Second of three parts
THE Philippines as an independent nation is now currently under the Fifth Republic. The government of Emilio Aguinaldo that declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898, is considered the First Republic.
The Second Republic is acknowledged as the government headed by President Jose P. Laurel, which was established during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.
The Third Republic was the government established on July 4, 1946, with the dissolution of the Philippine Commonwealth. The Third Republic was headed by Manuel L. Quezon and, following his death, Sergio Osmeña Sr.
The Third Republic lasted until 1972, when President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared martial law in September of that year. His rule is now classified as the Fourth Republic, which ended with his overthrow in 1986.
The Fifth Republic came into existence when the 1987 Constitution was ratified, with Mrs. Aquino as president. Since then, all the succeeding administrations after 1987 are classified as being under the Fifth Republic.
The Philippine Executive Commission
ACCORDING to John Ray Ramos, a heritage conservation advocate, “the Second Republic had its roots during the tumultuous days of WWII [World War II] when Commonwealth President Quezon and selected members of administration was brought to the US fortress island of Corregidor.”
“As Quezon fled, Manila was declared an ‘Open City’ to protect it from destruction,” added Ramos, who is also a history instructor from the Diliman campus of Far Eastern University.
Even as Quezon left Manila for the temporary refuge of Corregidor, he issued instructions to officials of the Commonwealth government that were left behind.
According to Ramos, Quezon told these officials to “enter into agreements and compromises” with the Imperial Japanese government and its conquering army in order to “mitigate the sufferings of the people.”
Japanese officials proceeded to establish a Philippine Executive Commission (PEC) on January 23, 1942. The PEC was headed by Jorge Vargas as chairman and had the following members: Benigno Aquino Sr. (head of the interior), Antonio de las Alas (head of finance), Jose P. Laurel (justice secretary), Claro M. Recto (head for the departments of education, health and public welfare), Quintin Paredes (head of public works and communication) and Jose Yulo (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court).
Also established at around this time was the only political organization allowed in the Philippines: the Kapisanan ng Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas or Kalibapi.
Abad Santos’s death
EVEN as the PEC came into being and the Kalibapi asserted civil control, the Commonwealth government under Quezon was being turned into a government-in-exile.
In March 1942 Quezon designated Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos as the caretaker President of the remnants of the Commonwealth government.
After Japanese forces captured Santos in Cebu, he was offered a role in the new civil administration. Santos refused and he was executed on May 2, 1942.
The killing of Santos was a bitter reminder for the remaining Commonwealth officials of what awaited them if they dared go against the wishes of Imperial Japan.
A new Constitution
SEVERAL weeks after Santos was executed, Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo promised on June 16, 1943, to grant independence to the Philippines.
After Tojo made the offer, the Kalibapi organized the Preparatory Committee on Philippine Independence (PCPI), which was tasked to draft a new Constitution for the Philippines.
It was a simple job for the members of the PCPI. All they did was adopt the 12 of the Articles of the 1935 Commonwealth Constitution. However, the Constitution they drafted was notable for not having a Bill of Rights.
The Kalibapi ratified this Constitution on September 7, 1943, and a new National Assembly was formed. On September 20, 1943, the Kalibapi held a party convention to elect 54 members of the National Assembly, which was supposed to have 108 members.
The remaining 54 slots in the National Assembly were reserved for city mayors and governors who were elected under the Commonwealth government and had survived the onset of hostilities.
Forgotten Independence Day
THE Kalibapi proceeded to elect part of the new National Assembly, which also included appointed members. The National Assembly elected Jose P. Laurel as President.
On October 14, 1943, Laurel’s government was formally inaugurated in front of the Legislative Building, which now serves as the National Museum. “This was the moment of birth of the Second Republic,” Ramos said. “And October 14, 1943 could be considered another date for Philippine independence.”
Laurel’s presidency
THOUGH Laurel did assume the presidency even if the Philippines was under Japanese occupation, his official actions and decisions could be seen as fulfilling Quezon’s orders.
One controversial act credited to Laurel was on September 23, 1943, when he proclaimed that the Philippines was in a “state of war” with the US and its allies.
However, under the Constitution, a declaration of war must be approved by the National Assembly for it to be official. Such subterfuge Laurel effectively prevented the Japanese government from conscripting Filipinos to fight against the US and its allies.
