Second Philippine Republic
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The Second Philippine Republic, officially the Republic of the Philippines and also known as the Japanese-sponsored Philippine Republic, was a Japanese- backed government established on October 14, 1943, during the Japanese occupation of the islands until its dissolution on August 17, 1945.


Background

After the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, President
Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...
had declared the national capital
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
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 Battle of Corregidor. General Masaharu Homma decreed the dissolution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and established the Philippine Executive Commission (), a
caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...
, with Vargas as its first chairman in January 1942. KALIBAPI – ( Tagalog for the "Association for Service to the New Philippines") – was formed by Proclamation No. 109 of the Philippine Executive Commission, a piece of legislation passed on December 8, 1942, banning all existing political parties and creating the new governing alliance. Its first director-general was Benigno Aquino, Sr. The pro-Japanese Ganap Party, which saw the Japanese as the saviors of the archipelago, was absorbed into the KALIBAPI.


Independence

Before the formation of the Preparatory Commission, the Japanese gave an option to put the Philippines under the dictatorship of Artemio Ricarte, whom the Japanese returned from
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
to help bolster their propaganda movement. However, the Philippine Executive Commission refused this option and chose to make the Philippines a republic instead. During his first visit to the Philippines on May 6, 1943, Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō promised to return independence to the Philippines as part of its propaganda of
Pan-Asianism file:Asia satellite orthographic.jpg , Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian people, Asian peo ...
(''Asia for the Asians''). This prompted the KALIBAPI to create the Preparatory Committee for Philippine Independence on June 19, 1943. A draft constitution was formed by the Preparatory Commission for Independence, consisting of 20 members from the KALIBAPI. The Preparatory Commission, led by José P. Laurel, presented its draft Constitution on September 4, 1943, and three days later, the KALIBAPI general assembly ratified the draft Constitution. By September 20, 1943, the KALIBAPI's representative groups in the country's
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
and cities elected from among themselves fifty-four members of the Philippine
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, 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 it elected by majority Benigno S. Aquino as its first Speaker and José P. Laurel as President of the Republic of the Philippines, who was inaugurated on October 14, 1943, at the foundation of the Republic, the Legislative Building. Former President
Emilio Aguinaldo Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first List of presidents of the Philippines, president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first pre ...
and General Artemio Ricarte raised the Philippine flag, the same one used during the
Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War, known alternatively as the Philippine Insurrection, Filipino–American War, or Tagalog Insurgency, emerged following the conclusion of the Spanish–American War in December 1898 when the United States annexed th ...
which featured an anthropomorphic sun, during the inauguration. This was the first time since the Japanese occupation that the flag was displayed and the anthem played. On the same day, a Pact of Alliance was signed between the new Republic and the Japanese government that was ratified two days later by the National Assembly. On December 13, 1943, a version of the Philippine flag with no markings on the sun was adopted as the Second Republic's flag through Executive Order 17. On September 23, 1944 at 10:00 in the morning, President Laurel proclaimed that a state of war existed between the Philippine Republic and both the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. By virtue of this proclamation the Philippine flag was inverted to signify that the Philippines was officially in a state of war. The (war) flag remained as the official flag until the formal dissolution of the Second Philippines Republic.


Politics


Cabinet


Greater East Asia Conference

was an international summit held in Tokyo from November 5 to 6, 1943, in which Japan hosted the
heads of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
of various component members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The event was also referred to as the ''Tokyo Conference''. The Conference addressed few issues of substance, but was intended from the start as a
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
show piece, to illustrate the
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
's commitments to the
Pan-Asianism file:Asia satellite orthographic.jpg , Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian people, Asian peo ...
ideal and to emphasize its role as the "liberator" of Asia from Western
colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...
. The conference and the formal declaration adhered to on November 6 was little more than a propaganda gesture designed to rally regional support for the next stage of the war, outlining the ideals of which it was fought. However, the Conference marked a turning point in Japanese foreign policy and relations with other Asian nations. The defeat of Japanese forces on
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
(in present-day
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
) and an increasing awareness of the limitations to Japanese military strength led the Japanese civilian leadership to realize that a framework based on cooperation, rather than colonial domination, would enable a greater mobilization of manpower and resources against the resurgent Allied Forces. It was also the start of efforts to create a framework that would allow for some form of diplomatic compromise should the military solution fail altogether. However these moves came too late to save the Empire, which surrendered to the Allies less than two years after the conference.


