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Taft Commission

The Taft Commission, also known as the Second Philippine Commission (Filipino: Ikalawang Komisyon ng Pilipinas), was established by United States President William McKinley on March 16, 1900, following the recommendations of the First Philippine Commission, using presidential war powers while the U.S. was engaged in the Philippine–American War.

Philippine Commission
Type
Type
From 1901–07
Unicameral

From 1907–16
Upper house
of the Philippine Legislature
History
FoundedMarch 16, 1900 (1900-03-16)
DisbandedOctober 16, 1916 (1916-10-16)
Preceded byU.S. military government
Succeeded byU.S. insular government
Leadership
Seats5

McKinley's letter of instruction to the commission defined American policies and intentions which make cultural and economic progress, acquire skill in self-government, and eventually progress to national independence. Emilio Aguinaldo, who led the Philippine war against America, wrote retrospectively in 1957 that McKinley's instructions to the commission would "prove one of the most important documents in the history of international relations."[1][2]

The Second Commission was at first the sole legislative body of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States. After the passage of the Philippine Organic Act in 1902, the Commission functioned as the house of a bicameral legislature until it was supplanted by an elected legislature established in 1916 by the Philippine Autonomy Act.

William Howard Taft was the first head of the Philippine Commission from March 16, 1900 until July 4, 1901, after which the commission's head also became the Civil Governor of the Philippines.[3] Taft served in that office until January 31, 1904, when he was appointed Secretary of War by President Theodore Roosevelt.[4] Taft was succeeded by vice-governor Luke Edward Wright and the Philippine Commission was subsequently headed by a number of persons, but is often mentioned informally and collectively as the "Taft Commission".

Background edit

The Second Philippine Commission (the Taft Commission), established by President William McKinley on March 16, 1900, and headed by William Howard Taft, was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers.[5] Between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws, established a judicial system, including a Supreme Court, drew up a legal code, and organized a civil service.[6] The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected presidentes, vicepresidentes, and councilors to serve on municipal boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking necessary construction projects; they also elected provincial governors.[7]

Commission membership edit

Members of the Philippine Commission
1900–1916[8]
Original members[a] Period of service
William Howard Taft* March 16, 1900 – January 31, 1904
Henry Clay Ide* March 16, 1900 – September 19, 1906
Luke Edward Wright* March 16, 1900 – March 30, 1906
Dean Conant Worcester March 16, 1900 – September 15, 1913
Bernard Moses March 16, 1900 – December 31, 1902
Subsequent Members Period of service
Benito Legarda September 1, 1901 – October 31, 1907
Trinidad Pardo de Tavera September 1, 1901 – February 1909
Jose de Luzuriaga September 1, 1901 – October 27, 1913
James Francis Smith* January 1, 1903 – November 10, 1909
William Cameron Forbes* June 5, 1904 – September 1, 1913
William Morgan Shuster September 26, 1906 – February 28, 1909
Newton W. Gilbert* July 6, 1908 – December 1, 1913
Rafael Palma July 6, 1908 – October 16, 1916
Gregorio S. Araneta February 25, 1909 – October 27, 1913
Juan Sumulong March 1, 1909 – October 26, 1913
Frank Branagan March 2, 1909 – October 26, 1913
Charles Burke Elliott February 14, 1910 – February 1, 1913
Francis Burton Harrison* September 2, 1913 – October 16, 1916
Victorino Mapa October 27, 1913 – October 16, 1916
Jaime C. de Veyra October 27, 1913 – April 7, 1916
Vicente Ilustre October 27, 1913 – October 16, 1916
Vicente Singson Encarnacion October 27, 1913 – October 16, 1916
Henderson Martin November 29, 1913 – October 16, 1916
Clinton L. Riggs November 29, 1913 – October 31, 1915
Eugene Elliott Reed May 24, 1916 – October 16, 1916
Wilford Denison January 27, 1914 – March 31, 1916
  1. ^ An asterisk by the name denotes members who served in the Insular Government as Governor-General of the Philippines

Timeline edit

Eugene Elliott ReedWilford DenisonClinton L. RiggsHenderson MartinVicente Singson EncarnacionVicente IlustreJaime C. de VeyraVictorino MapaFrancis Burton HarrisonFrank BranaganJuan SumulongGregorio S. AranetaRafael PalmaNewton W. GilbertWilliam Morgan ShusterWilliam Cameron ForbesJames Francis SmithJose de LuzuriagaTrinidad Pardo de TaveraBenito LegardaDean Conant WorcesterHenry Clay IdeLuke Edward WrightBernard MosesWilliam Howard Taft

Legislative powers edit

 
Sultan Jamalul Kiram II with William Howard Taft of the Philippine Commission in Jolo, Sulu (March 27, 1901)

Background edit

Article 1, Section 1 of the United States Constitution specifies that the U.S. Congress exercises legislative power. Since the Philippines was in a state of war, however, the Executive Branch ran affairs there without much congressional intervention. President McKinley's instruction to the Philippine Commission in April 1900 directed that, "... Beginning with the 1st day of September 1900, the authority to exercise that part of the power of government in the Philippine Islands which is legislative, is to be transferred from the Military Governor to this commission." The instruction also gave the Commission the power to appoint officers under the judicial, educational, and civil service systems and in the municipal and departmental governments. The instruction charged the Commission, "... In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are authorized to proscribe, the Commission should bear in mind that the government which they are establishing is designed not for our satisfaction, or the expression of our theoretical views, but for the happiness, peace, and prosperity of the people of the Philippine islands, and measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs, their habits, and even their prejudices, to the fullest extent consistent with the accomplishment of just and effective government.".[5][9]

In a statement published on September 1, 1900, the commissioners announced the holding of public meetings every Wednesday and Friday to allow interested parties to comment and make suggestions on proposed legislative matters. The open sessions were mainly conducted in English and Spanish. As the Americans became familiar with Spanish, the commissioners allowed their guests to use the language of their choice.[10] William Forbes, later Governor General of the Philippines, wrote that he could not remember any instance where a commissioner protested because he could not understand an issue on linguistic grounds.[11]

The Spooner Amendment (U.S.) edit

A few months before the inauguration of Taft as governor-general, Senator John Spooner filed a bill giving unprecedented powers to the executive branch in the development of colonial policy in the Philippines.[12] The Democrats ferociously attacked the bill, resurrecting anti-imperialist arguments they had employed at the time of the Treaty of Paris. By February 1900, a filibuster was in full cry, with the Democrats determined to curb the powers of the Philippine Commission and reserve for Congress the right to grant franchises and sell lands in the Philippines.[13] The Spooner bill was rejected on September 1, 1900, but McKinley nevertheless granted the Taft commission legislative powers.[14] Legislators repackaged it as an amendment to the 1901 Army Appropriation Bill.

