Sovereignty of the Philippines
Encyclopedia
The Sovereignty of the Philippines refers to the status of the Philippine
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 Nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

 as an Independent sovereign state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...

. This article covers sovereignty transitions relating to the Philippines, with particular emphasis on the passing of sovereignty from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in the Treaty of Paris (1898)
Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....

, signed on December 10, 1898 to end the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

.

President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...

 asserted U.S. sovereignty
Benevolent assimilation
The term Benevolent Assimilation refers to a proclamation about the Philippines issued on December 21, 1898 by U.S. President William McKinley during the Philippine-American War, which followed the defeat of Spain during the Spanish-American War. The proclamation reads in part:The proclamation was...

 over the Philippines on December 21, 1898 in his Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation.

In March 1897 Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...

, a leader of the Katipunan
Katipunan
The Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...

, had been elected President of a revolutionary government at the Tejeros Convention
Tejeros Convention
The Tejeros Convention was the meeting held between the Magdiwang and Magdalo factions of the Katipunan at San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite on March 22, 1897...

. That government had been meant to replace the Katipunan, though the latter was not formally abolished until 1899. Aguinaldo was again elected President at Biak-na-Bato in November 1897, leading the Biak-na-Bato Republic
Republic of Biak-na-Bato
The Republic of Biak-na-Bato , officially referred to in its constitution as the Philippine Republic , was the first republic ever declared in the Philippines by the revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo and his fellow members of the Katipunan. Despite its successes, including the establishment of the...

. Exiled in Hong Kong after the Pact of Biak-na-Bato
Pact of Biak-na-Bato
The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, created a truce between Spanish Colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution...

, he returned to the Philippines to renew revolutionary activities with the advent of the Spanish-American War and, in May 1898, formed a dictatorial government. In June 1898, Aguinaldo proclaimed independence
Philippine Declaration of Independence
The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II el Viejo , Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the...

 from Spanish sovereignty and transformed his dictatorial government into a revolutionary government. On January 22, 1899 (subsequent to the signing of the Treaty of Paris) Aguinaldo's government was constituted
Malolos Constitution
The Malolos Constitution was enacted on January 20, 1899 by the Philippine Malolos Congress, and established the First Philippine Republic. The original was written in Spanish, which became the first official language of the Philippines....

 by the Malolos Congress
Malolos Congress
-Further reading:*Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library...

 and is called the Malolos Republic as well as the First Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...

(Spanish: Republica Filipina). Aguinaldo was again elected president in January 1899, and attempted unsuccessfully to persuade other countries to recognize his nascent government. Following the outbreak of general hostilities between U.S. and Filipino forces in February 1899, the Philippine-American War
Philippine-American War
The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...

 ensued. Aguinaldo's government effectively ceased to exist on April 1, 1901, when he pledged allegiance to the United States after being captured by U.S. forces in March of that year.

The Philippines continued as a U.S. territory
United States territory
United States territory is any extent of region under the jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters including all U.S. Naval carriers. The United States has traditionally proclaimed the sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing its...

 until July 4, 1946, when the U.S. relinquished sovereignty and recognized the independence of the Republic of the Philippines. The current Philippine government considers Emilio Aguinaldo to have been the first President of the Philippines
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...

 and considers the Malolos Republic as the "First" Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...

.

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided.

A sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state.

As a practical matter, the question of sovereignty for the Philippines did not arise until near the end of the 19th century. The constitutive theory of statehood was developed in the 19th century to define what is and is not a state. With this theory, statehood depends on a entity's recognition by other countries.

Early contact

Although they were not the first Europeans in the Philippines
First Europeans in the Philippines
It is not known who the first Europeans were to visit any part of what is now known as the Philippines. However, books published in western Europe before Ferdinand Magellan landed in the southern Philippines in 1521 show that the members of Magellan's 1521 expedition were not...

, the first well documented arrival of western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

ans in the archipelago was the Spanish expedition led by Portuguese-born Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....

, which first sighted the mountains of Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...

 at dawn on 16 March 1521 (Spanish calendar). Magellan sought friendship among the natives beginning with Humabon, the chieftain of Sugbu (now Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...

), and took special pride in converting them to Catholicism. His involvement with the native tribes eventually led to his death on 27 April 1521 in the Battle of Mactan
Battle of Mactan
The Battle of Mactan was fought in the Philippines on April 27, 1521. The warriors of Lapu-Lapu, a native chieftain of Mactan Island, defeated Spanish forces under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed in the battle.- Background :...

