June 28, 2023 • 32 mins
In a unique take on this topic, Carmina and Patch tackle the Philippines' quest for independence from the vantagepoint of America’s political landscape. Much tea was spilled ala-TMZ to explain the long and winding road towards the Philippines’ ultimate freedom from the Americans, including commentary by Mark Twain (yes, THAT Mark Twain) on the matter.
To learn more: US Occupation in the Philippines: the Disconnect between Colonizer and Colonized, and a Different Type of Resistance, A Brief History of America: Contradictions & Divisions in the United States from the Revolutionary Era to the Present Day, Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Built America's First Pacific Century, American Interests and Philippine Independence, Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dream, In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines, and Liberal, Imperial, and Economic Motivation of U.S. Foreign Policy in the Philippines 1898-1946.
Relisten to Season 1, Episode 16: “August 23, June 12, or July 4? The Philippine Independence Saga” to discover why June 12 is the “official” Philippine Independence Day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you listen.
To support FilTrip, go to the Patreon page here and PayPal page here.
Visit https://filtrip.buzzsprout.com. Drop a note at thefiltrip@gmail.com.
Thanks to FilTrip's sponsor SOLEPACK. Visit thesolepack.com for more details.
See https://www.buzzsprout.com/privacy for Privacy Policy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carmina (00:06):
Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore
everything fun, weird, and inbetween about the Philippines.
And now a quick shout out.
Check out Manila Candle. ManilaCandle features Filipino
inspired scents like Tagaytay,Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco
(00:30):
and Mango. They also have funones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka
Sa Buhay Mo.
Patch (00:35):
Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and
merchandise to visitmanilacandle.com and take a
trip to the Philippines throughtheir scents.
Carmina (00:46):
Back to our show.
Patch (00:48):
Today's trip is a round trip when we talk about
historical facts and thingsthat connect us back. In this
episode, we'll be discussingPhilippine independence from
the Americans.
Carmina (01:01):
Patch we should tell our listeners that we decided
to tackle this independenceepisode differently from the
last one by concentrating onthe period during the
Philippines Americancolonization. More
specifically, we wondered whatcould have been happening in
America that motivated them tocolonize the Philippines.
Patch (01:21):
And to eventually give us, or grant us our
independence.
Carmina (01:26):
Um, spoiler alert, I have a feeling that it wasn't
the entirely voluntary,but we'll get there. So I guess
we should start by what sparkedit all. And to do that, we have
to go outside of both Americaand the Philippines. In 1895,
the Cuban revolution againstSpain began, and just to
(01:48):
refresh everybody's memories,Spain was already many
centuries in its colonizationof Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and
the Philippines. So Cuba was ofparticular interest to the US
because it was very closegeographically, and they had
also established a lot ofbusiness there. They bought
(02:10):
large pieces of land, and theyhad about $50 million invested
in it by this time. And theprofit they were getting were
more than twice that. Also, bythis time, the US was also in
what was called the Guildedage. It was called that because
everything seemed to glitter onthe surface, but actually only
(02:32):
upper class were enjoyingwealth while a larger lower
class were poor and oppressed.
And there were no labor laws atthat time. So there was a lot
of mistreatment and inequality.
To top it all off politically,the US government was very
corrupt, and the RepublicanParty, who previously supported
(02:54):
better conditions for slavesduring the Civil War, abandoned
the cause, and they became morepro-business. Majority of the
wealthy believed they weresuperior, and it gave rise to
what was called socialDarwinism. It was even
reflected in the loss duringthat time. Just to give you an
example, it was during thisperiod when the Chinese
(03:18):
exclusion Act of 1882 wasenacted. It was the first of
immigration restriction lawsspecifically targeting the
Chinese, and provided anabsolute 10 year ban on Chinese
laborers immigrating to the us, particularly California. The
das Act of 1887 usurped landfrom the Native Americans and
(03:41):
Plessy versus Ferguson in 1896started down the road of legal
segregation.
Patch (03:47):
So obviously it was mostly the agricultural
iinterest in Cuba and theownership of Cuba that had
everything to do with slaveterritory.
Carmina (03:58):
And then elsewhere in the world and the Philippines.
In 1896, Bonifacio and theKatipuneros started the
Philippine revolution againstSpain. And as we discussed in
previous episodes, Bonifaciowas assassinated a year later
in 1897 by Aguinaldo who tookover the revolutionary effort.
(04:19):
So Patch, 1895 was the CubanRevolution, but the Spanish
American War did not startuntil 1898, who when the USS
Maine sank in Havana Harbor onFebruary 15th, 1898, the
president, president McKinleydemanded that Spain withdraw
from Cuba. Of course, theSpanish didn't like that, so
(04:42):
they declared war on the US,and the US of course, returned
the favor.
Patch (04:46):
You know what Carmina, I don't know if we mentioned what
exactly was the sinking of theUSS Maine? So, USS Maine was a
battleship that was sent toHavana in January, 1898 to
protect American interestsduring the longstanding revolt
of the Cubans against theSpanish government. In the
(05:07):
evening of February 15th, 1898,Maine sank when her forward
gunpowder magazines exploded,and nearly three quarters of
the battle ship's crew died asa result of the explosion.
Carmina (05:21):
So the implication Patch is that the explosion was
somehow caused by the Spanish?
Patch (05:26):
Yes, that's the popular opinion.
Carmina (05:28):
From that date. It took only nine months for the
whole Spanish American War tobe over. I didn't realize that
it was short.
Patch (05:37):
Mm-hmm. ,
Carmina (05:37):
And that's when the Philippines and the US became
historically intertwined. Andthe vehicle by which that was
done was the Paris Peace Treatythat was signed on December
10th, 1898. It established theindependence of Cuba. It seeded
Puerto Rico and Guam to the USand it sold the Philippines for
(05:59):
a whopping
Patch (06:01):
$20 million
Carmina (06:03):
Which was very cheap compared to all of the benefits
that the US would've gained.
This is another context that Ididn't have before, which might
also explain why the Americanswere really trying to recoup,
because they spent 250 millionand 3000 lives were lost.
Patch (06:24):
So wait, in 1898, that was when Emilio Aguinaldo
assembled the Malolos Congressin Bulacan that declared their
independence. Right?
Carmina (06:34):
Right. He refused to acknowledge this agreement.
Right. And as we discussed inprevious episodes, Aguinaldo
was cooperating with theAmericans because he thought
that they supported his causefor Philippine independence,
not realizing that they hadother secret plans for the
country. So I can just imaginehis reaction when he realized
(06:56):
that the Paris Peace Treaty wassigned and his fight for
independence from Spain wouldnow have to be a fight for
independence against the UnitedStates.
