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74th Congress, 2d Session
+
1
COMPILATION OF DOCUMENTS RELATING
TO THE INAUGURATION OF THE GOVERN-
MENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
THE PHILIPPINES
COMMUNICATION
FROM
★2-7-36
House Document No. 400

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TRANSMITTING
A COMPILATION OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE
INAUGURATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
JANUARY 27, 1936.-Referred to the Committee on Insular Affairs
and ordered to be printed
COITAO!
ILIUL
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1936
:
POLITICAL

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1936
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11-20-95
CONTENTS
Concurrent Resolution of the Philippine Legislature accepting the Tydings-
McDuffie Act..
Act 4125 of the Philippine Legislature providing for the election and
holding of the Constitutional Convention
Constitution of the Philippines:
--
(a) The President's certification.
(b) The President's Message to Congress..
(c) The President's public statement.
1
I
Proclamation 784 by the Governor General calling special session of the
Legislature to provide for the submission of the Constitution to the
Filipino people….
Act 4200 of the Philippine Legislature providing for the submission of the
Constitution to the people at an election……
Proclamation 810 by the Governor General calling special session of the
Legislature to canvass the returns of the constitutional ratification and
to provide for the election of officers..
Concurrent Resolution 20 of the Philippine Legislature certifying the
ratification of the Constitution __.
Proclamation 816 by the Governor General fixing the date for election of
officers..
Act 4203 of the Philippine Legislature providing for the holding of the first
election of officers of the Commonwealth Government_
Resolution of the Philippine Legislature announcing the result of the
election___
U
Certification by the Governor General of the Philippine Islands of the
election of officers__
INAUGURAL CEREMONIES
+
Proclamation 860 by the Governor General calling special session of the
Legislature to provide for the inauguration of the Commonwealth
Government.
Speech of Hon. John N. Garner, Vice President of the United States, at
joint session of the Philippine Legislature
Speech of Hon. Joseph W. Byrns, Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives, at joint session of the Philippine Legislature--
Message of Governor General Murphy to the Philippine Legislature in the
final joint session..
I
Invocation_
Introduction of the Secretary of War..
Address of the Secretary of War..
Proclamation of the President announcing the election of officers under
the Constitution_
Proclamation of the Secretary of War announcing the change of govern-
ment_
Inaugural address of the President of the Philippines_--
+
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74
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
THE WHITE HOUSE, January 27, 1936.
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith, for the information of the Congress, a com-
pilation of documents relating to the inauguration of the govern-
ment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, as provided in the
Philippine Independence Act (Public, No. 127, 73d Cong.), ap-
proved March 24, 1934.
Inasmuch as it is believed that this compilation would be of great
historical value and of general interest as a source of information,
I concur in the recommendation of the Secretary of War that it
be printed as a Congressional document.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
V
*
满
​心
​•
The PRESIDENT,
LETTER OF SUBMITTAL
The White House.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington, January 25, 1936.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: I am enclosing herewith a compilation of
documents relating to the inauguration of the government of the
Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands as provided in the Philip-
pine Independence Act (Public, No. 127, 73d Cong.), approved
March 24, 1934.
It is believed it would be in the interest of the public if these
papers could be published in a single Congressional document.
Such a publication would meet an extensive demand for information
regarding this historical event, and would be of great historical
value.
It is accordingly recommended that they be transmitted to Con-
gress with the recommendation that they be published as a Con-
gressional document.
Respectfully yours,
Enclosure:
Compilation, as stated.
GEO. H. DERN,
Secretary of War.
VII
>
COMPILATION OF DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE INAUGURA-
TION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AS PROVIDED IN THE PHILIPPINE
INDEPENDENCE ACT¹ (PUBLIC, NO. 127, 73D. CONG.), AP-
PROVED MARCH 24, 1934.
NINTH PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE
Third Special Session
"
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ACCEPTING PUBLIC ACT NUMBERED ONE
HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,
COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE TYDINGS-MCDUFFIE ACT, AND EXPRESS-
ING THE GRATITUDE OF THE PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE AND
FILIPINO PEOPLE TO THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS OF THE UNITED
STATES AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
THE
Whereas, the Seventy-third Congress of the United States of
America has enacted Public Act Numbered One hundred twenty-
seven, entitled "An Act to provide for the complete independence of
the Philippine Islands, to provide for the adoption of a constitution
and a form of government for the Philippine Islands, and for other
purposes," and commonly known as the Tydings-McDuffie Law;
WHEREAS, Section seventeen of the aforesaid Act requires the
acceptance thereof by concurrent resolution of the Philippine Legis-
lature or by a convention called for the purpose of passing upon
that law before the same shall take effect;
WHEREAS, although the Philippine Legislature believes that cer-
tain provisions of said Act need further consideration, the said
Legislature deems it its duty to accept the proffer of independence
thus made by the Government of the United States;
(a) Because the Filipino people cannot, consistent with their
national dignity and love of freedom, decline to accept the inde-
pendence that the said Act grants;
(b) And because the President of the United States in his message
to Congress on March two, nineteen hundred and thirty-four, rec-
ommending the enactment of said law, stated: "I do not believe that
other provisions of the original law need be changed at this time.
Where imperfections or inequalities exist, I am confident that they
can be corrected after proper hearing and in fairness to both peo-
ples";―a statement which gives to the Filipino people reasonable
assurances of further hearing and due consideration of their views;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives of the
Philippines concurring, That Public Act Numbered One hundred
twenty-seven of the Seventy-third Congress of the United States,
1 The Tydings-McDuffie Act, or so-called Philippine Independence Act (Public, No. 127,
73d Cong.), was approved Mar. 24, 1394.
1
2
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
entitled "An Act to provide for the complete independence of the
Philippine Islands, to provide for the adoption of a constitution and
a form of government for the Philippine Islands, and for other pur-
poses," commonly known as the Tydings-McDuffie Law, be, and is
hereby accepted by the Philippine Legislature in accordance with
the provisions of section seventeen thereof;
Resolved, further, That the Philippine Legislature, in its own be-
half and in behalf of the Filipino people, express, and does hereby
express, its appreciation and everlasting gratitude to the President
and the Congress of the United States and the American people.
Adopted in joint session, May 1, 1934.
(Signed) MANUEL L. QUEZON,
President of the Senate.
QUINTIN PAREDES,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
We hereby certify that the foregoing Concurrent Resolution was
adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philip-
pines in joint session on May 1, 1934.
(Signed) FERMÍN S. TORRALBA,
Secretary of the Senate.
JULIAN La O,
Acting Secretary of the House of Representatives.
(Official Seal: Philippine Senate and House of Representatives.)
NINTH PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE
Third Special Session
H. No. 3638
[No. 4125]
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELECTION AND HOLDING OF THE CON-
STITUTIONAL CONVENTION AUTHORIZED BY THE ACT OF THE CONGRESS
OF THE UNITED STATES OF MARCH TWENTY-FOURTH, NINETEEN
HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR, APPROPRIATE FUNDS THEREFOR, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the
same:
ELECTION OF DELEGATES FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
SECTION 1. The Constitutional Convention authorized by Public
Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-seven of the Seventy-third
Congress of the United States, approved March twenty-fourth, nine-
teen hundred and thirty-four, entitled "An Act to provide for the
complete independence of the Philippine Islands, to provide for the
adoption of a constitution and form of government for the Philip-
pine Islands, and for other purposes," shall be composed of two
hundred and two elective delegates distributed at the ratio of two
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
3
delegates for each representative district, except in the special prov-
inces of Mindanao and Sulu which shall each have two delegates,
and except in the Mountain Province which shall have two delegates
for each subprovince thereof and two delegates for the City of
Baguio.
SEC. 2. The office of delegate shall be honorary and shall be com-
patible with any other public office not subject to the civil service
rules.
SEC. 3. No person shall be eligible for delegate who has not the
qualifications required by existing law for eligibility for repre-
sentative.
SEC. 4. The election of delegates shall be held on June twenty-
sixth, nineteen hundred and thirty-four,* in accordance with the
provisions of the Election Law governing special elections for rep-
resentative, except as herein otherwise provided. For good reasons,
the Governor-General may postpone the election to a date not later
than July sixteenth, nineteen hundred and thirty-four, in which
case the Constitutional Convention shall be held on the thirtieth
of the same month and year, at eleven o'clock in the morning.
SEC. 5. The delegates shall be elected as follows:
(a) The delegates of the elective representative districts and
those of Nueva Vizcaya, Baguio, Agusan, Davao, and Zamboanga
shall be elected by a plurality of the votes of the qualified electors
registered in the list of voters of the general election of nineteen
hundred and thirty-four in the respective districts or provinces,
as the case may be. The voters of Tagudin, Cervantes, Angaki,
San Emilio, Concepcion, Sigay, Suyo, Alilem, and Sugpon, of
the Province of Ilocos Sur, shall vote at the election of delegates
of the second district of said province, and the voters of Pugo,
Burgos, San Gabriel, Santol, and Sodipen, of the Province of La
Union, shall vote at the election of delegates of the first district
of the latter province. No new voters shall be admitted at this
election; and
(b) The delegates of the Mountain Province, Bukidnon, Cotabato,
Lanao, and Sulu shall be elected by secret ballot and by a plurality
of the votes of the members present at a meeting to be held in their
respective localities at nine o'clock in the morning of the day of the
election of delegates, by the presidents, vice-presidents, and councilors
of the municipalities and municipal districts, and the respective
municipal secretary shall certify to the result of the balloting and
the provincial board shall act as provincial board of canvassers.
SEC. 6. The certificates of candidacy of the candidates for delegate
shall be filed at least ten days before the election by the candidates
themselves or by ten or more electors of the district or province in
which they are to be elected, and need not contain any statement
regarding their political affiliation.
SEC. 7. The election inspectors and poll clerks shall be paid a per
diem of three pesos for each day of service in carrying out the
election herein provided for.
SEC. 8. The Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe the forms for
the official ballots which shall be numbered but shall not have any
coupons nor any printing on the back; the types of ballot boxes
which shall not require more than two padlocks each the keys where-
* Postponed to July 10 by Governor General's Proclamation No. 704.
4
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
of shall during the election be in the keeping of inspectors of oppos-
ing parties and shall after the election be surrendered to the clerk
of the Court of First Instance and the provincial commander of the
Constabulary; the forms for the statements of the results of the
election, and the forms for the telegraphic transmission of the results.
The statements and official telegrams relative to the results of the
election shall be received and transmitted by the Bureau of Posts
without delay and free of charge, and shall be given the preference
over other matter.
MEETING OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
SEC. 9. The Constitutional Convention shall meet in the Session
Hall of the House of Representatives on July fourth, nineteen
hundred and thirty-four, at eleven o'clock in the morning. A
majority of its members shall constitute a quorum to do business,
but a smaller number may meet, adjourn from day to day, and
compel the attendance of absent members. The Convention shall be
the sole judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its mem-
bers; it may organize and adopt such rules as it may see fit, punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of
two-thirds, expel them.
SEC. 10. The laws relative to the parliamentary immunity of the
members of the Legislature and the protection of the sessions of the
same and its committees against disturbance and molestation, and
the penalties provided for the violation of said laws shall be appli-
cable to the members of the Constitutional Convention and to the
sessions of the same and of its committees.
SEC. 11. The Secretaries of the Houses of the Legislature shall
place at the disposal of the Constitutional Convention such person-
nel, premises and furniture thereof as can, in their judgment, be
spared without detriment to the public service, without cost, refund
or additional pay.
K
APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS
SEC. 12. The sum of five hundred thousand pesos, or so much
thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any
general funds not otherwise appropriated, (a) for the payment of
the expenses of the election, subject to the approval of the Secretary
of the Interior; (b) for the expenses of fitting the session hall of
the House of Representatives and the necessary rooms for the use of
the Constitutional Convention; and (c) for the payment of per
diems to the members of the Convention not receiving government
salary in any other capacity at the rate of five pesos for each day of
session of said Convention actually attended by them; for the ex-
penses of going to and returning from the sessions of the Conven-
tion, to the same extent to which such expenses are allowed to mem-
bers of the House of Representatives, and for other incidental ex-
penses of the Convention, subject to the approval of the chairman
or acting chairman of the Convention.
DATE OF TAKING EFFECT
SEC. 13. This Act shall take effect on its approval.
Approved, May 26, 1934.
■
1
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
5
The election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention was held
on July 10, 1934; the Convention convened in Manila on July 30,
1934, and completed the task of drafting a Constitution on February
8, 1935. A committee of members of the Constitutional Convention
came to the United States to present the Constitution to the Presi-
dent, and on March 23, 1935, it was certified by the President as con-
forming substantially with the provisions of the Independence Act.
CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES ADOPTED BY THE PHILIPPINE
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION AT THE CITY OF MANILA, PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS, ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF FEBRUARY, NINETEEN HUNDRED
AND THIRTY-FIVE
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, MANILA
Hon. Claro M. Recto, President.
Hon. Ruperto Montinola, First Vice-President.
Hon. Teodora Sandiko, Second Vice-President.
N. Pimentel, Secretary.
CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES
The Filipino people, imploring the aid of Divine Providence, in
order to establish a government that shall embody their ideals, con-
serve and develop the patrimony of the nation, promote the general
welfare, and secure to themselves and their posterity the blessings
of independence under a régime of justice, liberty, and democracy,
do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.
ARTICLE I. THE NATIONAL TERRITORY
SECTION 1. The Philippines comprises all the territory ceded to
the United States by the treaty of Paris concluded between the
United States and Spain on the tenth day of December, eighteen
hundred and ninety-eight, the limits of which are set forth in Article
III of said treaty, together with all the islands embraced in the
treaty concluded at Washington, between the United States and
Spain on the seventh day of November, nineteen hundred, and in
the treaty concluded between the United States and Great Britain
on the second day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty, and all
territory over which the present Government of the Philippine
Islands exercises jurisdiction.
ARTICLE II. DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
SECTION 1. The Philippines is a republican state. Sovereignty
resides in the people and all government authority emanates from
them.
SEC. 2. The defense of the State is a prime duty of government,
and in the fulfillment of this duty all citizens may be required by
law to render personal military or civil service.
SEC. 3. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of
national policy, and adopts the generally accepted principles of
international law as a part of the law of the Nation.
6
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
SEC. 4. The natural right and duty of parents in the rearing of
the youth for civic efficiency should receive the aid and support of
the Government.
SEC. 5. The promotion of social justice to insure the well-being
and economic security of all the people should be the concern of
the State.
ARTICLE III. BILL OF RIGHTS
SECTION 1. (1) No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied
the equal protection of the laws.
(2) Prívate property shall not be taken for public use without
just compensation.
(3) The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall
not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable
cause, to be determined by the judge after examination under oath
or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce,
and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized.
(4) The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the
limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired.
(5) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be
inviolable except upon lawful order of the court or when public
safety and order require otherwise.
(6) The right to form associations or societies for purposes not
contrary to law shall not be abridged.
(7) No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and the free exercise and
enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimina-
tion or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall
be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.
(8) No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, or
of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and
petition the Government for redress of grievances.
(9) No law granting a title of nobility shall be enacted, and no
person holding any office of profit or trust shall, without the consent
of the National Assembly, accept any present, emolument, office, or
title of any kind whatever from any foreign state.
(10) No law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.
(11) No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.
(12) No person shall be imprisoned for debt or nonpayment of a
poll tax.
(13) No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted.
(14) The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus-
pended except in cases of invasion, insurrection, or rebellion, when
the public safety requires it, in any of which events the same may be
suspended wherever during such period the necessity for such sus-
pension shall exist.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
7
(15) No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense
without due process of law.
(16) All persons shall before conviction be bailable by sufficient
sureties, except those charged with capital offenses when evidence
of guilt is strong. Excessive bail shall not be required.
(17) In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall be presumed
to be innocent until the contrary is proved, and shall enjoy the
right to be heard by himself and counsel, to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation against him, to have a speedy
and public trial, to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have com-
pulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses in his behalf.
(18) No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.
(19) Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishment inflicted.

(20) No person shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment for
the same offense. If an act is punished by a law and an ordinance,
conviction or acquittal under either shall constitute a bar to another
prosecution for the same act.
(21) Free access to the courts shall not be denied to any person
by reason of poverty.
ARTICLE IV. CITIZENSHIP
SECTION 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
(1) Those who are citizens of the Philippine Islands at the time.
of the adoption of this Constitution.
(2) Those born in the Philippine Islands of foreign parents who,
before the adoption of this Constitution, had been elected to public
office in the Philippine Islands.
(3) Those whose fathers are citizens of the Philippines.
(4) Those whose mothers are citizens of the Philippines and, upon
reaching the age of majority, elect Philippine citizenship.
(5) Those who are naturalized in accordance with law.
SEC. 2. Philippine citizenship may be lost or reacquired in the
manner provided by law.
ARTICLE V. SUFFRAGE
SECTION 1. Suffrage may be exercised by male citizens of the
Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law, who are twenty-one
years of age or over and are able to read and write, and who shall
have resided in the Philippines for one year and in the municipality
wherein they propose to vote for at least six months preceding the
election. The National Assembly shall extend the right of suffrage
to women, if in a plebiscite which shall be held for that purpose
within two years after the adoption of this Constitution, not less
than three hundred thousand women possessing the necessary quali-
fications shall vote affirmatively on the question.
ARTICLE VI. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
SECTION 1. The Legislative power shall be vested in a National
Assembly. The Members of the National Assembly shall not exceed
8
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
one hundred and twenty, shall be chosen every three years, and shall
be apportioned among the several provinces as nearly as may be
according to the number of their respective inhabitants, but each
province shall have at least one Member. The National Assembly
shall by law make an apportionment within three years after the
return of every enumeration, and not otherwise. Until such appor-
tionment shall have been made, the National Assembly shall consist
of ninety-eight Members, of whom eighty-seven shall be elected by
the representative districts as now provided by law; and three by
the Mountain Province, and one by each of the other eight existing
special provinces. The Members of the National Assembly in the
provinces of Sulu, Lanao, and Cotabato shall be chosen as may be
determined by law; in all other provinces they shall be elected by the
qualified voters therein.
SEC. 2. No person shall be a Member of the National Assembly
unless he has been five years a citizen of the Philippines, is at least
thirty years of age, and, at the time of his election, a qualified
elector, and a resident of the province in which he is chosen for not
less than one year immediately prior to his election.
SEC. 3. (1) In case of vacancy in the National Assembly a special
election may be called in the corresponding district, in the manner
prescribed by law, but the Member thus elected shall serve only for
the unexpired term.
(2) Elections for the National Assembly shall be held on the dates
fixed by law.
(3) The National Assembly shall convene in regular session once
every year, on the second Monday of the month immediately fol-
lowing that on which the election of its Members was held, unless
a different date is fixed by law. The National Assembly may be
called in special session at any time by the President to consider
general legislation or only such subjects as he may designate. No
special session shall continue longer than thirty days and no regular
session longer than one hundred days, exclusive of Sundays.
(4) The National Assembly shall choose its Speaker, a secretary,
a sergeant-at-arms, and such other officers as may be required. A
majority of all the Members shall constitute a quorum to do busi-
ness, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may
compel the attendance of absent Members, in such manner and under
such penalties as the National Assembly may provide.
(5) The National Assembly may determine the rules of its pro-
ceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the
concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member. It shall keep a Journal
of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, except-
ing such parts as may in its judgment require secrecy; and the yeas
and nays on any question shall, at the request of one-fifth of its
Members present, be entered in the Journal.
SEO. 4. There shall be an Electoral Commission composed of
three Justices of the Supreme Court designated by the Chief Jus-
tice, and of six Members chosen by the National Assembly, three
of whom shall be nominated by the party having the largest num-
ber of votes, and three by the party having the second largest
number of votes therein. The senior Justice in the Commission
M
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
9
·
shall be its Chairman. The Electoral Commission shall be the sole
judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifica-
tions of the Members of the National Assembly.
SEC. 5. The Members of the National Assembly shall, unless
otherwise provided by law, receive an annual compensation of five
thousand pesos each including per diems and other emoluments or
allowances and exclusive only of travelling expenses to and from
their respective districts when attending sessions of the National
Assembly. No increase in said compensation shall take effect until
after the expiration of the full term of the Members of the Na-
tional Assembly elected subsequent to the approval of such increase.
The Speaker of the National Assembly shall receive an annual com-
pensation of sixteen thousand pesos until otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 6. The Members of the National Assembly shall in all cases
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from
arrest during their attendance at the sessions of the National As-
sembly, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any
speech or debate therein, they shall not be questioned in any other
place.
SEC. 7. The National Assembly shall elect from among its Mem-
bers, on the basis of proportional representation of the political
parties therein, a Commission on Appointments and a Commission
on Impeachment, each to consist of twenty-one members. These
Commissions shall be constituted within thirty days after the Na-
tional Assembly shall have been organized with the election of its
Speaker, and shall meet only while the National Assembly is in
session, at the call of their respective Chairmen or a majority of
their members, to discharge such powers and functions as are herein
conferred upon them.
SEC. 8. (1) No Member of the National Assembly may hold any
other office or employment in the Government without forfeiting his
seat, nor shall any such Member during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office which may have been created
or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased while he was
a Member of the National Assembly.
(2) No Member of the National Assembly shall directly or indi-
rectly be financially interested in any contract with the Govern-
ment or any subdivision or instrumentality thereof, or in any
franchise or special privilege granted by the National Assembly dur-
ing his term of office; nor shall any such Member appear as counsel
before the Electoral Commission or any court in any civil case
wherein the Government or any subdivision or instrumentality
thereof is the adverse party, or collect any fee for his appearance in
any administrative proceedings or in any criminal case wherein an
officer or employee of the Government is accused of an offense com-
mitted in relation to his office. No Member of the Commission on
Appointments of the National Assembly shall appear as counsel
before any court inferior to the Supreme Court.
+ M
SEC. 9. (1) The President shall submit within fifteen days of the
opening of each regular session of the National Assembly a budget.
of receipts and expenditures, which shall be the basis of the general
appropriation bill. The National Assembly may not increase the
II. Doc. 400, 71—2———-2
10
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
appropriations recommended by the President for the operation of
the Government as specified in the Budget, except the appropriations
for the National Assembly and the Judicial Department. The form
of the Budget and the information that it should contain shall be
prescribed by law.
(2) No provision or enactment shall be embraced in the general
appropriation, unless it relates specifically to some particular appro-
priation in the bill; and any such provision or enactment shall be
limited in its operation to such appropriation.
SEC. 10. The heads of departments upon their own initiative or
upon the request of the National Assembly may appear before and
be heard by the National Assembly on any matter pertaining to their
departments, unless the public interest shall require otherwise and
the President shall so state in writing.
