Social Science

• Philippine security forces, the NPA and various Moro armed groups continue to be implicated in serious violations of international humanitarian law, including unlawful killings and attacks on civilians
• Marcos was declared the winner in the snap election, resulting to the massive protests of Filipinos
• Some Societal Effects of World War II

  • Death
  • Shortage of food and portable water supply
  • Unemployment
  • Massive destruction of properties, infrastructures, and industries
  • Environmental and agricultural damages
• Philippine Civil Affairs Unit (PCAU)


  Created through the initiative of the American Army, provided relief for all the suffering Filipinos such as distribution of relief goods, paid the salaries of the government staff and teachers, sold fixed-priced goods to wholesalers
• Pres. Sergio Osmena's Executive Orders

  Regulated the maximum prices of all commodities sold in the market, reorganized the government to be able to address the urgent needs of the nation
• Pres. Manuel Roxas faced the same national problems as Osmena, he needed to immediately address the short-term and long-term postwar needs of the people
• The US President signed the Rehabilitation Act as a complement to the Bell Trade Relations Act that provided for free trade relations between the two countries
• Parity Rights


  Additional provision of the Bell Trade Relations Act that gave the Americans the right to dispose, exploit, develop, and utilize the natural and mineral resources of the Philippines
• Neocolonialism


  A form of control of a powerful state on a weaker state, focusing on imposing indirect control or influence over politics, economy, society, or the military of a sovereign state through treaties and agreements
• The United States' interest to project power abroad and secure world superiority contributed to neocolonialism in the Philippines
• Article XIII, 1935 Philippine Constitution

  Limited the access of foreigners to exploit the natural resources of the Philippines, they can only utilize the country's natural resources and own operate public utilities ONLY IF they tie up their business interests with companies owned by Filipinos or whose 60% of assets are Filipino-owned and controlled
• Bell Trade Act


  Approved by US congress on April 30, 1946 and Philippine congress on July 2, 1946, intended to facilitate the rebuilding of the Philippine economy which was ravaged by WWII
• Bell Trade Act Provisions


  • Free trade relations between the United States and the Philippines until 1954, after which tariffs would be imposed on each other's goods by 5% until the full 100% should have been reached in 1974
  • A 2php = $1 fixed exchange rate between the Philippines and the United States, which could not be changed without the US President's approval
  • Removal of currency transfer restrictions from the Philippines to the United States
  • Parity rights which granted US citizens and corporations rights to Philippines natural resources and public utilities like those of Philippine citizens
• The acceptance of the Bell trade Act had been a condition of, and attached to, the implementation of the Tydings Rehabilitation Act which provided for a $20M compensation for war damages
• Issues with the Bell Trade Act


  • The "assistance" extended by the United States has "strings attached"
  • The free trade provisions became an open gate for American products that flooded the Philippines market, thereby defeating local manufactures
  • The parity rights gave unhampered access for the Americans to explore, exploit, and utilize natural resources and to own and operate public utilities in the Philippines to the detriment of the national patrimony provision of the Philippines Constitution
• 1947 Military Bases Agreement


  Signed by Pres. Manuel Roxas on March 14, 1947, ratified by the Philippines Senate on March 26, 1947, gave the US military an unhampered right to operate bases in Philippines territory for free for 99 years (amended in 1966 to 25 years, hence 1991)
• 1947 Military Assistance Pact


  Military assistance would be for the purpose of counterinsurgencies especially in provinces where there were large sugar plantations, created a Joint United State Military Advisory Group JUSMAG that would advise and train Philippine military personnel
• 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty


  Supplemented the 1947 Bases Agreement, called for a mutual commitment between the Philippines and the United States to peacefully resolve international disputes, separately or jointly develop capacity to resist attacks from foreign invaders, and undertake discussions when the territorial integrity, political freedom, or security of the United States or the Philippines would be under threat of attack
• The Military Bases Agreement ended in 1991 when the terms of the agreement expired and then the Philippines Senate voted NOT to renew the bases agreements
• In 2014, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement EDCA was concluded to bolster the military alliance of the two countries
• Presidents of the Third Republic