Patch (07:06):
I'm sure the feeling of betrayal was pretty devastating
to him.
Carmina (07:10):
Yeah. And I can just imagine and Tela Novela
fashion, the background musicthat would've been playing
the moment he realizedthat he was had. So the next
significant event that happenedwas on February 4th, 1899. By
this time, the US, because theywere right, quote unquote ,
(07:32):
helping the Filipinorevolutionaries were already
stationed all throughout thePhilippines, a Nebraska
volunteer soldier shot aFilipino soldier, some say
because of a misunderstanding.
Others say, unprovoked. Thisevent definitely accelerated
the beginning of the PhilippineAmerican War.
Patch (07:52):
So Carmina, what was happening in the US during that
time,
Carmina (07:56):
A year later in November, 1900, there was a US
presidential election. By thistime, the casualties were
increasing and the Americanpublic was beginning to be
sensitized to the war. The costand abuses by US soldiers in
the Philippines were constantlyfront page news, and it was
being reported so much thatpolitical strategists on both
(08:19):
sides were convinced that thePhilippines would be a
dominating issue in theircampaigns. But thanks to a
concerted effort of censorshipand political maneuvering,
William McKinley was elected toa second term, and his vice
president was TheodoreRoosevelt. There's one
interesting factoid that Ifound, Patch, and it has to do
with Mark Twain .
Patch (08:40):
He made a comment, right? Yes.
Carmina (08:44):
A scorching comment.
Apparently, I didn't evenimagine that Mark Twain
would've commented on thePhilippines.
Patch (08:52):
So one of the quotes of Mark Twain regarding the Treaty
of Paris, "I have readcarefully the Treaty of Paris,
and I have seen that we do notintend to free, but to
subjugate the people of thePhilippines. We have gone there
to conquer, not to redeem . Andso I am an anti-imperialist, I
(09:13):
am opposed to having the eagleput its talons on any other
land."
Carmina (09:19):
I know that the context of how and when he said
that was dark, but I just findit so cool, that Mark
Twain even knew wherethe Philippines was .
Patch (09:30):
Very impressive.
Carmina (09:32):
Yeah. So it really highlights how important we
were to the future of theUnited States. And this next
fact illustrates that onSeptember 14th, 1901, McKinley
was assassinated, and Rooseveltbecame president. When he took
his oath, he pledged to quote,continue absolutely unbroken
(09:53):
the policy of PresidentMcKinley for the peace,
prosperity, and honor of ourbeloved country. And a lot of
insiders said that he viewedAmerica's control over the
Philippines as critical toachieve those objectives.
Patch (10:10):
So Carmina, you're going to talk about the Philippine
Organic Act, which was a lawthat the government enacted in
1902. What kind of tea do youhave for us Carmina,
Carmina (10:22):
In an age where reality TV was not yet a thing?
I'm actually surprised that Ieven found this tea ,
but here it is. So as I said,right, more and more news of
atrocities continued to bepublicized in the US even after
Roosevelt became president in1901. And Roosevelt was trying
(10:43):
his best to distract from thiswith other national news and
initiatives. But there came atime when he couldn't overcome
it because there were just somany formal investigations and
court marshals going on . Therewas a Senate hearing that was
causing a lot of uproar aboutmilitary abuses and early 1902,
and it was apparently, again,front page news across the
(11:05):
country, constantly on top ofit. The US was also sort of
becoming a joke around theworld, and people were calling
the US hypocritical, because ifyou remember, when they gained
independence from the British,they really touted themselves
as stewards of democracy. Thebackdrop was another upcoming
(11:25):
presidential and congressionalelection. So it was crucial for
Roosevelt to swing the publicback to him. He apparently made
a consequential speech on May30th, 1902 at the Memorial Day
ceremony at Arlington NationalCemetery. And there he took the
opportunity to criticize hispolitical opponents for their
(11:46):
own hypocrisies. For example,he highlighted abuses towards
black Americans. He painted thesoldiers' conduct in the
Philippines as a necessary partof war, and basically turned
the tables around by sayingthat Filipinos themselves have
carried out a lot of crueltiesagainst American soldiers. And
(12:07):
this was the most crucial partPatch that really swung the
public back to him. He creditedthe American soldiers in the
Philippines for propellingAmerica towards global
greatness, and basicallychastised the American public
by saying that the publicrepaid all this with criticism.
(12:29):
On top of it, he kind of made ,um, I don't even know if you
call it a white lie, but hedeclared the war almost over
and somehow was able to paintthe war as a favor for the
welfare of Filipino citizens.
So this Philippines organic lawof 1902 also allowed him to
(12:52):
proclaim that the PhilippineAmerican War was over in July
of 1902. It legitimized hischaracterization of the
conflict as an insurgencyinstead of what it really was,
which was a struggle forindependence that began under
Spain. And because of the USinterference is actually a
(13:14):
continuation for that strugglefor independence. The act also
gave the US broad control overhow to suppress it.
Patch (13:22):
We've said it before, but it's worth stating again.
The Americans lost 4,300soldiers, about 20,000 Filipino
soldiers died, and was believedto be 200,000 Filipino
civilians. And I found thisreally interesting factoid, the
(13:42):
number of Carabaos, which isthe water buffalo that
Filipinos relied on forplanting and harvesting rice,
which is our staple food,shrank by 90% during the war.
Carmina (13:54):
At first, I was kind of chuckling about the
Carabaos, but then nowrealizing how vital that was to
our way of life for survival
Patch (14:04):
And also the microeconomics, right?
Carmina (14:07):
Mm-hmm..
Patch (14:08):
Not only for personal consumption.
Carmina (14:10):
I found a quote in a book called "Honor In The
Dust," that will link in ourshow notes, and it's by a
congressman who returned from atour in Northern Luzon, during
the Philippine American War.
This is what he said, quote ,"the good Lord in heaven only
knows the number of Filipinosthat were put under the ground.
Our soldiers took no prisoners.
(14:32):
They kept no records. Theysimply swept the country. And
were reverend , whenever theycould get hold of a Filipino,
they killed him."
Patch (14:40):
That's so sad.
Carmina (14:42):
It is, right? So just as in the Spanish American War,
this costs the US a lot ofmoney. . And to put it
in numbers, it was about 600million, which is equivalent to
about 4.5 billion today. Sowhen I saw that number, again,
what crossed my mind was thehuge financial motivation and
(15:04):
holding onto us that was tiedto recouping the loss. I don't
know if you found anythingPatch. I was really, really
trying my best to find how muchthe Philippines enriched Spain.
I'm sure the Americans werethinking that they were gonna
be able to extract at least thesame plus another motivation.
(15:24):
The Americans saw thePhilippines as a market for
American goods, and they sawthe Filipinos as cheap labor,
both on the ground there andover here to lower production
costs and increase profits.