. After Magellan's voyage, subsequent Spanish expeditions were dispatched to the islands and, in 1543, Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal according to the Treaty of Saragossa in 1529...

 named the islands of Leyte and Samar Las Islas Filipinas after Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

. The single surviving vessel from Magellan's fleet, the Victoria, returned to Spain in 1522, after which Spain claimed dominion over the Philippine archipelago on the basis of discovery, a valid mode of acquisition at the time.

Spanish conquest

On April 27, 1565, Spanish Conquistadores attacked the defiant Rajah Tupas
Rajah Tupas
Rajah Tupas was the Rajah of Cebu in the Philippines. He was the son of Sri Parang the Limp, and the nephew of Rajah Humabon. He is known to have been baptized on 21 March 1568 at age 70,He had also been baptized during Magellan's day together with his wife, her parents, his brother, two sisters...

, who had succeeded Rajah Humabon as king of Cebu. Tupas was defeated and made to sign an agreement after his defeat, effectively placing the Philippines under Spain. On February 8, 1597, King Philip II, near the end of his 42 year reign, issued a Royal Cedula
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...

 instructing to Francisco de Tello de Guzmán
Francisco de Tello de Guzmán
Francisco de Tello de Guzmán was Spanish governor of the Philippines from July 14, 1596 to May 1602. He was a knight of the Order of Santiago.-Early life and appointment as governor:...

, then Governor-General of the Philippines
Governor-General of the Philippines
The Governor-General of the Philippines was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed mainly by Spain and the United States, and briefly by Great Britain, from 1565 to 1935....

 in severe terms to fulfill the laws of tributes and to provide for restitution of ill-gotten taxes imposed on the natives. The Cedula also decreed an undertaking by which the natives (referred to as Indians), "... freely render to me submission." The decree was published in Manila on August 5, 1598. King Philip died on 13 September, just forty days after the publication of the decree, but his death was not known in the Philippines until middle of 1599, by which time a referendum by which the natives would acknowledge Spanish rule was underway. With the completion of the Philippine referendum of 1599, Spain could be said to have established legitimate sovereignty over the Philippines.

Spanish rule

During Spain’s 333 year rule in the Philippines, the colonists had to fight off the Chinese pirates (who lay siege to Manila, the most famous of which was Limahong
Limahong
Limahong, Lim Hong or also called Lin Feng was a notorious Chinese pirate and warlord who invaded the northern Philippine Islands in 1574. He built up a reputation for his constant raids to ports in Guangdong, Fujian and southern China...

 in 1574), Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 forces, and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 forces. Moro
Moro
- Events :* Moro Crater massacre, an engagement in the Philippine-American War* Battle of the Moro, a World War II battle between mainly Canadian and German forces on the Moro river in Italy in 1943...

s from western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago constantly raided the coastal Christian areas of Luzon and the Visayas and occasionally brought home loot and fair women. They often sold their captives as slaves. A British conquest of the Spanish Philippines occurred
British occupation of the Philippines
The British occupation of Manila occurred between 1762 and 1764, when a British force occupied Manila, the Spanish colonial capital of the Philippines, and the nearby principal port, Cavite, both on Manila Bay....

 during the Seven Years War, with British occupation of the capital between 1762 and 1764. Also, there were a number of failed Philippine revolts
Philippine revolts against Spain
During the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, there were several revolts against of the Spanish colonial government by native-born Filipinos and Chinese, often with the goal of re-establishing the rights and powers that had traditionally belonged to tribal chiefs and Chinese traders...

 during Spanish rule.

The Katipunan

On July 7, 1892, the night Filipino writer José Rizal
José Rizal
José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda , was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot and is listed as one of the national heroes of the Philippines by...

 was to be banished to Dapitan, Andrés Bonifacio
Andres Bonifacio
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro was a Filipino nationalist and revolutionary. He was a founder and later Supremo of the Katipunan movement which sought the independence of the Philippines from Spanish colonial rule and started the Philippine Revolution...

, Teodoro Plata
Teodoro Plata
Teodoro Plata was a Filipino patriot, and a co-founder of the Katipunan, the secret society which sparked the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule in 1896....

, Ladislao Diwa
Ladislao Diwa
Ladislao Diwa y Nocon was a Filipino patriot who was among the founders of the Katipunan that initiated the Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1896.-Early years:...

