Commonwealth of the Philippines

The Commonwealth of the Philippines (Spanish: Commonwealth de Filipinas,^[1][3] Tagalog: Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the name of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when it was still controlled by the United States. The Philippine Commonwealth had been created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was approved by the U.S. Congress in 1934. When Manuel L. Quezon became president in 1935, he was the first Filipino to head an elected government in the Philippines.

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Commonwealth of the Philippines Commonwealth de Filipinas (Spanish)[1][2] Komonwelt ng Pilipinas (Tagalog)[3]
1935–1942 Japanese occupation: 1942–45 1945–1946
Flag of the United States (top) Flag of the Philippines (bottom) Coat of arms
Anthem: The Philippine Hymn (from September 5, 1938)[4]
Location of the Philippines in Southeast Asia.
Status	Associated state and protectorate of the United States
Capital	Manilaa
Common languages	Spanish[5] English[5]
Government	Presidential commonwealth
President
• 1935–44	Manuel L. Quezon
• 1944–46	Sergio Osmeña
• 1946	Manuel Roxas
High Commissioner
• 1935–37	Frank Murphy
• 1937–39	Paul V. McNutt
• 1939–42	Francis Bowes Sayre
• 1945–46	Paul V. McNutt
Vice President
• 1935–44	Sergio Osmeña
• 1946	Elpidio Quirino
Legislature	National Assembly (1935–41) Congress (1945–46)
Historical era	Interwar, World War II
• Tydings–McDuffie Act	15 November[6][7][8][9] 1935
• Independence	4 July 1946
• Treaty of Manila	22 October 1946
Area
1939	300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1939	16000303
Currency	Peso
Preceded by Succeeded by Insular Government Philippine Executive Commission Third Philippine Republic
Today part of	Philippines
Capital held by enemy forces between 24 December 1941 and 27 February 1945. Temporary capitals were: Corregidor Island from 24 December 1941; Iloilo City from 22 February 1942; Bacolod from 26 February; Buenos Aires, Bago City from 27 February; Oroquieta from 19 March; Bukidnon from 23 March; government-in-exile in Melbourne, Australia, in April; government-in-exile in Washington, D.C., from May 1942 to October 1944; Tacloban from 20 October 1944. The Commonwealth government continued its existence as a government-in-exile in the United States during the Japanese Occupation and later as the Third Republic. In effect, there existed two Philippine governments during the Japanese occupation.

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The President of the Philippine Commonwealth had strong control of the islands and was guided by a Supreme Court. The National Assembly or law-making part of the government, members mostly come from the Nacionalista Party, was at first only one, but later became two, a lower part and a higher part. In 1937, the government chose Tagalog, the language of Manila, as the national language. Women were allowed to vote, and the economy was strong.

The Philippine Commonwealth government was forced out of the country from 1942–1945, when the Philippines was under Japanese control. In 1946, the Philippine Commonwealth ended when the Third Philippines Republic began.