Patch (15:40):
Basically, there were advocates of both sides of the
argument, right? Whether toprolong the eventual granting
of independence, and then theother side who feel that there
are gains to just giving usimmediate independence. And for
those who are advocating theprolonged transition, they were
different groups. One groupwould be the Americans with the
(16:04):
overseas investments in thePhilippines.
Carmina (16:06):
Mm-hmm.
.
Patch (16:07):
The second group would be the importers, and those who
enjoy tax-free Philippineproducts coming in.
Carmina (16:15):
Mm-hmm..
Patch (16:16):
The third would be the manufacturers and exporters of
products to the Philippinemarket. And then there are the
so-called Manila Americans. Andthese are the American
residents who lived in thePhilippines and carried on with
businesses there. Among thosewith investments in the
Philippines, they were theAmerican Public Utility
(16:39):
companies, food companies, andstandard oil companies.
Representatives of thesecompanies, they're asking for
at least 30 years to remain inthe Philippines. Agricultural
investors included otherAmerican sugar interests. The
California packing company,which had a pineapple
concession in Mindanao , andthe Spencer Kellogg company,
(17:03):
which had 5 million invested inequipment and ships to carry it
to New York. So they werebasically saying, you gave the
Spaniards 10 years to liquidatetheir investments. You should
certainly give your owncitizens 20 years. Wow. Another
powerful factor was theinterest of standard oil, which
(17:25):
has acquired large tracts ofland in Tayabas and adjoining
provinces, and had beguntesting in some of them. So
they spent a great deal ofmoney in anti independence
propaganda.
Carmina (17:40):
Patch that is just so I don't even know how to
describe it.
Patch (17:44):
.
Carmina (17:46):
I mean , nevertheless, I did read that from 1909 to
1913, there was what was calledreciprocal free trade .
So basically what it meant wasAmerican businesses had an
import monopoly and inexchange. They gave Filipinos
tariff free access to the USfor their goods. At the same
(18:07):
time, American goods floodedthe Philippines so much that
Esta, which was the mainshopping area of the
Philippines at that time,looked like any US main street.
All the stores apparentlycarried American brands, even
American cars and fridges. Wow.
That's how the elite Filipinosdeveloped a taste for expensive
(18:30):
American brands. All in all,what this really did was it
severely disadvantaged thePhilippines, and it made us
reliant on the American market.
It was another tool to preventour independence. So this
period ushered in benevolentassimilation. Remember that
terminology Patch?
Patch (18:52):
So basically the love of the colonizers
Carmina (18:54):
, That is the
real translation . So
that became the doctrine of ourcolonization. And to be fair,
this period did actually bringa lot of advancements to our
country, especially since wewere devastated by the
back-to-back wars. However, thebiggest contribution was in the
field of education. Englishbecame the language of
(19:16):
instruction. Our schools werepatterned after the US public
school system, and itdefinitely became an advantage
to be one of the very few Asiannations to count English as one
of our official languages asearly as that time. The other
thing that happened because ofthis act was the appointment of
(19:36):
two Philippine commissionersbecause of this act. The
Philippines was the first inAsia to have a national
legislature in 1907. And thisis when Manuel Quezon rose to
prominence in politics becausehe represented the Philippines
and the US House ofRepresentatives. His name
(19:57):
should sound familiar to ourlisteners because we talked
about him as the secondpresident overall, but the
first under the Republic of thePhilippines, he became a very
popular figure in Congress.
Politicians of both partieswere said to have collaborated
heavily with him, probablybecause he was also throwing
(20:18):
favors around for his ownpolitical gain. And there were
several things that happened inthe US involving Quezon during
this period that weresignificant for the Philippines
campaign for Independence.
Politically, for the first timein 1910, the Democrats who, if
you recall, were antiimperialists, controlled the
(20:39):
House of Representatives. Anddo you remember William
Atkinson Jones of VirginiaPatch? We talked about him in
the last episode.
Patch (20:47):
Was he responsible for drafting the Jones Law?
Carmina (20:49):
And he was the person who the Jones Bridge was named
after , remember?
Patch (20:53):
Right.
Carmina (20:54):
He and Manuel Quezon got to know each other really
well during his timerepresenting the Philippines
and Congress. So with thevictory of the Democrats in the
House of Representatives, therewas also President Woodrow
Wilson, who became president.
And at first, a lot of peoplerejoiced because they thought
he would throw support forPhilippine independence patch
(21:16):
behind the scenes . Heapparently was saying that the
Philippines had to quote, havea long apprenticeship of
obedience.
Patch (21:27):
Right? Or also some would say the idea that the
Philippines needed to getbetter at self-governance, that
we still had a long way to gobefore it would be right for
them to basically set us free.
Carmina (21:41):
In 1916, the Jones Law of 1916, our Philippine
Autonomy Act was passed. Itreplaced the Philippine Organic
Act of 1902, and as we'vementioned to reflect the
sentiment of the day, itpromised the Philippines its
eventual independence. So thislaw created the Philippines
(22:04):
first fully elected body, whichwas the first step to making
the Philippines moreindependent. But it continued
to be headed by an appointedGovernor General, which was
always an American. And Patchmore tea.
Patch (22:16):
Please spill.
Carmina (22:17):
It was actually Quezon who drafted several versions of
this law. Not joking.
Patch (22:23):
Really?
Carmina (22:25):
Apparently. But because of a lot of political
drama going on both in the USand the Philippines, he
couldn't really reveal it.
Patch (22:32):
Mm -hmm ..
Carmina (22:33):
Because of fears of being branded as anti
nationalist. Anyway, as isnormal for American politics,
in 1921, the Republicans wonthe presidency again under
President Warren Harding. Therewas again, another long period
before that cause was even tobe taken up. In the meantime,
(22:56):
there was one very significantevent that again influenced our
trajectory for independence.
And that happened on October24th, 1929.
Patch (23:07):
The 1929 Wall Street disaster prompted Congress to
pass the Smoot-Hawley Act,which boosted protective
tariffs and launched a globaltrade war. So the
Protectionist's interest movedtheir attention to the
Philippines with industriesfighting for its retention and
(23:28):
US sugar growers demandingspeedy independence.
Carmina (23:31):
Right? They really didn't want the Philippine
goods and labor to becontinuously flowing still to
the United States. By thistime, thousands of Filipinos
already came to the UnitedStates and were initially
welcomed as cheap farm anddomestic laborers, but then
we're blamed for Americanunemployment. And then on the
(23:52):
side of goods, Philippine goodswere starting to compete with
American goods.