SEC. 11. (1) Every bill which shall have passed the National
Assembly shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Presi-
dent. If he approve the same, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall
return it with his objections to the National Assembly, which shall
enter the objections at large on its Journal and proceed to recon-
sider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds, of all the Mem-
bers of the National Assembly shall agree to pass the bill, it shall
become a law. In all such cases the votes of the National Assembly
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the Members
voting for and against shall be entered on the Journal. If any bill
shall not be returned by the President as herein provided within
twenty days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented
to him, the same shall become a law in like manner as if he had
signed it, unless the National Assembly by adjournment prevent its
return, in which case it shall become a law unless vetoed by the
President within thirty days after adjournment.
(2) The President shall have the power to veto any particular
item or items of an appropriation bill, but the veto shall not affect
the item or items to which he does not object. When a provision
of an appropriation bill affects one or more items of the same, the
President cannot veto the provision without at the same time veto-
ing the particular item or items to which it relates. The item or
items objected to shall not take effect except in the manner hereto-
fore provided as to bills returned to the National Assembly without
the approval of the President. If the veto refers to a bill or any
item of an appropriation bill which appropriates a sum in excess
of ten per centum of the total amount voted in the appropriation
bill for the general expenses of the Government for the preceding
year, or if it should refer to a bill authorizing an increase of the
public debt, the same shall not become a law unless approved by
three-fourths of all the Members of the National Assembly.
(3) The President shall have the power to veto any separate item
or items in a revenue or tariff bill, and the item or items vetoed shall
not take effect except in the manner provided as to bills vetoed by
the President.
SEC. 12. (1) No bill which may be enacted into law shall embrace
more than one subject which shall be expressed in the title of the
bill.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
11
(2) No bill shall be passed or become a law unless it shall have
been printed and copies thereof in its final form furnished the
Members at least three calendar days prior to its passage by the
National Assembly, except when the President shall have certified to
the necessity of its immediate enactment. Upon the last reading
of a bill no amendment thereof shall be allowed, and the question
upon its final passage shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the
yeas and nays entered on the Journal.
SEC. 13. (1) All money collected on any tax levied for a special
purpose shall be treated as a special fund and paid out for such
purpose only. If the purpose for which a special fund was created
has been fulfilled or abandoned, the balance, if any, shall be trans-
ferred to the general funds of the Government.
(2) No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pur-
suance of an appropriation made by law.
(3) No public money or property shall ever be appropriated,
applied, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support
of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution, or system
of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher,
minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary as such, except
when such priest, preacher, minister, or dignitary is assigned to
the armed forces or to any penal institution, orphanage, or
leprosarium.
SEC. 14. (1) The rule of taxation shall be uniform.
(2) The National Assembly may by law authorize the President,
subject to such limitations and restrictions as it may impose, to fix
within specified limits, tariff rates, import or export quotas, and
tonnage and wharfage dues.
(3) Cemeteries, churches, and parsonages or convents appurte-
nant thereto, and all lands, buildings, and improvements used exclu-
sively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes shall be ex-
empt from taxation.
SEC. 15. The National Assembly shall, with the concurrence of
two-thirds of all its Members, have the sole power to declare war.
SEC. 16. In times of war or other national emergency, the National
Assembly may by law authorize the President, for a limited period
and subject to such restrictions as it may prescribe, to promulgate
rules and regulations to carry out a declared national policy.
ARTICLE VII. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
SECTION 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of
the Philippines.
SEC. 2. The President shall hold his office during a term of six
years, and together with the Vice-President chosen for the same
term, shall be elected by direct vote of the people. The election re-
turns for President and Vice-President, duly certified by the board
of canvassers of each province, shall be transmitted to the National
Assembly. Upon receipt of such returns the National Assembly
shall forthwith, in public session, count the votes, and proclaim the
persons elected President and Vice-President. The persons respec-
tively having the highest number of votes for President and Vice-
President shall be declared elected, but in case two or more shall have
an equal and the highest number of votes for either office, the Na-
12
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
tional Assembly shall, by a majority vote of all its Members, elect
one of said persons as President or Vice-President.
SEC. 3. No person may be elected to the office of President or Vice-
President, unless he be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a
qualified voter, forty years of age or over, and has been a resident
of the Philippines for at least ten years immediately preceding the
election.
SEC. 4. No person elected President may be reëlected for the fol-
lowing term, nor shall the Vice-President or any other person who
may have succeeded to the office of President as herein provided at
least one year before the election, be eligible to the office of President
at such election.
SEC. 5. Elections for President and Vice-President shall be held
once every six years on a date to be fixed by the National Assembly.
SEC. 6. The terms of the President and Vice-President shall end
at noon on the thirtieth day of December following the expiration of
six years after their election, and the terms of their successors shall
begin from such time,
SEC. 7. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the
President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice-President-
elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been
chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the
President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice-President
shall act as President until a President shall have qualified, and the
National Assembly may by law provide for the case wherein neither
a President-elect nor a Vice-President-elect shall have qualified,
declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which
one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accord-
ingly until a President or Vice-President shall have qualified.
SEC. 8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, the President
shall take the following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully and conscientiously
fulfill my duties as President of the Philippines, preserve and defend its
Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate myself
to the service of the Nation. So help me God." (In case of affirmation, last
sentence will be omitted.)
SEC. 9. In the event of the removal of the President from office or
of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President,
and the National Assembly shall by law provide for the case of
removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and
Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as President,
and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed,
or a President shall be elected.
SEC. 10. The President shall have an official residence and receive
a compensation to be ascertained by law which shall be neither
increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have
been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other
emolument from the Government or any of its subdivisions or instru-
mentalities. Until the National Assembly shall provide otherwise,
the President shall receive an annual salary of thirty thousand
pesos. The Vice-President, when not acting as President, shall
receive an annual compensation of fifteen thousand pesos until
otherwise provided by law.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
13
SEC. 11. (1) The President shall have control of all the executive
departments, bureaus, or offices, exercise general supervision over
all local governments as may be provided by law, and take care that
the laws be faithfully executed.
(2) The President shall be commander-in-chief of all armed
forces of the Philippines and, whenever it becomes necessary, he
may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless vio-
lence, invasion, insurrection, or rebellion. In case of invasion, in-
surrection, or rebellion, or imminent danger thereof, when the public
safety requires it, he may suspend the privileges of the writ of
habeas corpus, or place the Philippines or any part thereof under
martial law.
(3) The President shall nominate and with the consent of the
Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly, shall ap-
point the heads of the executive departments and bureaus, officers
of the Army from the rank of colonel, of the Navy and air forces
from the rank of captain or commander, and all other officers of
the Government whose appointments are not herein otherwise pro-
vided for, and those whom he may be authorized by law to appoint;
but the National Assembly may by law vest the appointment of
inferior officers, in the President alone, in the courts, or in the heads
of departments.
(4) The President shall have the power to make appointments
during the recess of the National Assembly, but such appointments
shall be effective only until disapproval by the Commission on Ap-
pointments or until the next adjournment of the National Assembly.
(5) The President shall from time to time give to the National
Assembly information of the state of the Nation, and recommend
to its consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient.
(6) The President shall have the power to grant reprieves, com-
mutations, and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after con-
viction, for all offenses, except in cases of impeachment, upon such
conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as he may
deem proper to impose. He shall have the power to grant amnesty
with the concurrence of the National Assembly.
(7) The President shall have the power, with the concurrence of
a majority of all the Members of the National Assembly, to make
treaties, and with the consent of the Commission on Appointments,
he shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls.
He shall receive ambassadors and other ministers duly accredited
to the Government of the Philippines.
SEC. 12. (1) The executive departments of the present Govern-
ment of the Philippine Islands shall continue as now authorized by
law until the National Assembly shall provide otherwise.
(2) The heads of departments and chiefs of bureaus or offices and
their assistants shall not, during their continuance in office, engage
in the practice of any profession, or intervene, directly or indirectly,
in the management or control of any private enterprise which in any
way may be affected by the functions of their office; nor shall they,
directly or indirectly, be financially interested in any contract with
the Government, or any subdivision or instrumentality thereof.
(3) The President may appoint the Vice-President as a member
of his cabinet and also as head of an executive department.
14
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
ARTICLE VIII. JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
SECTION 1. The Judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme
Court and in such inferior courts as may be established by law.
SEC. 2. The National Assembly shall have the power to define,
prescribe, and apportion the jurisdiction of the various courts, but
may not deprive the Supreme Court of its original jurisdiction over
cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls,
nor of its jurisdiction to review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm on
appeal, certiorari, or writ of error, as the law or the rules of court
may provide, final judgments and decrees of inferior courts in—
(1) All cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any
treaty, law, ordnance, or executive order or regulation is in
question.
(2) All cases involving the legality of any tax, impost, assess-
ment, or toll, or any penalty imposed in relation thereto.
(3) All cases in which the jurisdiction of any trial court is in
issue.
(4) All criminal cases in which the penalty imposed is death or
life imprisonment.
(5) All cases in which an error or question of law is involved.
SEC. 3. Until the National Assembly shall provide otherwise,
the Supreme Court shall have such original and appellate jurisdic-
tion as may be possessed and exercised by the Supreme Court of
the Philippine Islands at the time of the adoption of this Con-
stitution. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court shall
include all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and
consuls.
SEC. 4. The Supreme Court shall be composed of a Chief Justice
and ten Associate Justices and may sit either en banc or in two divi-
sions unless otherwise provided by law.
SEC. 5. The members of the Supreme Court and all judges of
inferior courts shall be appointed by the President with the consent
of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly.
SEC. 6. No person may be appointed member of the Supreme
Court unless he has been five years a citizen of the Philippines, is at
least forty years of age, and has for ten years or more been a judge
of a court of record or engaged in the practice of law in the Philip-
pines.
SEC. 7. No judge appointed for a particular district shall be desig-
nated or transferred to another district without the approval of the
Supreme Court. The National Assembly shall by law determine the
residence of judges of inferior courts.
SEC. 8. The National Assembly shall prescribe the qualifications
of judges of inferior courts, but no person may be appointed judge
of any such courts unless he is a citizen of the Philippines and has
been admitted to the practice of law in the Philippines.
SEC. 9. The members of the Supreme Court and all judges of
inferior courts shall hold office during good behavior, until they reach
the age of seventy years, or become incapacitated to discharge the
duties of their office. They shall receive such compensation as may
be fixed by law, which shall not be diminished during their con-
tinuance in office. Until the National Assembly shall provide other-
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
15
wise, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall receive an annual
compensation of sixteen thousand pesos, and each Associate Justice,
fifteen thousand pesos.
SEC. 10. All cases involving the constitutionality of a treaty or law
shall be heard and decided by the Supreme Court en banc, and no
treaty or law may be declared unconstitutional without the concur-
rence of two-thirds of all the members of the Court.
SEC. 11. The conclusions of the Supreme Court in any case sub-
mitted to it for decision shall be reached in consultation before the
case is assigned to a Justice for the writing of the opinion of the
Court. Any Justice dissenting from a decision shall state the reasons
for his dissent.
SEC. 12. No decision shall be rendered by any court of record with-
out expressing therein clearly and distinctly the facts and the law
on which it is based.
SEC. 13. The Supreme Court shall have the power to promulgate
rules concerning pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, and
the admission to the practice of law. Said rules shall be uniform for
all courts of the same grade and shall not diminish, increase, or
modify substantive rights. The existing laws on pleading, practice,
and procedure are hereby repealed as statutes, and are declared Rules
of Courts, subject to the power of the Supreme Court to alter and
modify the same. The National Assembly shall have the power to
repeal, alter, or supplement the rules concerning pleading, practice,
and procedure, and the admission to the practice of law in the
Philippines.
ARTICLE IX. IMPEACHMENT
SECTION 1. The President, the Vice-President, the Justices of the
Supreme Court, and the Auditor General, shall be removed from
office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of
the Constitution, treason, bribery, or other high crimes.
SEC. 2. The Commission on Impeachment of the National Assem-
bly, by a vote of two-thirds of its Members, shall have the sole power
of impeachment.
SEC. 3. The National Assembly shall have the sole power to try
all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose the Members shall
be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the Philippines is
on trial, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside. No
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of three-fourths
of all the Members who do not belong to the Commission on
Impeachment.
SEC. 4. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further
than to removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy
any office of honor, trust, or profit under the Government of the
Philippines, but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and
subject to prosecution, trial, and punishment, according to law.
ARTICLE X. GENERAL AUDITING OFFICE
SECTION 1. There shall be a General Auditing Office under the di-
rection and control of an Auditor General, who shall hold office for a
term of ten years and may not be reappointed. The Auditor Gen-
16
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
eral shall be appointed by the President with the consent of the Com-
mission on Appointments, and shall receive an annual compensation
to be fixed by law which shall not be diminished during his continu-
ance in office. Until the National Assembly shall provide otherwise,
the Auditor General shall receive an annual compensation of twelve
thousand pesos.
SEC. 2. The Auditor General shall examine, audit, and settle all
accounts pertaining to the revenues and receipts from whatever
source, including trust funds derived from bond issues; and audit, in
accordance with law and administrative regulations, all expenditures
of funds or property pertaining to or held in trust by the Govern-
ment or the provinces or municipalities thereof. He shall keep the
general accounts of the Government and preserve the vouchers per-
taining thereto. It shall be the duty of the Auditor General to bring
to the attention of the proper administrative officer expenditures of
funds or property which, in his opinion, are irregular, unnecessary,
excessive, or extravagant. He shall also perform such other func-
tions as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 3. The decisions of the Auditor General shall be rendered
within the time fixed by law, and the same may be appealed to the
President whose action shall be final. When the aggrieved party is
a private person or entity, an appeal from the decision of the Audi-
tor General may be taken directly to a court of record in the manner
provided by law.
SEC. 4. The Auditor General shall submit to the President and the
National Assembly an annual report covering the financial condition
and operations of the Government, and such other reports as may be
required.
ARTICLE XI. CIVIL SERVICE
SECTION 1. A Civil Service embracing all branches and subdivisions
of the Government shall be provided by law. Appointments in the
Civil Service, except as to those which are policy-determining, pri-
marily confidential or highly technical in nature, shall be made only
according to merit and fitness, to be determined as far as practicable
by competitive examination.
SEC. 2. Officers and employees in the Civil Service, including
members of the armed forces, shall not engage directly or indirectly
in partisan political activities or take part in any election except to
vote.
SEC. 3. No officer or employee of the Government shall receive ad-
ditional or double compensation unless specifically authorized by
law.
SEC. 4. No officer or employee in the Civil Service shall be removed
or suspended except for cause as provided by law.
ARTICLE XII. CONSERVATION AND UTILIZATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
SECTION 1. All agricultural, timber, and mineral lands of the pub-
lic domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils,
all forces of potential energy, and other natural resources of the
Philippines belong to the State, and their disposition, exploitation,
development, or utilization shall be limited to citizens of the Philip-
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
17
pines, or to corporations or associations at least sixty per centum
of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, subject to any
existing right, grant, lease, or concession at the time of the inaugura-
tion of the Government established under this Constitution. Nat-
ural resources, with the exception of public agricultural land, shall
not be alienated, and no license, concession, or lease for the exploita-
tion, development, or utilization of any of the natural resources shall
be granted for a period exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for
another twenty-five years, except as to water rights for irrigation,
water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the develop-
ment of water power, in which cases beneficial use may be the meas-
ure and the limit of the grant.
SEC. 2. No private corporation or association may acquire, lease,
or hold public agricultural lands in excess of one thousand and
twenty-four hectares, nor may any individual acquire such lands by
purchase in excess of one hundred and forty-four hectares, or by
lease in excess of one thousand and twenty-four hectares, or by
homestead in excess of twenty-four hectares. Lands adapted to
grazing, not exceeding two thousand hectares, may be leased to an
individual, private corporation, or association.
SEC. 3. The National Assembly may determine by law the size of
private agricultural land which individuals, corporations, or associa-
tions may acquire and hold, subject to rights existing prior to the
enactment of such law.
SEC. 4. The National Assembly may authorize, upon payment of
just compensation, the expropriation of lands to be subdivided into
small lots and conveyed at cost to individuals.
SEC. 5. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no private agricul-
tural land shall be transferred or assigned except to individuals,
corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the
public domain in the Philippines.
SEC. 6. The State may, in the interest of national welfare and
defense, establish and operate industries and means of transportation
and communication, and, upon payment of just compensation, trans-
fer to public ownership utilities and other private enterprises to be
operated by the Government.
ARTICLE XIII. GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. The flag of the Philippines shall be red, white, and
blue, with a sun and three stars, as consecrated and honored by the
people and recognized by law.
SEC. 2. All public officers and members of the armed forces shall
take an oath to support and defend the Constitution.
SEC. 3. The National Assembly shall take steps toward the de-
velopment and adoption of a common national language based on
one of the existing native languages. Until otherwise provided by
law, English and Spanish shall continue as official languages.
SEC. 4. The State shall promote scientific research and invention.
Arts and letters shall be under its patronage. The exclusive right
to writings and inventions shall be secured to authors and inventors
for a limited period.
SEC. 5. All educational institutions shall be under the supervision
of and subject to regulation by the State. The Government shall
18
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
establish and maintain a complete and adequate system of public
education, and shall provide at least free public primary instruction,
and citizenship training to adult citizens. All schools shall aim
to develop moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience, and
vocational efficiency, and to teach the duties of citizenship. Optional
religious instruction shall be maintained in the public schools as
now authorized by law. Universities established by the State shall
enjoy academic freedom. The State shall create scholarships in arts,
science, and letters for specially gifted citizens.
SEC. 6. The State shall afford protection to labor, especially to
working women and minors, and shall regulate the relations between
landowner and tenant, and between labor and capital in industry
and in agriculture. The State may provide for compulsory arbi-
tration.
SEC. 7. The National Assembly shall not, except by general law,
provide for the formation, organization, or regulation of private
corporations, unless such corporations are owned or controlled by
the Government or any subdivision or instrumentality thereof.
SEC. 8. No franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization
for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citi-
zens of the Philippines or to corporations or other entities organized
under the laws of the Philippines, sixty per centum of the capital
of which is owned by citizens of the Philippines, nor shall such fran-
chise, certificate, or authorization be exclusive in character or for a
longer period than fifty years. No franchise or right shall be granted
to any individual, firm, or corporation, except under the condition
that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the
National Assembly when the public interest so requires.
SEC. 9. The Government shall organize and maintain a national
police force to preserve public order and enforce the law.
SEC. 10. This Constitution shall be officially promulgated in Eng-
lish and Spanish, but in case of conflict the English text shall prevail.
ARTICLE XIV. AMENDMENTS
SECTION 1. The National Assembly, by a vote of three-fourths of
all its Members, may propose amendments to this Constitution or
call a convention for that purpose. Such amendments shall be valid
as part of this Constitution when approved by a majority of the
votes cast at an election at which the amendments are submitted to
the people for their ratification.
ARTICLE XV. TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. The first election of the officers provided in this Con-
stitution and the inauguration of the Government of the Common-
wealth of the Philippines shall take place as provided in Public Act
Numbered One hundred and twenty-seven of the Congress of the
United States, approved March twenty-four, nineteen hundred and
thirty-four.
SEC. 2. All laws of the Philippine Islands shall continue in force
until the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines;
thereafter, such laws shall remain operative, unless inconsistent with
this Constitution, until amended, altered, modified, or repealed by
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
19
the National Assembly, and all references in such laws to the Gov-
ernment or officials of the Philippine Islands shall be construed, in so
far as applicable, to refer to the Government and corresponding
officials under this Constitution.
SEC. 3. All courts existing at the time of the adoption of this Con-
stitution shall continue and exercise their jurisdiction, until other-
wise provided by law in accordance with this Constitution, and all
cases, civil and criminal, pending in said courts, shall be heard, tried,
and determined under the laws then in force.
SEC. 4. All officers and employees in the existing Government of
the Philippine Islands shall continue in office until the National
Assembly shall provide otherwise, but all officers whose appointments
are by this Constitution vested in the President shall vacate their
respective offices upon the appointment and qualification of their
successors, if such appointment is made within a period of one year
from the date of the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines.
SEC. 5. The Members of the National Assembly for the Mountain
Province shall be elected as may be provided by law. The voters
of municipalities and municipal districts formerly belonging to a
special province and now forming part of regular provinces shall
vote in the election for Members of the National Assembly in such
districts as may be provided by law.
SEC. 6. The provisions of this Constitution, except those con-
tained in this article and in Article V, and those which refer to the
election and qualifications of officers to be elected under this Con-
stitution, shall not take effect until the inauguration of the Com-
monwealth of the Philippines.
ARTICLE XVI. SPECIAL PROVISIONS EFFECTIVE UPON THE PROCLAMATION
OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES
SECTION 1. Upon the proclamation of the President of the United
States recognizing the independence of the Philippines-
(1) The property rights of the United States and the Philippines
shall be promptly adjusted and settled, and all existing property
rights of citizens or corporations of the United States shall be
acknowledged, respected, and safeguarded to the same extent as
property rights of citizens of the Philippines.
(2) The officials elected and serving under this Constitution shall
be constitutional officers of the free and independent government of
the Philippines and qualified to function in all respects as if elected
directly under such Government, and shall serve their full terms of
office as prescribed in this Constitution.
(3) The debts and liabilities of the Philippines, its provinces,
cities, municipalities, and instrumentalities, which shall be valid
and subsisting at the time of the final and complete withdrawal of
the sovereignty of the United States, shall be assumed by the free
and independent government of the Philippines; and where bonds
have been issued under authority of an Act of Congress of the
United States by the Philippine Islands, or any province, city, or
municipality therein, the Government of the Philippines will make
adequate provision for the necessary funds for the payment of inter-
20 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
est and principal, and such obligations shall be a first lien on all
taxes collected.
(4) The Government of the Philippines will assume all continu-
ing obligations of the United States under the Treaty of Peace
with Spain ceding the Philippine Islands to the United States.
(5) The Government of the Philippines will embody the fore-
going provisions of this article (except subsection (2)) in a treaty
with the United States.
ARTICLE XVII. THE COMMONWEALTH AND THE REPUBLIC
SECTION 1. The government established by this Constitution shall
be known as the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Upon the final
and complete withdrawal of the sovereignty of the United States
and the proclamation of Philippine independence, the Common-
wealth of the Philippines shall thenceforth be known as the Repub-
lic of the Philippines.
ORDINANCE APPENDED TO THE CONSTITUTION
SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing Con-
stitution, pending the final and complete withdrawal of the sov-
ereignty of the United States over the Philippines-
(1) All citizens of the Philippines shall owe allegiance to the
United States.
(2) Every officer of the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties,
take and subscribe an oath of office, declaring, among other things,
that he recognizes and accepts the supreme authority of and will
maintain true faith and allegiance to the United States.
(3) Absolute toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured
and no inhabitant or religious organization shall be molested in
person or property on account of religious belief or mode of worship.
