 |
| President William McKinley |
Spain ceded the Philippines in 1898 after the
Spanish-American War. President William McKinley appointed a Philippine Commission
on January 20, 1899 to exercise legislative and limited executive powers over
islands whose people were still recovering from the ravages of armed revolution
and wars. At that time an American military governor appointed by the US president was
the head of the commission who held executive authority. A second Philippine Commission
in 1901 paved the way for the setting up of judicial system, a supreme court,
and an elected government in the municipal and provincial levels. Executive
powers were exercise by an American civil governor who had executive
departments. The title of the governor was later changed to
governor-general pursuant to an act of US congress.
The Philippine Organic Act of July 1, 1902 which was approved
by the US congress called for the creation of Philippine Assembly whose members
were popularly elected by the Filipinos. In the new government set up the
colonial government had a bicameral legislature. The Philippine Assembly was
the lower house while the US president appointed Philippine Commission served
as the upper house. The Philippine Commission also acted as an executive body
with the US president appointed governor-general as its head. Other features of
the Philippine Organic Act included the disestablishment of the Catholic Church
and the appointment of two Filipinos as resident commissioners of the Philippines
to the US to act as non-voting representatives of the Philippines to the US
congress. During that time, in the US, matters concerning the
Philippines were dealt
by the Bureau of Insular affairs which oversaw unincorporated American
territories.
 |
| President Manuel L. Quezon |
The Jones Law or the Philippine Autonomy Act which was
enacted in the US congress on August 29, 1916, provided for an elected upper
house and lower house in the Philippine bicameral legislative body. In effect
it created the Philippine senate which replaced the Philippine Commission. On
March 24, 1934, the US congress passed Tydings-McDuffie Act which granted self
government and independence to the Filipinos after a ten-year transition period.
Under that act the Philippines became a commonwealth and the executive
authority of the American governor-general was passed on to a Filipino
president. Relative to the new law, the title of governor-general was changed
to High Commissioner to the Philippines until 1946 when the Philippines gained
independence from the United States pursuant to Tydings-McDuffie Act. However,
the function of the commissioner was only ceremonial and advisory since executive power was
vested to the Filipino president. Manuel L. Quezon was the first president of the Philippine Commonwealth.
During the American colonial period there were 4 military governors,
two civil governors and 11 governors- general.
Three were holding the position in acting capacity. The most distinguished
governor-general was William Howard Taft who became the 27th
president of the United States. He was also the first civil governor of the
Philippines during the American colonial period. The first military governor was Wesley Merritt
who briefly served from August 14-29 1898. The longest serving American governor-
general was Francis Burton Harrison who held the office for more than 7 years.
Also of note were Lt. Gen Arthur MacArthur, the father of legendary American general
Douglas MacArthur and Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the eldest son of US President
Theodore Roosevelt.
 |
| William Howard Taft |
 |
| Theodore Roosevelt Jr. |
 |
| Arthur MacArthur Jr. |
 |
| Francis Burton Harrison |
List of American governors-general in the Philippines during
the American colonial period*
Name
|
From
|
Until
|
Military Governors
|
||
Wesley
Merritt
|
August 14,
1898
|
August 29,
1898
|
Elwell
Otis
|
August 30,
1898
|
May 5,
1900
|
Arthur
MacArthur Jr.
|
May 5,
1900
|
July 14,
1901
|
Adna
Chaffee
|
July 4,
1901
|
July 4,
1902
|
Governors
|
||
William
Howard Taft
|
July 4,
1901
|
February
1, 1904
|
Luke
Edward Wright
|
February
1, 1904
|
November
3, 1905
|
Governors-General
|
||
Henry Clay
Ide
|
November
3, 1905
|
September
19, 1906
|
James
Francis Smith
|
September
20, 1906
|
November
11, 1909
|
William
Cameron Forbes
|
November
11, 1909
|
September
1, 1913
|
Newton W.
Gilbert (acting)
|
September
1, 1913
|
October 6,
1913
|
Francis
Burton Harrison
|
October 6,
1913
|
March 5,
1921
|
Charles
Yeater (acting)
|
March 5,
1921
|
October
14, 1921
|
Leonard
Wood
|
October
14, 1921
|
August 7,
1927
|
Eugene
Allen Gilmore (acting)
|
August 7,
1927
|
December
27, 1927
|
Henry L.
Stimson
|
December
27, 1927
|
February
23, 1929
|
Eugene
Allen Gilmore (acting)
|
February
23, 1929
|
July 8,
1929
|
Dwight F.
Davis
|
July 8,
1929
|
January 9,
1932
|
George C.
Butte (acting)
|
January 9,
1932
|
February
29, 1932
|
Theodore
Roosevelt Jr.
|
February
29, 1932
|
July 15,
1933
|
Frank
Murphy
|
July 15,
1933
|
November
15, 1935
|
*Cahoon, Ben (2000), “Philippines”
Photos (public domain) via Wikipedia
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