On July 4, 1946, the Commonwealth ended, and the Philippines attained full sovereignty as provided for in Article XVIII of the 1935 Constitution.

[20] The pre-1935 U.S. territorial administration, or Insular Government, was headed by a governor general who was appointed by the president of the United States.

Provisions of the law included reserving several military and naval bases for the United States as well as imposing tariffs and quotas on Philippine exports.

[24] This led to the creation and passing of the Tydings–McDuffie Act[b] or the Philippine Independence Act, which allowed the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines with a ten-year period of peaceful transition to full independence – the date of which was to be on the 4th of July following the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Commonwealth.

Candidates included former president Emilio Aguinaldo, Philippine Independent Church leader Gregorio Aglipay, and others.

Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña of the Nacionalista Party were proclaimed the winners, winning the seats of president and vice-president, respectively.

[21] The Commonwealth government was inaugurated on the morning of November 15, 1935, in ceremonies held on the steps of the Legislative Building in Manila.

However, uncertainties, especially in the diplomatic and military situation in Southeast Asia, in the level of U.S. commitment to the future Republic of the Philippines, and in the economy due to the Great Depression, proved to be major problems.

[31] Meanwhile, battles against the Japanese continued on the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor, and Leyte until the final surrender of United States-Philippine forces in May 1942.

[34] The main general headquarters of the Philippine Commonwealth Army (PCA), located on the military station in Ermita, Manila, was closed down on December 24, 1941.

Fighting continued in remote corners of the Philippines until Japan's surrender in August 1945, which was signed on September 2 in Tokyo Bay.

[38] After the war in the Philippines, the Commonwealth was restored, and a one-year transitional period in preparation for independence began.

[citation needed] An example of these clashes includes one initiated by Benigno Ramos through his Sakdalista movement,[44] which advocated tax reductions, land reforms, the breakup of the large estates or haciendas, and the severing of American ties.

Taxes collected from a robust coconut industry helped boost the economy by funding infrastructure and other development projects.

[50] Estimated numbers of speakers of the dominant languages:[45] The Commonwealth had its own constitution, which remained effective after independence until 1973,[51] and was self-governing[16] although foreign policy and military affairs would be under the responsibility of the United States, and Laws passed by the legislature affecting immigration, foreign trade, and the currency system had to be approved by the United States president.

[52] During the 1935–41 period, the Commonwealth of the Philippines featured a very strong executive, a unicameral National Assembly,[53][54] and a Supreme Court,[55] all composed entirely of Filipinos, as well as an elected Resident Commissioner to the United States House of Representatives (as Puerto Rico does today).

During 1939 and 1940, after an amendment in the Commonwealth's Constitution, a bicameral Congress,[56] consisting of a Senate,[56] and of a House of Representatives,[56] was restored, replacing the National Assembly.

However, in January 2008, Congressman Rodolfo Valencia of Oriental Mindoro filed a bill seeking instead to declare General Miguel Malvar as the second Philippine President, who took control over all Filipino forces after American soldiers captured President Emilio Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901.

[62] In a notable humanitarian act, Quezon, in cooperation with U.S. High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt, facilitated the entry into the Philippines of Jewish refugees fleeing fascist regimes in Europe.

On February 20, Quezon, his family, and senior officials of the Commonwealth government were evacuated from the island by submarine on the first leg of what came to be a relocation of the Commonwealth government in exile to the U.S.[34] Quezon suffered from tuberculosis and spent his last years in a "cure cottage" in Saranac Lake, NY, where he died on August 1, 1944.

[citation needed] For the presidential election of 1946 Osmeña refused to campaign, saying that the Filipino people knew of his record of 40 years of honest and faithful service.

[71] On June 3, 1946, Roxas appeared for the first time before the joint session of the Congress to deliver his first state of the nation address.

Among other things, he told the members of the Congress the grave problems and difficulties the Philippines were set to face and reported on his special trip to the U.S. – the approval for independence.