Patch (23:58):
This might be the right time to mention that racist
hostility towards Filipinosincreased and was fueled by
certain groups advocating forindependence given to the
Philippines. Plus they werebeing accused of bringing in
diseases. So this was the timethat there was certainly an
(24:20):
increase against Filipinosmigrating to the US.
Carmina (24:24):
So it was certainly a dark, dark period, both for the
US and the Philippines.
Patch (24:30):
So Carmina. In 1934, the Tydings-McDuffie Act was
passed, which basicallyprovided a 10 year transition
period to Philippineindependence by establishing a
Philippine Commonwealth. It wasan autonomous administrative
body that would oversee thetransition towards the 10 year
countdown by handing internalmatters to the Filipinos. But
(24:53):
what it also meant was that thePhilippines would still be a US
territory during that time. Andforeign affairs defense and
financial matters were stillunder US. After completing 10
years, the United States wouldwithdraw, and on July four of
the succeeding year and wouldrecognize the Philippines as an
(25:15):
independent republic, there wasgoing to be a high commissioner
who would be the representativeof the US President.
Carmina (25:23):
More tea on this Patch..
Patch (25:25):
What ?
Carmina (25:26):
I cannot believe that I unearthed this treasure trove
of , uh, of tea. So before theTydings-McDuffie Act, there was
this Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act of1933 that was passed in spite
of a veto by then PresidentHoover.
Patch (25:46):
So I read a little bit about that. Wasn't that the one
that imposed limits onPhilippine goods and limited
immigration to 50 Filipinos peryear?
Carmina (25:57):
Well, that was part of it, but this is the real tea
behind it.
Patch (26:02):
Uhhuh.
Carmina (26:02):
So when this whole thing was being debated in
Congress, you know how ManuelQuezon was kind of the operator
behind the scenes when it cameto Philippine independence?
Right? Right. During that time,he was ill. So he sent Sergio
Osmenia and Manuel Rojas toadvocate on the Philippines
behalf. When theHare–Hawes–Cutting Act of 1933
(26:25):
passed, he realized that thatwas a political faux pas
because Sergio Osmenia andManuel Rojas would be credited
for it.
Patch (26:34):
Mm .
Carmina (26:35):
He sabotaged it, Patch!,
Patch (26:37):
How?
Carmina (26:38):
All of these things still needed to pass the
Philippine assembly. Andanything that came from
Congress in the US still had topass the Philippine assembly.
So what Quezon did was heconvinced the Philippine
assembly that he could get abetter deal, and the Philippine
assembly basically rejected it.
So after the Philippineassembly rejected it, Quezon
(26:59):
returned to DC. However, bythis time, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, or as he's commonlyknown, FDR was already the
president, but he was reallytoo busy with other more
important matters to himconcerning the United States,
because he was still dealingwith the effects of the Great
Depression. But then Quezonsomehow was able to finagle
(27:20):
support from Miller Tidings ofMaryland, who chaired the
Senate Committee responsiblefor the Philippines, and
representative John McDuffie ofAlabama to garner support in
the House for theTydings–McDuffie Act, which
get, this was basically just acopy of the Hare–Hawes–Cutting
(27:41):
Act. So he brought that to thePhilippine assembly, and I
don't know if people discernedthat this was basically just a
copy. They approved theTydings–McDuffie Act. So
anyway, as you said, itestablished the Philippine
Commonwealth and who waselected president of the
Commonwealth? We already knowhow this story ends. It was
(28:02):
Manuel Quezon .
Patch (28:04):
Right.
Carmina (28:05):
And this is where another prominent figure in
Philippine history entered thestage. Can you guess who?
Patch (28:12):
Who?
Carmina (28:12):
Douglas MacArthur was appointed as Field Marshall
.
Patch (28:16):
Oh, wait, what do you call him?
Carmina (28:18):
Dougie.
Patch (28:20):
Yeah .
Carmina (28:23):
Dougie was appointed as Field Marshall of the
Philippine army, and he wasalso the military advisor to
the Commonwealth government. Soa little known fact about the
Tydings–McDuffie Act, or maybejust little known to me,
Patch (28:36):
I'm sure, to me as well,
Carmina (28:37):
It gave the Philippine executive vast powers,
including the ability todeclare martial law, which as
we know, Marcos used to hisfull advantage many decades
later.
Patch (28:51):
Carmina, your tone of voice when reintroducing
General MacArthur is veryintriguing. Why ?
Carmina (28:59):
Things to come, right?
I think it's important tomention that in 1941, December
7, Japan bomb Pearl Harbor, andas we know, FDR declared war on
Japan the very next day. Andthis is really where Douglas
MacArthur shown , right?
Because he led a lot of the wareffort in the Pacific corridor,
right? In January 23rd, 1942,as we know, the Japanese formed
(29:24):
a puppet government, thePhilippine Executive
Commission. We are, of course,skipping so many important
historical facts that wepromise we'll cover in future
episodes. But skipping ahead onOctober 20th, 1944, the very
famous I shall Return quote,came to fruition when MacArthur
returned to the Philippines toliberate it. And of course, we
(29:46):
know that MacArthur had a lotmore exploits during World War
II that really cemented hisprominence. The Philippines was
declared liberated by McArthuron July 5th, 1945. And the
reason why I had such asinister tone when mentioning
MacArthur, is because he hadhis own political designs, he
(30:11):
was going to be instrumental inwhat happens next in the
Philippines. He reinstalledmany of the traditional
dynasties and protected theupper c lass Filipinos that he
considered his friends. And aswe know, many of those
collaborated with the Japanese.
Patch (30:30):
Mm-hmm..
Carmina (30:31):
He especially went on a campaign to rehabilitate the
reputation of Manuel Roxasbecause of MacArthur's help.
Roxas was portrayed as someonewho was a source of vital
intelligence that led to thedefeat of the Japanese. And
even though evidence waslacking, MacArthur portrayed
him to be part of theunderground movement. He was
(30:52):
basically grooming Rojas to behis ally. Finally, on July 4th,
1946, the US voluntarilyrelinquished control over the
Philippines after half acentury, half a century Patch.
And no surprise, who was thepresident?
Patch (31:11):
Dun Dun Roxas.
Carmina (31:13):
Yes. So we're saying that July 4th, 1946 was
Philippine Independence Day.
And some new listeners might beconfused because June 12th is
Independence Day. Fortunately,we have an answer to that, but
we aren't going to answer it inthis episode because we already
did in episode 16 of seasonone. So head over there please
(31:35):
for the answer.
Patch (31:37):
Mm-hmm. .
Carmina (31:38):
And really there's so much more to discuss about the
aftermath.
Patch (31:43):
Yeah.
Carmina (31:44):
But this is where our story ends about the long and
winding road to Philippineindependence from the United
States.
Patch (31:52):
For this episode, you mean?