(4) Property owned by the United States, cemeteries, churches,
and parsonages or convents appurtenant thereto, and all lands, build-
ings, and improvements used exclusively for religious, charitable, or
educational purposes shall be exempt from taxation.
(5) Trade relations between the Philippines and the United States
shall be upon the basis prescribed in section six of Public Act Num-
bered One hundred and twenty-seven of the Congress of the United
States approved March twenty-four, nineteen hundred and thirty-
four.
(6) The public debt of the Philippines and its subordinate
branches shall not exceed limits now or hereafter fixed by the Con-
gress of the United States, and no loans shall be contracted in foreign
countries without the approval of the President of the United States.
(7) The debts, liabilities, and obligations of the present Govern-
ment of the Philippine Islands, its provinces, municipalities, and
instrumentalities, valid and subsisting at the time of the adoption
of the Constitution, shall be assumed and paid by the Government
of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
(8) The Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
shall establish and maintain an adequate system of public schools,
primarily conducted in the English language.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
21
(9) Acts affecting currency, coinage, imports, exports, and immi-
gration shall not become law until approved by the President of the
United States.
(10) Foreign affairs shall be under the direct supervision and
control of the United States.
(11) All acts passed by the National Assembly of the Common-
wealth of the Philippines shall be reported to the Congress of the
United States.
(12) The Philippines recognizes the right of the United States
to expropriate property for public uses, to maintain military and
other reservations and armed forces in the Philippines, and, upon
order of the President of the United States, to call into the service
of such armed forces all military forces organized by the Govern-
ment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
(13) The decisions of the courts of the Philippines shall be sub-
ject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States as now
provided by law, and such review shall also extend to all cases
involving the Constitution of the Philippines.
(14) Appeals from decisions of the Auditor General may be
taken to the President of the United States.
(15) The United States may, by Presidential proclamation, exer-
cise the right to intervene for the preservation of the Government
of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and for the maintenance
of the Government as provided in the Constitution thereof, and
for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty and for
the discharge of Government obligations under and in accordance
with the provisions of the Constitution.
(16) The authority of the United States High Commissioner
to the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines as
provided in Public Act Numbered One hundred and twenty-seven
of the Congress of the United States approved March twenty-four,
nineteen hundred and thirty-four, is hereby recognized.
(17) Citizens and corporations of the United States shall enjoy
in the Commonwealth of the Philippines all the civil rights of the
citizens and corporations, respectively, thereof.
(18) Every duly adopted amendment to the Constitution of the
Philippines shall be submitted to the President of the United States
for approval. If the President approve the amendment or if the
President fail to disapprove such amendment within six months.
from the time of its submission, the amendment shall take effect
as a part of such Constitution.
(19) The President of the United States shall have authority to
suspend the taking effect of or the operation of any law, contract,
or executive order of the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines, which in his judgment will result in a failure of the
Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines to fulfill its
contracts, or to meet its bonded indebtedness and interest thereon
or to provide for its sinking funds, or which seems likely to impair
the reserves for the protection of the currency of the Philippines,
or which in his judgment will violate international obligations of
the United States.
(20) The President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines shall
make an annual report to the President and Congress of the United
22
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
States of the proceedings and operations of the Government of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines and shall make such other re-
ports as the President or Congress may request.
SEC. 2. Pending the final and complete withdrawal of the sov-
ereignty of the United States over the Philippines, there shall be a
Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the United States who
shall be appointed by the President of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
The powers and duties of the Resident Commissioner shall be as
provided in section seven, paragraph five of Public Act Numbered
One hundred and twenty-seven of the Congress of the United States,
approved March twenty-four, nineteen hundred and thirty-four,
together with such other duties as the National Assembly may de-
termine. The qualifications, compensation, and expenses of the
Resident Commissioner shall be fixed by law.
SEC. 3. All other provisions of Public Act Numbered One hundred
and twenty-seven of the Congress of the United States, approved
March twenty-four, nineteen hundred and thirty-four, applicable to
the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines are hereby
made a part of this Ordinance as if such provisions were expressly
inserted herein.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that this Constitution was adopted by the Con-
stitutional Convention on February 8, 1935.
ATTEST:
Jesus Paredes___
Julio Borbon...
Do.
Apolonio D. Curato-- Agusan.
Delfin Gumban___.
Do.
DELEGATES TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
Delegate
from-
Abra.
Ambrosio Calleja___. Albay.
Braulio Leonardo___.
Francisco Muñoz----
Jose D. Conejero‒‒‒‒
Jesus B. Surban___
Jose Bonto.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Conrado V. Sanchez_
Eusebio M. Lopez---.
Eusebio Orense_.
Jose P. Laurel_
Do.
Do.
Do.
Saturnino Benito----
Toribio P. Perez____
Angel Salazar__
Ramon Maza__
Miguel Cuaderno____ Bataan.
Roman A. Cruz….
Do.
Juan C. Castillejos___ Batanes.
Mariano A. Lizardo_.
Do.
Antonio Barrion____. Batangas.
Claro M. Recto___.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Antique.
Do.
CLARO M. RECTO,
President, Constitutional Convention
Do.
Do.
N. PIMENTEL,
Secretary, Constitutional Convention
Anastacio A: Mumar_. Bohol.
Bernardino Inting---
Gaudencio Cloribel__
Jose A. Clarin_
Perfecto Balili_.
Delegate
from-
G
Do.
Do.
Do.
Teofilo G. Buslon__--
J. G. Sanvictores_____ Bukidnon.
Pedro D. Melendez__
Do.
Antonio Villarama__. Bulacan.
Manuel L. Sevilla___.
Nicolas Buendia_____
Teodoro Sandiko____
Antonio Guzman.
Marcelo Adduru___
Miguel P. Pio----
Vicente Nepomuceno_
Do.
Do.
Manuel Abella_
Severo A. Cea-----
Antonio Arcenas__
Cornelio Villareal___
Do.
Do.
Do.
Cagayan.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Baldomero M. Lapak Cam. Norte.
Wenceslao Vinzons___
Do.
Exequiel S. Grageda Camarines Sur.
Gabriel Prieto____
Do.
Do.
Do.
Capiz.
Do.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT 23
DELEGATES TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION-Continued
Delegate
from-
Capiz.
Jose Altavas_
Jose M. Hontiveros__
Manuel Roxas-------
Roxas….
Teodulfo Suñer__
Demetrio B. Encar-
nacion.
Vicente J. Francisco_
Antonio Mansueto___ Cebu.
Antonio B. Ybañez.
Casiano S. Carin_.
Cesar Kintanar_
Dionisio Niere-----
Felismeno V. Rivera_.
Filemon Sotto‒‒‒‒‒
Hilario C. Moncado..
Jesus M. Cuenco___
Juanito T. Maramara
Manuel C. Briones--
Nicolas Rafols.
Paulino Gullas-
Vicente Sotto----
Blah Sinsuat___
Menandang Piang--
Pantaleon A. Pelayo_. Davao.
Do.
---
BAND COND
G
-- (
CA →
Do.
Do.
Do.
Cavite.
Francisco Zialcita_
Mamerto Ribo____.
Rafael S. Castillo___.
Francisco Ventura__. Ilocos Norte.
Irineo Ranjo_
Maximino G. Bueno_
Servando Castro-----
Artemio Abaya….
Delfin Joven____
Elpidio Quirino____.
V. Singson Encarna
cion---
Tranquilino J. Divi-
Do.
GAN CU
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Cotabato.
Do.
nagracia__-.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Fermin G. Caram___.
Jose Aldeguer_
Jose C. Ganzon__
Mariano Ezpeleta___.
Matias P. Yusay..
Ruperto Montinola__.
Sofronio M. Flores.
Tiburcio Lutero___
Tomas Confesor__.
Elias Ocampo---
Miguel B. Binag---
Conrado Benitez----- Laguna.
Domingo T. Zavalla..
Jose M. Delgado…-
Pedro Guevara_
Alauya Alonto___
Tomas L. Cabili____.
Alejandro de
Isabela.
Do.
Guz-
man
Camilo Osias___
Enrique C. Sobre
peña..
Do.
Do.
Do.
Ilocos Sur.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Iloilo.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Lanao.
Do.
La Union.
Do.
Pio Ancheta__.
Atilano R. Cinco____. Leyte.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Manuel Martinez____ Leyte.
Mateo Canonoy_.
Norberto Romualdez….
Quiremon Alkuino___
Rafael Martinez__.
Ruperto Kapunan.
Victorino N. Salazar.
Gregorio Perfecto___. Manila.
Manuel Lim_.
Rafael Palma___.
Do.
Do.
Salvador Araneta__.
Do.
Ricardo Nepomuceno. Marinduque.
Timoteo P. Ricoher-
moso-
Delegate
from-
Jose Zurbito___.
Do.
Masbate.
Mindoro.
Do.
Cipriano Liboro____
Juan Navarro_
Alberto Crespillo____. Mountain.
Do.
Blas Villamor.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Clement Irving----
Felipe E. Jose__
Jose Fakangan_-_-
Jose Lorenzana…….
Jose M. Cariño___
Jose Velasco___
Max Duguiang_.
Miguel Gumangan__.
Saturnino Moldero__.
Sixto A. Gaerlan_
Bonifacio Ysip‒‒‒‒‒‒. Nueva Ecija.
Ysip----
Eugenio Baltao_____
Exequiel M. Santos_.
Florentino Chioco___.
Demetrio Quirino_--- Nueva Vizcaya.
Leon Cabarroguis___.
Jose Ozamis______
Paulino Conol‒‒‒‒
Jose Artadi_-_-
Manuel C. Fernan-
dez__.
Enrique J. C. Mon-
tilla.
(
Jesus Y. Perez--.
Jose C. Locsin____
Juan L. Ledesma__
Pedro C. Hernaez----
Simplicio Lizares___
Hermenegildo Villa-
nueva__.
Jose E. Romero.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
•
• A
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Misamis Oc.
Do.
Misamis Or.
Do.
Negros Or.
Do.
Do.
Sergio G. Jumawan_.
Vicente Lopez‒‒‒
Do.
Palawan.
Evaristo R. Sandoval
Gaudencio E. Abordo-
David J. Gutierrez__. Pampanga.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
F. B. Bautista___
Jose Alejandrino_---
Juan B. Nepomuceno-
Anacleto B. Ramos--
Bernabe de Guzman
Enrique Braganza--.
Eusebio V. Sison----
Negros Oc.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Pangasinan.
Do.
Do.
Do.
24
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
DELEGATES TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION-Continued
Delegate
from-
Jose L. de Guzman__ Pangasinan.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Jose M. Aruego__
Juan Ventenilla_.
Leoncio R. Esliza__.
Numeriano Tanopo--
Pascual M. Beltran..
Castor P. Cruz____.
Domingo T. Dikit___. Do.
Juan Ortega---
Do.
Rizal.
Do.
Do.
Mariano Melendreŝ__
Antonio J. Montesa_. Romblon.
Manuel F. Albero__.
Do.
Agripino P. Escareal. Samar.
Felipe Abrigo‒‒‒‒
Juan L. Bocar___
Luciano Ortiz-----
Pedro R. Arteche____
Serafin Marabut_
Adolfo Grafilo___
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Sorsogon.
Francisco Arellano__. Sorsogon.
Jose S. Reyes____.
Do.
Mario Guariña___.
Do.
Arolan Tulawi__ Sulu.
Jose Montaño_.
Clementino V. Diez. Surigao.
Montano A. Ortiz___.
Do.
Alejandro A. Galang. Tarlac.
Enrique Maglanoc___
Do.
Gregorio M. Bañaga_
Luis Morales__.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Fabian R. Millar__-- Tayabas.
Godofredo Reyes----
Romualdo Enriquez--
Vicente Salumbides__
Alejo Labrador___ Zambales.
Potenciano Lesaca_.
Do.
Florentino Saguin___ Zamboanga.
Pablo Lorenzo__.
Do.
Delegate
from-
GR
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
Do.
Do.
Do.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 23, 1935.
To The GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS:
The foregoing proposed Constitution of the Philippines, with ordi-
nance appended thereto, having been submitted to me on March 18,
1935, I certify that the same conforms substantially with the provi-
sions of the Act of Congress approved March 24, 1934 (U. S. Stat. L.,
vol. 48, pp. 456-465).
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
To the Congress of the United States:
I have pleasure in informing the Congress that I have today certi-
fied to the Governor General of the Philippine Islands that the
proposed constitution of the Philippines as adopted by the Philip-
pine Constitutional Convention conforms substantially with the
provisions of the act of Congress approved March 24, 1934 (U. S.
Stat. L., vol. 48, pp. 456-465).
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
THE WHITE HOUSE, March 23, 1935.
The President's public statement read as follows:
I am happy to state that the Constitution submitted to me on behalf of
the Philippine Constitutional Convention for certification under the Tydings-
McDuffie Independence Act conforms with the provisions of the act.
The members of the Convention are congratulated on the satisfactory com-
pletion of a task so important and significant in the life of their people.
In the event of ratification of this Constitution, the authority granted to
the Commonwealth Government will permit exercise by the Filipino people
of general control, subject only to a few important exceptions, of their local
affairs.
During the period of the Commonwealth there will remain with the Gov-
ernment of the United States authority commensurate with and necessary
for or appropriate to the ultimate responsibilities of sovereignty.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
25
**
Animated solely by feelings of cordiality, sympathy and loyalty, the people
of the United States and the people of the Philippine Islands have been con-
ducting together a great experiment, and during the period of the Common-
wealth Government this experiment will continue until the ultimate with-
drawal of United States sovereignty and the establishment of complete
independence.
BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS—A
PROCLAMATION
No. 784
Whereas, on the twenty-third day of March, nineteen hundred
and thirty-five, the President of the United States certified that the
Constitution of the Philippines, with the ordinance appended thereto,
as adopted by the Constitutional Convention called and held under
the authority of the Act of Congress of March fourth, nineteen
hundred and thirty-four, being Act One hundred twenty-seven of
the Seventy-third Congress of the United States, conforms substan-
tially with the provisions of said Act;
Whereas, the said Act of Congress requires that within four months
after such certification, the said Constitution, with the ordinance
appended thereto, shall be submitted to the people of the Philip-
pine Islands for their ratification or rejection at an election to be
held on such date and in such manner as the Philippine Legislature
may prescribed;
Whereas, it is considered advisable that a special session of the
Philippine Legislature be called for the purpose of passing the
necessary legislation for the submission of said Constitution, with
the ordinance appended thereto, to the people of the Philippine
Islands;
Now, therefore, I, Joseph Ralston Hayden, Acting Governor-
General of the Philippine Islands, by virtue of the authority vested
in me by section eighteen of the Act of Congress of August twenty-
ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, hereby call the Philippine Leg-
islature in special session to be held in the City of Manila for a
period of three days beginning on Monday, the eighth day of April,
nineteen hundred and thirty-five, to consider the enactment of the
legislation necessary for the submission of the Constitution of the
Philippines, with the ordinance appended thereto, to the people of
the Philippine Islands, at an election to be held for said purpose,
and for the canvassing and certification of the results thereof.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the Government of the Philippine Islands to be affixed.
Done at the City of Baguio, this twenty-seventh day of March,
in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.
[SEAL]
JOSEPH R. HAYDEN
Acting Governor-General
H. Doc. 400, 74–2–
UNIVERSITY OF
LIBRARY
PINES
26
TENTH PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE
Special Session
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
H. No. 1601
[No. 4200]
AN ACT TO SUBMIT TO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE, FOR RATIFICATION OR
REJECTION, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES WITH THE
ORDINANCE APPENDED THERETO, TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS THEREFOR,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the
same:
SECTION 1. The Constitution of the Philippines with the Ordi-
nance appended thereto, approved by the Philippine Constitutional
Convention on February eight, nineteen hundred and thirty-five,
and certified by the President of the United States on March twenty-
three, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, to conform substantially
with the provisions of the Act of Congress of March twenty-four,
nineteen hundred and thirty-four (being Act Numbered One hun-
dred twenty-seven of the Seventy-third Congress of the United
States) is hereby submitted to the people of the Philippine Islands,
for ratification or rejection, and for this purpose registered qualified
voters shall vote either for the ratification or the rejection of said
Constitution, with the Ordinance appended thereto, in an election
to be held on Tuesday, May fourteen, nineteen hundred and thirty-
five, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
Said Constitution, with the Ordinance appended thereto, shall be
published in the Official Gazette, in English and in Spanish, for
three consecutive issues at least fifteen days prior to said election.
and a printed copy of said Constitution, with the Ordinance ap-
pended thereto, shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each mù-
nicipal and provincial government office building and in each polling
place not later than the twenty-second day of April, nineteen
hundred and thirty-five, and shall remain posted therein continually
until after the termination of the election. At least ten copies of
the Constitution with the Ordinance appended thereto, in English
and in Spanish, shall be kept at each polling place available for
examination by the qualified electors during election day. When-
ever practicable, copies in the principal local dialects as may be
determined by the Secretary of the Interior shall also be kept in
each polling place.
SEC. 2. The provisions of the Election Law regarding the holding
of special elections, insofar as they are not inconsistent herewith, are
hereby declared applicable to the election provided for in this Act.
The watchers shall be appointed by the political parties, branches or
fractions thereof, or political groups which have polled votes in the
preceding general election in each municipality at the rate of two
watchers for each such party, branch or fraction thereof or political
group. Acts and omissions penalized by the Election Law shall, if
committed during the holding of this election or in connection there-
with, be punished with the penalties prescribed by said law.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
27
SEC. 3. In specially organized provinces, whenever necessary, the
provincial boards shall, under the supervision of the Secretary of the
Interior, provide for the formation of election precincts in every
municipality or municipal district, shall designate the proper polling
places, and shall appoint election inspectors and poll clerks with
their respective substitute.
SEC. 4. The existing boards of election inspectors shall meet, for
the registration of new voters and revision of the list of voters, for
the purposes of this Act, on the twenty-second and twenty-third days
of April, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, between the hours of
eight in the morning and five in the afternoon.
SEC. 5. All judicial proceedings for the inclusion or exclusion of
electors shall be filed not later than the thirtieth day of April, nine-
teen hundred and thirty-five, and shall be finally decided on or before
the ninth day of May, nineteen hundred and thirty-five. The board
of election inspectors shall hold its last meeting on May eleven, nine-
teen hundred and thirty-five, for the purpose specified in section four
hundred and thirty-nine of the Election Law.
SEC. 6. The ballots to be used in the election shall be printed in
English and in Spanish and shall conform to the following form:
OFFICIAL BALLOT
BALOTA OFICIAL
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES
with the Ordinance appended thereto, approved by the Constitu-
tional Convention on February 8, 1935, and certified by the President
of the United States on March 23, 1935, to conform substantially
with the provisions of the Act of Congress of March 24, 1934, known
as the Tydings-McDuffie Act (being Act No. 127 of the 73rd Con-
gress of the United States), is submitted in this election to the People
of the Philippine Islands, for ratification or rejection, by virtue of
the provisions of section 4 of said Act, the pertinent portions of
which read as follows:
"After the President of the United States has certified that the Constitution
conforms with the provisions of this Act, it shall be submitted to the People
of the Philippine Islands for their ratification or rejection at an election to be
held within four months after the date of such certification, on a date to be
fixed by the Philippine Legislature, at which election the qualified voters of the
Philippine Islands shall have an opportunity to vote directly for or against the
proposed Constitution and Ordinances appended thereto,
* If a ma-
jority of the votes cast shall be for the Constitution, such vote shall be deemed
an expression of the will of the People of the Philippine Islands in favor
of the Philippine independence,
* * If a majority of the votes cast are
against the Constitution, the existing Government of the Philippine Islands
shall continue without regard to the provisions of this Act."
To vote for the ratification of the Constitution, with the Ordinance
appended thereto, write the word "YES" in the blank space after
the question; to vote for the rejection thereof write the word "NO."
;
28
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
LA CONSTITUCIÓN DE FILIPINAS
con la Ordenanza adscrita a la misma aprobada por la Asamblea
Constituyente el 8 de febrero de 1935, y certificada por el Presidente
de los Estados Unidos en 23 de marzo de 1935 de hallarse sustancial-
mente conforme con la Ley del Congreso de 24 de marzo de 1934,
conocida por Ley Tydings-McDuffie (que es la Ley No. 127 del 73.º
Congreso de los Estados Unidos), se somete en este plebiscito al
Pueblo de las Islas Filipinas para su ratificación o rechazamiento,
por virtud de las disposiciones del artículo 4 de la citada Ley, cuyas
partes pertinentes son del tenor siguiente:
"Después de haber certificado el Presidente de los Estados Unidos que la
Constitucion está de acuerdo con las disposiciones de esta Ley, dicha constitutión
será sometida al Pueblo de las Islas Filipinas para su ratificación o recha-
zamiento en un plebiscito que se efectuará dentro de los cuatro meses siguientes
a la fecha de dicha certificación. En dicho plebiscito, cuya fecha se señalará
por la Legislatura Filipina, los electores habilitados de las Islas Filipinas
tendrán oportunidad de votar directamente en pro o en contra de la propuesta
Constitución y de las Ordenanzas adscritas a la misma,
Si la mayoría
de los votos emitidos fuese en pro de la Constitución, dichos votos serán consi-
derados como expresión de la voluntad del Pueblo de las Islas Filipinas en
favor de la independencia filipina,
Si una mayoría de los votos
emitidos fuese contraria a la Constitución, el actual Gobierno de las Islas
Filipinas continuará no obstante las disposiciones de esta Ley."
*
A
Para votar por la ratificación de la Constitución, con la Ordenanza
adscrita a la misma, escriba la palabra "Sí" en el encasillado en
blanco después de la pregunta; para votar por el rechazamiento,
escriba la palabra "NO."

Do you vote for the ratification of the Constitution
of the Philippines, with the Ordinance
the Ordinance appended
thereto?
¿Vota Vd. en favor de la ratificación de la Con-
stitución de Filipinas, con la Ordenanza adscrita a la
misma ?
SEC. 7. The boards of inspectors shall prepare only four copies
of the returns of the election in their respective polling places on a
form to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. One copy
shall be deposited in the ballot box for the valid ballots and the
three copies shall be delivered to the proper municipal treasurer,
who shall immediately forward, by registered mail, one copy to
the Secretary of the Senate, one copy to the Secretary of the House
of Representatives and the other copy to the Secretary of the In-
terior. The Bureau of Posts shall accept and transmit without
delay and free of charge all returns of the election and any official
report or telegram connected therewith.
SEC. 8. Within thirty days after the election, the presiding officers
of both Houses of the Philippine Legislature shall request the
Governor-General to call the Legislature in special session for the
purpose of canvassing the returns and certifying the result thereof
to the Governor-General. Such certification shall include a state-
ment of the votes cast, and a copy of said Constitution with the
Ordinance appended thereto.
