CHAPTER 17

TRAINING FOR SELFGOVERNMENT

(1907-1921)
With the existence of general
peace and order, the
Americans had the
opportunity to put into
practice what their leaders in
Washington, D.C. had
PROMISED:
1. To give the Filipinos the benefit of
wise and just administration;
2. To give the Filipinos civil liberties
they never enjoy under the Spanish
colonial rule and;
3. To train the Filipinos in selfgovernment as preparation for
independence, a concept unheard of
under Spain.
But like other colonial
pronouncements, such
promises could mean TWO
THINGS.
First, The American policy in the
training of Filipinos in selfgovernment meant that the
Americans did not believe that the
Filipinos were ready for
independence.
Second, it also meant that the
Americans were not yet willing to
give up the Philippines as their
colony.
Thus, the government
established by the Americans,
by and large, was a
government controlled by the
Americans with the Filipinos IN
CHARGE of RUNNING OR
OPERATING;
Filipinos who were wealthy
and educated,
Pro- Americans and
westernized in their lifestyles.
The Americans took several steps
to train in Filipinos for selfgovernment before the grant of
independence.
First, they passed the COOPER
LAW or the Philippine Bill of
1902. this law was responsible
for the establishment of the
Philippine Assembly, which
gave Filipinos the right to be
represented in the lawmaking
body through their elected
delegates to the Assembly.
Second, the Americans passed
the Jones Law in 1916, which
handed over both houses of
the lawmaking body
exclusively to the Filipinos. It
also promised to grant
independence to the Filipinos
as soon as a stable
government [could] be
established therin.
* Third, the Americans under
Governor-General Francis

Burton Harrison gave the

Filipinos greater participation
in the government. This was
done by employing trained
Filipinos in low and high
positions in the government.
This process was called
FILIPINIZATION.
Fourth, the American
Congress passed the TydingsMcDuffie Act in 1934 which
provided for the
establishment of a transition
government called
Commonwealth. At the end of
this transition period, the
Philippines would finally be
given her independence.
The PHILIPPINE COMMISSION
which was the lawmaking
body during the early years of
American occupation the
Philippine, passed the
MUNICIPAL CODE ACT.
The municipal government was to be
administered by the following
elected officials:
> the municipal president
> the municipal vice president and
> the municipal council.
these officials were to be
elected every two years.
GOVERNMENT
REORGANIZATION
To make the reorganization of
local governments effective
and systematic, a committee
composed of two Filipino
lawyers and three American
military officers was created.
This committee formulated
plans for the reorganization of
the municipal government
throughout the areas under
American jurisdiction.
The QUALIFIED VOTERS were
males, twenty- three years old
and over, has resided in the
municipality for at least six
months, had held a position in
the town government during
the Spanish period, or owned
property worth 500 pesos, or
paid taxes worth 30 pesos a
year, and who could speak
and write in English or
Spanish. This law was
restrictive because it only
granted the highly- educated
or propertied males the right
to vote.
The women, the poor, and the lesseducated people were not given the
same right. The effect of such law to
perpetuate the rule of the principalia
or elite groups.
The Philippine Commission
also reorganized the provincial
government by passing the
PROVINCIAL CODE ACT.

According to this law, the

provincial government was to
be administered by a board
composed of a governor, a
treasurer, and a supervisor.
The governor was to be
elected by the qualified voters
of the province for a term of
two years.
The treasurer and the
supervisor were to be
appointed. These appointive
officials were Americans in the
early years of the American
rule.
THE CIVIL SERVICE
In 1900, the Philippine Commission
passed the CIVIL SERVICE ACT.
According to this law, all
government, shall be placed under
the administrative control of the
bureau of civil service. The
introduction of the civil also set up
the MERIT SYSTEM in which
individual positive qualities and
abilities, and nothing else, counted
when it came to promotions.
EMPLOYMENT OF FILIPINOS
the American authorities in the
Philippines gave highly-educated and
pro-American Filipinos seats in the
Philippine Commission. In 1901,
three Filipinos of known proAmericans stance were appointed to
the Commission.
These Filipinos are:
*Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, the
founder of the pro-American Federal
Party.
*Jose Luzuriaga, and
*Benito Legarda
When FRANCIS BURTON HARRISON
became governor-general, he
increased the number of Filipinos in
the Commission.
The FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE was
CAYETANO ARELLANO.
THE HARRISON APPOINTMENT
During the presidential election of
1912, the Democratic Party
candidate, WOODROW WILSON,
announced an opposite view. He was
in favor of granting independence to
the Philippines. Wilson was elected
president, and soon after he sent an
investigator to the Philippine to study
condition of the country.
The investigator, HENRY FORD
JONES, reported to Wilson that the
Filipinos had the capacity to govern
themselves.
Wilson, in order to show his good
faith in favoring independence for
the Filipinos , appointed FRANCIS
BURTON HARRISON of New York as
governor-general of the Philippines.
Harrison was known to be
sympathetic to Filipino aspirations.
FILIPINIZATION UNDER
HARRISON

Filipinization, or the placing of the

government in the hands of Filipino
administrators, was governor Tafts
idea. His policy of the Philippines
for the Filipinos was the beginning
of Filipinization.
THE JONES LAW
Jones Act of 1916, it started in the
Preamble that the Philippines would
be granted independence as soon
as a stable government [could] be
established therein. Toward this
end, the Jones Act provided that the
domestic affairs of the Filipinos
should be administrered by them so
that they may be better prepared to
fully assume the responsibilities and
enjoy the privileges of complete
independence.
The significance of the Jones
Law lay in the fact that the
American people, acting
through their representatives
in Congress, for the first time
committed themselves to
Philippines Independence.
It was the first indication by
the American government of a
desire to make the Philippines
an independent country.

IMPORTANT PROVISIONS
The government was to have three
branches the executive, the
legislative, and the judicial.
* the EXECUTIVE branch was headed
by the governor-general who was to
be appointed by the President of the
united states with the approval of
the American Senate. The vice
governor, also an American, was to
be appointed in the same manner as
the governor-general.
* The LEGISLATIVE power or the
power to make a laws was vested in
the Philippine Legislature.
Legislative was composed of
two houses:
1. the Upper House or the
Senate and,
2. the Lower House or the
house of representatives.
The JUDICIAL POWER, on the
other hand, was exercised by
the Supreme Court and the
lower courts of justice.
The most important provision of the
Jones Law was the BILL OF RIGHTS,
this provision enumerated the civil
rights of the Filipino people. These
include the freedom of speech,
freedom of the press, freedom from
illegal search, freedom to assemble
for the redress of grievances, and
other rights exercised by people in
democratic countries.
THE LEGISLATURE
The Philippine Legislature under the
Jones Law was inaugurated in Manila
on October 16, 1916. they could pass
laws subject to the vetoes of the

American governor-general and the

U.S President.
THE COUNCIL OF STATE
- composed of the governor-general
acting as chairman, the Speaker of
the House, the Senate President, and
the members of the Cabinet.
Acting on the suggestion of speaker
Osmenia, he created the council of
state. This was composed of the
governor-general acting as chairman,
the speaker of the house, the senate
president, and the members of the
cabinet.

The composition of the council was

predominantly Filipino, and only the
governor-general and the vice
governor were Americans.
The duty of the Council was to
advise the governor-general
on matters of public
importance.
But to Osmea, whose purpose in
suggesting the creation of the
council was to widen the powers and
the participation of Filipino political
leaders in the government.