THE PHILIPPINES.

Evening Star, Issue 24990, 8 October 1943, Page 2

THE PHILIPPINES.

Fok years the people of the Philippines agitated for •complete independence from the United States and for the establishment of a republic. The head and front of the movement was Manuel Quezon, the President. In the United States Congress there was a considerable section, especially among the Democrats, in favour of granting the demand. Various concessions in the way of self-govern-ment were made, among them being the granting of Commonwealth status, but it was judged in Washington that the time had not arrived for. complete separation. In 1934 an Ordinance was signed by the President of the United States and accepted by the Philippine Legislature governing the relations between the United States and the Commonwealth for a period of ten years. It was provided that when the Ordinance lapsed, on July 4, 1946, the Commonwealth should automatically take over full sovereignty and become the " Republic of the Philippines." In the meantime,, however, the conditions have been radically altered by the war in the Pacific. The Japanese attacked the islands in December of 1941. In a very few weeks they had captured Manila, and a few mouthsafterwards they had occupied the entire archipelago. American forces did their best to repel the invaders, but they were hopelessly outnumbered! in men and war materials. The Filipinos themselves were loyal to the Americans, and gave all the assistance within their power. President Quezon, broadcasting to his people from the United States, warned them not to take seriously the promise of Japan to make the islands independent, inviting them to examine the Nipponese pattern for " independence " in Korea, in Manchuria, and in the occupied provinces of China. Referring to President Roosevelt's pledge of a week earlier to establish the Philippine Republic with the defeat of Japan, President Quezon said: " My last word to you is to keep your faith in President Roosevelt and the American people." The interpretation put on the promise of tho United States President was that as soon as the Japanese wore driven out of the islands an amendment to the existing legislation would bo passed by Congress in Washington, so that the new republic could be established, if the conditions allowed it, sooner than the scheduled 1946 date. The Philippine Government is a signatory of the declaration by thirty-two United Nations, and President Quezon and the Vice-Pre-sident attend the meetings of the Pacific War Council, where the war in the Pacific is charted and planned. The Philippines are represented in all the commissions that have been set up to deal with questions affecting the Far East. In urging the Filipinos to stand firmly in their resistance to the Japanese, President Roosevelt asserted : " The o-reat'dny of vour liberation will come, as surelv as there is a God in Heaven."