Carmina (31:53):
Yes. For this episode.
Patch (31:56):
So that's our episode.
We hope you join us on our nexttrip.
Carmina (32:00):
O siya, siya!
Patch (32:02):
Ingat! Thanks for listening to Filtrip with
Carmina and Patch SupportFiltrip through Patreon or
PayPal. And follow us onInstagram and Twitter.
Subscribe at Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or wherever all
podcasts are downloaded.
Carmina (32:21):
Thanks to FilTrip sponsor, Solepack, a functional
shoe accessory bag. Visitthesolepack .com for more
details.
Patch (32:30):
Email us at thefiltrip@gmail.com.
Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore
everything fun, weird, and inbetween about the Philippines.
And now a quick shout out.
Check out Manila Candle. ManilaCandle features Filipino
inspired scents like Tagaytay,Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco
(00:30):
and Mango. They also have funones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka
Sa Buhay Mo.
Patch (00:35):
Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and
merchandise to visitmanilacandle.com and take a
trip to the Philippines throughtheir scents.
Carmina (00:46):
Back to our show.
Patch (00:48):
Today's trip is a round trip when we talk about
historical facts and thingsthat connect us back. In this
episode, we'll be discussingPhilippine independence from
the Americans.
Carmina (01:01):
Patch we should tell our listeners that we decided
to tackle this independenceepisode differently from the
last one by concentrating onthe period during the
Philippines Americancolonization. More
specifically, we wondered whatcould have been happening in
America that motivated them tocolonize the Philippines.
Patch (01:21):
And to eventually give us, or grant us our
independence.
Carmina (01:26):
Um, spoiler alert, I have a feeling that it wasn't
the entirely voluntary
we should start by what sparkedit all. And to do that, we have
to go outside of both Americaand the Philippines. In 1895,
the Cuban revolution againstSpain began, and just to
(01:48):
refresh everybody's memories,Spain was already many
centuries in its colonizationof Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and
the Philippines. So Cuba was ofparticular interest to the US
because it was very closegeographically, and they had
also established a lot ofbusiness there. They bought
(02:10):
large pieces of land, and theyhad about $50 million invested
in it by this time. And theprofit they were getting were
more than twice that. Also, bythis time, the US was also in
what was called the Guildedage. It was called that because
everything seemed to glitter onthe surface, but actually only
(02:32):
upper class were enjoyingwealth while a larger lower
class were poor and oppressed.
And there were no labor laws atthat time. So there was a lot
of mistreatment and inequality.
To top it all off politically,the US government was very
corrupt, and the RepublicanParty, who previously supported
(02:54):
better conditions for slavesduring the Civil War, abandoned
the cause, and they became morepro-business. Majority of the
wealthy believed they weresuperior, and it gave rise to
what was called socialDarwinism. It was even
reflected in the loss duringthat time. Just to give you an
example, it was during thisperiod when the Chinese
(03:18):
exclusion Act of 1882 wasenacted. It was the first of
immigration restriction lawsspecifically targeting the
Chinese, and provided anabsolute 10 year ban on Chinese
laborers immigrating to the us, particularly California. The
das Act of 1887 usurped landfrom the Native Americans and
(03:41):
Plessy versus Ferguson in 1896started down the road of legal
segregation.
Patch (03:47):
So obviously it was mostly the agricultural
iinterest in Cuba and theownership of Cuba that had
everything to do with slaveterritory.
Carmina (03:58):
And then elsewhere in the world and the Philippines.
In 1896, Bonifacio and theKatipuneros started the
Philippine revolution againstSpain. And as we discussed in
previous episodes, Bonifaciowas assassinated a year later
in 1897 by Aguinaldo who tookover the revolutionary effort.
(04:19):
So Patch, 1895 was the CubanRevolution, but the Spanish
American War did not startuntil 1898, who when the USS
Maine sank in Havana Harbor onFebruary 15th, 1898, the
president, president McKinleydemanded that Spain withdraw
from Cuba. Of course, theSpanish didn't like that, so
(04:42):
they declared war on the US,and the US of course, returned
the favor.
Patch (04:46):
You know what Carmina, I don't know if we mentioned what
exactly was the sinking of theUSS Maine? So, USS Maine was a
battleship that was sent toHavana in January, 1898 to
protect American interestsduring the longstanding revolt
of the Cubans against theSpanish government. In the
(05:07):
evening of February 15th, 1898,Maine sank when her forward
gunpowder magazines exploded,and nearly three quarters of
the battle ship's crew died asa result of the explosion.
Carmina (05:21):
So the implication Patch is that the explosion was
somehow caused by the Spanish?
Patch (05:26):
Yes, that's the popular opinion.
Carmina (05:28):
From that date. It took only nine months for the
whole Spanish American War tobe over. I didn't realize that
it was short.
Patch (05:37):
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (05:37):
And that's when the Philippines and the US became
historically intertwined. Andthe vehicle by which that was
done was the Paris Peace Treatythat was signed on December
10th, 1898. It established theindependence of Cuba. It seeded
Puerto Rico and Guam to the USand it sold the Philippines for
(05:59):
a whopping
Patch (06:01):
$20 million
Carmina (06:03):
Which was very cheap compared to all of the benefits
that the US would've gained.
This is another context that Ididn't have before, which might
also explain why the Americanswere really trying to recoup,
because they spent 250 millionand 3000 lives were lost.
Patch (06:24):
So wait, in 1898, that was when Emilio Aguinaldo
assembled the Malolos Congressin Bulacan that declared their
independence. Right?
Carmina (06:34):
Right. He refused to acknowledge this agreement.
Right. And as we discussed inprevious episodes, Aguinaldo
was cooperating with theAmericans because he thought
that they supported his causefor Philippine independence,
not realizing that they hadother secret plans for the
country. So I can just imaginehis reaction when he realized
(06:56):
that the Paris Peace Treaty wassigned and his fight for
independence from Spain wouldnow have to be a fight for
independence against the UnitedStates.
Patch (07:06):
I'm sure the feeling of betrayal was pretty devastating
to him.
Carmina (07:10):
Yeah. And I can just imagine and Tela Novela
fashion, the background musicthat would've been playing
significant event that happenedwas on February 4th, 1899. By
this time, the US, because theywere right, quote unquote ,
(07:32):
helping the Filipinorevolutionaries were already
stationed all throughout thePhilippines, a Nebraska
volunteer soldier shot aFilipino soldier, some say
because of a misunderstanding.
Others say, unprovoked. Thisevent definitely accelerated
the beginning of the PhilippineAmerican War.