  • Manuel Acuna Roxas
  • Elpidio Quirino (Apo Lakay)
  • Ramon Magsaysay (Man of the Masses)
  • Carlos Garcia
  • Diosdado Macapagal
  • Ferdinand Marcos
  • Corazon Aquino
  • Fidel Ramos
  • Joseph Estrada
  • Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
  • Benigno Aquino III
  • Rodrigo Duterte
• Manuel Roxas


  • Formed a formidable team of economic experts that placed the Republic upon solid economic foundations, established the prime fiscal institutions necessary for an independent economic policy, pushed for the passage of the Tenancy Act, issued a general amnesty for those suspected of political collaboration
• A peasant rebellion held by the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng bayan HMB brewed in the plains of Central Luzon, as the Huk movement was rooted in rural poverty and oppressive agrarian conditions, no military action could suppress it
• Roxas Administration Highlights


  • Experts estimated that the Philippines needed over a billion dollars to reconstruct and rebuild from the damage and ruins of the war, Roxas turned to the United States for help, the Bell Trade Relations Act provided for free trade relations for the next eight years after independence and specified parity rights for American citizens and corporations, the Philippine Rehabilitation Act provided a $620 million aid package as a complement to the Bell Trade Act, the release of the said fund was made dependent on an amendment in the 1935 Philippine Constitution to allow parity rights
• Pros and Cons of Parity Rights

  • Pros: Roxas argues that it would bring in American investment capital which would generate employment opportunities for the people
  • Cons: Roxas warned that worsening employment, loss of trade opportunities, and forfeiture of rehabilitation assistance would be the fate should it not pass
• RP-US Military Bases Agreement


  The retention of American bases on Philippine soil was a commitment of Quezon's Commonwealth government and meant for the mutual defense of the two allies against aggression
• Military Assistance Agreement of 1947


  Covered the provision of arms, equipment, supplies, and training by the US military
• Roxas died of cardiac arrest on April 15, 1948, after he delivered his speech at Clark Air Base in Pampanga, he spent barely 22 months in office, but the period in which he presided was the country's crucial, formative years
• Elpidio Quirino


  • His administration focused on restoration of faith in the government, rehabilitation of the economy, and attainment of peace in the entire nation, he believed in the reconciliation with the Huks and proclaimed amnesty for them on June 21, 1948 on condition that they surrender their arms, ordered an increase in the salary of teachers and employees, passed the Minimum Wage Law in 1951 providing an increase in the minimum pay of laborers
• Mutual Defense Treaty


  An agreement between the Philippines and the United States aiming for mutual protection, the Armed Forces of the United States may serve on Philippine military establishments whenever such conditions appear beneficial as mutually determined by the armed forces of both countries
• Action Committee on Social Amelioration


  Aimed to promote the welfare of the citizens in the rural areas
• Labor Management Advisory Board

  Aimed to formulate labor policies and initiate studies for preventing, mitigating, and reconciling any labor disputes in the country
• Economic Mobilization Program


  Laid the groundwork for the country's modern and dispersed industrial structure, girded by the Iligan steel plant, Mariveles shipyard, Bacnotan cement factory, Ambuklao and Maria Cristina hydroelectric dams
• During the six years of the Quirino administration, the country's average economy grew by a phenomenal 9.43% in Gross Domestic Product GDP
• Quirino made the appointment of the first woman to a cabinet post, Asuncion Perez, as social welfare administrator
• Quirino withdrew from public spotlight after being defeated by Ramon Magsaysay in the 1953 election, and died of cardiac arrest on February 28, 1956 at his hilltop home in Novaliches, before he could finish his memoirs
• Ramon Magsaysay


  • Congress passed the Land Tenure Reform Law which provided that large, landed estates should be bought by the government and resold to tenants on easy payment basis, constructed barrio roads, bridges, and provided potable water and artesian wells, pushed through scientific and educational campaigns to eradicate diseases, announced the adoption of educational reforms geared towards scientific and economic progress
• Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

  Aimed to stop the spread of communism in the Southeast Asian region
• Laurel-Langley Agreement


  An economic policy between the Philippines and the United States, the continuation of the Bell Trade Act of 1946, US control of the peso exchange rate was removed
• Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954


  Provided greater protection to the tenants and an approach to solve problems brought by communist expansion in the country, paved the way for the establishment of Land Reform Act of 1955