, and others founded the Katipunan
Katipunan
The Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...

, a secret organization opposed to Spanish rule. Its discovery in 1896 by the Spanish colonial government led to the outbreak of Philippine Revolution
Philippine Revolution
The Philippine Revolution , called the "Tagalog War" by the Spanish, was an armed military conflict between the people of the Philippines and the Spanish colonial authorities which resulted in the secession of the Philippine Islands from the Spanish Empire.The Philippine Revolution began in August...

.

An article on the website of the Philippine Government's National Commission for Culture and the Arts asserts that the Katipunan
Katipunan
The Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night...

 became an "open de facto government" on 24 August 1896. Emilio Aguinaldo wrote that the Cabinet conferred on Bonifacio the title Haring Bayan (English: Sovereign). Filipino historian Gregario Zaide also wrote that the Katipunan was a government by itself. However, the Katipunan were not recognized by other countries as the legitimate government of the Philippines.

At the Tejeros Convention
Tejeros Convention
The Tejeros Convention was the meeting held between the Magdiwang and Magdalo factions of the Katipunan at San Francisco de Malabon, Cavite on March 22, 1897...

 held by the Katipunan on March 22, 1897, Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...

 was elected to the office of President. Bonifacio, as chairman of the convention and Supremo if the Katipunan, voided the convention proceedings, but Aguinaldo (who had not been present at the convention) took his oath of office as President the next day in Santa Cruz de Malabon (present-day Tanza
Tanza, Cavite
Municipality of Tanza is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines...

) in Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...

. On November 1, 1897, a constitution written by Felix Ferrer and Isabelo Archero established the Republic of Biak-na-Bato
Republic of Biak-na-Bato
The Republic of Biak-na-Bato , officially referred to in its constitution as the Philippine Republic , was the first republic ever declared in the Philippines by the revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo and his fellow members of the Katipunan. Despite its successes, including the establishment of the...

, with Aguinaldo as President.

On December 14–15, 1897, the Pact of Biak-na-Bato
Pact of Biak-na-Bato
The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, created a truce between Spanish Colonial Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera and Emilio Aguinaldo to end the Philippine Revolution...

 suspended the revolution, with Aguinaldo and other Katipunan leaders agreeing to go into voluntary exile abroad. General Francisco Makabulos of Tarlac
Tarlac
Tarlac is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Luzon Island. Its capital is Tarlac City. Tarlac borders Pampanga to the south, Nueva Ecija to the east, Pangasinan to the north, and Zambales to the west...

, a Katipunan leader who did not go into exile, established the Central Executive Committee, which was intended to be a provisional government "until a general government in these islands shall again be established." This rebel government had a constitution, popularly called the constitution of Makabulos, which provided for an executive committee composed of a President, Vice President and Secretary of the Interior.

American hostilities, Aguinaldo's return, Dictatorial government

After the Philippines became a theater of operations in the Spanish-American War, with hostilities commencing on May 1, 1898 with the Battle of Manila Bay
Battle of Manila Bay (1898)
The Battle of Manila Bay took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish-American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón...

, Aguinaldo and others returned from exile to the Philippines in order to resume their revolution against the Spanish colonial government. On May 24, in the wake of his military victories, Aguinaldo announced that he was assuming "command of all the troops in the struggle for the attainment of our lofty aspirations, inaugurating a dictatorial government to be administered by decrees promulgated under my sole responsibility..." and issued a decree formally establishing a Dictatorial Government. This was done under the authority of the Biak-na-Bato republic, nullifying orders issued prior to the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato and asserting that the Dictatorial Government was temporary in nature, "... so that, when peace shall have been reestablished and our legitimate aspiration for unrestricted liberty attained, it may be modified by the nation, in which rests the principle of authority."

Philippine declaration of independence, Revolutionary government

On June 12, 1898, the Philippine Declaration of Independence
Philippine Declaration of Independence
The Philippine Declaration of Independence occurred on June 12, 1898 in Cavite II el Viejo , Cavite, Philippines. With the public reading of the Act of the Declaration of Independence, Filipino revolutionary forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the sovereignty and independence of the...

 was proclaimed at an event led by Emilio Aguinaldo in his mansion in Kawit, Cavite (this proclamation did not address the de-jure status of the Spanish colonial government, which continued to exist under the Spanish national government then embroiled in the Spanish-American War). On June 23, Aguinaldo issued a decree replacing the Dictatorial Government with a Revolutionary Government.