The passage of the Spooner amendment was a significant milestone in the development of U.S.–Philippine policy because it allowed the president to govern the Philippines by the authority of Congress and not by his wartime authority as commander in chief.[15] Emilio Aguinaldo wrote in 1957 that the Spooner Amendment had laid the basis of a far-sighted and enlightened economic policy in the Philippines.[16]

The Philippine Organic Act (U.S.) edit

 
Historical marker near the Baden Powell Hotel on Governor Pack Road in Baguio commemorating the first summer session of the Taft Commission to be held in Baguio, the "Summer Capital of the Philippines."

The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902 was a basic law for the Insular Government (1901–1935). (The term "insular" refers to an unincorporated island territory.) The act provided that future appointments of the civil governor, vice-governor, members the Philippine Commission, and heads of Executive Departments shall be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The act also provided for the establishment of a bicameral legislature composed of a lower house, the Philippine Assembly, which would be popularly elected, and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission. The two houses would share legislative powers, although the upper house alone would pass laws relating to the Moros and other non-Christian peoples. The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos and sending two Filipino resident commissioners to Washington to attend sessions of the United States Congress. The Philippine Assembly elections of 1907 were held on July 30, 1907 and the 1st Philippine Legislature opened its first session on October 16, 1907.[7][17][18]

Legislation edit

The Taft Commission promulgated a total of 157 laws between September 1900 and July 4, 1901, when Taft became Civil Governor, classified as follows:[19]

Classification of Laws Passed by the Philippine Commission
Classification Quantity Percent
Local Government 46 29.30
Reorganization of Government Agencies 40 25.48
Appropriations for Government Expenditures 33 21.02
Judicial Reforms 12 7.65
Economic and Tariff 9 5.73
Public Works Projects 7 4.46
Public Health 4 2.55
Anti-Sedition 2 1.27
Church 2 1.27
Education 2 1.27
Totals 157 100.00

Following the advice of McKinley to start at the bottom and gradually move upward, over seventy percent of the laws dealt with local government and the bureaucracy; with more than half of these being acts extending the provision of the Provincial Government Act to the different provinces. Others were acts establishing municipalities, and the rest concerned the local police.[20]

The thirty-three appropriations laws passed were appropriations to pay certain expenses not covered by the General Appropriations Act, including salaries of government employees, burial benefits for victims of the war, funds for the construction of roads and bridges, and other miscellaneous expenses.[20]

Specific major items of legislation edit

Reorganization of local government units edit

The Commission created and reorganized government offices, including the following:[21]

Act Office
Act No. 7 Bureau of Statistics
Act No. 16 Bureau of Forestry
Act No. 17 Bureau of Mining
Act No. 20 Office of the Auditor
Act No. 46 Inspectors of Customs
Act No. 157[permanent dead link] Board of Health

President McKinley had declared in his message to Congress in December 1899 that Philippine reconstruction should proceed by building up from the bottom.[22] McKinley's instruction to the Commission stressed that the establishment of civilian government should start from the smallest unit of political organization and gradually move towards Manila. In compliance with this, on January 31, 1901, the Commission enacted Act No. 82, a Municipal Code to guide the formation and management of towns, and six days later passed Act No. 83, a Provincial Government Act which dealt with the procedure for the creation of provincial governments.[23]

In some instances, the Commission doled out government offices to persuade leaders of the resistance movement to give up the fight. General Martin Delgado, for example, was appointed the governor of Iloilo and similar moves were done in Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna with the appointment of Mariano Trias, Pablo Tecson, and Juan Cailles, respectively.[24]

Members of the Revolutionary Government who later joined the Taft administration[25]
Name Position under the
Aguinaldo Administration
Position under the
Taft Administration
Cayetano Arellano Secretary of State Chief Justice
Victorino Mapa Counselor of the Revolutionary Government Associate Justice
T.H. Pardo de Tavera Assistant Secretary of State Commissioner
Benito Lagarda Vice President of the Malalos Congress Commissioner
Jose Luzuriaga President of the Reverend Congress of Panay Commissioner
Felipe Buencamino Secretary of State Civil Service Board
Felix Roxas Member of the Filipino Junta in Paris Governor of Batangas
Ignacio Villamor Malolos Congress delegate Judge
Gregorio S. Araneta Secretary of Justice Solicitor General
Martin Teofilo Delgado Commanding General of Panay Governor of Iloilo
Ambrosio Flores Assistant Secretary of War Governor of Rizal
Mariano Trias Secretary of War Governor of Cavite
Jose Serapio Colonel of the Revolutionary Army Governor of Bulacan
Gracio Gonzaga Secretary of the Interior Governor of Cagayan
Arsenio Cruz Herrera Assistant Secretary of Interior President of the Municipal Board of Manila
Jose Alejandrino General of the Revolutionary Army City Engineer of Manila
Modesto Reyes Member of the Filipino Junta in Paris City Attorney of Manila
Daniel Tirona Secretary of War Provincial Secretary of Cavite
Mariano Cunanan Major in the Revolutionary Army Principal Secretary of Pampanga
Mariano Crisostomo Malolos Congress Delegate Provincial Fiscal of Bulacan

The Civil Service Act edit

The first major legislation passed by the commission was Act No. 5, the Civil Service Act, enacted on September 19, 1900. From the passage of this act until the departure of Taft from the Philippines, the number of Americans and Filipinos applying to serve the government continued to increase, as follows:[21]

