipino culture, the teaching of Nipongo, diffusion of vocational and elementary education, and promotion of love for labor.

1942, Feb 20. President Quezon and the war cabinet leave for the States.

1942, Mar 11. General MacArthur leaves for Australia to take command of the South Western Pacific Area.

1942, Mar 13. The Commonwealth government is moved to the US.

1942, Mar 29. The People’s Anti-Japanese Army or Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap) is organized. Luis Taruc is its chairman. It is composed of peasants and workers from various provinces of central Luzon like Pampanga, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija. Its goal is independence. It is also the only guerilla unit that will not accept directives from MacArthur on the conduct of resistance. In the view of MacArthur, the Hukbalahap is a semi-political, semi-bandit organization which plans to establish a communist government in the Philippines.

1942, Apr. A pro-US resistance movement is organized, mainly to provide data to the US on enemy positions. The most important organizers are: Marcelo Adurru, Roque Ablan (Aug 9, 1906 – Jan 31, 1943), Alejo Santos, Lorenzo Tanada, Wenceslao Vinzon (Sep 28, 1910 – 1942), Macario Peralta, Tomas Confessor and Wendell Fertig.

1942, Apr 9. Bataan, under US commander General Edward King, is the last province that surrenders to the Japanese armies. The infamous Death March follows, the painful trek of 36,000 US and Filipino soldiers and guerillas without food and water. Prisoners of war are bayonetted or brutally beaten to death by their guards. Those who reach San Fernando, Pampanga, are taken to a concentration camp at Capaz, Tarlac.

1942, May 6. Corregidor surrenders to the Japanese and 12,000 Filipino and US soldiers are taken prisoners of war.

1942, Jun 14. The Commonwealth of the Philippines becomes a member of the United Nations.

1942, Dec 30. The Kalibapi is organized. It is an organization sponsored by the Japanese which functions as an instrument for control and indoctrination. It dissolves the existing political parties and civic organizations. Benigno Aquino, Sr. is designated Director-General of the Kalibapi. There is also the Junior Kalibapi, taking in young Filipinos between the ages of 7 and 18.

1943, Jun 20. Japanese Premier Hideki Tojo nominates an all Filipino 20 member Preparatory Commission for Philippine Independence.

1943, Sep 4. The Commission drafts a new Constitution which provides for a unicameral national assembly.

1943, Sep 20. The 108 delegates to the National Assembly are chosen by the members of the Preparatory Commission for Philippine Independence.

1943, Sep 15. The members of the National Assembly elect Jose P. Laurel as the President of the Philippines.

1943, Oct 14. The puppet government is inaugurated. Laurel takes his oath of office and asks the US to recognize the “independence” of the Philippines.

1943, Nov. The Philippine economy collapses, the shortage of rice becomes serious.

1944, May. The puppet government inaugurates the Green Revolution Movement. It requires everyone aged 16 to 60 to plant on all available land to counter the threat of starvation.

1944, Aug 1. Sergio Osmena succeeds in the presidency because of Manuel Quezon’s death at Saranak Lake due to tuberculosis.

1944, Sep 21. The US raid Manila. The supply of food to the inhabitants worsens. This move by the US prompts the Japanese to press Laurel to declare war against the US.

1944, Oct 20. General MacArthur lands in Palo, Leyte, accompanied by President Sergio Osmena and US troops.

1944, Oct 23. The Commonwealth government of the Philippines is re-established in Tacloban, Leyte which is declared the temporary capital of the Philippines pending liberation of the whole country.

1944, Dec 8. The pro-Japanese Philippine generals Pio Duran and Benigno Ramos organize the Makapilis. This is a Philippine army which fights for the Japanese in a number of encounters.

1945, Feb 4. US troops enter Manila and the Japanese, in an orgy of blood, massacre thousands of Filipinos.

1945, Feb 22. Luis Taruc, Cato Alejandrino and other Huk leaders are arrested by the US Counter Intelligence Corps and jailed in San Fernando, Pampanga for being communists.

1945, Feb 24. The Battle of Manila ends. The Japanese surrender to the US.

1945, Feb 27. MacArthur hands over Malacanang Palace to Osmena.

1945, Mar 22. The families of pro-Japanese President Laurel and Speaker Aquino leave The Country for Japan to seek refuge.

1945, Jun 5. The Congress elected in 1941 convenes for the first time. Manuel Roxas (Jan 1, 1892 – Apr 15, 1948) is chosen Senate President; Elpidio Quirino (Nov 16, 1890 – Feb 28, 1956), Senate President pro-tempore; Jose Julueta, Speaker of the House of Representatives; and Prospero Singson, Speaker pro-tempore of the House of Representatives.

1945, Jul 5. General MacArthur announces the liberation of the Philippines.

1945, Aug 6. The Americans drop an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.

1945, Aug 9. The Americans drop an atomic bomb over Nagasaki, Japan.

1945, Aug 15. Japan accepts defeat.

1945, Sep 12. President Laurel is arrested by the US army and first confined in Sugamo prison, located in the outskirts of Tokyo; later he is sent back to the Philippines. Other collaborators are shipped to the Iwahig penal colony in Palawan for judgment.

1945, Dec. Manuel Roxas separates from the Nacionalista Party of Sergio Osmena Sr and joins the Liberal Party.

1946, Apr 20. The last presidential election under the Commonwealth is held; Roxas wins over Osmena by approximately 200,000 votes. Roxas’ running mate, Elpidio Quirino, is elected Vice-President.