Patch (07:52):
So Carmina, what was happening in the US during that
time,
Carmina (07:56):
A year later in November, 1900, there was a US
presidential election. By thistime, the casualties were
increasing and the Americanpublic was beginning to be
sensitized to the war. The costand abuses by US soldiers in
the Philippines were constantlyfront page news, and it was
being reported so much thatpolitical strategists on both
(08:19):
sides were convinced that thePhilippines would be a
dominating issue in theircampaigns. But thanks to a
concerted effort of censorshipand political maneuvering,
William McKinley was elected toa second term, and his vice
president was TheodoreRoosevelt. There's one
interesting factoid that Ifound, Patch, and it has to do
with Mark Twain .
Patch (08:40):
He made a comment, right? Yes.
Carmina (08:44):
A scorching comment.
Apparently, I didn't evenimagine that Mark Twain
would've commented on thePhilippines.
Patch (08:52):
So one of the quotes of Mark Twain regarding the Treaty
of Paris, "I have readcarefully the Treaty of Paris,
and I have seen that we do notintend to free, but to
subjugate the people of thePhilippines. We have gone there
to conquer, not to redeem . Andso I am an anti-imperialist, I
(09:13):
am opposed to having the eagleput its talons on any other
land."
Carmina (09:19):
I know that the context of how and when he said
that was dark, but I just findit so cool,
Twain
Patch (09:30):
Very impressive.
Carmina (09:32):
Yeah. So it really highlights how important we
were to the future of theUnited States. And this next
fact illustrates that onSeptember 14th, 1901, McKinley
was assassinated, and Rooseveltbecame president. When he took
his oath, he pledged to quote,continue absolutely unbroken
(09:53):
the policy of PresidentMcKinley for the peace,
prosperity, and honor of ourbeloved country. And a lot of
insiders said that he viewedAmerica's control over the
Philippines as critical toachieve those objectives.
Patch (10:10):
So Carmina, you're going to talk about the Philippine
Organic Act, which was a lawthat the government enacted in
1902. What kind of tea do youhave for us Carmina
Carmina (10:22):
In an age where reality TV was not yet a thing?
I'm actually surprised that Ieven found this tea
but here it is. So as I said,right, more and more news of
atrocities continued to bepublicized in the US even after
Roosevelt became president in1901. And Roosevelt was trying
(10:43):
his best to distract from thiswith other national news and
initiatives. But there came atime when he couldn't overcome
it because there were just somany formal investigations and
court marshals going on . Therewas a Senate hearing that was
causing a lot of uproar aboutmilitary abuses and early 1902,
and it was apparently, again,front page news across the
(11:05):
country, constantly on top ofit. The US was also sort of
becoming a joke around theworld, and people were calling
the US hypocritical, because ifyou remember, when they gained
independence from the British,they really touted themselves
as stewards of democracy. Thebackdrop was another upcoming
(11:25):
presidential and congressionalelection. So it was crucial for
Roosevelt to swing the publicback to him. He apparently made
a consequential speech on May30th, 1902 at the Memorial Day
ceremony at Arlington NationalCemetery. And there he took the
opportunity to criticize hispolitical opponents for their
(11:46):
own hypocrisies. For example,he highlighted abuses towards
black Americans. He painted thesoldiers' conduct in the
Philippines as a necessary partof war, and basically turned
the tables around by sayingthat Filipinos themselves have
carried out a lot of crueltiesagainst American soldiers. And
(12:07):
this was the most crucial partPatch that really swung the
public back to him. He creditedthe American soldiers in the
Philippines for propellingAmerica towards global
greatness, and basicallychastised the American public
by saying that the publicrepaid all this with criticism.
(12:29):
On top of it, he kind of made ,um, I don't even know if you
call it a white lie, but hedeclared the war almost over
and somehow was able to paintthe war as a favor for the
welfare of Filipino citizens.
So this Philippines organic lawof 1902 also allowed him to
(12:52):
proclaim that the PhilippineAmerican War was over in July
of 1902. It legitimized hischaracterization of the
conflict as an insurgencyinstead of what it really was,
which was a struggle forindependence that began under
Spain. And because of the USinterference is actually a
(13:14):
continuation for that strugglefor independence. The act also
gave the US broad control overhow to suppress it.
Patch (13:22):
We've said it before, but it's worth stating again.
The Americans lost 4,300soldiers, about 20,000 Filipino
soldiers died, and was believedto be 200,000 Filipino
civilians. And I found thisreally interesting factoid, the
(13:42):
number of Carabaos, which isthe water buffalo that
Filipinos relied on forplanting and harvesting rice,
which is our staple food,shrank by 90% during the war.
Carmina (13:54):
At first, I was kind of chuckling about the
Carabaos, but then nowrealizing how vital that was to
our way of life for survival
Patch (14:04):
And also the microeconomics, right?
Carmina (14:07):
Mm-hmm.
Patch (14:08):
Not only for personal consumption.
Carmina (14:10):
I found a quote in a book called "Honor In The
Dust," that will link in ourshow notes, and it's by a
congressman who returned from atour in Northern Luzon, during
the Philippine American War.
This is what he said, quote ,"the good Lord in heaven only
knows the number of Filipinosthat were put under the ground.
Our soldiers took no prisoners.
(14:32):
They kept no records. Theysimply swept the country. And
were reverend , whenever theycould get hold of a Filipino,
they killed him."
Patch (14:40):
That's so sad.
Carmina (14:42):
It is, right? So just as in the Spanish American War,
this costs the US a lot ofmoney.
in numbers, it was about 600million, which is equivalent to
about 4.5 billion today. Sowhen I saw that number, again,
what crossed my mind was thehuge financial motivation and
(15:04):
holding onto us that was tiedto recouping the loss. I don't
know if you found anythingPatch. I was really, really
trying my best to find how muchthe Philippines enriched Spain.
I'm sure the Americans werethinking that they were gonna
be able to extract at least thesame plus another motivation.
(15:24):
The Americans saw thePhilippines as a market for
American goods, and they sawthe Filipinos as cheap labor,
both on the ground there andover here to lower production
costs and increase profits.
Patch (15:40):
Basically, there were advocates of both sides of the
argument, right? Whether toprolong the eventual granting
of independence, and then theother side who feel that there
are gains to just giving usimmediate independence. And for
those who are advocating theprolonged transition, they were
different groups. One groupwould be the Americans with the
(16:04):
overseas investments in thePhilippines.
Carmina (16:06):
Mm-hmm.
Patch (16:07):
The second group would be the importers, and those who
enjoy tax-free Philippineproducts coming in.
Carmina (16:15):
Mm-hmm.
Patch (16:16):
The third would be the manufacturers and exporters of
products to the Philippinemarket. And then there are the
so-called Manila Americans. Andthese are the American
residents who lived in thePhilippines and carried on with
businesses there. Among thosewith investments in the
Philippines, they were theAmerican Public Utility
(16:39):
companies, food companies, andstandard oil companies.