Peace protocol, capture of Manila, Treaty of Paris

On August 13, with American commanders unaware that a peace protocol had been signed in Washington between Spain and the United States on the previous day, American forces captured the city of Manila from the Spanish. The next day, August 14, the U.S. established a military government in the Philippines, with Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 Wesley Merritt
Wesley Merritt
Wesley Merritt was a general in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. He is noted for distinguished service in the cavalry.-Early life:...

 as the first military governor. General Merritt received news of the August 12 peace protocol on August 16, three days after the surrender of Manila.

As a consequence of its defeat, Spain transferred its rights over the Philippine archipelago to the U.S., with the Philippines ceasing to be a colony of Spain and becoming a colony of the U.S. On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Paris of 1898 was signed on December 10, 1898, at the end of the Spanish-American War, and came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the ratifications were exchanged....

 was signed between Spain and the United States, ending the Spanish-American war. In article III of this treaty, Spain cede
Cession
The act of Cession, or to cede, is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty...

d the Philippines to the United States. Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo was the Filipino lawyer representative to the negotiations in Paris that led to the Treaty of Paris , ending the Spanish–American War and achieving him the title of "outstanding first Filipino diplomat."As a family friend and adviser of General Emilio Aguinaldo and General Antonio...

, who had been assigned by Aguinaldo as Ambassador to the United States, had traveled to Paris but had been refused admission to the conference. He worked hard to prevent the ratification of the treaty by Spain, but failed. Returning to Paris, he sent a message to Aguinaldo about the refusal of the United States and other foreign powers to recognize the independence of the Philippines.

During the entire time that the Filipino revolutionary movement developed as described above, first under Bonifacio and later under Makabulos and Aguinaldo, the Philippines was under Spanish sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

. The Filipino revolutionary movement was an insurgency
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...

 against the Spanish colonial government, and the various "governments" described above were insurgent governments.

By today's standards, a treaty of cession is void if it arises out of an act of annexation procured by the threat or use of force. Although the 1898 annexation of the Philippines by the U.S. would have been unlawful by today’s standards, it does not follow that the U.S. claims of sovereignty are unfounded. Under the doctrine of intertemporal law
Intertemporal law
Intertemporal Law is a concept in the field of legal theory.It deals with the complications caused by alleged abuse or violation of collective or individual rights in the historical past, in a territory where the legal system has undergone significant changes since then, and a redress along the...

, “a juridical fact must be appreciated in light of the law contemporary with it, and not the law in force at the time when a dispute in regard to it arises or falls to be settled.” Thus, the legality of any act should be determined in accordance with the law of the time the act was committed, and not by reference to law as it might have become at a later date. By the Westphalian sovereignty
Westphalian sovereignty
Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of nation-state sovereignty based on two things: territoriality and the absence of a role for external agents in domestic structures....

 standards of the late 19th century, the cessation of these territories by Spain to the U.S. was valid.
Citing Teodoro A. Agoncillo, The Filipino Plea for Independence, in IMPERIAL SURGE: THE UNITED STATES ABROAD, THE EARLY 1890S - EARLY 1900S 98, 102 (Thomas G. Paterson et al. eds., 1992)note 27, at 256.

Citing SURYA P. SHARMA, TERRITORIAL ACQUISITION, DISPUTES AND INTERNATIONAL
LAW 40 (1997), note 68, at 45-46; BENJAMIN OBI NWABUEZE, A CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF NIGERIA 1 (1982).

Citing Stephen Beaulac, Vattel's Doctrine on Territory Transfers in International Law and the Cession of Louisiana to the United States of America, 63 LA. L. REV. 1327, 1342 (2002-2003); SHARON KORMAN, THE RIGHT OF CONQUEST: THE ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY BY FORCE IN INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PRACTICE 209-12 (1996), note 16, at 7-12.

Citing Owen J. Lynch, Jr., The Legal Bases of Philippine Colonial Sovereignty: An Inquiry, 62 PHIL. L. J. 279, 293 (1987), note 79, at 293.

Dictatorial and Revolutionary governments

On June 18, 1898, Aguinaldo proclaimed a Dictatorial government. Five days later, on June 23, he issued a decree changing its character to a revolutionary government.

