Abstract
Prior to World War II the United States and the Philippines had agreed to eliminate almost completely United States bases in the Philippines after the granting of independence. When the Philippines became independent in 1946, however, the two countries mutually agreed that due to the effects of the war, it was necessary, to retain United States bases in the Philippines. This chapter will discuss both the pre-independence developments regarding the retention of the bases and the post-independence negotiations which led to the signing of the Military Bases Agreement of 1947.
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References
32 Stat. 691 (1902); 39 Stat. 545 (1916).
47 Stat. 761 (1933). This act was vetoed by President Hoover who felt that it was unfair to the Filipinos because: (1) the period for economic adjustment was too short; (2) there was no military force in the Philippines to maintain internal order besides that of the United States; and (3) the independence of the Philippines possibly would be threatened by external dangers. For Hoover’s veto message, see U.S., Congress, House Document 254, 72nd Gong., 2dSess. (1933). Congress, however, repassed the act over the President’s veto. See Hayden, p. 357.
47 Stat.761, 764(1933).
Ibid., pp. 761–762.
Ibid., p. 768.
For Filipino criticisms of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act, see 78 Congressional Record 4831–4842 (1934).
Sergio Osmefia [Vice-President of the Commonwealth government], Philippines Free Press [hereafter Free Press], August 20, 1960, p. 57.
Section 17, Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act, 47 Stat. 761, 770.
48 Stat. 456 (1934).
Ibid., p. 463.
See 78 Congressional Record 4831, 4835 (1934).
Ibid., p. 4834.
President Quezon, for example, stated that “President Roosevelt readily agreed that the maintenance of military reservations in the Philippines after the proclamation of the Philippine Republic would, in itself, make the granting of independence a farce.” Quezon, The Good Fight (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1946), p. 157, as quoted in Milton Walker Meyer, “A Diplomatic History of the Philippine Republic” (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of History, Stanford University, 1959), p. 25, note 77.
48 Stat. 456, 463 (1934). See also George E. Taylor, The Philippines and the United States (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1964), pp. 67–68.
Robert E. Sherwood, Roosevelt and Hopkins (rev. ed.; New York: The University Library, 1950), p. 454. See also 6 Department of State Bulletin 5 (1942).
Osmefia, Free Press, August 20, 1960, p. 57. Prior to this statement by Osmefia little was known as to why President Quezon took an about face in allowing United States military bases in the Philippines after independence. It was generally suspected, however, that after the Japanese defeat of the Philippines, Quezon realized that only with United States assistance would the Philippines be able to defend herself. See Vicente Albano Pacis, “Politics of Our Time,” in Progress Magazine 1956, (Manila: Manila Times Publishing Co., 1956), p. 30.
Osmefia, Free Press, August 20, 1960, p. 57.
R. D. Tanjuakio, “The U.S.-P.I. Military Bases Agreement,” 30 Philippine Law Journal 599, 605 (1955).
58 Stat. 625, 626(1944).
Free Press, August 20, 1960, p. 57. See also Taylor, p. 235; and Pads, p. 30.
Osmefia succeeded to the presidency upon the death of President Quezon on August 1, 1944.
Harry S. Truman, Years of Decision, Vol. 1: Memoirs (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1955), p. 277. For the agreement, see “Manila Joint Staff Committee Report,” Exhibit No. 26 (August 15, 1952), and 41 Op.A.G. 143, 153 (1953).
Truman, p. 277. See also Sergio Osmefia, “Philippine Independence and U.S. Amity,” 2 Department of Foreign Affairs Review 20, 20–23 (1956).
As quoted in 41 Op.A.G. 143, 153 (1953).
As quoted in Meyer, p. 27.
Joint Resolution No. 4, passed July 28, 1945. See 41 Off. Gaz. 349, 349–350 (1945).
Treaty of General Relations, and Protocol. Signed at Manila July 4, 1946; entered into force October 22, 1946. 61 Stat. 1174; TIAS 1568.
See Tanjuakio, p. 606.
Roxas, Important Speeches, Messages and Other Pronoucements (Manila, 1947), pp. 196–197, as quoted in Meyer, p. 72.
See Carlos P. Romulo, Crusade in Asia (New York: John Day Co., 1955), chap. 1, and pp. 62–65;
U.S. Department of State, The Philippines (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951);
George A. Malcolm, First Malayan Republic (Boston: Christopher House, 1951); and Paul O. Franson, Jr., “Implementation of the Report of the United States Economic Survey [Bell] Mission to the Philippines” (unpublished Master’s thesis, Dept. of Political Science, Tulane University, 1955), chap. 1.
Taylor, p. 113.
See Romulo, pp. 93–95.
Taylor, p. 113.
Meyer, p. 24.