Period covered Examined Passed Appointed Percentage
appointed
English Spanish English Spanish English Spanish English Spanish
Up to July 2, 1901 550 821 314 383 126 157 23 19
July 3, 1901 –
September 30, 1901
154 259 68 79 89 75 58 29
October 1, 1901 –
September 30, 1902
1,267 2,072 794 916 558 515 44 25
October 1, 1902 –
September 30, 1903
1,248 3,105 828 1,633 579 820 46 27
Totals 3,219 6,167 2,004 3,011 1,352 1,567 42.00 25.41

The Education Act of 1901 edit

General Elwell Otis had taken the initiative on September 1, 1898, of establishing a public school system, organizing seven schools in Manila. While the war was raging, American soldiers took time out to organize schools, and to teach classes. When General MacArthur assumed command, he continued the public education project and increased its budget. When the Taft Commission arrived in Manila, the Army had organized 39 schools in Manila with a daily attendance of between 4,500 and 5,000 students.[26]

Commissioner Bernard Moses, who had been an educator at the University of California, worked with Captain Albert Todd and Dr. Fred Atkinson to draft Act No. 74, also known as the Education Act of 1901.[27] The act was largely based on a report which Todd submitted to the Commission on April 17, 1900. Some of the recommendations in the Todd Report were:[28]

  • That a comprehensive modern school system for the teaching of elementary English be inaugurated at the earliest possible moment.
  • That industrial schools for manual training be established as soon as a fair knowledge of English has been acquired.
  • That all schools under government control be conducted in the English language so far as in any way practicable, and that the use of Spanish and the dialects be only for a period of transition.
  • That English teachers, well trained in primary instruction, be brought over from the U.S. in sufficient numbers to take charge of the schools of the larger towns at least.
  • That a well-equipped normal school be established for instructing natives to be teachers of English.
  • That in the larger towns a portion, at least, of the schoolhouse must be made of a modern structure, plainly but well and properly equipped.
  • That the school supported by the Government be divorced from the Church. If the natives desire schools in which religious instruction is to be given, that they furnish the entire support for the same from private sources, but attendance from the latter schools shall not excuse the children from attendance at the public school where English is taught. Also, the Parochial Church school, if such are maintained, shall be required to be equal in character of the general instruction to the public school.

On January 21, 1901, the commission enacted Act No. 74, establishing the Department of Public Instruction. Section One of the act provided that primary instruction should be free of charge and open to all Filipinos.[27] Commissioner Bernard Moses became Secretary of Public Instruction and Dr. Atkinson became General Superintendent of Public Instruction. Atkinson was tasked to put up a school in every pueblo and empowered to fix the salaries of teachers, formulate curricula, purchase school supplies, construct school buildings, and disburse the funds of the Department. A Superior Advisory Board assisted Atkinson in policy-making concerning educational needs and the condition of the islands. Act 74 divided the archipelago into divisions composed of school districts and ordered the creation of Normal and Trade schools in Manila and a School of Agriculture in Negros.[29]

At the time Taft arrived in the Philippines, the student-teacher ratio was one teacher for 4,179 students.[30] Section 15 of Act 74 empowered the general superintendent to import 1,000 teachers from the U.S. The first batch of 48 American teachers arrived in June 1901. The second batch of 509 teachers (386 men and 141 women, accompanied by 4 nurses, 13 spouses) arrived in August, and became known as the Thomasites, after the United States Army Transport Thomas, one of the ships which transported them.

From the very start, serious problems threatened the success of the educational program. Problems encountered included opposition from Catholic clerics, language difficulties, health problems and difficulty in adjusting to the tropical climate, financial problems brought on by delayed salary payments, lack of school buildings (many of the 2,167 primary schools existing before the war had either been destroyed or pressed into use by the army as barracks, prisons, or hospitals[31]), etc.[32] Cultural values which had developed under Spanish rule also posed a severe hindrance. The Thomasites had a difficult time convincing their students to give more importance to activities that developed critical thinking than to those which simply required rote memorization, or that coming an hour late or being absent to attend a town fiesta was a big shortcoming.[33]

Another problem encountered was difficulty in promoting equality among the students, as children of wealthy families thought they were entitled to special privileges. Some wealthy parents openly opposed the American educational system because of the insecurities it created. For them, education was a privilege of their class and should not be extended to the common people. They believed that general education would create an imbalance in the country's workforce, with the labor market having a surplus of people seeking white-collars and a shortage of people willing to engage in manual work. To address this concern, education officials propagated the trade and agricultural schools, explaining that graduates of these schools were at par with those earning degrees from the normal school and universities.[34]

As the years went by, the Thomasites won the respect and admiration not only of their students but also of their parents. The parents admired the way the American teachers treated their children and managed classroom activities. Specifically, they lauded the abolition of corporal punishment. The Thomasites' friendliness, informality, and approachability were admired by many Filipinos, who still remembered bad experiences with the aristocratic Spanish.[35]

Friar lands edit

The instructions of President McKinley to the commission stipulated that it was their duty to make a thorough investigation into the titles of large tracts of land held or claimed by individuals or by religious orders.[36] The commission conducted a series of public hearings into the matter beginning on July 31, 1900, and lasting until November.[37] On November 30, 1900, a 604-page report submitted by the commission discussed the friar lands in detail, recommending that "... the insular government buy the large haciendas of the friars and sell them out as small holdings to the present tenants."[38] In 1902, testifying in the U.S. before the House Committee on Insular Affairs, Taft repeated this recommendation, appraising the market value of the friar lands as between $2,500,000 to $7,000,000 in gold, and proposing that the Insular Government be allowed to float bonds for the purchase of the lands and use the proceeds from the sale of the lands to settle the bonds.[39]