1
thi
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT 29
SEC. 9. The sum of three hundred and fifty thousand pesos or so
much thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated out of any
funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the
payment, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior,
of the expenses incurred in connection with the holding of the elec-
tion provided for in this Act, and for the expenses necessary for
the printing, publication, posting and free distribution of five
hundred thousand copies of the Constitution with the Ordinance
appended thereto in English and in Spanish and, whenever prac-
tícable, in the principal local dialects. Each election inspector
and poll clerk shall receive two pesos for each day of actual service
rendered by him.
SEC. 10. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved, April 8, 1935.
BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS-A
PROCLAMATION
No. 810
Whereas, in pursuance of the Act of Congress, known as the
Tydings-McDuffie Act, and Act Numbered Forty-two hundred of the
Philippine Legislature, the Constitution of the Philippines, with the
Ordinance appended thereto, was submitted to the registered quali-
fied voters of the Philippine Islands for the ratification or rejection
thereof, on the fourteenth day of May, nineteen hundred and thirty-
five;
Whereas a formal request has been made by the presiding officers
of both Houses of the Philippine Legislature that a special session
of the present Legislature be called for the purpose of canvassing
the returns and certifying the results of the election so held on May
fourteenth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five;
Whereas it is necessary to provide for the election of the officers of
the Commonwealth provided for in the Constitution; and
Whereas the Tydings-McDuffie Act requires that the present Gov-
ernment shall provide for the orderly transfer of its functions to
the Commonwealth Government;
Now, therefore, I, Joseph R. Hayden, Acting Governor-General
of the Philippine Islands, by virtue of the authority vested in me
by section eighteen of the Act of Congress of August twenty-ninth,
nineteen hundred and sixteen, hereby call the Philippine Legislature
in special session to be convened in the City of Manila on the twelfth
day of June, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, to receive and canvass
the returns and certify the results of the election held on May four-
teenth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five; to enact necessary legisla-
tion for the election of the officers of the Commonwealth Government
as provided in the Constitution and for the determination of the
results thereof; to provide for the orderly transfer of the functions
of the present Government of the Philippine Islands to the Govern-
ment of the Commonwealth and all matters appertaining thereto;
and to consider and enact other legislation.
UNIVERSITY OF
30
LIBRARY
PINES
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the Government of the Philippine Islands to be affixed.
Done at the City of Manila, this fifth day of June, in the year of
our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.
[SEAL]
TENTH PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE
Second Special Session
JOSEPH R. HAYDEN
Acting Governor-General.
(H. Ct. R.
No. 23
[Concurrent Resolution No. 20]
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION CERTIFYING TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL
THE RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE PHILIPPINES, WITH
THE ORDINANCE APPENDED THERETO, BY THE PEOPLE OF THE
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
WHEREAS, in pursuance of section 4 of Public Act Numbered One
hundred twenty-seven of the Seventy-third Congress of the United
States, commonly known as the Tydings-McDuffie Act, and Act
Numbered Forty-two hundred of the Philippine Legislature en-
titled "An Act to submit to the Filipino People, for ratification or
rejection, the Constitution of the Philippines with the Ordinance
appended thereto, to appropriate funds therefor, and for other pur-
poses, "the Philippine Legislature has canvassed the returns of the
election held on the 14th day of May, 1935, for the purpose of sub-
mitting the Constitution of the Philippines, with the Ordinance
appended thereto, to the people of the Philippine Islands, and has
found that one million two hundred thirteen thousand and forty-six
(1,213,046) qualified electors have voted for the ratification of the
said Constitution and forty-four thousand nine hundred and sixty-
three (44,963) have voted for its rejection: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Philippine Senate
concurring, To certify, as they hereby certify, to the Governor-
General of the Philippine Islands, that the Constitution of the
Philippines, with the Ordinance appended thereto, has been ratified
by a majority of all the votes cast at the election held on May 14,
1935; and
Resolved, further, That the statement of the votes cast in said
election duly certified by the Presiding Officers and hereto attached.
be, and the same hereby is, certified to the Governor-General of the
Philippine Islands as a part of this Resolution; and
Resolved, finally, That the copy of the Constitution of the Philip-
pines, with the Ordinance appended thereto, duly certified by the
President and the Secretary of the Constitutional Convention and
hereto attached be, and the same hereby is, certified as an official copy
of the Constitution and Ordinance appended thereto that was sub-
mitted to the people of the Philippine Islands, and ratified by them,
at the said election.
Adopted, June 12, 1935.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
31
BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS-A
PROCLAMATION
No. 816
Whereas it has been certified to me by Concurrent Resolution
Numbered Twenty of the Philippine Legislature, adopted on June
twelfth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, and duly signed by the
presiding officers and secretaries of the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives, that according to the returns of the election held on May
fourteenth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, pursuant to section
four of Public Act Numbered One hundred twenty-seven of the
Seventy-third Congress, entitled "An act to provide for the com-
plete independence of the Philippine Islands, to provide for the
adoption of a constitution and a form of government for the Philip-
pine Islands, and for other purposes," otherwise known as the
Tydings-McDuffie Act, and as provided in Act Numbered Four
thousand two hundred of the Philippine Legislature, for the ratifica-
tion or rejection of the Constitution for the Commonwealth of the
Philippine Islands and ordinance appended thereto adopted by the
Constitutional Convention on February eighth, nineteen hundred
and thirty-five, and approved by the President of the United States
on March twenty-third, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, the said
Constitution with the ordinance appended thereto was ratified by a
majority of all the votes cast at the said election, and a statement of
the votes cast in said election, duly certified, and a copy of the said
Constitution and ordinance, duly certified by the President and
Secretary of the Constitutional Convention as an official copy
thereof, have accompanied the said resolution of certification as
provided by law;
Now, therefore, I, Frank Murphy, Governor-General of the
Philippine Islands, by virtue of the authority vested in me by sec-
tion four of the Act of Congress Numbered One hundred twenty-
seven, of March twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and thirty-four,
hereby call an election to be held on Tuesday, the seventeenth day
of September, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, for the purpose of
electing the following officers of the Government of the Common-
wealth of the Philippine Islands provided for in the constitution
thereof:
A President, a vice-president, members of the National Assembly,
of whom eighty-seven members shall be elected by the representative
districts as now provided by law, three members by the Mountain
Province, and one member by each of the other eight existing special
provinces.
For the purpose of enabling all voters to exercise the right of
suffrage, Tuesday, the seventeenth day of September, nineteen hun-
dred and thirty-five, is hereby declared a public holiday in the
Philippine Islands.
FRANK MURPHY
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the Government of the Philippine Islands to be affixed.
Done at the City of Manila, this fourteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.
[SEAL]
-
Governor-General
32
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
TENTH PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE
Second Session
S. No. 137
[No. 4203]
AN ACT TO REGULATE THE HOLDING OF THE FIRST ELECTION FOR
PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES AND MEMBERS
OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS THEREFOR, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
WHEREAS, in accordance with section four of Act Numbered One
hundred twenty-seven of the Seventy-third Congress of the United
States, commonly known as Tydings-McDuffie Law, the Governor-
General has issued a proclamation to the People of the Philippine
Islands calling an election to be held on Tuesday, September seven-
teen, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, for the purpose of electing the
President and Vice-President of the Philippines and the Members
of the National Assembly, provided for in the Philippine Constitu-
tion;
WHEREAS the existing Election Law does not contain any provi-
sions for the election of said officers;
WHEREAS the national political parties which contended during the
last general election and which subsequently consolidated into two
parties, to wit, the Nacionalista Democrático Party and the Nacion-
alista Demócrata Pro-Independencia Party, agreed on June sixteen,
nineteen hundred and thirty-five, to present joint candidates for the
offices of President and Vice-President of the Philippines, with only
one platform, and although said parties continue as separate and
independent organizations, it is the sense of the Philippine Legisla-
ture that the holding of a free and orderly election will be best
guaranteed and public confidence in the result thereof will be more
firmly grounded, if any party or parties that may during the coming
election contend against said coalition is given an opportunity to
examine everything in connection with the holding of said election,
without detriment to the principle of party government; Now,
therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Legislature assembled and by the authority of the
same:
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 1. Effective date and application of this Act.-This Act
shall take effect on its approval and shall govern only with reference.
to the first election for President and Vice-President of the Philip-
pines and Members of the National Assembly.
SEC. 2. Date of election and legal provisions applicable to same.-
The first election for President and Vice-President of the Philippines
and Members of the National Assembly shall be held on September
seventeenth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, in accordance with the
provisions of the Philippine Constitution, of this Act, and of the
existing Election Law relative to the holding of general elections,
in so far as they may be applicable and not in conflict with the pro-
visions hereof. All acts and omissions penalized by the Election
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
33
Law which shall be committed during the holding of this election or
in connection therewith, shall be punished by the penalties prescribed
by said Law.
CANDIDACIES
SEC. 3. Candidacies of public officers or candidacies for more than
one office. Any person holding a public office or employment in the
executive or judicial branch, shall automatically cease in his office at
the time of filing his certificate of candidacy. No person shall pre-
sent himself as a candidate for or be eligible to more than one office
at the election provided for in this Act, and any person filing certifi-
cates of candidacy for two or more different offices shall not be
understood to be a candidate for any of such offices.
SEC. 4. Certificates of candidacy.-Certificates of candidacy shall
be signed and sworn to by the candidates themselves and shall be
filed with the Department of the Interior at least forty days before
the election. Said certificates shall not contain any nicknames or
aliases of the candidates.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN LOCALITIES
SEC. 5. Electoral organization in the special provinces.-On
August first, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, the provincial boards
of the special provinces, under the supervision of the Secretary of
the Interior, shall, whenever necessary, perform the duties of the
municipal councils as regards the formation of election precincts,
designation of polling places and appointments of election inspectors
and poll clerks and substitutes therefor in their respective municipal
districts, giving in the latter case due consideration to the recom-
mendations of the accredited representatives of the national political
parties.
In the municipalities of said provinces, action on such matters shall
be taken by the municipal councils concerned, the same as in the case
of regular municipalities.
SEC. 6. Municipal districts of certain provinces.-The voters of
Allacapan and Langganan, in the Province of Cagayan, shall vote
in the second legislative district of said province; those of Alilem,
Angaki, Cervantes, Concepción, San Emilio, Sigay, Sugpon, Suyo
and Tagudin, in the Province of Ilocos Sur, shall vote in the second
legislative district of said province; the voters of Sudipen, Santol
and San Gabriel, in the Province of La Union, shall vote in the first
legislative district of said province, and the voters of Bagulin,
Burgos and Pugo, also in the Province of La Union, shall vote in
the second legislative district thereof.
SEC. 7. Legislative districts of the Mountain Province.-For the
purposes of the election of Members of the National Assembly, the
Mountain Province shall be divided into three districts, as follows:
First District, composed of the municipal districts of Bayag, Con-
ner, Kabugao, Luna, Namaltugan and Tauit, Subprovince of
Apayao, of the municipal districts of Balbalan. Lubuagan, Pinuk-
puk, Tabuk and Tanudan, Subprovince of Kalinga, and of the mu-
nicipal districts of Bontoc (the capital of the province), Barilig,
Sabangan, Sadangan, Sagada, Natunin and Tinglayan, Sub-
province of Bontoc; Second District, composed of the City of Baguio
34
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
and the municipal districts of Ampasungan, Atok, Bokod, Bakun,
Buguias, Itogon, Kabayan, Kapangan, Kibungan, La Trinidad,
Mankayan, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay, Subprovince of Benguet;
1 hird District, composed of the municipal districts of Banaue,
Burney, Hungduan, Kiangan, and Mayoyao, Subprovince of Ifugao,
and of the municipal districts of Banaao, Bauco, Besao and Kayan,
Subprovince of Lepanto.
SEC. 8. Election of Members of the National Assembly for
Cotabato, Lanao and Sulu.-The Members of the National Assembly
for the Provinces of Cotabato, Lanao and Sulu shall in each case
be elected by the presidents, vice-presidents and present municipal
councilors of the municipalities and districts making up the province,
by the persons who occupied similar positions in said municipalities.
and municipal districts in the past, and by the present senators,
representatives, delegates to the Constitutional Convention, pro-
vincial governors and members of provincial boards, and by any
persons who occupied any of said offices in the past and reside in the
province concerned. For said purpose, a board of election inspec-
tors of each of the municipalities and municipal districts of said
provinces, and in case there is more than one board of election
inspectors in any municipality or municipal district, the one desig-
nated by the provincial board concerned, shall make a special list
of said officers and ex-officers, including in said list those of them
who may apply therefor on the days set aside by this Act for the
registration of voters. On the day of the election, the officers and
ex-officers registered as above mentioned shall be entitled to vote,
filling out the proper official ballot and depositing the same in a
separate ballot box furnished to the board of inspectors by the
provincial board, and upon the termination of the balloting, the
board of election inspectors shall count the votes so deposited and
shall prepare a separate return of the result, in accordance with
section four hundred and sixty-five of the Election Law.
ELECTION REGULATIONS OF GENERAL APPLICATION
SEC. 9. Election precincts and polling places.-The election pre-
cincts shall remain the same as now established and the polling places
shall be the same, unless the municipal council or board concerned
shall, for good reason, designate a different place on or before August
first, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.
SEC. 10. Appointment of election inspectors and poll clerks.-On
August first, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, the municipal council
shall appoint three election inspectors and one poll clerk, with their
respective substitutes, for such election precinct.
Two of said election inspectors and the poll clerk, and their re-
spective substitutes, shall belong to the political party, branch or
fraction thereof, or political group, which polled the largest number
of votes in said municipality at the general election of nineteen hun-
dred and thirty-four, and the other inspector and his substitute shall
belong to the political party, branch or fraction thereof, or political
group, which polled the next largest number of votes at said election.
No inspector or representation of any kind on the board of inspec-
tors shall be granted to any branch, fraction or political group which
has since the general election of nineteen hundred and thirty-four
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
35
separated, or which may hereafter separate, from said parties,
branches, fractions or political groups, or from the party created by
their consolidation.
The election inspectors and poll clerks and their respective substi-
tutes shall be persons nominated by the accredited representatives
of said parties, branches, fractions or political groups.
If any party or political group presenting candidates for President
and Vice-President of the Philippines shall be formed before August
first, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, such party or group shall,
upon nomination by the same, be given representation at each of the
polling places of the municipalities or places where such party or
group has an accredited representative, by means of the appoint-
ment on said date of a fourth inspector, with his substitute, having
the qualifications required by section four hundred and nineteen of
the Election Law, and if, besides, other parties or political groups
are formed which present candidates for said offices and which have
accredited representatives in the locality, the Supreme Court shall, at
the request of an interested party, grant such additional inspector to
the party or political group showing that it has the most extensive
organization in said locality. This paragraph shall not be construed
to mean that the new party or political group or the candidates
thereof may have more than one inspector on the board.
In case a fourth inspector is appointed as provided in the next
preceding paragraph, the poll clerk shall be entitled to vote on the
board of inspectors in case of a tie.
An election inspector or poll clerk may be replaced at any time at
the request of the party or group on whose nomination he was ap-
pointed, and in case there shall be no time for holding a meeting of
the municipal council for said purpose, or if the latter shall fail to
act or to come to an agreement, the duties of inspector or poll clerk,
as the case may be, shall be performed by the substitute or by the
person nominated by the party or group concerned.
Any protest made by an inspector against any act of the board of
inspectors or of any member thereof, shall be made to appear over
his signature in the return, and no protest not so made and appear-
ing shall be entertained or considered as made.
SEC. 11. Revision of list of voters and registration of new voters.-
The boards of election inspectors shall meet on August ninth and
tenth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, to revise the list of voters
and register new voters therein. On said days, said boards of inspec-
tors shall strike from the present lists of voters the names of per-
sons not having the qualifications prescribed by Title Five of the
Constitution, of those disqualified from voting under the provisions
of section four hundred and thirty-two of the Election Law, and of
those serving sentences of imprisonment. This section shall, how-
ever, not to be construed as barring the re-registration of voters
rejected as illiterates if they can show, on one of the days set aside
by law for the registration of voters, that they can write and read
and are not otherwise incapacitated by law.
SEC. 12. Voters who may register and vote by mail.-Voters con-
fined at a leper station or colony and not otherwise incapacitated
may register and vote by mail, sending their respective applications
or ballots by registered mail to the board of inspectors of the pre-
cinct in which they resided prior to their confinement, and it shall
36
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
be the duty of the board of inspectors of said precinct to register
them and consider their ballots, provided the applicants have the
qualifications required of voters and the application or ballot reaches
said board of inspectors in time. The Secretary of the Interior shall
make such additional regulations as may be necessary to facilitate
the registration of said electors and to insure a secret, free and
honest ballot.
SEC. 13. Proceedings for inclusion and exclusion of voters and cor-
rection of list of voters.-All judicial proceedings for inclusion in or
exclusion from the list of voters shall be free of charge and shall be
filed at the latest on August twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred and
thirty-five, and a final decision thereon shall be rendered on or before
September sixth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five. The boards of
election inspectors shall hold their last meeting on September sev-
enth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, for the purposes specified in
section four hundred and thirty-nine of the Election Law.
SEC. 14. Compensation of election inspectors and poll clerks.—
Election inspectors and poll clerks shall receive compensation at the
rate of four pesos for each day of service rendered.
SEC. 15. Ballots.-The ballots shall be uniform throughout the
Philippine Islands, except in the Provinces of Cotabato, Lanao and
Sulu. No ballot shall have any printing on the back and the stubs
thereof shall be numbered consecutively in each municipality or mu-
nicipal district.
1
SEC. 16. Preparation of ballot and spoiled ballots.-Every voter
shall prepare his ballot himself and no one shall be permitted to
assist him therein, any provision of existing law to the contrary
notwithstanding, except as far as the election of Members of the
National Assembly in the Provinces of Cotabato, Lanao and Sulu is
concerned. Ballots prepared in violation of this provision shall be
void and shall not be counted. Nor shall any vote be counted on
which the candidate is designated by his nickname or alias, although
mention thereof is made on his certificate of candidacy.
SEC. 17. Counting of votes and canvass of returns.-The result of
the balloting for Members of the National Assembly shall be deter-
mined by the board of canvassers of the province concerned as now
provided by law for elective members of the House of Representa-
tives. Said board shall forthwith certify the result of the election
for Members of the National Assembly in its province to the Gov-
ernor-General.
The election returns of the President and Vice-President, duly
certified and sealed by the board of canvassers of each province,
including special provinces and the City of Manila, shall be prepared
in triplicate and shall forthwith be sent, one copy to the Secretary
of the Senate, one to the Secretary of the House of Representatives,
and one to the Secretary of the Interior.
Thirty days after the election has been held, or on a date to be
designated by the Governor-General, the Legislature shall meet in
joint session and shall publicly count the votes cast at the election of
President and Vice-President of the Philippines, determine the result
thereof, and certify the same to the Governor-General.
SEC. 18. Transmission of documents relating to election.-The Bu-
reau of Posts shall receive and transmit without delay and free of
charge all election returns and other official documents, reports, tele-
grams or radiograms relating to the election in this Act provided for.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT 37
FINAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 19. Assumption of office by officers elect.-The President and
Vice-President of the Philippines and Members of the National As-
sembly elected in accordance with this Act shall assume office and
the National Assembly shall hold its first session immediately after
said officers shall have been proclaimed as elected by the President
of the United States.
SEC. 20. Appropriation.-The sum of eight hundred thousand
pesos, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropri-
ated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appro-
priated, for the expenses of the election ordered in this Act.
SEC. 21. Repealing clause.-All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.
Approved, July 23, 1935.
SEC.
SEC.
SUMMARY
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 1. Effective date and application of this Act.
SEC. 2. Date of election and legal provisions applicable to same.
CANDIDACIES
3. Candidacies of public officers or candidacies for more than one office.
4. Certificates of candidacy.
SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN LOCALITIES
SEC. 5. Electoral organization in the special provinces.
SEC. 6. Municipal districts of certain provinces.
SEC.
7. Legislative districts of the Mountain Province.
SEC.
8. Election of Members of the National Assembly for Cotabato, Lanao
and Sulu.
ELECTION REGULATIONS OF GENERAL APPLICATION
SEC. 9. Election precincts and polling places.
SEC. 10. Appointment of election inspectors and poll clerks.
SEC. 11. Revision of list of voters and registration of new voters.
SEC. 12. Voters who may register and vote by mail.
SEC. 13. Proceedings for inclusion and exclusion of voters and correction of list
of voters.
SEC. 14. Compensation of election inspectors and poll clerks.
SEC. 15. Ballots.
SEC. 16. Preparation of ballot and spoiled ballots.
SEC. 17. Counting of votes and canvass of returns.
SEC. 18. Transmission of documents relating to election.
FINAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 19. Assumption of office by officers elect.
SEC. 20. Appropriation.
SEC. 21. Repealing clause.
38
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
TENTH PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE, SECOND SESSION, BEGUN AND HELD
and
AT THE CITY OF MANILA ON MONDAY, THE TWENTY-FOUrth Day
OF JUNE, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE
[Resolution of both Houses in joint session]
RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
PHILIPPINES, IN JOINT SESSION ASSEMBLED, CERTIFYING TO THE GOV-
ERNOR-GENERAL THE RESULT OF THE ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT AND
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES.
:
WHEREAS, in pursuance of section four of Public Act Numbered
One hundred twenty-seven of the Seventy-third Congress of the
United States, commonly known as the Tydings-McDuffie Act, and
section seventeen of Act Numbered Forty-two hundred and three of
the Philippine Legislature entitled "An Act to regulate the holding
of the first election for President and Vice-President of the Philip-
pines and Members of the National Assembly, to appropriate funds
therefor, and for other purposes," the Philippine Legislature met in
joint session, publicly counted the votes cast at the election held on
September seventeen, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, for the office
of President and Vice-President of the Philippines, determined the
result thereof, and has found that for the office of President, Hon.
Manuel L. Quezon received six hundred ninety-five thousand, two
hundred ninety-seven (695,297) votes; Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo re-
ceived one hundred seventy-nine thousand, four hundred one
(179,401) votes; Mons. Gregorio Aglipay received one hundred
forty-eight thousand, six (148,006) votes and Mr. Pascual Racuyal
received one hundred fifty-eight (158) votes; and for the Office of
Vice-President Hon. Sergio Osmeña received eight hundred ten
thousand, six hundred sixty-six (810,666) votes; Hon. Raymundo
Melliza received seventy thousand, eight hundred ninety-one
(70,891) votes; and Mr. Norberto Nabong received fifty-one thou-
sand, four hundred forty-four (51,444) votes; and
WHEREAS, the number of votes received for the Office of President
by Hon. Manuel L. Quezon and for the Office of Vice-President by
Hon. Sergio Osmeña constitutes not only a plurality, but a ma-
jority of the votes legally cast for the said offices: Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines, in joint session assembled in the Hall of the House of
Representatives:
To certify, as they hereby certify, to the Governor-General of
the Philippine Islands that Honorable Manuel L. Quezon and Hon-
orable Sergio Osmeña have been elected President and Vice-Presi-
dent of the Philippines, respectively, by a majority of all the votes
cast at the election held on September seventeenth, nineteen hundred
and thirty-five; and
That the statement of the votes cast in said clection by provinces
duly certified by the presiding officers and hereto attached be, and
the same hereby is, certified to the Governor-General of the Philip-
pines as a part of this resolution; and
That the certificates of canvass made by the provincial boards
of canvassers of returns of votes for President and Vice-President
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
39
of the Philippines, duly certified by the Provincial Board of Can-
vassers of the respective provinces and hereto attached be, and the
same hereby is, certified to the Governor-General of the Philippines
as a part of this resolution.