After proclaiming his Revolutionary government, Aguinaldo created diplomatic positions abroad in order to persuade foreign powers to recognize Philippine independence and promulgated decrees creating committees abroad for the purpose of carrying on propaganda activities. He issued decrees on June 24 and August 10 establishing the Hongkong Junta whose members were to represent the Philippines in different countries. A 24 August decree created a revolutionary committee in foreign countries. Diplomatic agents were appointed for the U.S., Japan, England, France, and Australia. The Paris Committee and Madrid Committee were created to work for the recognition of Philippine independence by France and Spain.

First Philippine Republic

On January 22, 1899, the promulgation of the Malolos Constitution
Malolos Constitution
The Malolos Constitution was enacted on January 20, 1899 by the Philippine Malolos Congress, and established the First Philippine Republic. The original was written in Spanish, which became the first official language of the Philippines....

 replaced Aguinaldo's insurgent revolutionary government with the First Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...

; also an insurgent government, but insurgent against the United States instead of against Spain.

Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo
Felipe Agoncillo was the Filipino lawyer representative to the negotiations in Paris that led to the Treaty of Paris , ending the Spanish–American War and achieving him the title of "outstanding first Filipino diplomat."As a family friend and adviser of General Emilio Aguinaldo and General Antonio...

 went to the U.S. to work for American recognition, but his attempts to secure an official audience with U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 William Mckinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...

 failed. He sailed to Europe to appeal to the American Peace Commissioners there to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, but failed in this as well. He returned to the U.S. to fight the ratification of the treaty. On February 4, 1899, with Agoncillo in the U.S., general hostilities erupted between U.S. and Filipino forces, beginning what later came to be known as the Philippine-American war
Philippine-American War
The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...

. With the eruption of hostilities, Agoncillo fled the U.S.

That same day, Aguinaldo issued an order commanding "... That peace and friendly relations with the Americans be broken and that the latter be treated as enemies, ..." On March 30, U.S. Forces captured Malolos, Bulacan
Bulacan
Bulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro...

, which had been the seat of Aguinaldo's various governments. Meanwhile, Aguinaldo had evacuated and established new headquarters in San Isidro
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija
San Isidro is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the latest Philippine census, it has a population of 44,687 people in 8,340 households....

, Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is Palayan City...

. By June, Aguinaldo had moved his headquarters to Cabanatuan
Cabanatuan City
The City of Cabanatuan is a first class, urban city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. It is considered the commercial, industrial and educational hub of the province. According to the latest census, it has a population of 259,267 people in 45,424 households which makes it the largest...

 where, on June 2, a Declaration of War
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...

 on the United State was officially proclaimed.

On March 23, 1901, after about two years of war, Aguinaldo was captured in Palanan, Isabela
Isabela
-Places:* Isabela, Puerto Rico* Isabela Island of the Galápagos Islands* La Isabela in the Dominican Republic, first settlement of Columbus in the New World* Isabela , Philippines* Isabela City, Basilan, Philippines...

. On April 1, 1901, Aguinaldo swore an oath accepting the authority of the United States over the Philippines and pledging his allegiance to the American government.

U.S. civil government of the Philippines

After Aguinaldo swore allegiance to the U.S., the U.S. military government was replaced by a civil government on July 4, 1901.

Scattered fighting continued for some time but the U.S. enacted the Philippine Organic Act
Philippine Organic Act (1902)
The Philippine Organic Act, popularly known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and sometimes known as the Cooper Act after its author Henry A. Cooper, was the first organic law for the Philippines enacted by the United States Congress during the American Colonial Period in the Philippines...

 on July 1, 1902 and, on July 4, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

 proclaimed a full and complete pardon and amnesty to all people in the Philippine archipelago who had participated in the conflict, effectively ending the war.

In 1916, the Philippine Autonomy Act, popularly known as the Jones Law
Jones Law (Philippines)
The Jones Law or the Act of Congress of August 29, 1916, also known as the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, replaced the Philippine Organic Act of 1902 that earlier served as a constitution for the Philippine Islands. The Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898 and a civil...

, was passed by the U.S. Congress. The law, which served as the new organic act (or constitution) for the Philippines, stated in its preamble that the eventual independence of the Philippines would be American policy, subject to the establishment of a stable government. The law maintained the Governor General of the Philippines, appointed by the President of the United States, but established a bicameral Philippine Legislature to replace the elected Philippine Assembly (lower house) and appointive Philippine Commission (upper house) previously in place.

