Commonwealth of the Philippines
Former territory of the United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Commonwealth of the Philippines (Spanish: Mancomunidad de Filipinas;[7][8] Tagalog: Kómonwelt nañg Pilipinas[9]) was an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the Tydings–McDuffie Act to replace the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands[10][11][12][13] and was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for full Philippine independence.[14] Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States.[15]
Commonwealth of the Philippines | |||||||||||||
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1935–1942 1942–1945: Government-in-exile 1945–1946 | |||||||||||||
Anthem: "The Philippine Hymn"[lower-alpha 1] | |||||||||||||
Status | Unincorporated and organized U.S. commonwealth (1935–1946)[lower-alpha 2] Government-in-exile (1942–1945) | ||||||||||||
Capital and largest city | Manila[lower-alpha 3] 14°35′45″N 120°58′38″E | ||||||||||||
Official languages | |||||||||||||
National language | Tagalog[6] | ||||||||||||
Religion | None official
Majority: Sunni Islam, folk religion | ||||||||||||
Government | Devolved presidential constitutional dependency | ||||||||||||
High Commissioner | |||||||||||||
• 1935–1937 | Frank Murphy | ||||||||||||
• 1937–1939 | Paul V. McNutt | ||||||||||||
• 1939–1942 | Francis Bowes Sayre Sr. | ||||||||||||
• 1942–1945 (in exile) | Harold L. Ickes | ||||||||||||
• 1945–1946 | Paul V. McNutt | ||||||||||||
President | |||||||||||||
• 1935–1944 | Manuel L. Quezon | ||||||||||||
• 1944–1946 | Sergio Osmeña | ||||||||||||
• 1946 | Manuel Roxas | ||||||||||||
Vice President | |||||||||||||
• 1935–1944 | Sergio Osmeña | ||||||||||||
• 1946 | Elpidio Quirino | ||||||||||||
Legislature | National Assembly (1935–1941) Congress (1945–1946) | ||||||||||||
Senate (1945–1946) | |||||||||||||
House of Representatives (1945–1946) | |||||||||||||
Historical era | Interwar, World War II | ||||||||||||
November 15 1935 | |||||||||||||
March 12, 1942 | |||||||||||||
February 27, 1945 | |||||||||||||
October 24, 1945 | |||||||||||||
July 4, 1946 | |||||||||||||
October 22, 1946 | |||||||||||||
Currency | Philippine peso (₱) United States dollar ($) | ||||||||||||
Time zone | UTC+08:00 (PST) | ||||||||||||
Date format |
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Driving side | left (before 1945) right (after 1945) | ||||||||||||
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Today part of | Philippines | ||||||||||||
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During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strong executive and a supreme court. Its legislature, dominated by the Nacionalista Party, was at first unicameral but later bicameral. In 1937, the government selected Tagalog – the language of Manila and its surrounding provinces – as the basis of the national language, although it would be many years before its usage became general. Women's suffrage was adopted, and the economy recovered to its pre-Depression level before the Japanese occupation in 1942. A period of exile took place during World War II from 1942 to 1945, when Japan occupied the Commonwealth.
In 1946, the Commonwealth ended, and the Philippines attained full sovereignty as provided for in Article XVIII of the 1935 Constitution.[16]