The Philippine Organic Act, enacted in July 1902, authorized the Insular Government to purchase the friar lands, empowering it to issue bonds for the purpose.[40] Taft traveled to Rome in May 1902, meeting with Pope Leo XIII and proposing to buy the lands. The Pope promised to study the issue and expressed support for the American pacification program.[41] On November 18, 1902, Papal representative Jean Baptiste Guidi arrived in Manila to negotiate the sale of the lands. Taft commissioned a survey to determine their market value, and a purchase price of $7,239,784.66 was paid in December 1903 by the Insular Government.[42] The holdings amounted to some 166,000 hectares (410,000 acres), of which one-half was in the vicinity of Manila. The land was eventually resold to Filipinos, some of them tenants but the majority of the estate owners.[43]

This was the first program of modern land reform in the Philippines.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Aguinaldo 2016, pp. 133–134.
  2. ^ United States. President William McKinley (April 7, 1900). "Instructions of the President to the Philippine commission". The United States and its Territorieed : 1870 - 1925 " The Age of Imperialism. University of Michigan.
  3. ^ U.S. War Department 1901, p. 11.
  4. ^ "American President: A Reference Resource" August 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. University of Virginia Miller Center. Retrieved on August 7, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Kalaw 1927, pp. 452–459 (Appendix F).
  6. ^ Chronology for the Philippine Islands and Guam in the Spanish–American War, U.S. Library of Congress, retrieved February 16, 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Philippines – United States rule". U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved August 20, 2007..
  8. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 132–133, citing Worcester 1930, pp. 62–63.
  9. ^ Kalaw 1927, pp. 452–459
  10. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 88.
  11. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 88, citing Forbes 1945, p. 90.
  12. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 91, remarking that Secretary Root's biographer alleged that Root wrote the first paragraph of Spooner's bill in which the executive was empowered to establish civilian rule in the Philippines, citing Leopold 1954, p. 36.
  13. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 91, referencing Francisco & Fast 1985, pp. 221–237.
  14. ^ Blitz 2000, pp. 39–40.
  15. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 92; Blitz 2000, p. 41.
  16. ^ Aguinaldo 2016, p. 141.
  17. ^ "The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902". July 1, 1902. Retrieved July 5, 2007..
  18. ^ Zaide 1994, p. 285
  19. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 122–123.
  20. ^ a b Escalante 2007, p. 123.
  21. ^ a b Escalante 2007, p. 98, citing Willis 1905, p. 54.
  22. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 103, citing quote in Blount 1913, pp. 288–289.
  23. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 103–106.
  24. ^ Delgado, along with 30 officers and 140 riflemen, surrendered on January 10, 1901. Trias and 200 of his followers did the same thing on March 15, 1901. Escalante 2007, p. 109, citing Linn 2000, pp. 215, 295.
  25. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 110, citing U.S. Congress, House (1903), R.B. Horton (ed.), Committee on Insular Affairs: Committee Reports, Hearings and Acts of Congress Pertaining Thereto 1901–1903, Washington: Government Printing Office, pp. 26–27.
  26. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 99–100.
  27. ^ a b Act No. 74[permanent dead link] (Enacted January 21, 1901), lawph.com.
  28. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 100–101, citing U.S. Bureau of Census (1905), 1903 Census of the Philippine Islands, vol. III, Washington: Government Printing Office, p. 640.
  29. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 101.
  30. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 142.
  31. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 144, citing Willis 1905, pp. 228–229.
  32. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 143–144
  33. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 144–145
  34. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 145.
  35. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 145–146.
  36. ^ Kalaw 1927, pp. cc=philamer, q1=titles, rgn=full%20text, idno=afj2233.0001.001, didno=afj2233.0001.001, view=image, seq=00000476 456–457.
  37. ^ Escalante 2007, p. 80.
  38. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 83–84.
  39. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 190–192.
  40. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 198–199.
  41. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 202–203
  42. ^ Escalante 2007, pp. 221–226.
  43. ^ Seekins 1993

Sources edit

  • Aguinaldo, Emilio (2016), A Second Look at America (Classic Reprint), Fb&c Limited, ISBN 978-1-333-84114-0, retrieved November 17, 2022.
  • Blitz, Amy (2000), The Contested State: American Foreign Policy and Regime Change in the Philippines, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0-8476-9935-8.
  • Escalante, Rene R. (2007), The Bearer of Pax Americana: The Philippine Career of William H. Taft, 1900–1903, Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, ISBN 978-971-10-1166-6.
  • Kalaw, Maximo M. (1927), The development of Philippine politics, Oriental Commercial, retrieved January 21, 2008.
  • Seekins, Donald M. (1993), "The First Phase of United States Rule, 1898–1935", in Dolan, Ronald E. (ed.), Philippines: A Country Study (4th ed.), Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, retrieved December 25, 2007.
  • U.S. War Department (1901) Annual Report of the War Department Vol. I, Part 10 – Public Laws and Rules Passed by the Philippine Commission (Nos. 1 – 263). Government Printing Office, Washington.
  • Worcester, Dean Conant (1914), The Philippines: Past and Present (vol. 1 of 2), MacMillan, ISBN 1-4191-7715-X, retrieved February 15, 2008.
  • Worcester, Dean Conant (1930), The Philippines: Past and Present, MacMillan.

Further reading edit

Books edit

  • Blount, James (1913), American Occupation of the Philippines, 1898–1912, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
  • Elliott, Charles Burke (1917), "Appendix C: Instructions of the President to the Taft Commission", The Philippines: To the End of the Commission Government, a Study in Tropical Democracy, pp. 485–490.
  • Forbes, William Cameron (1945), The Philippine Islands, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  • Francisco, Luzviminda; Fast, Jonathan (1985), Conspiracy of Empire: Big Business, Corruption, and Politics for Imperialism in America, 1876–1907, Quezon City, Philippines: Foundation for Nationalist Studies.
  • Linn, Brian MacAllister (2000), The Philippine War, 1899–1902, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, ISBN 0-7006-0990-3.
  • Leopold, Richard W. (1954), Elihu Root and the Conservative Tradition, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 978-0-316-52114-7.
  • Pobre, Cesar P., Philippine Legislature 100 Years, ISBN 971-92245-0-9.
  • Willis, Henry Parker (1905), Our Philippine Problem: A Study of American Colonial Policy, New York: Henry Holt and Company.
  • Zaide, Sonia M. (1994), The Philippines: A Unique Nation, All-Nations Publishing Co., ISBN 971-642-071-4.