Representatives of thesecompanies, they're asking for
at least 30 years to remain inthe Philippines. Agricultural
investors included otherAmerican sugar interests. The
California packing company,which had a pineapple
concession in Mindanao , andthe Spencer Kellogg company,
(17:03):
which had 5 million invested inequipment and ships to carry it
to New York. So they werebasically saying, you gave the
Spaniards 10 years to liquidatetheir investments. You should
certainly give your owncitizens 20 years. Wow. Another
powerful factor was theinterest of standard oil, which
(17:25):
has acquired large tracts ofland in Tayabas and adjoining
provinces, and had beguntesting in some of them. So
they spent a great deal ofmoney in anti independence
propaganda.
Carmina (17:40):
Patch that is just so I don't even know how to
describe it.
Patch (17:44):
Carmina (17:46):
I mean , nevertheless, I did read that from 1909 to
1913, there was what was calledreciprocal free trade
So basically what it meant wasAmerican businesses had an
import monopoly and inexchange. They gave Filipinos
tariff free access to the USfor their goods. At the same
(18:07):
time, American goods floodedthe Philippines so much that
Esta, which was the mainshopping area of the
Philippines at that time,looked like any US main street.
All the stores apparentlycarried American brands, even
American cars and fridges. Wow.
That's how the elite Filipinosdeveloped a taste for expensive
(18:30):
American brands. All in all,what this really did was it
severely disadvantaged thePhilippines, and it made us
reliant on the American market.
It was another tool to preventour independence. So this
period ushered in benevolentassimilation. Remember that
terminology Patch?
Patch (18:52):
So basically the love of the colonizers
Carmina (18:54):
that became the doctrine of ourcolonization. And to be fair,
this period did actually bringa lot of advancements to our
country, especially since wewere devastated by the
back-to-back wars. However, thebiggest contribution was in the
field of education. Englishbecame the language of
(19:16):
instruction. Our schools werepatterned after the US public
school system, and itdefinitely became an advantage
to be one of the very few Asiannations to count English as one
of our official languages asearly as that time. The other
thing that happened because ofthis act was the appointment of
(19:36):
two Philippine commissionersbecause of this act. The
Philippines was the first inAsia to have a national
legislature in 1907. And thisis when Manuel Quezon rose to
prominence in politics becausehe represented the Philippines
and the US House ofRepresentatives. His name
(19:57):
should sound familiar to ourlisteners because we talked
about him as the secondpresident overall, but the
first under the Republic of thePhilippines, he became a very
popular figure in Congress.
Politicians of both partieswere said to have collaborated
heavily with him, probablybecause he was also throwing
(20:18):
favors around for his ownpolitical gain. And there were
several things that happened inthe US involving Quezon during
this period that weresignificant for the Philippines
campaign for Independence.
Politically, for the first timein 1910, the Democrats who, if
you recall, were antiimperialists, controlled the
(20:39):
House of Representatives. Anddo you remember William
Atkinson Jones of VirginiaPatch? We talked about him in
the last episode.
Patch (20:47):
Was he responsible for drafting the Jones Law?
Carmina (20:49):
And he was the person who the Jones Bridge was named
after
Patch (20:53):
Right.
Carmina (20:54):
He and Manuel Quezon got to know each other really
well during his timerepresenting the Philippines
and Congress. So with thevictory of the Democrats in the
House of Representatives, therewas also President Woodrow
Wilson, who became president.
And at first, a lot of peoplerejoiced because they thought
he would throw support forPhilippine independence patch
(21:16):
behind the scenes
Philippines had to quote, havea long apprenticeship of
obedience.
Patch (21:27):
Right? Or also some would say the idea that the
Philippines needed to getbetter at self-governance, that
we still had a long way to gobefore it would be right for
them to basically set us free.
Carmina (21:41):
In 1916, the Jones Law of 1916, our Philippine
Autonomy Act was passed. Itreplaced the Philippine Organic
Act of 1902, and as we'vementioned to reflect the
sentiment of the day, itpromised the Philippines its
eventual independence. So thislaw created the Philippines
(22:04):
first fully elected body, whichwas the first step to making
the Philippines moreindependent. But it continued
to be headed by an appointedGovernor General, which was
always an American. And Patchmore tea.
Patch (22:16):
Please spill.
Carmina (22:17):
It was actually Quezon who drafted several versions of
this law. Not joking.
Patch (22:23):
Really?
Carmina (22:25):
Apparently. But because of a lot of political
drama going on both in the USand the Philippines, he
couldn't really reveal it.
Patch (22:32):
Mm -hmm .
Carmina (22:33):
Because of fears of being branded as anti
nationalist. Anyway, as isnormal for American politics,
in 1921, the Republicans wonthe presidency again under
President Warren Harding. Therewas again, another long period
before that cause was even tobe taken up. In the meantime,
(22:56):
there was one very significantevent that again influenced our
trajectory for independence.
And that happened on October24th, 1929.
Patch (23:07):
The 1929 Wall Street disaster prompted Congress to
pass the Smoot-Hawley Act,which boosted protective
tariffs and launched a globaltrade war. So the
Protectionist's interest movedtheir attention to the
Philippines with industriesfighting for its retention and
(23:28):
US sugar growers demandingspeedy independence.
Carmina (23:31):
Right? They really didn't want the Philippine
goods and labor to becontinuously flowing still to
the United States. By thistime, thousands of Filipinos
already came to the UnitedStates and were initially
welcomed as cheap farm anddomestic laborers, but then
we're blamed for Americanunemployment. And then on the
(23:52):
side of goods, Philippine goodswere starting to compete with
American goods.
Patch (23:58):
This might be the right time to mention that racist
hostility towards Filipinosincreased and was fueled by
certain groups advocating forindependence given to the
Philippines. Plus they werebeing accused of bringing in
diseases. So this was the timethat there was certainly an
(24:20):
increase against Filipinosmigrating to the US.
Carmina (24:24):
So it was certainly a dark, dark period, both for the
US and the Philippines.
Patch (24:30):
So Carmina. In 1934, the Tydings-McDuffie Act was
passed, which basicallyprovided a 10 year transition
period to Philippineindependence by establishing a
Philippine Commonwealth. It wasan autonomous administrative
body that would oversee thetransition towards the 10 year
countdown by handing internalmatters to the Filipinos. But
(24:53):
what it also meant was that thePhilippines would still be a US
territory during that time. Andforeign affairs defense and
financial matters were stillunder US. After completing 10
years, the United States wouldwithdraw, and on July four of
the succeeding year and wouldrecognize the Philippines as an
(25:15):
independent republic, there wasgoing to be a high commissioner
who would be the representativeof the US President.