Adopted, October 12, 1935.
JOSÉ AVELINO
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
QUINTIN PAREDES
Speaker of the House of Representatives
We hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was adopted by
both Houses of the Philippine Legislature in joint session held on
October 12, 1935.
FERMÍN S. TORRALBA
Secretary of the Senate
EULOGIO BENÍTEZ
Secretary of the House of Representatives
(Official Seal: Philippine Senate and House of Representatives.)
CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION OF OFFICERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL
To the Honorable, The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, Greetings:
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 4 of Public Act numbered
127 of the Congress of the United States, appeared on the twenty
fourth day of March, 1934, I, Frank Murphy, Governor General of
the Philippine Islands, hereby certify that the election of the officers
of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands provided for in its
Constitution was duly held throughout the Phillippine Islands on the
seventeenth day of September, 1935, and that according to the results
of said election as determined in accordance with the laws therefor
made and provided, the following were elected:
PRESIDENT: Manuel L. Quezon of Baler, Tayabas.
VICE PRESIDENT: Sergio Osmena of Cebu, Cebu.
MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY:
ABRA, Quintin Paredes.
AGUSAN, Apolonio D. Curato.
ALBAY, 1st District, Jose Bonto.
2nd District, Justino Nuyda.
3rd District, Pedro Sabido.
4th District, Pedro Vera.
ANTIQUE, Calixto O. Zaldivar.
BATAAN, Teodoro Camacho.
BATANES, Vicente Agan.
BATANGAS, 1st District, Natalio Lopez.
2nd District, Eusebio Orense.
3rd District, Maximo Kalaw.
BOHOL, 1st District, Juan Torralba.
2nd District, Olegario B. Clarin.
3rd District, Margarito E. Revilles.
BUKIDNON, Manuel Fortich.
40
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
..
BULACAN, 1st District, Nicolas Buendia.
2nd District, Antonio Villarama.
CAGAYAN, 1st District, Marcelo Adduru.
2nd District, Regino Veridiano.
CAMARINES NORTE, Cayetano Lukban.
CAMARINES SUR, 1st District, Francisco Celebrado.
2nd District, Luis N. de Leon.
CAPIZ, 1st District, Manuel Roxas.
2nd District, Jose A. Dorado.
3rd District, Rafael Tumbokon.
CAVITE, Justiniano S. Montano.
CEBU, 1st District, Celestino Rodriguez.
2nd District, Hilario Abellana.
3rd District, Agustin Y. Kintanar.
4th District, Vicente Rama.
5th District, Miguel Cuenco.
6th District, Nicolas Rafols.
7th District, Buenaventura Rodriguez.
COTABATO, Datu Sinsuat.
DAVAO, Romualdo Quimpo.
ILOCOS NORTE, 1st district, Vicente T. Lazo.
2nd district, Julio Nalundasan (Deceased).
ILOCOS SUR, 1st district, Benito Soliven.
2nd district, Sixto Brillantes.
ILOILO, 1st district, Jose C. Zulueta.
2nd district, Ruperto Montinola.
3rd district, Tomas Confesor.
4th district, Tomas Buenaflor.
5th district, Victorino Salcedo.
ISABELA, Mauro Versosa.
LAGUNA, 1st district, Tomas Dizon.
2nd district, Arsenio Bonifacio.
LANAO, Tomas Cabili.
LA UNION, 1st district, Camilo Osias.
2nd district, Agaton R. Yaranon.
LEYTE, 1st district, Jose Ma. Veloso
2nd district, Dominador M. Tan.
3rd district, Tomas Oppus.
4th district, Francisco Enage.
5th district, Ruperto Kapunan.
MANILA, 1st district, Gregorio Perfecto.
2nd district, Pedro Gil.
MARINDUQUE, Cecilio A. Maneja.
MASBATE, Pio V. Corpus.
MINDORO, Juan L. Luña.
MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL, Jose Ozamis.
MISAMIS ORIENTAL, Leon Borromeo.
MOUNTAIN PROVINCE, 1st district, Saturnino Moldero.
2nd district, Felipe Jose.
3rd district, George K. Tait.
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, 1st district, Enrique Magalona.
2nd district, Pedro C. Hernaez.
3rd district, Gil M. Montilla.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
41
NEGROS ORIENTAL, 1st district, Guillermo Z. Villanueva.
2nd district, Jose E. Romero.
NUEVA ECIJA, 1st district, Manuel Alzate.
2nd district, Felipe Buencamino, Jr.
NUEVA VIZCAYA, Bernardo Buenafe.
PALAWAN, Claudio Sandoval.
PAMPANGA, 1st district, Eligio G. Lagman.
2nd district, Jose P. Fausto.
PANGASINAN, 1st district, Anacleto B. Ramos.
2nd district, Eugenio Perez.
3rd district, Daniel Maramba.
4th district, N. T. Rupisan.
5th district, Narciso Ramos.
RIZAL, 1st district, Pedro Magsalin.
2nd district. Emilio de la Paz.
ROMBLON, Gabriel F. Fabella.
SAMAR, 1st district, Antolin D. Tan.
2nd district, Serafin Marabut.
3rd district, Juan Bocar.
SORSOGON, 1st district, Norberto A. Roque.
2nd district, Tomas S. Clemente.
SULU, Datu Ombra Amilbangsa.
SURIGAO, Ricardo Navarro
Clementino V. Diez
Itie.
TARLAC, 1st district, Jose G. Cojuangco.
2nd district, Benigno Aquino.
TAYABAS, 1st district, Jose A. Angara.
2nd district, Francisco Lavides.
ZAMBALES, Potenciano Lesaca.
ZAMBOANGA, Juan S. Alano.
Done at the City of Manila, Philippine Islands, this fourteenth
day of October, in the Year of Our Lord, one thousand nine hundred
and thirty-five.
FRANK MURPHY,
Governor General of the Philippine Islands.
BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS-A
PROCLAMATION
No. 860.-Calling a special session of the Philippine Legislature on
November 12, 1935, for the purpose of holding a joint session on
that day in honor of the Vice-President of the United States, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and other distinguished
members of the United States Congress; and for other purposes.
Whereas the Vice-President of the United States, the Speaker of
the House of Representatives, and other distinguished members of
the United States Congress have accepted an invitation, tendered on
behalf of the Philippine Legislature, to be present at the inaugura-
tion of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, and I have been re-
quested by several members of the Legislature to call a special session
in honor of these distinguished visitors and for other purposes;
H. Doc. 400, 74—2—————4
42
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
Now, therefore, I, Frank Murphy, Governor-General of the Philip-
pine Islands, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section eight-
een of the Act of Congress of August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred
and sixteen, do hereby call a special session of the Philippine Legis-
lature to be convened in the City of Manila, Philippine Islands, on
Tuesday, November twelfth, nineteen hundred and thirty-five, at
ten o'clock in the forenoon, for the purpose of holding a joint ses-
sion on that day in honor of the Vice-President of the United States,
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and other distinguished
members of the United States Congress; for reconsideration of
Senate bill Numbered One hundred eighty-six, entitled "An Act to
amend section six of the Act entitled 'An Act to raise revenue for the
Philippine Islands, and for other purposes', approved by the Con-
gress of the United States on August fifth, nineteen hundred and
nine, as amended by Act Numbered Four thousand and thirty-four of
the Philippine Legislature"; and to receive a message from the Gov-
ernor-General of the Philippine Islands on November fourteenth.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the Government of the Philippine Islands to be affixed.
Done at the City of Manila, this seventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.
[SEAL]
FRANK MURPHY,
Governor-General.
VICE PRESIDENT GARNER'S SPEECH AT THE JOINT SESSION OF THE
PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE, NOVEMBER 12, 1935
Mr. President, through the accident of war some thirty-five years
ago your beautiful Islands came under the sovereignty of the United
States.
Within five years of this acquisition my people made me a Member
of the United States House of Representatives. During my first
term in that body was formed the impression that our American
sovereignty was of a temporary character. The discussions in those
early days of whether they should be retained permanently or ulti-
mately be given their independence caused keen interest in the ex-
pressions of opinion of our greater statesmen, and at a very early
period there came from all the promise of ultimate independence.
-
This was followed by expressions of opinion of our great men in
the Presidential chair and in our Congress that independence should
be granted.
Today it is a pleasure to be with you because of your great hap-
piness on this historic occasion, although, perhaps, the early years
may prove a period of trial and tribulation, such as we had in our
country.
The thought foremost in my mind is that Americans have fulfilled
their promise the word of the American Nation is good, no matter
how great the sacrifice to make it good. It is a sacrifice to part
with a wonderful country such as yours, populated by a kindly,
industrious, and intelligent people.
I have a feeling of pride that for the first time in the world's
history, at a great loss to itself, the American Nation has redeemed
its promise.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
43
In company with our distinguished Speaker Byrns, of the House
of Representatives, one of the great coordinate branches of our Gov-
ernment, with 27 Congressman and 17 United States Senators, and
our wives, we have traveled approximately 10,000 miles and must
travel 10,000 miles in return to celebrate two things.
Putting them in the order in which my mind dwells upon them,
there is the redemption of a national promise that all right-thinking
Americans will approve and that all self-governing nations of the
earth will applaud.
As years went on in my congressional career fate finally placed
me as Speaker of the great House of Representatives, and it was
during my term of office that the first bill containing an offer of
independence was passed.
And then, strange as events will sometimes order, as Vice President
of the United States the pleasure came to me of witnessing for the
second time as a Presiding Officer the final accepted offer of inde-
pendence.
On both occasions the offer of independence was accompanied by
conditions and obligations which should first be accepted by your
people.
Amongst these was the perpetual preservation of human and prop-
erty rights, which rights it had taken our ancestry many hundreds
of years to secure. These rights were fought for upon battlefields
and in debates and finally found themselves in written form in our
American Constitution in what lawyers and even our school boys
today know as our Bill of Rights.
Your new constitution was presented to President Roosevelt, ex-
amined by himself and his advisers, and we find that it contains
these essentials of self-government:
1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without
due process of law.
2. Security against unreasonable search and seizure.
3. Religious liberty and its free exercise.
4. Freedom of speech, of the press, and the right of assembly and
petition.
5. No involuntary servitude of any kind.
6. The privilege of the use of the writ of habeas corpus.
7. Due process of law in criminal offenses, the accused to be con-
fronted with witnesses, and many other safeguards and protections
for liberty, property, and orderly government.
It has been generally agreed by thinking men the world over that
if liberty is to be preserved and the rights of property respected,
these provisions are essential.
For some thirty-four years our public administrators in the Islands,
our soldiers who were here when the war was over, and our school
teachers who came later and for long over a decade taught the bless-
ings to be secured by liberty, education, and religious freedom, are
now all covered in your Constitution.
My friend, former Senator Hawes, a student of your country who
has devoted years of his life toward promoting your aspirations for
self-government, informs me that your people have paid all of its
bills for education, bills for sanitation, the bills for public health, the
bills for roads, and even the salaries of American administrators
and their advisers, and that you enter upon your great experiment
44
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
of freedom with probably the smallest per capita national debt of
any nation.
He advises me that in the thirty-five years of American sovereignty,
with the exception of $3,000,000 provided for recuperation after the
war, the entire cost of all civil administration has been provided by
the revenues secured from the taxation of your own people.
Few nations have a record similar to this. The most of the world.
is not happy-it is in a state of much confusion and distress.
It speaks well for the character of your people and the temporary
sovereignty of my people that an unequaled record of financial
stability like this should exist.
Our trade relations have grown to such proportions that you have
until recently ranked as our eighth best customer, and, through the
laws passed by our Congress, we have not only been your best cus-
tomer, but practically your sole customer.
Trade relations of a beneficial character rest exclusively upon two
things: the ability to sell, giving the ability to buy.
Our great President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in sending the last
independence bill to Congress, accompanied it with a recommenda-
tion that where there were inequalities in our trade relations, they
should be adjusted by a Commission representing both peoples who
could arrive at an equitable decision which would prove advanta-
geous to our 120,000,000 people and to your 14,000,000 people.
And this I hope, after thoughtful consideration and investigation,
will be worked out to the mutual advantage of both nations.
May the new nation preserve the world's fine traditions of liberty
and equality, a nation of Christian people, who by its careful and
thoughtful consideration of all its people will prove an inspiration
to the nations of the earth. Prosperity will not come to you with-
out some trial and some sacrifice. Much will depend on the character
of the men who administer your affairs.
You have sent to our country brilliant and able men as Commis-
sioners to our House of Representatives. You have sent special com-
missions of studious, patriotic men whose eloquence and logic have
impressed the American Congress.
Among these, as one of your Commissioners many years ago, I met
the Honorable Manuel Quezon. He possessed individuality, activity,
intellect, and courtesy rarely combined in one man. We became per-
sonal friends. I found him fair and vigorous, always patriotic, and
it is a pleasure for me to know that in your recent election he was
chosen as the first president of your new Commonwealth by decisive
majorities.
It is a great responsibility. It will call for a high character of
statesmanship. His term of office is limited to six years. He cannot
succeed himself.
It would seem to me therefore to be the part of wisdom and
patriotic thought for Filipinos to throw aside partisan and personal
feeling and all unite in a coordinated support during these first
trying years. Let all thoughtful men and women put aside ideas.
of change and surround him with loyal support from every quarter
so that in the administration of his office he may pick the ablest
advisers.
C
My thought goes back to the years in my country when Washing-
ton was its leader. At the birth of our Nation when there were not.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
45
•
two parties all factions supported the one party and the one ad-
ministration, our first Washington administration.
Why cannot this happen under my friend, your President-elect,
Manuel Quezon?
There should be no quarrelling and discord or lack of harmony.
You have in your Constitution set a limitation upon his term, and
during that time, in the fateful years of your first President, it
seems to me that he should be given united support.
After this first administration there may be divisions. There is
always honest disagreement in a republic such as you are forming,
but let the first administration be united.
Our Presidents have sent to you as Governors General men of
ability, of sympathetic interest in promoting your welfare. The
last of these is among the best, Governor Frank Murphy, who has
won your confidence and esteem, has cooperated with your great
leaders, Quezon and Osmeña, and received the applause of your
people.
A consistent continued American policy of preparation and con-
trol, followed by what to me is of great historic significance, a
redeemed national promise, with the well wishes of the nations of the
earth, I came to this unusual historical spectacle with confidence in
your future.
I shall watch your destiny with optimism and friendly interest.
You have the very best wishes of the people of the United States,
and I am sure that prosperity will come, and with prosperity, hap-
piness and national progress.
I thank you in behalf of each member of the Congressional dele-
gation for the invitation which brought us here and brought with us
our wives, and I assure you that we are carrying back kindly feel-
ings of confidence and interest.
Few people have had the privilege of witnessing the peaceful
birth of a new nation that comes quietly into the world's sisterhood
of states. with an orderly written government, with a well chosen
leader, with all promise for happiness.
We are impressed; we return home inspired, with another great
forward step in world progress.
SPEAKER BYRNS' SPEECH AT THE JOINT SESSION OF THE PHILIPPINE
Legislature, NOVEMBER 12, 1935.
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, and members of the Philippine As-
sembly, it is indeed a high honor to appear before you on this occa-
sion in anticipation of the historic processes soon to be inaugurated
as a preliminary to the birth of a new and independent nation. As a
member of the party of United States Senators and Congressmen,
who, with their wives and important members of the United States
press, have come on your generous invitation from our homeland to
extend our congratulations and cordial good will on this memorable
occasion, I wish to join in the felicitations and good wishes so elo-
quently expressed by our able, distinguished, and much-beloved Vice
President, the second ranking officer of our Government, and who
speaks as the leader of our delegation. I join in his expression of
pride that this historic event has been made possible by the generous
action of our great Republic in voluntarily surrendering its right of
46
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
sovereignty and the interests which go with it in order that the
people of the Philippine Islands may enjoy that sense of national
freedom and independence which we have enjoyed for nearly 150
years. So far as I know, it is the first time that a great people have
achieved independence without the necessity of securing it at the
point of the sword; and may I say, Mr. President, and to you, Mr.
Speaker, that while my country has surrendered its sovereignity it
never has and never will surrender its friendship and sympathetic
interest in the Filipino people. No real republican form of govern-
ment has ever existed as such for any great length of time which did
not recognize the principles of democracy and the common good of
the people as a whole. It is the practice of those fundamental ideals
which has made our own country great and powerful and its people.
happy and contented during the past years.
J
May I say that it is for you gentlemen and other leaders in your
nation to preserve and make lasting these principles so well ex-
pressed in the highly progressive Constitution which you have ap-
proved. We feel certain that this will be done by the incoming ad-
ministration, headed as it will be by your very able and devoted leader
and President, Hon. Manuel Quezon. We look with confidence,
therefore, to your development and "strike hands with you across
the sea" in best wishes for your future endeavors along these lines.
In the House of Representatives we find that the following Con-
gressmen and Senators in our party served in the same period that
your President, Manuel Quezon, represented your country as the
Philippine Commissioner in the House of Representatives: John N.
Garner, Joseph T. Robinson, Matthew M. Neely, James F. Byrnes,
Robert L. Doughton, Bertrand H. Snell, and Allen T. Treadway, all
of whom have risen to places of influence and distinction in the
Congress.
We found him to be a very able man, resourceful, considerate, and
dependable. His contacts with these Members of Congress, a few
of whom I have mentioned, I know have given him not only a theo-
retical but a very practical knowledge of the workings of the Ameri-
can system of government.
We have all come in contact with the many able Commissioners
you have sent to Washington during past years and whose names
I shall not have time to mention, and also with the able men who
have come to Washington from time to time as members of various
high commissions. All of this has served to increase our confidence
in your future, for all were able and faithful representatives of your
interests. Undoubtedly honest differences of political opinion will
arise, but these will be solved, I am sure, in a spirit of amity and
good will.
In considering your new Constitution I find first and foremost
those declarations in the bill of rights to which the Vice President
has referred.
Through his pleasant contact with the Congress, your new Presi-
dent-elect has acquired a practical viewpoint of other administration
details for the interpretation in a fair and equitable way of the
provisions of your constitution.
I bespeak for him your united support, and that you will give him
generously of your advice and assistance that the way may be
smoothed for the attainment of the high ideals he possesses.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
47
He has had associated with him for the last few years as Gov-
ernor General of the Philippine Islands, Gov. Frank Murphy,
an able and conscientious executive whose experiences as mayor of
one of our great cities, Detroit, has familiarized him with finance
and orderly government. In his official contacts here we are pleased
but not surprised to know that he has displayed tact and good
judgment.
For the next ten years, at least, the American flag will fly over
your Commonwealth, and you will have with you an official represent-
ing the United States, who will have the title of High Commissioner.
This official, I am happy to believe, will be your present able Gov-
ernor-General and he will be representative of the President of the
United States when it is necessary for him to act.
His sympathetic cooperation during our continued sovereignty,
subject to changes by Congress, will be the expression of the Ameri-
can people.
For ten years, unless there is a change, the Stars and Stripes, for
which I know you have the greatest respect, will fly over the Com-
monwealth. The Philippine flag, red, white, and blue, with its
three stars and its blazing sun typifying the tropics, will be carried
on all standards. These sister flags will do much as they have in
the past to strengthen the fine type of friendship which exists today.
When the time comes for the Republic to replace the Common-
wealth, we believe that the conduct of its affairs during this period
will so impress the nations of the world that the new Republic will
begin its career with not only the old friendship of my country, but
that all the enlightened nations of the earth will unite in its pro-
tection and in the preservation of its sovereignty.
The great American Nation will watch your development with
keen interest and, wherever we may, will extend a helping hand.
You raise products which are not raised in the United States.
We sell you manufactured articles which are not made in your
country. We believe that the President's Commission will work out
an equitable plan beneficial to both our nations, and that the result
of its recommendations will strengthen the ties that will become
stronger with the years.
The administration of President Quezon and Vice President
Osmeña is entitled to unified support. Your example of unity, pa-
triotism, and self-sacrifice will have a most beneficial and heartening
effect on the people of my country, and make it more simple and
easy to reconcile any inequalities that now exist or may occur.
A strong government administering your affairs under your pro-
gressive Constitution, which has been approved by our great Presi-
dent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, will make for harmony, unity, and
cooperation.
It was kind of the Philippine people to include in their invitation
to Senators and Congressmen an invitation for their wives. They
have enjoyed the visit. You have aroused their sympathy' and
interest as you have our own.
I have learned that the Filipino women are leaders in the matter
of education. They are the household bankers. They have fol-
lowed the teachings of our school teachers and our economists. They
have many of the favorite American dishes in their kitchens. So,
on behalf of the ladies of the Senate and of the House of Representa-
48
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
tives, I thank you for the courtesy of the invitation, but I have the
suspicion that back of it was the thought that our wives and daugh-
ters who have come with us will in the future help to tighten the
bonds of friendship and good will between our nations.
I cannot close these remarks without referring briefly to my
friend and your friend, Hon. Harry B. Hawes. As United States
Senator, and since then, he has been an earnest, devoted, and able
friend of the Philippine people. He merits your friendship and
gratitude for his faithful and unselfish work in your behalf.
Let me again thank you for the high privilege that has been
extended to us and to our wives to visit you and study first hand
your conditions and your aspirations. Let me assure you that we
are taking home with us the kindliest thoughts of a pleasant and
instructive visit.
To have even a small part in the establishment of an independent
republic in the great Orient, to know that the fine traditions of
America will be preserved, is satisfaction enough for all right-
thinking Americans.
MESSAGE OF HIS EXCELLENCY, GOVERNOR-GENERAL FRANK MURPHY
TO THE PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE IN ITS FINAL SESSION, NOVEMBER
14, 1935 MANILA.
Gentlemen of the Legislature:
Today we are completing another chapter in American-Filipino
relations. Upon issuance by the President tomorrow of a proclama-
tion announcing the results of the recent national election, in accord-
ance with section 4 of the Tydings-McDuffie Act, the office of the
Governor General of the Philippine Islands will come to an end.
This legislative body likewise will pass into history. The charter of
our authority known as the Jones Act, granted by the United States
Congress in 1916, under whose liberal and beneficient provisions the
Philippine people have governed and been governed for nearly two
decades-this great charter of liberal government will terminate.