Other items edit

  • Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library

External links edit

  • Elliott, Charles Burke (1917). "Appendix C: Instructions of the President to the Taft Commission". The Philippines: To the End of the Commission Government, a Study in Tropical Democracy. pp. 485–490.
  • McKinley, William, , In Filipiniana.net online digital library, archived from the original on February 28, 2009, retrieved January 7, 2008.

taft, commission, also, known, second, philippine, commission, filipino, ikalawang, komisyon, pilipinas, established, united, states, president, william, mckinley, march, 1900, following, recommendations, first, philippine, commission, using, presidential, pow. The Taft Commission also known as the Second Philippine Commission Filipino Ikalawang Komisyon ng Pilipinas was established by United States President William McKinley on March 16 1900 following the recommendations of the First Philippine Commission using presidential war powers while the U S was engaged in the Philippine American War Philippine CommissionTypeTypeFrom 1901 07UnicameralFrom 1907 16Upper house of the Philippine LegislatureHistoryFoundedMarch 16 1900 1900 03 16 DisbandedOctober 16 1916 1916 10 16 Preceded byU S military governmentSucceeded byU S insular governmentLeadershipGovernor General of the PhilippinesWilliam Howard TaftSeats5McKinley s letter of instruction to the commission defined American policies and intentions which make cultural and economic progress acquire skill in self government and eventually progress to national independence Emilio Aguinaldo who led the Philippine war against America wrote retrospectively in 1957 that McKinley s instructions to the commission would prove one of the most important documents in the history of international relations 1 2 The Second Commission was at first the sole legislative body of the Philippines then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States After the passage of the Philippine Organic Act in 1902 the Commission functioned as the house of a bicameral legislature until it was supplanted by an elected legislature established in 1916 by the Philippine Autonomy Act William Howard Taft was the first head of the Philippine Commission from March 16 1900 until July 4 1901 after which the commission s head also became the Civil Governor of the Philippines 3 Taft served in that office until January 31 1904 when he was appointed Secretary of War by President Theodore Roosevelt 4 Taft was succeeded by vice governor Luke Edward Wright and the Philippine Commission was subsequently headed by a number of persons but is often mentioned informally and collectively as the Taft Commission Contents 1 Background 2 Commission membership 2 1 Timeline 3 Legislative powers 3 1 Background 3 2 The Spooner Amendment U S 3 3 The Philippine Organic Act U S 4 Legislation 4 1 Specific major items of legislation 4 1 1 Reorganization of local government units 4 1 2 The Civil Service Act 4 1 3 The Education Act of 1901 5 Friar lands 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources 9 Further reading 9 1 Books 9 2 Other items 10 External linksBackground editThe Second Philippine Commission the Taft Commission established by President William McKinley on March 16 1900 and headed by William Howard Taft was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers 5 Between September 1900 and August 1902 it issued 499 laws established a judicial system including a Supreme Court drew up a legal code and organized a civil service 6 The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected presidentes vicepresidentes and councilors to serve on municipal boards The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes maintaining municipal properties and undertaking necessary construction projects they also elected provincial governors 7 Commission membership editMembers of the Philippine Commission1900 1916 8 Original members a Period of serviceWilliam Howard Taft March 16 1900 January 31 1904Henry Clay Ide March 16 1900 September 19 1906Luke Edward Wright March 16 1900 March 30 1906Dean Conant Worcester March 16 1900 September 15 1913Bernard Moses March 16 1900 December 31 1902Subsequent Members Period of serviceBenito Legarda September 1 1901 October 31 1907Trinidad Pardo de Tavera September 1 1901 February 1909Jose de Luzuriaga September 1 1901 October 27 1913James Francis Smith January 1 1903 November 10 1909William Cameron Forbes June 5 1904 September 1 1913William Morgan Shuster September 26 1906 February 28 1909Newton W Gilbert July 6 1908 December 1 1913Rafael Palma July 6 1908 October 16 1916Gregorio S Araneta February 25 1909 October 27 1913Juan Sumulong March 1 1909 October 26 1913Frank Branagan March 2 1909 October 26 1913Charles Burke Elliott February 14 1910 February 1 1913Francis Burton Harrison September 2 1913 October 16 1916Victorino Mapa October 27 1913 October 16 1916Jaime C de Veyra October 27 1913 April 7 1916Vicente Ilustre October 27 1913 October 16 1916Vicente Singson Encarnacion October 27 1913 October 16 1916Henderson Martin November 29 1913 October 16 1916Clinton L Riggs November 29 1913 October 31 1915Eugene Elliott Reed May 24 1916 October 16 1916Wilford Denison January 27 1914 March 31 1916 An asterisk by the name denotes members who served in the Insular Government as Governor General of the Philippines Timeline editLegislative powers edit nbsp Sultan Jamalul Kiram II with William Howard Taft of the Philippine Commission in Jolo Sulu March 27 1901 Background edit Article 1 Section 1 of the United States Constitution specifies that the U S Congress exercises legislative power Since the Philippines was in a state of war however the Executive Branch ran affairs there without much congressional intervention President McKinley s instruction to the Philippine Commission in April 1900 directed that Beginning with the 1st day of September 1900 the authority to exercise that part of the power of government in the Philippine Islands which is legislative is to be transferred from the Military Governor to this commission The instruction also gave the Commission the power to appoint officers under the judicial educational and civil service systems and in the municipal and departmental governments The instruction charged the Commission In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are authorized to proscribe the Commission should bear in mind that the government which they are establishing is designed not for our satisfaction or the expression of our theoretical views but for the happiness peace and prosperity of the people of the Philippine islands and measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs their habits and even their prejudices to the fullest extent consistent with the accomplishment of just and effective government 5 9 In a statement published on September 1 1900 the commissioners announced the holding of public meetings every Wednesday and Friday to allow interested parties