Carmina (25:23):
More tea on this Patch.
Patch (25:25):
What ?
Carmina (25:26):
I cannot believe that I unearthed this treasure trove
of , uh, of tea. So before theTydings-McDuffie Act, there was
this Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act of1933 that was passed in spite
of a veto by then PresidentHoover.
Patch (25:46):
So I read a little bit about that. Wasn't that the one
that imposed limits onPhilippine goods and limited
immigration to 50 Filipinos peryear?
Carmina (25:57):
Well, that was part of it, but this is the real tea
behind it.
Patch (26:02):
Uhhuh.
Carmina (26:02):
So when this whole thing was being debated in
Congress, you know how ManuelQuezon was kind of the operator
behind the scenes when it cameto Philippine independence?
Right? Right. During that time,he was ill. So he sent Sergio
Osmenia and Manuel Rojas toadvocate on the Philippines
behalf. When theHare–Hawes–Cutting Act of 1933
(26:25):
passed, he realized that thatwas a political faux pas
because Sergio Osmenia andManuel Rojas would be credited
for it.
Patch (26:34):
Mm .
Carmina (26:35):
He sabotaged it, Patch!
Patch (26:37):
How?
Carmina (26:38):
All of these things still needed to pass the
Philippine assembly. Andanything that came from
Congress in the US still had topass the Philippine assembly.
So what Quezon did was heconvinced the Philippine
assembly that he could get abetter deal, and the Philippine
assembly basically rejected it.
So after the Philippineassembly rejected it, Quezon
(26:59):
returned to DC. However, bythis time, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, or as he's commonlyknown, FDR was already the
president, but he was reallytoo busy with other more
important matters to himconcerning the United States,
because he was still dealingwith the effects of the Great
Depression. But then Quezonsomehow was able to finagle
(27:20):
support from Miller Tidings ofMaryland, who chaired the
Senate Committee responsiblefor the Philippines, and
representative John McDuffie ofAlabama to garner support in
the House for theTydings–McDuffie Act, which
get, this was basically just acopy of the Hare–Hawes–Cutting
(27:41):
Act. So he brought that to thePhilippine assembly, and I
don't know if people discernedthat this was basically just a
copy. They approved theTydings–McDuffie Act. So
anyway, as you said, itestablished the Philippine
Commonwealth and who waselected president of the
Commonwealth? We already knowhow this story ends. It was
(28:02):
Manuel Quezon .
Patch (28:04):
Right.
Carmina (28:05):
And this is where another prominent figure in
Philippine history entered thestage. Can you guess who?
Patch (28:12):
Who?
Carmina (28:12):
Douglas MacArthur was appointed as Field Marshall
Patch (28:16):
Oh, wait, what do you call him?
Carmina (28:18):
Dougie
Patch (28:20):
Yeah .
Carmina (28:23):
Dougie was appointed as Field Marshall of the
Philippine army, and he wasalso the military advisor to
the Commonwealth government. Soa little known fact about the
Tydings–McDuffie Act, or maybejust little known to me,
Patch (28:36):
I'm sure, to me as well,
Carmina (28:37):
It gave the Philippine executive vast powers,
including the ability todeclare martial law, which as
we know, Marcos used to hisfull advantage many decades
later.
Patch (28:51):
Carmina, your tone of voice when reintroducing
General MacArthur is veryintriguing. Why
Carmina (28:59):
Things to come, right?
I think it's important tomention that in 1941, December
7, Japan bomb Pearl Harbor, andas we know, FDR declared war on
Japan the very next day. Andthis is really where Douglas
MacArthur shown , right?
Because he led a lot of the wareffort in the Pacific corridor,
right? In January 23rd, 1942,as we know, the Japanese formed
(29:24):
a puppet government, thePhilippine Executive
Commission. We are, of course,skipping so many important
historical facts that wepromise we'll cover in future
episodes. But skipping ahead onOctober 20th, 1944, the very
famous I shall Return quote,came to fruition when MacArthur
returned to the Philippines toliberate it. And of course, we
(29:46):
know that MacArthur had a lotmore exploits during World War
II that really cemented hisprominence. The Philippines was
declared liberated by McArthuron July 5th, 1945. And the
reason why I had such a
MacArthur, is because he hadhis own political designs, he
(30:11):
was going to be instrumental inwhat happens next in the
Philippines. He reinstalledmany of the traditional
dynasties and protected theupper c lass Filipinos that he
considered his friends. And aswe know, many of those
collaborated with the Japanese.
Patch (30:30):
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (30:31):
He especially went on a campaign to rehabilitate the
reputation of Manuel Roxasbecause of MacArthur's help.
Roxas was portrayed as someonewho was a source of vital
intelligence that led to thedefeat of the Japanese. And
even though evidence waslacking, MacArthur portrayed
him to be part of theunderground movement. He was
(30:52):
basically grooming Rojas to behis ally. Finally, on July 4th,
1946, the US voluntarilyrelinquished control over the
Philippines after half acentury, half a century Patch.
And no surprise, who was thepresident?
Patch (31:11):
Dun Dun Roxas.
Carmina (31:13):
Yes. So we're saying that July 4th, 1946 was
Philippine Independence Day.
And some new listeners might beconfused because June 12th is
Independence Day. Fortunately,we have an answer to that, but
we aren't going to answer it inthis episode because we already
did in episode 16 of seasonone. So head over there please
(31:35):
for the answer.
Patch (31:37):
Mm-hmm.
Carmina (31:38):
And really there's so much more to discuss about the
aftermath.
Patch (31:43):
Yeah.
Carmina (31:44):
But this is where our story ends about the long and
winding road to Philippineindependence from the United
States.
Patch (31:52):
For this episode, you mean
Carmina (31:53):
Yes. For this episode.
Patch (31:56):
So that's our episode.
We hope you join us on our nexttrip.
Carmina (32:00):
O siya, siya!
Patch (32:02):
Ingat! Thanks for listening to Filtrip with
Carmina and Patch SupportFiltrip through Patreon or
PayPal. And follow us onInstagram and Twitter.
Subscribe at Apple Podcasts,Spotify, or wherever all
podcasts are downloaded.
Carmina (32:21):
Thanks to FilTrip sponsor, Solepack, a functional
shoe accessory bag. Visitthesolepack .com for more
details.
Patch (32:30):
Email us at thefiltrip@gmail.com.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Come hang with Amy Poehler. Each week on her podcast, she'll welcome celebrities and fun people to her studio. They'll share stories about their careers, mutual friends, shared enthusiasms, and most importantly, what's been making them laugh. This podcast is not about trying to make you better or giving advice. Amy just wants to have a good time.