Society

During his term in office, Laurel was faced with various problems that the country was experiencing, such as the following: * Shortages of food, clothing, oil, and other necessities * Heavy Japanese military presence throughout the entire region * Japanese control of transportation, media, and communications Laurel attempted to show that the independence of the republic was genuine by rectifying these problems.


Food shortages

Prioritizing the shortages of food, he organized an agency to distribute rice, even though most of the rice was confiscated by Japanese soldiers. Manila was one of the many places in the country that suffered from severe shortages, due mainly to a typhoon that struck the country in November 1943. The people were forced to cultivate private plots which produced root crops like kangkong. The Japanese, in order to raise rice production in the country, brought a quick-maturing ''horai'' rice, which was first used in Taiwan. Horai rice was expected to make the Philippines self-sufficient in rice by 1943, but rains during 1942 prevented this from happening. In addition, carabaos provided the necessary labor that allowed Filipino farmers to grow rice and other staples. Japanese army patrols would slaughter the carabaos for meat, thereby preventing the farmers from growing enough rice to feed the large population. Before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, an estimated three million carabaos inhabited the Philippines. By the end of the war, an estimated nearly 70% of them had been lost.


Japanese money

The first issue in 1942 consisted of denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 50 centavos and 1, 5, and 10 Pesos. The next year brought "''replacement notes''" of the 1, 5 and 10 Pesos while 1944 ushered in a 100 Peso note and soon after an inflationary 500 Pesos note. In 1945, the Japanese issued a 1,000 Pesos note. This set of new money, which was printed even before the war, became known in the Philippines as Mickey Mouse money due to its very low value caused by severe inflation. Anti-Japanese newspapers portrayed stories of going to the market laden with suitcases or "''bayong''" (native bags made of woven coconut or '' buri'' leaf strips) overflowing with the Japanese-issued bills. In 1944, a box of matches cost more than 100 ''Mickey Mouse'' pesos. In 1945, a kilogram of camote cost around 1000 ''Mickey Mouse'' pesos. Inflation plagued the country with the devaluation of the Japanese money, evidenced by a 60% inflation experienced in January 1944.


Education

The Japanese allowed Tagalog to be the national language of the Philippines. To this end, a pared-down, 1,000-word version of the language was promoted to be learned rapidly by those not yet versed in the language. Love for labor was encouraged, as seen by the massive labor recruitment programs by the KALIBAPI by mid-1943. Propagation of both Filipino and Japanese cultures were conducted. Schools were reopened, which had an overall number of 300,000 students at its peak.


End of the Republic

On September 21, 1944, Laurel placed the Republic under
martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
. On September 23, 1944, the Republic officially declared war against the United States and United Kingdom. Following the return of American-led Allied forces, the government of the Second Republic evacuated Manila to Baguio. The republic was formally dissolved by Laurel in Tokyo on August 17, 1945 – two days after the
Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
.


See also

* Emergency circulating notes * Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere *
Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas''; ) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan, Japanese Empire occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during Wo ...
* Makapili * Military history of the Philippines during World War II


Notes


References

{{Authority control 1943 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan Axis powers Client states of the Empire of Japan Filipino collaborators with Imperial Japan Philippine Republic, Second Former countries in Philippine history Military dictatorships Philippines in World War II States and territories established in 1943 States and territories disestablished in 1945 Totalitarian states Fascist states