to comment and make suggestions on proposed legislative matters The open sessions were mainly conducted in English and Spanish As the Americans became familiar with Spanish the commissioners allowed their guests to use the language of their choice 10 William Forbes later Governor General of the Philippines wrote that he could not remember any instance where a commissioner protested because he could not understand an issue on linguistic grounds 11 The Spooner Amendment U S edit A few months before the inauguration of Taft as governor general Senator John Spooner filed a bill giving unprecedented powers to the executive branch in the development of colonial policy in the Philippines 12 The Democrats ferociously attacked the bill resurrecting anti imperialist arguments they had employed at the time of the Treaty of Paris By February 1900 a filibuster was in full cry with the Democrats determined to curb the powers of the Philippine Commission and reserve for Congress the right to grant franchises and sell lands in the Philippines 13 The Spooner bill was rejected on September 1 1900 but McKinley nevertheless granted the Taft commission legislative powers 14 Legislators repackaged it as an amendment to the 1901 Army Appropriation Bill The passage of the Spooner amendment was a significant milestone in the development of U S Philippine policy because it allowed the president to govern the Philippines by the authority of Congress and not by his wartime authority as commander in chief 15 Emilio Aguinaldo wrote in 1957 that the Spooner Amendment had laid the basis of a far sighted and enlightened economic policy in the Philippines 16 The Philippine Organic Act U S edit nbsp Historical marker near the Baden Powell Hotel on Governor Pack Road in Baguio commemorating the first summer session of the Taft Commission to be held in Baguio the Summer Capital of the Philippines The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902 was a basic law for the Insular Government 1901 1935 The term insular refers to an unincorporated island territory The act provided that future appointments of the civil governor vice governor members the Philippine Commission and heads of Executive Departments shall be made by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate The act also provided for the establishment of a bicameral legislature composed of a lower house the Philippine Assembly which would be popularly elected and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission The two houses would share legislative powers although the upper house alone would pass laws relating to the Moros and other non Christian peoples The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos and sending two Filipino resident commissioners to Washington to attend sessions of the United States Congress The Philippine Assembly elections of 1907 were held on July 30 1907 and the 1st Philippine Legislature opened its first session on October 16 1907 7 17 18 Legislation editThe Taft Commission promulgated a total of 157 laws between September 1900 and July 4 1901 when Taft became Civil Governor classified as follows 19 Classification of Laws Passed by the Philippine Commission Classification Quantity PercentLocal Government 46 29 30Reorganization of Government Agencies 40 25 48Appropriations for Government Expenditures 33 21 02Judicial Reforms 12 7 65Economic and Tariff 9 5 73Public Works Projects 7 4 46Public Health 4 2 55Anti Sedition 2 1 27Church 2 1 27Education 2 1 27Totals 157 100 00Following the advice of McKinley to start at the bottom and gradually move upward over seventy percent of the laws dealt with local government and the bureaucracy with more than half of these being acts extending the provision of the Provincial Government Act to the different provinces Others were acts establishing municipalities and the rest concerned the local police 20 The thirty three appropriations laws passed were appropriations to pay certain expenses not covered by the General Appropriations Act including salaries of government employees burial benefits for victims of the war funds for the construction of roads and bridges and other miscellaneous expenses 20 Specific major items of legislation edit Reorganization of local government units edit The Commission created and reorganized government offices including the following 21 Act OfficeAct No 7 Bureau of StatisticsAct No 16 Bureau of ForestryAct No 17 Bureau of MiningAct No 20 Office of the AuditorAct No 46 Inspectors of CustomsAct No 157 permanent dead link Board of HealthPresident McKinley had declared in his message to Congress in December 1899 that Philippine reconstruction should proceed by building up from the bottom 22 McKinley s instruction to the Commission stressed that the establishment of civilian government should start from the smallest unit of political organization and gradually move towards Manila In compliance with this on January 31 1901 the Commission enacted Act No 82 a Municipal Code to guide the formation and management of towns and six days later passed Act No 83 a Provincial Government Act which dealt with the procedure for the creation of provincial governments 23 In some instances the Commission doled out government offices to persuade leaders of the resistance movement to give up the fight General Martin Delgado for example was appointed the governor of Iloilo and similar moves were done in Cavite Bulacan and Laguna with the appointment of Mariano Trias Pablo Tecson and Juan Cailles respectively 24 Members of the Revolutionary Government who later joined the Taft administration 25 Name Position under theAguinaldo Administration Position under theTaft AdministrationCayetano Arellano Secretary of State Chief JusticeVictorino Mapa Counselor of the Revolutionary Government Associate JusticeT H Pardo de Tavera Assistant Secretary of State CommissionerBenito Lagarda Vice President of the Malalos Congress CommissionerJose Luzuriaga President of the Reverend Congress of Panay CommissionerFelipe Buencamino Secretary of State Civil Service BoardFelix Roxas Member of the Filipino Junta in Paris Governor of BatangasIgnacio Villamor Malolos Congress delegate JudgeGregorio S Araneta Secretary of Justice Solicitor GeneralMartin Teofilo Delgado Commanding General of Panay Governor of IloiloAmbrosio Flores Assistant Secretary of War Governor of RizalMariano Trias Secretary of War Governor of CaviteJose Serapio Colonel of the Revolutionary Army Governor of BulacanGracio Gonzaga Secretary of the Interior Governor of CagayanArsenio Cruz Herrera Assistant Secretary of Interior President of the Municipal Board of ManilaJose Alejandrino General of the Revolutionary Army City Engineer of ManilaModesto Reyes Member of the Filipino Junta in Paris City Attorney of ManilaDaniel Tirona Secretary of War Provincial Secretary of CaviteMariano Cunanan Major in the Revolutionary Army Principal Secretary of PampangaMariano Crisostomo Malolos Congress Delegate Provincial Fiscal