It further required U.S. citizens and corporations be granted equal access to Philippine minerals, forests, and other natural resources.

Congress was threatening to withhold post-World War II rebuilding funds unless the Bell Act was ratified.

As Raymond Bonner and other historians note, Lansdale strongly influenced President Ramon Magsaysay, going so far as to knock him out when the Philippine leader delivered a speech written by a Filipino and that American agents also drugged sitting President Elpidio Quirino and discussed assassinating Senator Claro Recto.

[6][7] Prominent Filipino historian Roland G. Simbulan has called the CIA "US imperialism's clandestine apparatus in the Philippines."

The declaration was not recognised by the United States which, after defeating the Spanish in the Battle of Manila Bay in May that year, acquired the Philippine Islands via the Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish–American War.

In the Philippine national elections of 1946, Roxas ran for president as the nominee of the liberal wing of the Nacionalista Party.

[12] On signing that agreement, Roxas remarked that it strengthened Philippine national defense and assured the peace of the Pacific.

Although Roxas was successful in getting rehabilitation funds from the United States after independence, he was forced to concede trade restrictions for the Philippine citizens, and special privileges for U.S. property owners and investors.

His administration was marred by graft and corruption; moreover, the abuses of the provincial military police contributed to the rise of the left-wing Hukbalahap (Huk) movement in the countryside.

[17][18] Roxas did not stay long in office because of a heart attack as he was speaking at Clark Air Base on April 15, 1948.

[19] Quirino assumed the presidency on April 17, 1948, taking his oath of office two days after the death of Manuel Roxas.

In 1949 the wartime president, Jose P. Laurel of the Nacionalista Party, ran against Quirino in what has been described as a particularly corrupt and venal exercise in democracy.

[20] Since Quirino was a widower, his surviving daughter Vicky would serve as the official hostess and perform the functions traditionally ascribed to the First Lady.

Basic social problems, however, particularly in the rural areas, remained unsolved, and his administration was tainted by widespread graft and corruption.

As president, he was a close friend and supporter of the United States and a vocal spokesman against communism during the Cold War.

It was late in the afternoon that day that newspapers reported that the airplane had crashed on Mount Manunggal in Cebu and that 25 of the 26 passengers and crew aboard were killed.

Seeking to stimulate economic development, Macapagal took the advice of supporters and allowed the Philippine peso to float on the free currency exchange market.