In its place a new charter of government, a constitution framed by
the representatives of the Philippine people themselves in pursuance
of authority granted by the United States Congress, and a new form.
of government constituted thereunder, will come into operation. At
such a time it seems fitting for us to pause a few moments before
final adjournment, to consider the situation of our government and
review briefly the significant events and forces that have shaped our
course until the present hour.
-
Under the auspices of the Spanish Empire of the sixteenth cen-
tury, the foremost nation of Europe, rich, cultured, and powerful,
western civilization was brought to the Philippines in the year
1564. During three centuries and a half that followed, the people
of these Islands received the impress of a great Spanish culture and
became indoctrinated with the Christian religion. Through devout
Spanish churchmen and administrators, the Filipino people became
familiar with the institutions and customs and moral conceptions
of the western world.
When American civil administrators came to the islands in 1900
to assume the task that had been commenced by the Army forces,
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
49
they found not only the beginnings of an American school system,
with soldiers in the role of teachers. They found a people that was
prepared to benefit by the privileges and advantages that were to
be offered to them under the American system of government. They
found a quality akin to their own. For here was a people that
already had revolted against oppressive rule and attempted to set
up an independent republic. The events that preceded the truce of
Biac-na-bato help to explain the remarkable early success of the
American experiment with democracy in these islands beyond the
distant seas.
While to many persons the odds seemed to be heavily against
success of the venture, it was almost inevitable that a people nurtured
as the American people were in the political philosophy that had
produced the Declaration of Independence, with its emphasis on
freedom and equality, and had evolved the American Constitution
based on the presumed right and capacity of the common people to
govern themselves-it was inevitable that such a people should seek
to implant these doctrines and principles of government in the new
territory that had been committed to their control. For democracy
as conceived and expressed in these great documents, and as the
American people had received it from their fathers, was something
more than a method of government. It was a passionate political
faith. It was a faith in the natural capacities and inherent
possibilities of the common man, in his essential worth and dignity.
În the scheme of democracy, as in the code of Christianity, all
men were on a common level of dignity and importance. In this
sense as stated by a great political philosopher of my own state,
Christianity and democracy were twin-born. They provide for the
common men, without distinction of race or clime, a way of salva-
tion from forces of oppression and greed and selfishness.
Having found democracy good for herself. America believed it
was good for the people of the Philippines. With a faith and pas-
sion like that which enabled their Spanish predecessors to establish
throughout the land the practice of the Christian religion, the
early American administrators and their devoted coworkers in the
field of education undertook to educate and train the people of
these islands in the principles and technique of self-government,
taking for their keynote and guide the memorable instructions issued
by President McKinley in April, 1900.
EDUCATION
If with their simple and sincere faith in the principles by which
they had won their own independence and founded their govern-
ments, the American people failed to realize fully the nature and
difficulty of the mission they were undertaking, they understood
clearly that for its successful practice and permanent enjoy-
ment, democratic government required an educated and informed
citizenry. This understanding and conviction were as strong as
they had been one hundred years earlier, when the framers of the
great Ordinance of 1787 enacted for the government of the so-called
northwest territory, stated that "religion, morality, and knowledge
being essential to good government and the happiness of mankind,
schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."
50
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
In similar vein, President McKinley directed that the Commis-
sion "should regard as of first importance the extension of a system
of primary education which shall be free to all, and which shall
tend to fit the people for the duties of citizenship and for the ordi-
nary avocations of a civilized community." In its first proclamation
to the people of the Philippines in 1899 the First Philippine Com-
mission declared the establishment of elementary schools and appro-
priate facilities for higher education to be of cardinal importance in
the American program for the islands.
No people ever accepted the blessings of education with more
enthusiasm than the Filipinos. Like the Americans, they saw that
the road to self-government lies through the schoolhouse. The
United States Army began the establishment of modern schools in
1898, and within a year more than 4,500 primary pupils were enrolled
in Manila alone. The foundations for the permanent educational
system of the country were laid by the Philippine Commission in
January, 1901. One of its first acts provided for the appointment.
of more than 1,000 American teachers. Some of the members of
this original group of educational pioneers are still in the Philip-
pines. The splendid and devoted work of these and thousands of
others who followed them has been a credit to their country and
of immeasurable value to the Filipino people.
Although a system of primary public schools was provided for by
royal Spanish decree in 1863, few Filipino children were being edu-
cated at public expense at the end of the Spanish régime. Today
about two-thirds of all Filipino children of primary school age (7
to 10) are enrolled in the first four grades of the public schools.
Total public school enrollment in March, 1935, was 1,204,485 pupils.
They are taught in 7,680 schools, staffed by 27,120 teachers and
administrators. In 1934 total expenditure for public education
amounted to nearly $23,000,000.* This included more than 20 per-
cent of the total expenditures of the central government for all
purposes.
Although the burden of popular education in the Philippines,
as elsewhere, has been borne mainly by the state, 97,500 pupils are
enrolled in private educational institutions recognized by the Phil-
ippine Government and operated under Government supervision.
Those that meet certain definite standards are accredited by the
state and are articulated with the public educational system. Among
these are the oldest and some of the best institutions of learning in
the Philippines.
No agency of the state has been more effective than the public
schools in the creation of a strong consciousness of Philippine
nationality and the development of a sense of civic responsibility.
The English language is now spoken in every barrio in the Archi-
pelago by people of all ranks of life. The schools have been an
important factor and effective instrument in the improvement of the
health of the people. The offices of the Government and of private
business have been almost completely staffed with competent Fili-
pinos trained in the public schools. The standards of efficiency in
agriculture, commerce and industry have been raised and the wealth
of the country increased by the efforts of vocationally trained citi-
zens. Professional and technical education has been placed upon a
* The Philippine peso (P) equals 50 cents, U. S. currency.
-
+
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
51
high plane and our own institutions of higher learning are now
supplying the country with specially trained men capable of meet-
ing its technical and scientific needs. The Bureau of Science, the
University of the Philippines and some of the older private insti-
tutions, besides providing opportunities for general and specialized
high education, are making distinguished contributions to the com-
mon fund of human knowledge. Through the National Research
Council, founded and supported as an agency of the state, the direct
aid of the Government has been placed behind scientific research.
Further expansion of the school facilities of the Philippines is
primarily a financial problem. Insular appropriations for school
purposes probably cannot be greatly increased during the next few
years, and in the present financial condition of the provinces and
municipalities no large increase in their school expenditures may
be expected. Further substantial progress toward the goal of uni-
versal, free primary education apparently must depend upon and
follow an increase in the taxable wealth of the country.
C
Within the limited financial resources of the country, however,
the educational system that has been developed in the Philippines
is successfully serving the fundamental needs of the Nation. The
schools, colleges and universities of the country have become effec-
tive means for the intellectual development and self-expression of
the people—in the extension of general culture, and in civic, voca-
tional and professional education. The people of this country
know that an educated citizenry is indispensable to the existence of
a free, democratic, progressive state. I am confident that they will
continue to press forward to the educational goals that were set a
generation ago, and will not fail to support their schools to the limit
of their resources, as an indispensable instrument in their national
development. This determination has been written into the Consti-
tution they have adopted as the supreme law of the future Philippine
nation.
PUBLIC WORKS
-
Important as education is, however, in building the structure of
strong national life, other elements were needed. Roads and trans-
portation facilities and public works were required to develop trade
and commerce, and to promote understanding and cooperation be-
tween communities and groups. The revenues of the state have been
liberally and profitably employed in this direction, bringing to
isolated communities the advantages of easy communication and
the conveniences of modern civilization.
When the Americans came, nothing remained of the old Spanish
road system but 990 miles of right-of-way, impassable in the rainy
season, and available for travel in the dry season only to a very
limited extent.
Today the Philippines has 9,057.6 kilometers of first-class roads,
4,831.1 kilometers of second class, 2,009.4 kilometers of trails, or a
total of 20,826 kilometers (12,912.12 miles) of roads and trails repre-
senting an investment of P240,000,000.
There were 2,600 bridges and culverts in existence when civil
government under American sovereignty was started; 5,500 others
have been added at an expenditure of P25,000,000, including such
notable bridges as the Gilbert Bridge at Laoag, the Quirino Bridge
52
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
spanning the Abra, the Plaridel Bridge in Pangasinan, and the
General Luna Bridge at Cabanatuan.
C
With the advent of the American régime, there was inaugurated
the construction of schools, hospitals, municipal buildings, and
provincial capitols. In Manila we have the Legislative Building,
Post Office, Executive Building, Philippine General Hospital, Bureau
of Science, College of Medicine, Insular Psychopathic Hospital,
Philippine Normal School and dormitory, Pandacan Research Li-
brary, Ice Plant, and University of the Philippines. In the provinces
the fine capitol buildings of Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan,
Batangas, Tayabas, Leyte, and Occidental Negros are worthy of
special mention. From the beginning of the American régime to
date 98,891,285 have been spent in the construction of public
buildings.
During the Spanish régime the only important water supply sys-
tem was the Carriedo System, now part of the Manila Metropolitan..
Water System. In the old days water for domestic use was secured
by means of jars, buckets and tin cans from shallow wells, springs,.
rivers, and lakes, and from impounded rainwater from roofs.
Up to 1911 the American Army had completed 13 water systems..
which later were improved and are now furnishing water to the
towns where the system are located. Excluding the Metropolitan
Water System of Manila, there have been completed up to December
31, 1934, 288 municipal and provincial water supply systems, 19 ex-
tensions and 10 improvements, furnishing potable water to a popu-
lation of 1,008,918, at a cost of P12,184,106.50. The most important
systems constructed are:
1. Metropolitan Water System of Manila, including filtration:
plant.
2. The Vigan (Singson) Waterworks, Ilocos Sur.
3. Ilocos Norte Metropolitan Waterworks.
4. Camarines Sur Metropolitan Waterworks.
5. Zamboanga Waterworks.
6. Cebu Metropolitan Waterworks.
7. Iloilo Metropolitan Waterworks.
8. Lucena-Pagbilao Waterworks in Tayabas.
Prior to 1898 and up to the early part of 1904, no artesian wells
had been constructed in the Philippines. The first was drilled by
the Bureau of Public Works at Engineer Island in December, 1904.
From then until September 30, 1935, 2,390 successful artesian wells
have been drilled in towns, barrios, and sitios throughout the Islands,
at a total cost of P5,611,315.44, supplying approximately 3,000,000
people with pure water.
Irrigation was known in the Philippines even prior to 1521 as
evidenced by the wonderful rice terraces of Northern Luzon. Under
the initiative of Spanish priests 27,700 hectares of rice land were
placed under irrigation at an estimated cost of P6,000,000. To this
the American rëgime has added irrigating systems for 83,200 hectares
at a cost of 18,647,000. To these must be added private systems.
built during the past 25 years irrigating 604,000 additional hectares,
and bringing the grand total of irrigated land up to 715,000 hectares,,
a great advance over the Spanish régime.
Of the port works in use today, only the old river walls and a
very short part of the north breakwater at Manila were built prior
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
53
to 1898. During the past 35 years 75,000,000 have been devoted to
construction and improvement at nearly 100 ports throughout the
Islands, ranging from the breakwater, sheltered harbor, and modern
piers at Manila to simple landings for small coasters at isolated
towns.
There is reflected in all this an earnestness of purpose in the Amer-
ican stewardship, and a capacity on the part of the Filipino people
to build and enjoy better things. The Filipino people can continue
to have them only if the tax burden is levied equitably, paid cheer-
fully, and spent wisely for the good of the people as a whole.
INTERISLAND SHIPPING
Before American occupation there was very little interisland ship-
ping. Seven days after the fall of Manila the Manila Customhouse
was established. It was apparent that there should be a larger num-
ber of ships in the coastwise service, to strengthen the newly estab-
lished civil government and better conditions for farmers in all
sections of the Islands. In March, 1902, 196 ports were opened to
interisland traffic. There being no Government funds available for
subsidies, and few capitalists and merchants willing to invest in
shipping, Act 520 was passed in November, 1902, throwing open coast-
wise trade to foreign vessels without restriction until July, 1904. A
growing tendency toward nationalization of the coast wise shipping
industry culminated in Act 3084 passed in March, 1923, which pro-
vides that only vessels of domestic ownership may engage in the
coastwise trade. Foreign firms which had engaged in the trade
before 1904 were allowed to continue, but were prohibited from
adding any new ships.
Prior to December, 1927, interisland service was mediocre. Fixed
schedules were not maintained and the service was uncertain and
unsatisfactory. With the passage of Act No. 3418 the jurisdiction
of the Public Utility Commission over routes was withdrawn. This
led to free competition, acceleration of service, and the entry of new
ships into the field. The commerce of the Islands has steadily
increased from about P68,000,000 in 1899 to over #350,000,000 in
1934. Goods amounting to such a sum must be moved expeditiously.
An important factor in the development of this commerce has
been the steady improvement of ports. Beginning with the con-
struction of sea walls and small wooden docks in Manila, Iloilo, and
Cebu, a program of port works has received generous support from
the Government. The result has been that all the important sea
ports from Aparri to Sulu have been improved, with Manila the out-
standing example of what can be done in this line.
Between 1916 and 1926 there were many losses due to shipwrecks,
etc. An annual inspection by the Bureau of Customs was instituted,
improving the seaworthiness of the ships. The development of the
interisland shipping to its present level of efficiency is a notable
and vital achievement for a people largely dependent upon the sea
for their channels of trade.
The most populous sections of the Philippines, Central Luzon and
Cebu, have been given the advantage of efficient railroad facilities
for a number of years, and commercial automobile traffic has closely
followed the improvement in highways.
54 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPRINE GOVERNMENT
AVIATION MAKES AUSPICIOUS START
Very recently the first chapters of Philippine aviation history
have been written. Private enterprise has pioneered and has demon-
strated the practicability of air communication. A country of more
than 7,000 islands offers a great field for this most modern develop-
ment in transportation, and the past several years have shown re-
sults which hold great promise for the future.
Thousands of miles have been flown commercially, on regular
schedules, north to Baguio, and south to Iloilo and Cebu, and only
the other day regular service was extended to Davao in Mindanao.
At present there are some 40 landing fields throughout the islands,
20 of which have been constructed by the Philippine government.
This work is progressing as rapidly as possible so that within a year
every town of the Philippines will be within a day's trip from
Manila. Great credit is due to the Air Corps of the United States
Army and in particular to the enthusiastic interest and support of
Major General Frank Parker for the recent acquisition and construc-
tion of landing fields at stategic points. In addition, the Air Corps
has made exhaustive surveys and has drawn up plans for a system of
air routes covering the entire Archipelago.
Within a few days we shall hail the first trans-Pacific flight by the
Pan-American Airways, which will mark the beginning of a new
epoch of travel and communication between the Philippines and the
rest of the world.
PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY
men.
In recent months reforms have been inaugurated in the Philippine
Constabulary, bringing the organization to a high state of efficiency.
With the cooperation of the Legislature, which appropriated the
necessary funds, the force has been increased from 400 officers and
5,047 men to its present strength of 549 officers and 8,512 enlisted
Two signal companies, two chemical warfare companies, and
one howitzer company have been organized. Twelve machine guns
and several Thompson submachine guns have been acquired. At the
same time it has been put upon a solid basis of promotions and
rewards on merit only. The Filipino people and their American
sponsors have every reason to feel pride and confidence in the Philip-
pine Constabulary as it exists today. It is not an arm of war, but an
agency of law and order and our goal during the past two years and
a half has been to make it a unit reasonably adequate to the needs
of peace in the Islands. This, I am firmly convinced, has been
achieved and my only injunction in this connection is that this goal
be kept clearly and steadfastly in mind.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic progress in the Philippines has justified the hopes of
those who set out thirty-five years ago to train a people for nation-
hood on the principles enunciated by the farseeing revolutionaries
of 1776. Building on a foundation of enlightened altruism, America
has consummated an achievement without parallel in the annals
of colonial administration.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
55
→
The early American Government found the Philippines with a
meager and inadequate economy. The total of foreign trade was
less than 100,000,000 a year. Imports exceeded exports and the
balance of trade, both visible and invisible, was seriously against
the Islands. Internal trade was seriously restricted and Philippine
economy was essentially that of the village. The country was almost
wholly agricultural. Industrial development and improvement were
negligible. Even in the field of agriculture, the necessity of import-
ing a considerable fraction of the principal item of diet, consisting
of rice, attested the inadequacy of the national economy. It is
estimated that probably less than 5 percent of the land area was
under any form of cultivation.
By successive steps the Government proceeded to build a larger
and surer economy and obtain a wider distribution of the growing
wealth. In 1902 a discount of 25 percent from the regular United
States tariff rates was granted. In 1909 free trade was set up with
mild restrictions. In 1913 unlimited free trade was established.
In the years that followed, American import duties on foreign goods
competing with Philippine goods were successively raised.
Today at the end of thirty-five years of economic growth, the for-
eign trade of the Philippines is running approximately 400,000,000
annually-more than fourfold as compared with trade in 1901. Even
the invisible items of trade have turned in favor of the islands. Trade
with America has acquired so favorable a position that it has offset
for many years with a favorable balance the negative balances with
all Oriental and most European countries with which the Philippines
trade,
The population has more than doubled. Land under cultivation
has increased nearly threefold. The rice problem has been solved,
and during the past few years the Islands have been all but self-
sufficient in cereal requirements. Should necessity arise, the cattle-
raising industry has made it possible to supply all of our meat. The
production of abaca and tobacco has more than doubled. Corn has
increased fourfold, rice fivefold, lumber and forest products sixfold,
sugar sixfold. Copra production has increased ninefold, and min-
eral production has risen from a negligible position to one that is
commanding the respect of the world.
Formerly all our products left our shores in raw state, or as nearly
so as conditions of transport allowed. Today nearly half our copra
is converted into oil; practically all our sugar is carried to 96 degrees
or more; our tobacco goes forth as cigars; and a respectable fraction
of our abaca leaves as rope. The sound first steps of industrial de-
velopment have been taken in the form of maximum elaboration of
our agricultural products.
C
This economic advance has not been made on the basis of exploita-
tion. A share of the profit has been passed all the way down the
line, resulting in the highest labor wage in the Orient. Philippine
labor has been preserved, guided and trained to a degree of compe-
tence of which we are proud. The public domain has not been ex-
ploited. Large estate grants a sore spot in other days have not
been tolerated. The natural inheritance of the Filipino as the owner
of his fatherland has not been violated. The Filipino has been
encouraged to enter the professions. No door has been closed, no
reasonable want has been denied him.
56
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
But what does it signify, this gaining of a better economy, if the
chief aim of government is the well-being of the people generally?
Is it merely crass materialism, or has it improved and enriched the
life and spirit of the generality of men and women? The public
benefits that have accrued from the wealth created during the last
thirty-five years are too numerous to catalog fully. A few may be
sketched:
1. Higher standards of diet, clothing, and housing have lifted the
Filipino laborer far above the level on which he formerly lived.
2. State funds have been provided out of which railroads, high-
ways, bridges, and ports have been brought into useful being.
3. State pay rolls make possible the highest average salary for
Government employees and the largest number per capita to be found
in the Orient or Tropics.
4. Private capital is available for investment in sugar mills, oil
mills, store and offices, land and houses; capital that has been used
to modernize the old industries and create new ones.
5. Less tangible but equally important, are the acquirement of bet-
ter health, wider education, and higher scientific and artistic cul-
ture, and all the chain of advancing social standards, which come
with an expanding and diffused economy.
GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED COMPANIES GAIN
All government-owned companies showed decided gains during the
past two years with the exception of the Manila Railroad Co., which
has suffered loss due to optional currency clauses in its 4-percent
Southern Lines bonds and the reduction of freight volume. The
Manila Hotel Co. showed a net profit of P122,652.89 for the year
1934 as against a nominal profit of only 500.19 for the preceding
year. The Cebu Portland Cement Co. continued its profitable op-
eration with a net profit of P432,510.68 as compared with P268,483.73
for the year 1933.
The Philippine National Bank had a profit of 3,931,266.90 as
compared with P3,153,759.21 in 1933. This favorable showing has
been continued in 1935, the first nine months of which show a profit
of P3,060,244.07. These profits include recoveries of charged-off
items, and have been accomplished despite the lowering of interest
rates on all classes of paper.
The profits of the Philippine National Bank are not the true
measure of its service to the people of these Islands. It provides
service in many ways. As a depository of the Government it serves
the country as a whole. The facilities of the Bank have been ex-
tended to the remote districts and at all of these places it provides
facilities for a safe depository for funds, for exchanging checks for
cash, for sending drafts for collection, and extending loans to small
farmers and merchants.
PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
The Philippines has led during the American occupation all other
oriental countries in progress made in health and welfare. Epi-
demics are controlled; pandemics are definitely of the past; com-
merce is no longer impeded by quarantine and other restrictions
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
57
necessary to prevent the spread of disease; new measures have been
inaugurated by the Government to improve the living conditions of
the poor and to protect those economically distressed from the
ravages of disease.
As a typical example, I refer particularly to the construction
during the past two years of a modern water-filtration plant for the
City of Manila. It is significant of the progress which had been
made that Manila, a tropical city, is thus provided with a water
supply which is not excelled in purity by that of any other city in
the world. The prevalence of water-borne diseases in the City of
Manila has already been reduced and there is no doubt that the
pure water now available for the inhabitants of Manila will be an
important factor in the continued improvement in the public health
of the city.
Today the Insular Government operates 80 hospitals having 4,402
beds, and more than 1,000 dispensaries. During the past two years
special attention has been devoted to the care of the insane and the
mentally defective. Government facilities for the institutional treat-
ment of insane patients have been doubled and many of the un-
fortunates who formerly wandered at large or were confined in jails
now receive proper care. During the past year we have revised the
standard of care of the insane and perfected our administrative
methods to conform to the best practices in this field. Also, during
the past year we have set up a school for mentally defective children
at Welfareville where they can be trained, guided, and given the
opportunity to become useful citizens.
Within the last two years we have developed a new approach to
health and social work in the Philippines. The modern conception
of government supervision of all matters relating to the welfare of
the public has been put into actual practice, and the Philippine
Government has assumed full and complete responsibility for the
relief of public distress due to any cause, whether it be social
maladjustment, economic conditions, disaster or sickness.
The problem of providing medical care for the people of the
barrios and the congested districts of the cities and towns is being
met by a public health nursing service which is being extended to
the more remote communities. Only within the last year we have
placed 250 additional nurses in this work. Traveling clinics, which
are in fact mobile hospitals, are now being employed to reach the
isolated villages of the Mountain Province.
In the overcrowded areas and slum districts of Manila and the
larger towns we have established social services for the poor, the
distressed, and the underprivileged. Greatly increased protection
for the health and the welfare of children and the mothers of the
slums has been thus provided. Methods of improving the housing
of the poor have been adopted on a basis which will permit of con-
tinued progress.