of BulacanThe Civil Service Act edit The first major legislation passed by the commission was Act No 5 the Civil Service Act enacted on September 19 1900 From the passage of this act until the departure of Taft from the Philippines the number of Americans and Filipinos applying to serve the government continued to increase as follows 21 Period covered Examined Passed Appointed PercentageappointedEnglish Spanish English Spanish English Spanish English SpanishUp to July 2 1901 550 821 314 383 126 157 23 19July 3 1901 September 30 1901 154 259 68 79 89 75 58 29October 1 1901 September 30 1902 1 267 2 072 794 916 558 515 44 25October 1 1902 September 30 1903 1 248 3 105 828 1 633 579 820 46 27Totals 3 219 6 167 2 004 3 011 1 352 1 567 42 00 25 41The Education Act of 1901 edit General Elwell Otis had taken the initiative on September 1 1898 of establishing a public school system organizing seven schools in Manila While the war was raging American soldiers took time out to organize schools and to teach classes When General MacArthur assumed command he continued the public education project and increased its budget When the Taft Commission arrived in Manila the Army had organized 39 schools in Manila with a daily attendance of between 4 500 and 5 000 students 26 Commissioner Bernard Moses who had been an educator at the University of California worked with Captain Albert Todd and Dr Fred Atkinson to draft Act No 74 also known as the Education Act of 1901 27 The act was largely based on a report which Todd submitted to the Commission on April 17 1900 Some of the recommendations in the Todd Report were 28 That a comprehensive modern school system for the teaching of elementary English be inaugurated at the earliest possible moment That industrial schools for manual training be established as soon as a fair knowledge of English has been acquired That all schools under government control be conducted in the English language so far as in any way practicable and that the use of Spanish and the dialects be only for a period of transition That English teachers well trained in primary instruction be brought over from the U S in sufficient numbers to take charge of the schools of the larger towns at least That a well equipped normal school be established for instructing natives to be teachers of English That in the larger towns a portion at least of the schoolhouse must be made of a modern structure plainly but well and properly equipped That the school supported by the Government be divorced from the Church If the natives desire schools in which religious instruction is to be given that they furnish the entire support for the same from private sources but attendance from the latter schools shall not excuse the children from attendance at the public school where English is taught Also the Parochial Church school if such are maintained shall be required to be equal in character of the general instruction to the public school On January 21 1901 the commission enacted Act No 74 establishing the Department of Public Instruction Section One of the act provided that primary instruction should be free of charge and open to all Filipinos 27 Commissioner Bernard Moses became Secretary of Public Instruction and Dr Atkinson became General Superintendent of Public Instruction Atkinson was tasked to put up a school in every pueblo and empowered to fix the salaries of teachers formulate curricula purchase school supplies construct school buildings and disburse the funds of the Department A Superior Advisory Board assisted Atkinson in policy making concerning educational needs and the condition of the islands Act 74 divided the archipelago into divisions composed of school districts and ordered the creation of Normal and Trade schools in Manila and a School of Agriculture in Negros 29 At the time Taft arrived in the Philippines the student teacher ratio was one teacher for 4 179 students 30 Section 15 of Act 74 empowered the general superintendent to import 1 000 teachers from the U S The first batch of 48 American teachers arrived in June 1901 The second batch of 509 teachers 386 men and 141 women accompanied by 4 nurses 13 spouses arrived in August and became known as the Thomasites after the United States Army Transport Thomas one of the ships which transported them From the very start serious problems threatened the success of the educational program Problems encountered included opposition from Catholic clerics language difficulties health problems and difficulty in adjusting to the tropical climate financial problems brought on by delayed salary payments lack of school buildings many of the 2 167 primary schools existing before the war had either been destroyed or pressed into use by the army as barracks prisons or hospitals 31 etc 32 Cultural values which had developed under Spanish rule also posed a severe hindrance The Thomasites had a difficult time convincing their students to give more importance to activities that developed critical thinking than to those which simply required rote memorization or that coming an hour late or being absent to attend a town fiesta was a big shortcoming 33 Another problem encountered was difficulty in promoting equality among the students as children of wealthy families thought they were entitled to special privileges Some wealthy parents openly opposed the American educational system because of the insecurities it created For them education was a privilege of their class and should not be extended to the common people They believed that general education would create an imbalance in the country s workforce with the labor market having a surplus of people seeking white collars and a shortage of people willing to engage in manual work To address this concern education officials propagated the trade and agricultural schools explaining that graduates of these schools were at par with those earning degrees from the normal school and universities 34 As the years went by the Thomasites won the respect and admiration not only of their students but also of their parents The parents admired the way the American teachers treated their children and managed classroom activities Specifically they lauded the abolition of corporal punishment The Thomasites friendliness informality and approachability were admired by many Filipinos who still remembered bad experiences with the aristocratic Spanish 35 Friar lands editThe instructions of President McKinley to the commission stipulated that it was their duty to make a thorough investigation into the titles of large tracts of land held or claimed by individuals or by religious orders 36 The commission conducted a series of public hearings into the matter beginning on July 31 1900 and lasting until November 37 On November 30 1900 a 604 page report submitted by the commission discussed the friar lands in detail recommending that the insular government buy the large haciendas of the friars and sell them out as small holdings to the present