Second Philippine Republic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg/30px-Flag_of_the_Philippines_(navy_blue).svg.png){kind=small}
The Second Philippine Republic, officially Republic of the Philippines was the government of the Japanese-occupied Philippines during World War II.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Prewar era
Japan invaded other countries in the 1930s and 1940s, long before World War II.[1] It annexed Manchuria in 1932, attacked China in 1937 and added North French Indochina to its sphere in 1940.[1]
Hachiro Arita, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, invited the Philippines to cooperate with the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. However, the Philippines declined the invitation.
[edit] Creation
President Manuel Quezon declared Manila, the capital, an "open city" and left it under the rule of Jorge B. Vargas, 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 fall of Corregidor.
General Masaharu Homma dissolved the commonwealth and established the Philippine Executive Commission, caretaker of the government, with Vargas as its first chairman. All political parties were banned, with the exception of the Kalibapi – Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas (Filipino for the "Organization in the Service of the New Philippines").
A constitution was formed by the Preparatory Commission for Independence, consisting of 20 members from the Kalibapi.[2] The Preparatory Commission, led by Jose P. Laurel,[3] presented its draft Constitution on September 4, 1943 and three days later, the Kalibapi general assembly ratified the draft Constitution.[2]
By September 20, 1943, the Kalibapi's representative groups in the country's provinces and cities elected from among themselves fifty-four members of the Philippine National Assembly, the legislature of the country, with fifty four governors and city mayors as ex-officio members.
Three days after establishing the National Assembly, its inaugural session was held at the pre-war Legislative Building and elected Benigno Aquino, Sr. as its first Speaker and Jose P. Laurel as President of the New Philippine Republic.
On October 15, 1943, the Second Philippine Republic was inaugurated. Laurel took his oath as president, but he ruled in name only, as the government was still a puppet state of Japan.[2]