Since 1933 the best the western world has to offer in public wel-
fare service has been inaugurated here and been eagerly adopted by
the Filipino people. A well grounded, long-time program of health
and social services has been established. If persistently developed
over a period of years it will be an important factor in the success
of the Commonwealth Government. A widespread social con-
H. Doc. 400, 74—2—————5
58
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
sciousness has been aroused among the officials and the people of
the towns and barrios. I cannot overemphasize the importance of
sustaining this social consciousness through the years to come. I
trust that all of us who have been responsible will make continued
efforts along these lines and will consider ourselves to be trustees
charged with preserving these services and making them more and
more progressive and with seeing that there is no stagnation and
above all no backward movement.
The present government of the Philippine Islands may take just
pride in its adoption of the humanitarian principles of government
responsibility to ameliorate distress among our helpless people due
to any cause, whether it be social maladjustment, economic condi-
tions, disaster or sickness.
BUREAU OF SCIENCE
-
The Bureau of Science, organized in 1901 as the Bureau of Gov-
ernment Laboratories, and taking its present name in 1905, has
been of inestimable assistance in the progress achieved here. At
first concerned almost wholly in protection against disease, it did
magnificent work, and for many years there has been no possibility
of such major disasters as the outbreak of cholera that occurred in
1902, continuing for two years and taking the lives of nearly 100,000
people. In fact it can be said that cholera, bubonic plague, dysen-
tery, and malaria are under control.
The Bureau is tireless in its efforts to assist in improving the
general health of the people, in its researches to develop natural
resources, and in its cooperation with and helpfulness toward indus-
try.
Thanks to the Bureau, copra production has become doubly profit-
able through elimination of wasteful methods, and similar assist-
ance to the sugar industry has produced additional millions. The
Bureau has assisted factories making paints, varnishes, cement and:
other industrial products from local raw materials; it has conducted
experiments in the field of ceramics; aided materially in conserva-
tion of fish and game; in development of the mineral resources of
the Islands; in improvement of crops, forestry and tropical plants,
and in general has made a place for itself in the very heart and
marrow of the economic life of the people.
The Bureau is a research institute of extreme value. Its inter-
national reputation is deserved and it is one of the greatest lega-
cies that the new Philippine Commonwealth will inherit from the
American régime.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
In the administration of justice, there are outstanding milestones.
erected by the joint efforts of Americans and Filipinos, that reflect
the genius of American institutions and the capacity of the Filipino
people to absorb and apply democratic principles of government.
Before the galleons of Magellan touched these shores, the native
laws were mostly based on usages and ancestral customs. The pen-
alties for violations of penal laws were severe and cruel.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
59
Spain did much to modernize the administration of justice in the
Islands. The Spanish Penal Code was implanted here. A Supreme
Court, courts of first instance in the provinces, and justice-of-the-
peace courts in the municipalities were established. Individual
liberty, however, was hemmed in by a multitude of restrictions which
resulted in many injustices, especially to the common people.
One of the first acts of American rule was the organization of a
judicial system, and in the Philippine Bill of 1902, Congress im-
planted in these Islands the same guaranties of constitutional and
individual liberty that are found in the United States Constitution
with the exception of the right to keep and bear arms and the system
of trial by jury. A reorganization of the courts was effected and
orderly procedure was provided for the trial of cases. In all crim-
inal prosecutions, a speedy and public trial was guaranteed to the
accused; his right to bail, to compulsory process of obtaining wit-
nesses in his favor, to be assisted by counsel, and not to be compelled
to be a witness against himself, were expressly recognized.
Today, we have a modern system of courts and judicial procedure.
Conscientious efforts have been exerted during the last thirty-five
years to guarantee to the people of these Islands a fair and impartial
administration of justice. In line with this policy, there has been
introduced recently a far-reaching innovation in the selection of
judges. I refer to the organization of the Judicial Council, which
has been functioning satisfactorily. Properly guided and directed,
this Judicial Council should insure to the people of these Islands the
appointment of competent judges selected primarily on merit.
In the field of penology, there have been introduced changes in-
tended to aid the accused and to ameliorate the condition of those
convicted by the courts of justice. I refer to the law providing for
public defenders, the Indeterminate Sentence Law and the law creat-
ing the probation office which is now being organized.
Since the Indeterminate Sentence Law went into effect in January,
1934, there has been marked improvement in the behavior and morale
of prisoners. During the twenty-two months of its effectiveness, 645
prisoners have been given parole. Of these only three have violated
their parole. The probation system, which will soon be in operation,
will complement the Indeterminate Sentence Law. We have every
reason to expect that these two institutions will be found eminently
suited to the social conditions of these Islands, because the spiritual
side of the Filipino character is especially receptive to the benign
idea of reform.
CULTURAL DESTINIES
The cultural prospects of the Filipino people are full of promise.
The racial and cultural differences of the Philippine population have
been unduly exaggerated. Evidence is strong that there is building
up in these Islands a true general Philippine culture around which
future development will revolve. A blending of diverse elements
in the population has been going on continuously for 2,000 years,
and has been especially rapid during the Spanish and American
periods due to the greater peace and order and freer communication.
The increasing homogeneity in the population is not a mere altru-
istic hope. There is strong scientific basis for holding that seem-
60
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
ingly discordant and nonfusable elements not only can be but are
being fused. From the time of Dr. José Rizal down to the present
the opinion has been held by many American and Filipino author-
ities that among the non-Christian population are elements that con-
stitute a strong asset for the future Philippines.
The pagan, Moro, and other non-Christian peoples possess essen-
tially the same racial traits and innate psychology as the majority
of the inhabitants of the Christian provinces. Investigations of
Professor Beyer and others show that the Filipino-blend type is de-
veloping steadily in all parts of the Islands-regardless of linguistic,
religious, and cultural differences. Such studies forecast the steady
growth of an harmonious and blended Filipino race that will one
day be characteristic throughout the Islands.
On the cultural side, there will be need for much patient and
tolerant consideration in dealing with the pagan and non-Christian
groups. A policy of gradual education and improvement of economic
conditions, however, will eventually bring about cultural amalgama-
tion-and develop a strong and unified Philippine population.
GOVERNMENTAL FINANCE
This gratifying and remarkable expansion in the natural economy
is reflected also in the parallel story of governmental finances. Let
us look at a few figures. Excluding bond issues, the total revenues
in all funds of the central government in 1901 amounted to P21,-
532,490. They rose to a high peak of 92,783,173.70 in the boom
year of 1929. In the last fiscal year (1934) they totaled P78,674,751.33.
Provincial revenues increased during the same period from P2,-
410,437.16 to P24,385,978.07 in 1934, reaching an all-time high of
P30,889,071.38 in 1930.
In municipal and city governments, revenues increased from
P10,059,546.58 in 1906 to 36,509,794.48 in 1934, with a high figure
in 1929 of P44,881,945.92.
With the two chartered cities included, total public revenues in
the Islands grew from P48,772,193.21 in 1910 to
in 1934.
119,792,900.38
These large levies on the public and their industries have in large
measure been returned to them or preserved in the form of increas-
ing public services and valuable fixed properties owned by the gov-
ernment. The permanent investments of the central government
alone in real property and equipment and other forms, have a cost
value of 267,800,493.23 as of December 31, 1934.
Interesting as they are, these matters are perhaps of less immediate
importance and concern to us at the present moment than the cur-
rent financial condition of the government. In all funds of the
central government on December 31, 1934, there was a surplus of
more than seventy-five million pesos (75,179,189.42), as compared
with less than nine and one-half million pesos (P9,331,582.85) on
June 30, 1901. In the general fund alone there was a current surplus
of approximately thirty-seven million pesos (36,900,492.19)* on
December 31, 1934. Of this amount a substantial portion was cash
in the governmental depositories. The excess of cash over recorded
obligations and liabilities was almost seventeen million pesos (P16,-
881,497.41) as of December 31, 1934. In addition to this approxi-
C
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
61
?
mately $30,000,000 awaits clearance in Washington and will soon
be paid into the Philippine treasury from excise taxes levied and
collected on coconut oil under a recent Act of Congress, which will
leave our general fund in the strongest position of our history.
The bonded debt of the central government and its subdivisions
is not excessive. At the end of 1934 it stood at slightly more than
one hundred and sixty million pesos (160,364,700), but with sinking
funds totaling more than sixty millions (P60,895,286.55), the
net bonded indebtedness is slightly less than one hundred million
pesos (P99,469,413.45). The Manila Railroad Co., whose stock is
wholly owned by the government, also has a net bonded debt after
sinking fund of P48,856,424.14. Interest on bonds of the Philippine
Railway Co., amounting to 17,098,000, is guaranteed by the central
government until July, 1937.
Philippine public finances are sound. In some respects they might
well excite the envy of many of the large nations of the world today.
In the central government for the past two and three-quarter years,
expenditures from all funds have been considerably less than the cur-
rent revenues accruing to those funds. Our budget is balanced in
fact as well as in form.
The surplus of the central government should be jealously
guarded. It may be difficult to borrow externally at advantageous
rates of interest. Lack of large local capital accumulations limits
the possibilities of internal loans. While the governmental bonded
debt is not excessive and is being properly serviced, major financial
problems exist in the bonded indebtedness of our railroads, and in
the pension funds of the government wherein liabilities are steadily
accruing without adequate provision to meet them. These pension
funds at present are not actuarily sound and a government_policy
for their rehabilitation should be instituted without delay. Several
provinces are financially weak. Ordinary and recurring normal ex-
penditures for the national defense will tax government resources
severely. Continuing demands may be expected for concessions to
delinquent taxpayers, and the prospects of increasing revenues are
not favorable without extreme measures that might curtail business
and investment activities.
It would seem wise, therefore, to keep the present surplus intact
as the proper reserve for a government of the position and size of
the Philippine Government. Extraordinary and nonrecurring ac-
cretions should be recognized and treated as windfalls that will not
be repeated. Let us look well to cut within our financial cloth. In
our present economy and environment, the safe course for this Gov-
ernment is to keep its budget in balance and its current expenditures
within current income. Without a sound financial position and a
program of sound public finance, the most essential and fundamental
functions of government are handicapped and may be completely
paralyzed. No governmental activity comes ahead of an orderly
financial program.
In closing this subject I should like to repeat the exhortation
contained in my first address to the Philippine people:
The first duty of such a government (this Government), in order of statement
if not of importance, is to conduct its own business on a sound and orderly
basis, efficiently and economically, giving a peso in actual service for every
peso of income. It must carefully budget its expenditures so that they will
62
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
?
not exceed its revenue or dissipate the public resources in unnecessary services
or activities. For the time being we must have recourse to uncompromising
economy in spending. The public debt also must be kept within proper and
conservative limits. This result will be assured by the preparation of a care-
ful program and strict and rigid adherence to it by all the departments of
the Government. A budget is valuable only if, and when, expenditures are
kept within it. Together we will make a stubborn stand against the unwhole-
some practice of allowing deficits to creep into our balance sheets.
The present sound and satisfactory state of governmental finances,
with budgets balanced and substantial reserves at hand, is clear indi-
cation that an honest effort has been made to practice what we have
preached.
POLITICAL PROGRESS
With the development we have been tracing in the fields of eco-
nomics and finance, communication and education, science and hy-
giene, political development has kept pace. The Philippine public
gradually attained an understanding of the theory and processes
of popular government, and acquired experience in its practice.
This was according to the plans conceived and formulated by the
first American administrators. Small beginnings had been made
in Spanish times, with a limited right of suffrage and the privilege
of electing municipal and barrio officials. Municipalities became
autonomous in 1901. Provincial boards came under popular control
in 1905. Two years later the first national legislative assembly was
inaugurated. Filipinos were taking rapidly to the ways and methods
of American democracy.
The next step was the Jones Act in 1916, under which we have op-
erated until today. Within the short space of sixteen years, the Fili-
pino people had qualified themselves to the satisfaction of the
American Congress for exclusive control of the legislative branch
of their government. In large measure they had justified the great
American faith in the inherent capacity of people to govern them-
selves, given equal advantages of education and training. The ad-
ministration of justice also was gradually placed in the hands of the
Filipinos. Although the executive branch until now has been under
American direction and control, actual administration during recent
years has been largely in Philippine hands. The recent extension
of equal suffrage to women was a notable contribution by the Philip-
pine Legislature to democratic progress.
In this steady advance in the art of democratic and constitu-
tional government toward the ultimate goal of complete inde-
pendence, the crowning event has been the framing and adoption
by the Philippine people, under the terms of the Tydings-McDuffie
Act, of a permanent constitution for their Government. This ad-
mirable document, with its guaranties of representative government
and freedom for the individual citizen, is eloquent proof of the
success of our policies and the soundness of our political faith.
Under the stipulation of the Tydings-McDuffie Act, by voting the
adoption of this Constitution, the Filipino people themselves defi-
nitely and freely decided the matter of independence. This Act was
fundamentally a product of the political idealism and unselfishness
of the American people. It was the generous act of a generous
people. If some adjustments should appear desirable to alleviate
unnecessary hardships, we may be confident that the American Con-
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
63
gress will not refuse to consider them. With full warning, however,
and understanding of the inconvenience and risk and hardship
that may be entailed by their separation from the United States,
the Filipino people have definitely and gladly assumed the condi-
tions and responsibilities and have adhered to the course that leads
uitimately to full sovereignty and independence.
America has kept faith with her political principles and has been
true to her origins. Putting aside considerations of empire and
self-interest, with deep understanding of the strong yearning of a
people for political freedom, acknowledging the right of a people to
self-determination when supported by demonstrated understanding
of constitutional self-government and evidence of capacity to sus-
tain it, the United States has accepted the decision that has been
made here, and is prepared to surrender its trusteeship. In good
time this will be done.
Material progress is dearly bought and of little worth when ob-
tained at the price of exploitation and suppression of a people's
patrimony and liberty and their individual initiative. The record
of America cannot be told merely in terms of public revenues and
economic production. Things more precious in the life of a people
are the preservation of racial integrity and culture, the enlargement
of human liberty, the cultivation of a spirit of adventure and initia-
tive. These priceless qualities, so essential in the building of a
nation, have been permitted to grow and flourish by the liberal and
farseeing policies that have guided the administration of Philip-
pine affairs by American authorities. With these elements of char-
acter and mutual toleration of differences in religious faith, aided
by a favorable geographical grouping and freedom from deep racial
conflicts, the Philippines, under wise and patient and just leadership,
may become a strong and united nation.
So we have come to this present hour. Through the idealistic poli-
cies of her statesmen, McKinley, Root and Taft, and Wilson and
Roosevelt, supplemented by the conscientious and devoted service
of her representatives in these Islands, and the strong friendship and
sympathy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the political faith of America
has flowered and is nearing fruition. Free education, constitu-
tional principles, freedom of conscience and opinion, material prog-
ress, economic development, stable finances, responsible government-
these essentials of a sound and enduring democracy have been estab-
lished in the land.
A splendid chapter in Philippine history, in which this body under
able leaders has played a distinguished part, is now coming to a
close. With a large and growing population, expanding industry
and agriculture, easy communication and increasing wealth, a gov-
ernment financially stable and sound, an enlightened press, and an
informed and patriotic citizenry, the sinews of statehood and the
elements of a strong national life have been provided. We place in
the hands of our successors a rich estate, a high trust, and a glorious
privilege to preserve and administer this Government that we have
built together upon the faith and confidence of the American people.
Another chapter remains to be written before the record is com-
plete, and the mission accomplished. To assure its success a further
period of adjustment has been provided, under the protection and
guidance of United States authority. Retaining full rights of sov-
64
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
ereignty, with appropriate functions and authority vested in the
President and other agencies for the protection of its legitimate in-
terests under the Independence Act, the United States Government
is now entrusting direct management of domestic affairs to the newly
elected representatives of the Philippine people—the President and
members of the National Assembly.
Their success and the success of the Commonwealth will rest not
upon the fine hopes and enthusiasm of this moment. It will require
deep and abiding loyalty to the principles of sound finance and social
justice, freedom from measures that are selfish and oppressive, stead-
fast devotion to the ideals and principles of democracy. The per-
sonal aspect of government must be minimized. All officials should
be humble before the majesty of the law. Above personal success
and personal loyalty, the good citizen and true patriot will place.
the supremacy of the law, duty to the State, and devotion to the
public good and welfare.
This great and happy venture of the American and Filipino
people is not yet ended. With an altered framework and broader
autonomy, the Philippine Government goes on under the American
flag, with the full confidence and support of the people and Govern-
ment of the United States. As in all good books of high adventure
and romance, we close this chapter anticipating the next, confident
that the Divine Author will bring the story to a fair ending in ac-
cordance with the faith and high purpose of its beginning.
FRANK MURPHY,
Governor-General.
THE PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE,
Manila, P. I.
THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
W
A PROCLAMATION*
WHEREAS pursuant to the provisions of the act of Congress
entitled "An Act to provide for the complete independence of the
Philippine Islands, to provide for the adoption of a constitution
and a form of government for the Philippine Islands, and for other
purposes", approved March 24, 1934 (48 Stat. 456), and in accord-
ance with the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
heretofore adopted and ratified by the people of the Philippine
Islands, an election was held in the Philippine Islands on September
17, 1935, for the purpose of electing officers of the government of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines; and
WHEREAS the Governor General of the Philippine Islands has
certified to me as President of the United States of America the
result of the said election: '
A
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT,
President of the United States of America, under and by virtue of
the authority vested in me by the aforesaid Act and in conformity
with section 4 thereof, do announce and proclaim that at the election
so held in the Philippine Islands on September 17, 1935, officers of
*Read by Governor General Murphy at the inaugural ceremonies on Nov. 15.
;
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
65
the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines were duly
elected as follows:
PRESIDENT: Manuel L. Quezon of Baler, Tayabas.
VICE PRESIDENT: Sergio Osmena of Cebu, Cebu.
MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY:
•
ABRA, Quintin Paredes.
AGUSAN, Apolonio D. Curato.
ALBAY, 1st District, Jose Bonto.
2nd District, Justino Nuyda
3rd District, Pedro Sabido.
4th District, Pedro Vera.
ANTIQUE, Calixto O. Zaldivar.
BATAAN, Teodoro Camacho.
BATANES, Vicente Agan.
BATANGAS, 1st District, Natalio Lopez.
2nd District, Eusebio Orense.
3rd District, Maximo Kalaw.
BOHOL, 1st District, Juan Torralba.
2nd District, Olegario B. Clarin.
3rd District, Margarito E. Revilles.
BUKIDNON, Manuel Fortich.
BULACAN, 1st District, Nicolas Buendia.
2nd District, Antonio Villarama.
CAGAYAN, 1st District, Marcelo Adduru.
2nd District, Regino Veridiano.
CAMARINES NORTE, Cayetano Lukban.
CAMARINES SUR, 1st District, Francisco Celebrado.
2nd District, Luis N. de Leon.
CAPIZ, 1st District, Manuel Roxas.
2nd District, Jose A. Dorado.
3rd District, Rafael Tumbokon.
CAVITE, Justiniano S. Montano.
CEBU, 1st District, Celestino Rodriguez.
2nd District, Hilario Abellana.
3rd District, Agustin Y. Kintanar.
4th District, Vicente Rama.
5th District, Miguel Cuenco.
6th District, Nicolas Rafols.
7th District, Buenaventura Rodriguez.
COTABATO, Datu Sinsuat.
DAVAO, Romualdo Quimpo.
ILOCOS NORTE, 1st District, Vicente T. Lazo.
2nd District, Julio Nalundasan.
ILOCOS SUR, 1st District, Benito Soliven.
2nd District, Sixto Brillantes.
ILOILO, 1st District, Jose C. Zulueta.
2nd District, Ruperto Montinola.
3rd District, Tomas Confesor.
4th District, Tomas Buenaflor.
5th District, Victorino Salcedo,
ISABELA, Mauro Versosa.
LAGUNA, 1st District, Tomas Dizon.
2nd District, Arsenio Bonifacio.
T
66
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
LANAO, Tomas Cabili.
LA UNION, 1st District, Camilo Osias.
2nd District, Agaton R. Yaranon.
LEYTE, 1st District, Jose Ma. Veloso.
2nd District, Dominador M. Tan.
3rd District, Tomas Oppus.
4th District, Francisco Enage.
5th District, Ruperto Kapunan.
MANILA, 1st District, Gregorio Perfecto.
2nd District, Pedro Gil.
MARINDUQUE, Cecilio A. Maneja.
MASBATE, Pio V. Corpus.
MINDORO, Juan L. Luna.
MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL, Jose Ozamis.
MISAMIS ORIENTAL, Leon Borromeo.
MOUNTAIN PROVINCE, 1st District, Saturnino Moldero.
2nd District, Felipe Jose.
3rd District, George K. Tait.
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, 1st District, Enrique Magalona.
2nd District, Pedro C. Hernaez.
3rd District, Gil M. Montilla.
NEGROS ORIENTAL, 1st District, Guillermo Z. Villanueva.
2nd District, Jose E. Romero.
NUEVA ECIJA, 1st District, Manuel Alzate.
2nd District, Felipe Buencamino, Jr.
NUEVA VIZCAYA, Bernardo Buenafe.
PALAWAN, Claudio Sandoval.
PAMPANGA, 1st District, Eligio G. Lagman.
2nd District, Jose P. Fausto.
PANGASINAN, 1st District, Anacleto B. Ramos.
2nd District, Eugenio Perez.
3rd District, Daniel Maramba.
4th District, N. T. Rupisan.
5th District, Narciso Ramos.
RIZAL, 1st District, Pedro Magsalin.
2nd District, Emilio de la Paz.
ROMBLON, Gabriel F. Fabella.
SAMAR, 1st District, Antolin D. Tan.
2nd District, Serafin Marabut.
3rd District, Juan Bocar.
SORSOGON, 1st District, Norberto A. Roque.
2nd District, Tomas S. Clemente.
SULU, Datu Ombra Amilbangsa.
TARLAC, 1st District, Jose G. Cojuangco.
2nd District, Benigno Aquino.
TAYABAS, 1st District, Jose A. Angara.
2nd District, Francisco Lavides.
ZAMBALES, Potenciano Lesaca.
ZAMBOANGA, Juan S. Alano.
In SURIGAO the election resulted in a tie between Ricardo
Navarro and Clementino V. Diez.
This proclamation shall be effective upon its promulgation at
Manila, Philippine Islands, on November 15, 1935, by the Secretary,
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
67
of War of the United States of America, who is hereby designated
as my representative for that purpose.
And I do further announce and proclaim that, in accordance with
the provisions of the aforesaid Act, upon such promulgation of this
proclamation the existing Philippine Government shall terminate
and the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines shall
enter upon its rights, privileges, powers, and duties as provided
under the said Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
DONE at the City of Washington this 14th day of November in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and thirty-five,
[SEAL] and of the Independence of the United States of America
the one hundred and sixtieth.
FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT
By the President:
CORDELL HULL
Secretary of State.