See Sidney Shalett, New York Times, September 20, 1946, p. 11; Richard J. H.Johnson, New York Times, October 26, 1946, p. 6; and Taylor, pp. 112–114.
See Sherwood, p. 792; Truman, p. 277; and the statement of General MacArthur, as reported in the New York Times, October 26, 1946, p. 6.
Statement of President Roxas, 43 Off. Gaz. 954, 958 (1947). A United States Department of State official reported in early June 1946 that the discussions on the agreement had already begun. Edward W. Mill, “The Philippines Prepares for Independence,” 14 Department of State Bulletin 980 (1946). See also Mill, “The New Republic of the Philippines,” 15 Department of State Bulletin 475 (1946). Apparently, however, serious discussions did not begin until after independence was granted. Most of the major source materials covering the negotiations of the 1947 agreement are not available. Two research studies have been undertaken. The latest is a thesis by Mr. James H. MacFarland, Jr., prepared for the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, in 1965. This thesis discusses the 1947 agreement and subsequent negotiations, but it is classified secret because some of the source material used was so classified. Mr. MacFarland, personal letter dated February 25, 1966. The State Department earlier had conducted a research paper on “The Negotiation of the United States-Philippine Military Bases Agreement of 1947,” Research Project No. 319, dated February 1953. This research project and the State Department files on the negotiations are classified and are not available. Mr. Eugene T. Herbert, Office of Legal Adviser, Department of State, personal letter dated December 10, 1965. The following is therefore highly tentative. It is based on unofficial press reports made during the period of the negotiations, later newspaper reports, and public statements by President Manuel Roxas, which were made immediately after the agreement was signed.
Statement of President Roxas, 43 Off. Gaz. 952, 953 (1947); Meyer, p. 73.
43 Off. Gaz. 954, 957–958 (1947).
See H. Ford Wilkins, New York Times, October 16, 1946, p. 8.
Ibid. Another reporter, Richard J. H. Johnston, stated that the “unanimous and unshakable opposition of the Philippine delegation” toward the establishment or retention of United States bases in Manila was “due in large measure to the unsavory behavior on the part of American troops.” Johnston also noted that the establishment of bases in Manila would deprive Filipinos of “needed docking, warehousing and other commercial facilities.” New York Times, October 26, 1946, p. 6. President Roxas later stated that the Philippines had insisted on no bases in large centers of population because it might “have been a breeding ground for friction and misunderstanding.” 43 Off. Gaz. 954, 959 (1947).
Ibid.
See statement of President Roxas, 43 Off. Gaz. 952, 952 (1947); and New York Times, March 15, 1947, p. 1.
William S. White, New York Times, December 13, 1946, p. 12.
Senator Proceso Sebastian to the Senate, 2 [Philippine] Congressional Record 2181 (1947), as cited in Meyer, pp. 74–75. In his State of the Nation address of January 27, 1947, President Roxas hinted that the United States desired more bases than they were to receive under the 1947 agreement. 43 Off. Gaz. 195, 218 (1947).
43 Off. Gaz. 954, 961 (1947).
See White, New York Times, December 13, 1946, p. 12; and Wilkins, New York Times, October 16, 1946, p. 8.
See Article XII of the Military Bases Agreement of 1947, which stated: “No national of the United States, or corporation organized under the laws of the United States, resident in the United States, shall be liable to pay income tax in the Philippines in respect of any profits derived under a contract made in the United States with the Government of the United States in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation and defense of the bases, or any tax in the nature of a license in respect of any service or work for the United States in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation and defense of the bases.”
Both Wilkins and White stated that the Philippines wanted to limit the extraterritorial rights of the United States to the bases. Wilkins, New York Times, October 16, 1946, p. 8; White, New York Times, December 13, 1946, p. 12.
43 Off. Gaz. 954, 960 (1947).
Ibid., p. 962.
Statement of President Roxas, ibid., p. 959. 63 43 Off. Gaz. 952, 952 (1947).
See White, New York Times, December 13,1946, p. 12; and New York Times, February 2, 1947, p. 24.
Ibid. See also the statement of President Roxas, 43 Of. Gaz. 195, 217–218 (1947). 66 See New York Times, December 3, 1946, p. 18.
Ibid., February 2, 1947, p. 24.
430. Gaz. 195, at 217–218.
New York Times, February 2, 1947, p. 24.
Senator Tomas Cabili to the Senate. 2 [Philippine] Congressional Record 225 (1947), as cited in Meyer, p. 79.
Ibid., p. 78.
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© 1968 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
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Dodd, J.W. (1968). Arrangements for Postwar Bases in the Philippines. In: Criminal Jurisdiction under the United States-Philippine Military Bases Agreement. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-0518-5_2
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