tenants 38 In 1902 testifying in the U S before the House Committee on Insular Affairs Taft repeated this recommendation appraising the market value of the friar lands as between 2 500 000 to 7 000 000 in gold and proposing that the Insular Government be allowed to float bonds for the purchase of the lands and use the proceeds from the sale of the lands to settle the bonds 39 The Philippine Organic Act enacted in July 1902 authorized the Insular Government to purchase the friar lands empowering it to issue bonds for the purpose 40 Taft traveled to Rome in May 1902 meeting with Pope Leo XIII and proposing to buy the lands The Pope promised to study the issue and expressed support for the American pacification program 41 On November 18 1902 Papal representative Jean Baptiste Guidi arrived in Manila to negotiate the sale of the lands Taft commissioned a survey to determine their market value and a purchase price of 7 239 784 66 was paid in December 1903 by the Insular Government 42 The holdings amounted to some 166 000 hectares 410 000 acres of which one half was in the vicinity of Manila The land was eventually resold to Filipinos some of them tenants but the majority of the estate owners 43 This was the first program of modern land reform in the Philippines See also editPhilippine Commission First Philippine Commission Congress of the Philippines Senate of the Philippines House of Representatives of the PhilippinesReferences edit Aguinaldo 2016 pp 133 134 United States President William McKinley April 7 1900 Instructions of the President to the Philippine commission The United States and its Territorieed 1870 1925 The Age of Imperialism University of Michigan U S War Department 1901 p 11 American President A Reference Resource Archived August 7 2013 at the Wayback Machine University of Virginia Miller Center Retrieved on August 7 2013 a b Kalaw 1927 pp 452 459 Appendix F Chronology for the Philippine Islands and Guam in the Spanish American War U S Library of Congress retrieved February 16 2008 a b Philippines United States rule U S Library of Congress Retrieved August 20 2007 Escalante 2007 pp 132 133 citing Worcester 1930 pp 62 63 Kalaw 1927 pp 452 459 Escalante 2007 p 88 Escalante 2007 p 88 citing Forbes 1945 p 90 Escalante 2007 p 91 remarking that Secretary Root s biographer alleged that Root wrote the first paragraph of Spooner s bill in which the executive was empowered to establish civilian rule in the Philippines citing Leopold 1954 p 36 Escalante 2007 p 91 referencing Francisco amp Fast 1985 pp 221 237 Blitz 2000 pp 39 40 Escalante 2007 p 92 Blitz 2000 p 41 Aguinaldo 2016 p 141 The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902 July 1 1902 Retrieved July 5 2007 Zaide 1994 p 285 Escalante 2007 pp 122 123 a b Escalante 2007 p 123 a b Escalante 2007 p 98 citing Willis 1905 p 54 Escalante 2007 p 103 citing quote in Blount 1913 pp 288 289 Escalante 2007 pp 103 106 Delgado along with 30 officers and 140 riflemen surrendered on January 10 1901 Trias and 200 of his followers did the same thing on March 15 1901 Escalante 2007 p 109 citing Linn 2000 pp 215 295 Escalante 2007 p 110 citing U S Congress House 1903 R B Horton ed Committee on Insular Affairs Committee Reports Hearings and Acts of Congress Pertaining Thereto 1901 1903 Washington Government Printing Office pp 26 27 Escalante 2007 pp 99 100 a b Act No 74 permanent dead link Enacted January 21 1901 lawph com Escalante 2007 pp 100 101 citing U S Bureau of Census 1905 1903 Census of the Philippine Islands vol III Washington Government Printing Office p 640 Escalante 2007 p 101 Escalante 2007 p 142 Escalante 2007 p 144 citing Willis 1905 pp 228 229 Escalante 2007 pp 143 144 Escalante 2007 pp 144 145 Escalante 2007 p 145 Escalante 2007 pp 145 146 Kalaw 1927 pp cc philamer q1 titles rgn full 20text idno afj2233 0001 001 didno afj2233 0001 001 view image seq 00000476 456 457 Escalante 2007 p 80 Escalante 2007 pp 83 84 Escalante 2007 pp 190 192 Escalante 2007 pp 198 199 Escalante 2007 pp 202 203 Escalante 2007 pp 221 226 Seekins 1993Sources editAguinaldo Emilio 2016 A Second Look at America Classic Reprint Fb amp c Limited ISBN 978 1 333 84114 0 retrieved November 17 2022 Blitz Amy 2000 The Contested State American Foreign Policy and Regime Change in the Philippines Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 0 8476 9935 8 Escalante Rene R 2007 The Bearer of Pax Americana The Philippine Career of William H Taft 1900 1903 Quezon City Philippines New Day Publishers ISBN 978 971 10 1166 6 Kalaw Maximo M 1927 The development of Philippine politics Oriental Commercial retrieved January 21 2008 Seekins Donald M 1993 The First Phase of United States Rule 1898 1935 in Dolan Ronald E ed Philippines A Country Study 4th ed Washington D C Federal Research Division Library of Congress retrieved December 25 2007 U S War Department 1901 Annual Report of the War Department Vol I Part 10 Public Laws and Rules Passed by the Philippine Commission Nos 1 263 Government Printing Office Washington Worcester Dean Conant 1914 The Philippines Past and Present vol 1 of 2 MacMillan ISBN 1 4191 7715 X retrieved February 15 2008 Worcester Dean Conant 1930 The Philippines Past and Present MacMillan Further reading editBooks edit Blount James 1913 American Occupation of the Philippines 1898 1912 New York G P Putnam s Sons Elliott Charles Burke 1917 Appendix C Instructions of the President to the Taft Commission The Philippines To the End of the Commission Government a Study in Tropical Democracy pp 485 490 Forbes William Cameron 1945 The Philippine Islands Massachusetts Harvard University Press Francisco Luzviminda Fast Jonathan 1985 Conspiracy of Empire Big Business Corruption and Politics for Imperialism in America 1876 1907 Quezon City Philippines Foundation for Nationalist Studies Linn Brian MacAllister 2000 The Philippine War 1899 1902 Kansas University Press of Kansas ISBN 0 7006 0990 3 Leopold Richard W 1954 Elihu Root and the Conservative Tradition Boston Little Brown and Company ISBN 978 0 316 52114 7 Pobre Cesar P Philippine Legislature 100 Years ISBN 971 92245 0 9 Willis Henry Parker 1905 Our Philippine Problem A Study of American Colonial Policy New York Henry Holt and Company Zaide Sonia M 1994 The Philippines A Unique Nation All Nations Publishing Co ISBN 971 642 071 4 Other items edit Philippine House of Representatives Congressional LibraryExternal links editElliott Charles Burke 1917 Appendix C Instructions of the President to the Taft Commission The Philippines To the End of the Commission Government a Study in Tropical Democracy pp 485 490 McKinley William Instructions of President McKinley to the Taft Commission 7 April 1900 In Filipiniana net online digital library archived from the original on February 28 2009 retrieved January 7 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Taft Commission amp oldid 1154981531, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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