[No. 2148]
INVOCATION BY HIS GRACE, THE MOST REVEREND GABRIEL M. REYES,
D. D., ARCHBISHOP OF CEBU.
To the King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor
and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Almighty and merciful God, who through Thy providence ruleth
the destinies of peoples and nations, we thank Thee for this day so
longed for by the Filipino people, dawning with bright hopes for
the fulfillment of our cherished and legitimate aspirations.
Casting now, O Lord, a glance on the history of our nation, we
recognize Thy guiding hands; Thou didst entrust us to the noble
and Catholic Spain, who brought us the good tidings of the gospel
and led us along the ways of Christian civilization; Thou didst assist
us in our efforts toward the attainment of our emancipation, by
timely placing us under the beneficent protection of America, for the
considerate and helpful development of our means and resources.
Hence this new nation beseeches Thy blessing on her future, for
we all know that "They labor in vain who build the house, unless
God builds it with them."
Deign, O Lord, to bless America and Spain, and deign to complete
Thy work in us.
We pray Thee, O God of Wisdom and Justice, from whom all
authority comes, to assist with Thy light and power the authorities
who have been elected by the will of their brethren. Confirm their
authority, so that they may always enjoy a willing and loyal obedi-
ence. Assist with Thy holy spirit of counsel the President and the
Vice President of our new Government, that their administration
may be conducted in equity, eminently useful and constructive to the
nation they preside over.
Let Thy divine wisdom enlighten the deliberations of our Na-
tional Assembly, so that all may tend to the promotion of national
happiness. Inspire them to labor for the spiritual and moral better-
ment of our people, for "of all the dispositions and habits which
68
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable.'
Bless our industries and commerce. Preserve union and peace,
liberty and equality amongst Thy beloved people.
We pray likewise for His Excellency, the High Commissioner of
the United States, for all the magistrates, judges, and governors,
and all other officers who are entrusted to safeguard our political
welfare. To all of them, grant, O merciful God, strength and
vigor, that they may be enabled to discharge with wisdom and
honesty their respective duties.
""

Be mindful, O Lord, of Thy servants, our patriots, who have
fought for our liberty and have gone before us with the sign of
faith and rest in the sleep of peace. To them, O Lord, and to all
our countrymen who sleep in Christ, we beseech Thee, to grant of
Thy goodness a state of comfort, light, and peace. Through the
same Christ our Lord. Amen.
INTRODUCTION OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR OF THE UNITED STATES BY
HON. FRANK MURPHY, GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS.
Friends:
For this great and inspiring occasion, we make grateful acknowl-
edgment to the steadfast faith of the American people and the
Congress of the United States and to the encouragement and assist-
ance of that great friend of the Philippine people, the President of
the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
As further evidence of his deep interest and friendship, President
Roosevelt has requested and designated another true friend of Philip-
pine liberty to represent him on this occasion-a former Governor
of one of the sovereign American States and a distinguished ad-
ministrator of one of the great departments of the American Gov-
ernment, that Department which under his guidance has specially
guarded and protected the interests of the Philippine Government
and has supervised the administration of its affairs. The Philippine
people and all who share official responsibility for their welfare
and Government rejoice in the presence here today of Hon. George
H. Dern, Secretary of War, whom I now have the honor to present
to you.
ADDRESS OF THE HONORABLE GEORGE H. DERN, SECRETARY of War, at
THE INAUGURATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH
OF THE PHILIPPINES, AT MANILA, P. I., NOVEMBER 15, 1935.
Citizens of the Philippines:
I have the distinguished honor to come to you as the representative
of the President of the United States to participate in the ceremonies
of this momentous occasion. We are about to establish and put into
operation the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines,
as ordained by the Congress of the United States. This event is
another landmark in your steady progress toward the fulfillment of
your aspirations to be a completely independent sovereign nation-ul-
timately to be realized through the practical, cooperative efforts of two
peoples imbued with the same ideals of liberty and self-government.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
69
President Roosevelt asked me to say that his heart is with you
on this historic day. A radiogram just received from him asks me
to give the following message to the Filipino people:
Please convey to President Quezon and the Filipino people on the occasion
of the birth of the Commonwealth of the Philippines my sincere congratulations
on this great forward step in the establishment of popular self-government,
and express to them my confidence in their ability to carry out successfully the
final steps in the accomplishment of their complete independence.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.
Thirty-seven years ago, through the fortunes of war, the Philip-
pine Islands came under the flag of the United States. It was no
premeditated aggression, and there was no thought of territorial
aggrandizement.

Even before American occupation the Filipino people had started
their struggle for freedom, with which Americans instinctively sym-
pathized. What, then, was to be the attitude of the United States
toward a dependency which it had so accidentally acquired? A pol-
icy of colonial expansion and exploitation was a departure from our
national ideals, and therefore did not commend itself to the Ameri-
can people.
Our decision was soon made. Less than two years after American
occupation, President McKinley's letter of instructions to the first
Philippine Commission laid down these basic principles:
In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are
authorized to prescribe, the Commission should bear in mind that the govern-
ment which they are establishing is designed not for our satisfaction, or for
the expression of our theoretical views, but for the happiness, peace, and pros-
perity of the people of the Philippine Islands.
Later he declared:
It is our purpose to establish in the Philippines a government suitable to the
wants and conditions of the inhabitants and to prepare them for self-govern-
ment and to give them self-government when they are ready for it and as
rapidly as they are ready for it.
That promise was made in good faith. In order that it might be
creditably carried out it implied a period of training and prepara-
tion. Greedy exploitation was repugnant to our minds. We de-
clared that the good of the dependency-not our own good-must be
the first consideration-a new idea, perhaps, in colonial administra-
tion. We harked back to the spirit of 1776, and we conceded that
the Filipinos had the same rights as we claimed when we were
colonists of Great Britain. The question is sometimes asked: "Why
does the United States give up so valuable a territorial possession
as the Philippine Islands?" The answer is that the value of the
Islands to the United States does not enter into the calculation. We
have proceeded in accordance with the American conception of the
fundamental right of peoples to govern themselves.
Having declared this unprecedented colonial policy, there arose
the practical question of how and when it should be carried out.
Through no fault of their own the people of the Philippines had
not been trained in the difficult art of self-government, and had never
been given an opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to rule
themselves. We had no means of knowing whether they had been
disciplined, as Anglo-Saxons had been disciplined for centuries,
to abide by the expressed will of the majority, however obnoxious
70
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
that will might be to the minority. Stable popular government is
impossible without majority rule. Moreover, it was difficult for us
to comprehend how popular government could be successful without
popular education, which we Americans regard as the keystone of
the arch of democracy. And so one of the first things we did was
to send school teachers over here in large numbers, to establish a
progressive educational system. And today universal education is
the Philippine ideal as it is the American ideal.
Popular government was begun promptly and developed steadily.
The election of municipal and provincial officials was the first step,
soon to be followed by an elective lower house of the Legislature,
and somewhat later by a completely elective Legislature. And now
we are taking the last step.
I need not trace the history of independence legislation. The
Tydings-McDuffie Act, passed in 1934, and accepted by the Philip-
pine Legislature, is the result of an earnest effort on the part of the
Congress to meet the aims and aspirations of the Filipino people,
so far as was consistent with harmonizing the various interests
affected thereby. Its enactment is an expression of confidence by
the Congress of the United States in the capacity of the Filipino
people to carry out successfully the next and final steps in the pro-
gram for the establishment of an independent Filipino nation.
G
The prescribed transition period of ten years before complete in-
dependence becomes an accomplished fact seemed advisable and
prudent in order to launch the Philippine Republic under the most
favorable auspices. It provides adequate safeguards for the interests
of both the American and the Filipino people. The problems that
must be worked out in this period are vital, and must be given the
most careful and thorough consideration.
President Roosevelt, in his message to the Congress on March 2,
1934, said:
*
* May I emphasize that while we desire to grant complete independ-
ence at the earliest proper moment, to effect this result without allowing suffi-
cient time for necessary political and economic adjustments would be a definite
injustice to the people of the Philippine Islands themselves little short of a
denial of independence itself.
The Independence Act is a broad grant to the Filipino people of
local government. The enlarged powers granted under this Act re-
side essentially in the people. The Commonwealth Government is
being organized in accordance with the provisions of your own Con-
stitution, which goes into effect today and which was formulated and
drafted by delegates of your own selection. It is an enlightened,
democratic document, and does great credit to the Filipino people.
It contains a bill of rights expressing what the American people
believe to be the basic principles of free government. Perhaps the
greatest heritage that the United States has bequeathed to you is the
bill of rights included in both the first and second organic acts of
the Congress and carried over into your Constitution.
You are about to witness the inauguration of the Chief Executive
whom you have elected by popular vote; and all the agencies of local
government will soon be functioning under the provisions of your
Constitution. Your President and Vice President, the members of
your Supreme Court, and the other Island officials heretofore ap-
pointed by the President of the United States, will take office under
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
71
the provisions of your own Constitution and the laws of your own
National Assembly. Thus your local affairs pass to your own con-
trol, and you have the full responsibility of citizens of the Philip-
pines, upon whose shoulders rests the mantle of government.
I may be pardoned an expression of pride and pleasure in the
privilege of witnessing an event resulting from the cooperative
efforts of two peoples situated on opposite sides of the globe, but
laboring together to establish ultimately a new member of the family
of independent nations. There is something unique and inspiring in
the spectacle of two peoples voluntarily agreeing to dissolve the
bands which unite them, and to go their separate ways; and yet that
is the event to which we now eagerly look forward as the final
consummation of the program for Philippine independence.
It is a source of satisfaction to the American people to know that
the fiscal affairs of your government are at this time, perhaps, at the
best level in its history. Your finances are in excellent condition.
Income for the past year exceeded expenditures. There is but a
small public debt. Your governmental structure is supported by a
prosperous and increasing commerce and by a thriving industry,
backed by agricultural, mineral, and forest resources adequate for
the maintenance of a high standard of living for all the people.
During my present visit I have been astonished by the fertility of
your soil, the diversity and abundance of your crops, the wealth of
your mines, the vastness of your forests, the excellence of your har-
bors, and. greater than all of these, the industry and virtue of your
people. With such resources, and with good government, you should
succeed.
With the present change in your government, the office of Gover-
nor General is abolished. This exalted office has been filled by a long
line of distinguished Americans, beginning with that illustrious
statesman, William H. Taft, and ending with the able, efficient, and
warm-hearted man who has served you during the past two and one-
half years, the Honorable Frank Murphy. In the discharge of his
duties, Governor General Murphy has made a record of which his
fellow-citizens at home are justly proud, and I know that you people
of the Philippines honor and love him. I have no doubt that it is a
great satisfaction to you that he now becomes the first United States
High Commissioner to the Philippines, and as such he will be the
representative of American sovereignty and authority in your
country.
While the American record in the Philippines is not ended, it is
drawing to a close. As Secretary Root on one occasion said:
The country which exercises control over a colony is always itself on trial
in the public opinion of mankind.
We hope, of course, that the world will say of us that our work
here has been well done. But especially, we hope that you, the
people of these Islands, may continue to look with grateful apprecia-
tion upon the day that set this beautiful land under the sovereignty
of the United States, and to feel that our sojourn here has been a
benediction to you. And I hope, too, that the people of the United
States may forever feel a just pride and satisfaction in the monument
thus built in your hearts. We shall continue to be united by the
bands of comradeship and mutual good will.
72
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
I trust that the people of the United States will not forget to be
grateful to the men and women who have reflected credit upon their
native land by giving their talents, their energies, and their years
to the service of their country and yours in this far-away territory.
I should be most unfair, people of the Philippines, if I did not
point out that the main credit for the rapid evolution of your pop-
ular government is due to yourselves. You have been tried and not
found wanting. You have had a passion for independence for many
years, and with each new opportunity you have, in the most con-
vincing manner, demonstrated your capacity to perform the varied
and intricate tasks of government. In legislation you have shown
vision, wisdom, fairness, and restraint, with a statesmanlike grasp of
your problems. In administration, the Governor General gives un-
stinted praise to his Filipino associates for their ability and integ-
rity. In drafting your Constitution you have shown a profound
understanding of the fundamental principles of democracy, and you
have produced a document remarkable for its impartial provisions
in behalf of all the people. In the judiciary I wish to pay tribute to
those distinguished Filipino jurists who, in cooperation with their
American colleagues, have made your Supreme Court an everlast-
ing credit to both the American and the Filipino people.
As Americans, therefore, we do not boast of what we have done
here. Rather, we are gratified at having been given the rare privi-
lege of cooperating with you in establishing a new democratic
member of the family of nations in the western Pacific.
Mr. President, as generally affecting the affairs of the Filipino
people, I feel that you have an exceptional opportunity to carry out
the next steps of this vital program. The responsibility for the
happiness and well-being of this people is entrusted to the new Gov-
ernment under your leadership. President Roosevelt has faith in
your devotion to democratic principles and in your ability and that
of your colleagues to carry the program through in a manner well
calculated to serve the interests of your people. I most cordially
wish you every success in the administration of your high office.
And so, citizens of the Philippines, I congratulate you with all
my heart upon the consummation of your desires. May your self-
rule always be characterized by that enlightened justice which alone
can make you a great nation. And may you always have reason to
feel that the United States is interested in your welfare and is your
true friend.
·
Following the reading by Governor-General Murphy of the Presi-
dent's proclamation announcing the election of officers (for text, see
oaths of office were administered the chief of the
Philippine Supreme Court to the president-elect, the vice-president-
elect and the members-elect of the national assembly, who are listed
in the proclamation.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
73
THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
BY THE SECRETARY OF WAR OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA—
A PROCLAMATION
By direction of the President of the United States of America,
I, GEORGE H. DERN, Secretary of War of the United States of
America, do hereby promulgate the proclamation of the President
of the United States of America announcing the results of the elec-
tion held in the Philippines on September 17, 1935, for the purpose
of electing officers of the Government of the Commonwealth of the
Philippines; and I do hereby announce that the heretofore existing
government of the Philippines is now terminated, and that the Gov-
ernment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, in entering upon
its rights, privileges, powers, and duties as provided under the con-
stitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the laws of
the United States of America, is the successor to the heretofore
existing Philippine government and to all the rights and obligations
thereof.
DONE at the city of Manila at 8:58 o'clock a. m. on the fifteenth
day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hun-
dred and thirty-five.
(Sgd.) GEORGE H. DERN.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY MANUEL L. QUEZON,
PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
(Delivered Nov. 15, 1935, at the Legislative Building, Manila, P. I.)
FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN:
In the exercise of your constitutional prerogative you have elected
me to the presidency of the Commonwealth. I am profoundly grate-
ful for this new expression of your confidence, and God helping me
I shall not fail you.
The event which is now taking place in our midst transcends in
importance the mere induction into office of your Chief Executive.
We are bringing into being a new nation. We are inaugurating its
government. We are seeing the fruition of our age-old striving for
liberty. We are witnessing the final stage in the fulfillment of the
noblest undertaking ever attempted by any nation in its dealing
with a subject people. And how well this task has been performed
is attested to by the blessings which from 14 million people go
to America in this solemn hour. President McKinley's cherished
hope has been fulfilled-the Filipinos look back with gratitude to the
day when destiny placed their land under the beneficient guidance of
the people of the United States.
It is fitting that high dignitaries of the American Government
should attend these ceremonies. We are thankful to them for their
presence here. The President of the United States, His Excellency,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, ever solicitous of our freedom and welfare,
has sent to us, as his personal representative, the Secretary of War,
Hon. George H. Dern, whose friendship for our people has proven
most valuable in the past. Vice President Garner, Speaker Byrns,
H. Doc. 400, 74—2— -6
74 DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
distinguished members of the Senate with their floor leader, Sen-
ator Robinson, and no less distinguished Members of the House of
Representatives have traveled 10,000 miles to witness this his-
toric event. I feel that by their presence the whole American Nation
is here today to rejoice with us in the fulfillment of America's pledge
generously given that the Filipino people is to become free and inde-
pendent. It is my hope that the ties of friendship and affection
which bind the Philippines to America will remain unbroken and
grow stronger after the severance of our political relations with her.
In behalf of the Filipino people, I express deep appreciation to
Hon. Frank Murphy, our last Governor-General, for his just and
efficient administration and for the valuable assistance he has ren-
dered us in the difficult task of laying the constitutional foundations
of our new government.
As we enter upon the threshold of independent nationhood, let
us pause for a moment to pay tribute to the memory of Rizal and
Bonifacio, and all the heroes of our sacred cause, in deep acknowl-
edgment of their patriotic devotion and supreme sacrifice.
Fellow countrymen: The government which we are inaugurating
today is only a means to an end. It is an instrumentality placed in
our hands to prepare ourselves fully for the responsibilities of com-
plete independence. It is essential that this last step be taken with
full consciousness of its significance and the great opportunities that
it affords to us.
Under the Commonwealth, our life may not be one of ease and
comfort, but rather of hardship and sacrifice. We shall face the
problems which lie in our path, sparing neither time nor effort in
solving them. We shall build a government that will be just,
honest, efficient, and strong, so that the foundations of the coming
Republic may be firm and enduring-a government, indeed, that
must satisfy not only the passing needs of the hour but also the
exacting demands of the future. We do not have to tear down
the existing institutions in order to give way to a statelier structure.
There will be no violent changes from the established order of
things, except such as may be absolutely necessary to carry into
effect the innovation contemplated by the Constitution. A new
edifice shall arise, not out of the ashes of the past, but out of the
standing materials of the living present.
Reverence for law as the expression of the popular will is the
starting point in a democracy. The maintenance of peace and
public order is the joint obligation of the government and the citi-
zen. I have an abiding faith in the good sense of the people and
in their respect for law and the constituted authority. Widespread
public disorder and lawlessness may cause the downfall of constitu-
tional government and lead to American intervention. Even after
independence, if we should prove ourselves incapable of protecting
life, liberty, and property of nationals and foreigners, we shall be
exposed to the danger of intervention by foreign powers. No one
need have any misgivings as to the attitude of the Government
toward lawless individuals or subversive movements. They shall
be dealt with firmly. Sufficient armed forces will be maintained at
all times to quell and suppress any rebellion against the authority
of this Government or the sovereignty of the United States.

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DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
75
There can be no progress except under the auspices of peace.
Without peace and public order it will be impossible to promote
education, improve the condition of the masses, protect the poor and
ignorant against exploitation, and otherwise insure the enjoyment
of life, liberty, and property. I appeal, therefore, to every Filipino
to give the Government his loyal support so that tranquility may
reign supreme in our beloved land.
Our Constitution establishes an independent judiciary by provid-
ing for security of tenure and compensation of our judges. But in-
dependence is not the only objective of a good judiciary. Equally,
if not more important, is its integrity which will depend upon the
judicious selection of its members. The administration of justice
cannot be expected to rise higher than the moral and intellectual
standards of the men who dispense it. To bulwark the fortification
of an orderly and just government, it shall be my task to appoint
to the bench only men of proven honesty, character, learning, and
ability, so that everyone may feel when he appears before the courts
of justice that he will be protected in his rights, and that no man in
this country from the Chief Executive to the last citizen is above the
law.
We are living today amidst the storm and stress of one of the most
tragic epochs of history. Acute unemployment and economic dis-
tress threaten the stability of governments the world over. The very
foundations of civilized society are shaken. The common man alone
can save humanity from disaster. It is our duty to prove to him that
under a republican system of government he can have every oppor-
tunity to attain his happiness and that of his family. Protection to
labor, especially to working women and minors, just regulation of
the relations between labor and capital in industry and agriculture,
solicitous regard on the part of the government for the well-being
of the masses, are the means to bring about the needed economic and
social equilibrium between the component elements of society.
A government draws the breath of life from its finances, and it
must balance its income and expenditures as any other going business
concern if it expects to survive. It is my duty, then, to see that the
Government of the Commonwealth live within its means and that it
stand four-square on a well-balanced budget.
The larger expenditures which the grave responsibilities ahead of
us will entail, including national defense, must be borne by taxation.
So long as we are able to meet those responsibilities from our present
income we shall not impose new taxes. But we are among the least
taxed people in the world and, therefore, when necessity arises, we
should be willing to accept the burden of increased taxation. Liberty
and independence can be possessed only by those who are ready to
pay the price in life or fortune.
To enable us more adequately to meet the new responsibilities of
the Commonwealth and to raise the living conditions of our people,
we must increase the wealth of the nation by giving greater impetus
to economic development, improving our methods of agriculture, di-
versifying our crops, creating new industries, and fostering our do-
mestic and foreign commerce. I trust that the forthcoming trade
conference between representatives of the United States and the
Philippines will result in a more just and beneficial commercial rela-
tion between the two countries.
76
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT
!
The establishment of an economical, simple and efficient govern-
ment; the maintenance of an independent civil service; the implanta-
tion of an adequate system of public instruction to develop moral
character, personal discipline, civic conscience, and vocational effi-
ciency; the safeguarding of the health and vigor of the race; the
conservation and development of our natural resources-these and
other matters of equal import are touched upon at length in the
platform of the Coalition and in my speech of acceptance of my
nomination, and it is unnecessary for me to reiterate my views re-
garding them. Having been elected on the virtuality of that plat-
form and the policies enunciated by me in the course of the presi-
dential campaign, I renew my pledge faithfully to carry them into
execution.
Good will toward all nations shall be the golden rule of my ad-
ministration. The peoples of the earth are interdependent and their
prosperity and happiness are inseparably linked with each other.
Înternation brotherhood and cooperation are therefore necessary.
Amity and friendship, fairness and square deal in our relations with
other nations and their citizens or subjects, protection in their legiti-
mate investments and pursuits, in return for their temporary alle-
giance to our institutions and laws, are the assurances I make on be-
half of the new Government to Americans and foreigners who may
desire to live, trade, and otherwise associate with us in the Philip-
pines.
:
In the enormous task of fully preparing ourselves for independence
we shall be beset with serious difficulties, but we will resolutely
march forward. I appeal to your patriotism and summon your
nobility of heart so that we may, united in the common endeavor,
once more dedicate ourselves to the realization of our national des-
tiny. I face the future with hope and fortitude, certain that God
never abandons a people who ever follow His unerring and guiding
hand. May He give me light, strength, and courage evermore that
I may
not falter in the hour of service to my people!
MANILA, November 15, 1935.
MANUEL L. QUEZON,
President of the Philippines.
о
UNITED STATES HIGH COMMISSIONER
Section 7 (4) of the Philippine Independence Act provides for the
appointment of a United States High Commissioner to the Govern-
ment of the Commonwealth of the Philippine Islands who "shall be
the representative of the President of the United States in the Phil-
ippine Islands."
The President appointed Hon. Frank Murphy, then Governor
General, as the first United States High Commissioner. His ap-
pointment was signed by the President on July 12, 1935, he took
his oath of office in Manila on November 14 and entered upon the
duties of his office immediately upon the completion of the inaugural
ceremonies on November 15, 1935.
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 03497 0494
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