Numerous independence bills were submitted to the U.S. Congress, and the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act
The Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act was the first US law passed for the decolonization of the Philippines.By 1932, forces for the creation of this law coalesced around US farmers who were hit by the Great Depression and feared Filipino imports of sugar and coconut oil that were not subject to US tariff...

 became U.S. law on January 17, 1932. The law required the Philippine Senate ratification, which was not forthcoming. Philippine President Quezon led a twelfth independence mission to Washington to secure a better independence act. The result was the Tydings-McDuffie Act
Tydings-McDuffie Act
The Tydings-McDuffie Act approved on March 24, 1934 was a United States federal law which provided for self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence after a period of ten years. It was authored by Maryland Senator Millard E...

 of 1934, which was ratified by the Philippine Senate. The law provided for the granting of Philippine independence by 1946.

The Tydings-McDuffie Act provided for the drafting and guidelines of a Constitution, for a 10-year "transitional period" as the Commonwealth of the Philippines
Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth of the United States. The Commonwealth was created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934. When Manuel L...

 before the granting of Philippine independence. On May 5, 1934, the Philippines legislature passed an act setting the election of convention delegates. Governor General Frank Murphy
Frank Murphy
William Francis Murphy was a politician and jurist from Michigan. He served as First Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Eastern Michigan District , Recorder's Court Judge, Detroit . Mayor of Detroit , the last Governor-General of the Philippines , U.S...

 designated July 10 as the election date, and the convention held its inaugural session on July 30. The completed draft constitution was approved by the convention on February 8, 1935, approved by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 on March 23, and ratified by popular vote on May 14. The first election under the constitution was held on September 17, and on November 15, 1935 the Commonwealth government was inaugurated.

Commonwealth period

The period 1935–1946 would ideally be devoted to the final adjustments required for a peaceful transition to full independence, a great latitude in autonomy being granted in the meantime.

On May 14, 1935, an election to fill the newly created office of President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines
Commonwealth of the Philippines
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth of the United States. The Commonwealth was created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934. When Manuel L...

 was won by Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines...

 (Nacionalista Party
Nacionalista Party
The Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907...

) and a Filipino government was formed on the basis of principles superficially similar to the US Constitution. (See: Philippine National Assembly).

Japanese occupation during WW-II

A few hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 on December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched air raids in several cities and US military installations in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 on December 8, and on December 10, and Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 was occupied by the Japanese on January 2, 1942. The Commonwealth government by then had become a Government in exile
Government in exile
A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...

 seated in Washington, DC, upon the invitation of U.S. President Roosevelt. President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...

 Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel L. Quezon
Manuel Luis Quezón y Molina served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the Philippines...

 had declared Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

, the capital, an "open city
Open city
In war, in the event of the imminent capture of a city, the government/military structure of the nation that controls the city will sometimes declare it an open city, thus announcing that they have abandoned all defensive efforts....

" and left it under the rule of Jorge B. Vargas
Jorge B. Vargas
Jorge B. Vargas was a lawyer and youth advocate born in Bago City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911 and a Bachelor of Law degree with honors in 1914, both from the University of the...

, as mayor. The Japanese entered the city on January 2, 1942 and established it as the capital. Japan fully captured the Philippines on May 6, 1942, after the Battle of Corregidor
Battle of Corregidor
The Battle for Corregidor was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Philippines. The fall of Bataan on 9 April 1942 ended all organized opposition by the U.S...

. The Second Philippine Republic
Second Philippine Republic
The Second Philippine Republic, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , was a state in the Philippines established on October 14, 1943 under Japanese occupation....

 was established on October 14, 1943 under Japanese occupation
Japanese occupation of the Philippines
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines was the period in the history of the Philippines between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan occupied the previously American-controlled Philippines during World War II....

 and endured until the end of the war, it was repudiated and the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines restored.

Independence and sovereignty

Philippine independence finally came on July 4, 1946, with the signing of the Treaty of Manila
Treaty of Manila (1946)
The Treaty of Manila is a treaty of general relations signed on July 4, 1946 in Manila, capital of the Philippines. Parties to the treaty were the governments of the United States and the Republic of the Philippines...

 between the governments of the United States and the Philippines. The treaty provided for the recognition of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines and the relinquishment of American sovereignty over the Philippine Islands.

