Commonwealth of the Philippines

Commonwealth of the Philippines
Mancomunidad de Filipinas (Spanish) Komonwelt ng Pilipinas (Filipino)
Associated state and protectorate of the United States
1935–1942 Japanese occupation: 1942–45 1945–1946
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem The Philippine Hymn (from September 5, 1938)
Location of the Philippines in Southeast Asia.
Capital		Manilaa
Languages		Spanish English Filipino
Government		Presidential republic
President
•	1935–44	Manuel L. Quezon
•	1944–46	Sergio Osmeña
•	1946	Manuel Roxas
Vice President
•	1935–44	Sergio Osmeña
•	1946	Elpidio Quirino
Legislature		National Assembly (1935–41) Congress (1945–46)
Historical era		Interwar, World War II
•	Tydings–McDuffie Act	15 November 1935
•	Independence	4 July 1946
•	Treaty of Manila	22 October 1946
Area
•	1939	300,000 km² (115,831 sq mi)
Population
•	1939 est.	16,000,303
Density		53.3 /km²  (138.1 /sq mi)
Currency		Peso
Preceded by Succeeded by Insular Government History of the Philippines (1946–1965)
Today part of		Philippines
a.	Capital held by enemy forces between 24 December 1941 and 27 February 1945. Temporary capitals were Corregidor Island from 24 December 1941; Iloilo City from 22 February 1942; Bacolod from 26 February; Buenos Aires, Bago City from 27 February; Oroquieta from 19 March; Bukidnon from 23 March; government-in-exile in Melbourne, Australia, in April; government-in-exile in Washington, D.C., from May 1942 to October 1944; Tacloban from 20 October 1944.
b.	The Commonwealth government continued its existence as a government-in-exile in the United States during the Japanese Occupation and later the second republic. In effect, there existed two Philippine governments.

The Commonwealth of the Philippines (Filipino: Komonwelt ng Pilipinas; Spanish: Mancomunidad de Filipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied the country. It replaced the Insular Government, a United States territorial government, and was established by the Tydings–McDuffie Act. The Commonwealth was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for the country's full achievement of independence.

During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strong executive and a Supreme Court. Its legislature, dominated by the Nacionalista Party, was at first unicameral, but later bicameral. In 1937, the government selected Tagalog–the language of Manila and its surrounding provinces–as the basis of the national language, although it would be many years before its usage became general. Women's suffrage was adopted and the economy recovered to its pre-Depression level before the Japanese occupation in 1942.

The Commonwealth government went into exile from 1942 to 1945, when the Philippines was under Japanese occupation. In 1946, the Commonwealth ended and the Philippines claimed full sovereignty as provided for in Article XVIII of the 1935 Constitution.