Because of this, Japanese occupation officials and forces no longer relied on the Kalibapi’s cooperation. “This is an important point to consider,” Ramos explained. “Because of Laurel’s actions and the Kalibapi’s reluctance to support Japanese initiatives, the Japanese occupation officials formed a new organization known as the Makapili [Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino].”
The Makapili was formed after Laurel refused to allow Japanese officials to conscript Filipinos into the Japanese military.
“Unlike the Kalibapi, the [Makapili] was formed as a grassroots organization,” Ramos explained. “The group was composed of Filipinos who fully supported the Japanese. The lasting image in the Filipino psyche of the Makapili is the masked informer who pointed out for the Japanese those who were actively guerrilla supporters or actual members.”
When Laurel refused to allow Japan to conscript Filipinos as soldiers of Imperial Japan, he took a very grave risk, according to Ramos.
Fortunately, there were still Japanese officials who still clung to the idea of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Doing anything untoward to Laurel could jeopardize their propaganda of a benevolent Japan in Asia.
Historian on Laurel
RAMOS said Laurel’s legacy as President of the Second Republic was best explained by his professor, noted historian Ricardo Jose.
“The Japanese approved of Laurel, because they felt he—having served as lawyer for some Japanese before the war and having had a son study in the Japanese Military Academy, in addition to his own honorary doctorate from the University of Tokyo—would be pro-Japanese,” Jose wrote in an essay, titled “Dr. Jose P. Laurel as President of the Second Philippine Republic.” “In this, they were wrong.”
“To view Laurel’s administration in proper perspective, the conditions of the Philippines in late 1943 have to be examined,” Jose wrote. “First of all, [WWII] was brewing in Europe and Asia. The Japanese military presence dominated the Japanese-occupied Philippines and, even though independence had been declared, the Laurel government had to sign a pact of alliance with Japan.”
According to Jose, a part of the pact “stated in no uncertain terms that ‘the Philippines will afford all kinds of facilities for military actions to be undertaken by Japan.”’ Likewise, the pact stated the Philippines and Japan “will closely cooperate with each other to safeguard the territorial integrity and independence of the Philippines.”
Jose wrote that Japanese garrisons and outposts ringed Malacañan Palace, the seat of government.
“In September 1944, some 10,000 Japanese servicemen surrounded the palace and some 100,000 armed Japanese occupied the whole of Greater Manila,” Jose wrote. “In mid-1944, no less than the Commanding General of Japan’s Southern Army—which covered not just the Philippines but the whole of Southeast Asia and New Guinea—made Manila his headquarters.”
According to Jose, Laurel had only 300 Presidential Guards to defend the palace.
Damocles sword
JOSE described this situation as a “Sword of Damocles” hanging over Laurel’s head. And despite the formal Philippine “independence” declared on October 14, 1943, Laurel presided over a “crippled” government. “The Japanese military presence and the war led to corollary problems, among them a shortage of food, clothing, fuel and other basic commodities,” Jose wrote. “The Japanese Military Administration had taken over most of the pre-war government-owned or -controlled corporations, and had created controlled agencies to supervise the acquisition, transport and distribution of foods, fuel, prime commodities and sugar.”
Jose added that with “strategic commodities out of Filipino hands, the republic was crippled economically.”
Jose said Laurel “had to give in when it was impossible to push hard, to gain more advantageous position in other areas and to forward the interests of the Philippines and the Filipinos.”
“The Japanese had hoped Mr. Laurel would follow their prodding and hints and act as a puppet president, but they were disappointed,” Jose added.
Eventually, as US forces supported by Filipino guerrilla units defeated the remnants of the Imperial Japanese forces in the Philippines, the Japanese brought Laurel and his family to Tokyo. It was the intention of the Japanese for Laurel to form a government-in-exile.
Bombing the Japanese
SUBSEQUENT events did not conform to Imperial Japan’s wishes.
After the US dropped atomic bombs on and destroyed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese Emperor Hirohito bypassed military advisers and generals and urged Japan to “accept the unacceptable.”
When the Imperial Japanese government surrendered on August 17, 1945, Laurel dissolved the Second Philippine Republic and its so-called independence, according to Jose.
“In view of the reoccupation of the Philippines by the United States and the re-establishment therein of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the acceptance by Japan of the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945, and the consequent termination of the Greater East Asia War, the Republic of the Philippines had ceased to exist,” Laurel formally declared.
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Image credits: Nonie Reyes