During the interim since the end of the 19th century, the constitutive theory of statehood had given way to the declarative theory of statehood. A document that is often quoted on the matter is the Montevideo Convention
Montevideo Convention
The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States was a treaty signed at Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933, during the Seventh International Conference of American States. The Convention codified the declarative theory of statehood as accepted as part of customary international...

 (1933), Article 1 of which states:
The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.


Once the Treaty of Manila took effect, the Philippines, in possession of all these qualifications, became an independent nation and a sovereign state.

Independence Day holiday

From 1946 to 1961, July 4 (the anniversary date of the Treaty of Manila), was observed as Independence Day. On 12 May 1962, Philippine President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...

 Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal was the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970...

 issued Presidential proclamation No. 28, which declared Tuesday, June 12, 1962 (the anniversary date of the 1898 Philippine Declaration of Independence) as a special public holiday throughout the Philippines, "... in commemoration of our people's declaration of their inherent and inalienable right to freedom and independence." On August 4, 1964, Republic Act No. 4166 renamed the July 4 holiday as "Philippine Republic Day", proclaimed the twelfth day of June is as the Philippine Independence Day, and enjoined all citizens of the Philippines to observe 12 June with rites befitting Independence Day.

Philippine Supreme Court statements regarding sovereignty

During the period when the military government exercised administrative control, the Taft Commission
Taft Commission
The Taft Commission, also known as Second Philippine Commission was established by United States President William McKinley on March 16, 1900. The Commission was the legislature of the Philippines, then known as the Philippine Islands under the sovereign control of the United States during the...

 (created on March 16, 1900) exercised legislative powers. On June 11, 1901, the commission had passed the Judiciary Law (Act no. 126), vesting judicial power in the Supreme Court, Courts of First Instance and Justice of the Peace courts.

At least two cases decided by the Philippine Supreme Court contain statements by the court concerning the exchange of sovereignty between Spain and the United States.
  • In United States v. Smith, the Philippine Supreme Court wrote that a complete separation of Church and State had been caused by the change of sovereignty from Spain to the United States.
  • In Philippines vs. Lo-Lo and Saraw, the court said, more clearly, "By the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States."


By the same token it can be argued then that Poland lost its sovereignty when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...

 was signed.

Island of Palmas

The island of Palmas, also referred to as Miangas, is located in the Celebes Sea
Celebes Sea
The Celebes Sea of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangihe Islands chain, on the south by Sulawesi, and on the west by Kalimantan in Indonesia...

 south of Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...

, at approximately 5°33′30″N, 127°12′53° E. The island lies within the geographical area described by Article III of the Treaty of Paris as encompassing the Philippine archipelago and ceded by Spain to the U.S.
The Island of Palmas Case
Island of Palmas Case
Island of Palmas Case, , was a case involving a territorial dispute over the Island of Palmas between the Netherlands and the United States which was heard by the Permanent Court of Arbitration...

 was a case involving a territorial dispute between the Netherlands and the United States which was heard by the Permanent Court of Arbitration
Permanent Court of Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration , is an international organization based in The Hague in the Netherlands.-History:The court was established in 1899 as one of the acts of the first Hague Peace Conference, which makes it the oldest institution for international dispute resolution.The creation of...

. The arbitrator ruled on January 23, 1925 that the island forms in its entirety a part of Netherlands territory.

Spratly Islands

The Spratly Islands, also known as the Kalayaan Islands, are a group of more than 650 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

 between the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Malaysia, Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. They comprise less than five square kilometers of land area, spread over more than 400,000 square kilometers of sea. The islands lie within the geographical area described by Article III of the Treaty of Paris as encompassing the Philippine archipelago and ceded by Spain to the U.S. A number of sovereignty disputes regarding these islands have arisen, some of which remain unresolved .

Sabah and Palawan

Sabah is a Malaysian state
States of Malaysia
Malaysia is a federation which consists of thirteen states and three federal territories . Eleven states and two federal territories are located on the Malay Peninsula while the remaining two states and one federal territory are on the island of Borneo.-The states and federal territories:Malaysia...

 located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

. The Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 has a dormant claim over much of the eastern part of the territory. To date, Malaysia continues to consistently reject Philippine calls to resolve the matter of Sabah's jurisdiction to the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...

. Also, territorial cessations made by the Sultan of Sulu have led to sovereignty disputes over the Philippine island of Palawan
Palawan
Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...

.
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