ITRODUCTION

The Americans took this as an opportunity to help the Filipinos in any means necessary.
Aside from the financial and health assistance provided by the Americans to the Filipino war
victims, the Americans also showed support for the Filipino cause by reorganizing their
government and transforming it entirely.

The Americans were determined to put into practice the promise made by their leaders
during their conference in Washington, D.C. It was to provide the Filipinos the privilege of a
wise and humane administration. The government to be established by the Americans was
not an annexation of the United States territory but a government wholly for the Filipinos to
rule by themselves. But before that to happen, the Americans first needed to train the
Filipinos for self-government.

After the training, it was their promise to give the leadership of the government to the
Filipinos and grant them independence. Consequently, the Americans also promised the
Filipinos to give them the civil liberties they never enjoyed during or were not given by the
Spaniards during the Spain’s colonization in the country.

Basically, the training of the Filipinos was a preparation for the country’s independence.

Disscussion

How Americans Trained the Filipinos for Self-Government

The destruction made by the Japanese imperialism in the 1940s greatly shook the
Philippines and left it hopeless. The Philippine government before the Japanese occupation
was seen as ineffective and weak as witnessed by its immediate loss against the Japanese
troops. Aside from the country’s weak military force, the government itself was not fully
organized and managed for the country to be self-sustaining.

How Americans Trained the Filipinos for Self-Government

Philippines and left it hopeless. The Philippine government before the Japanese occupation
was seen as ineffective and weak as witnessed by its immediate loss against the Japanese
troops. Aside from the country’s weak military force, the government itself was not fully
organized and managed for the country to be self-sustaining.

The Americans were determined to put into practice the promise made by their leaders
during their conference in Washington, D.C. (Blount, 1913). It was to provide the Filipinos
the privilege of a wise and humane administration. The government to be established by the
Americans was not an annexation of the United States territory but a government wholly for
the Filipinos to rule by themselves. But before that to happen, the Americans first needed to
train the Filipinos for self-government.

After the training, it was their promise to give the leadership of the government to the
Filipinos and grant them independence. Consequently, the Americans also promised the
Filipinos to give them the civil liberties they never enjoyed during or were not given by the
Spaniards during the Spain’s colonization in the country.

Basically, the training of the Filipinos was a preparation for the country’s independence.
The role of the Americans was to guide the Filipinos in their operation of the government. In
short, the Filipino politicians were subject to the dictate of the Americans.

Government’s Reorganization

The Americans stepped up to train the Filipinos for self-rule in the government before the
granting of Philippine independence. Their first step was the passing of the Cooper Law or
the Philippine Bill of 1902 (Malcolm, 1936). The law provided the establishment of the
Philippine Assembly that gave the Filipinos the privilege to influence the decision-making
body in the Congress through their elected representatives. Another imposition made by the
Americans was to pursue the Jones Law in 1916 (Kalaw, 1927).

The law granted the Filipinos to handle both the Upper and Lower Houses in the Congress.
Another one was the order of the American leaders in the United States for
Governor-General Francis Burton to grant the Filipinos full access to the political activities of
the Philippine government, so they could participate in their own politics. As a result, the
Filipinos were able to hold public offices both in low and high positions.

This whole plan for the Philippine politics was a process of Filipinization that already started
during the country’s resistance from Spain.

The government for the Philippines established by the Americans was called the
Commonwealth government.

SUMMARY