1941-1945 1954-1965







The Philippines 1945-1954


Status and Foreign Policy . In October 1944, US forces landed on Leyte, in February Manila was liberated. Fighting continued until the Japanese surrendered in Sept. 1945. MacArthur turned over government to President Osmena. Full independence was granted in 1946. The Philippines joined the United Nations in October 1945. In 1950 the Philippines sent troops in response for the UN call to member states to come to the aid of South Korea (Korean War); they stayed until 1955.
In 1951, a peace treaty with Japan was signed. In 1954, the Philippines were founding member of SEATO.

Administration . Manila was liberated on February 27th 1945; President Osmena assumed the civil functions of government, on March 8th established a cabinet. The Filipino Congress was reconvened on June 9th. "Of the 98 representatives elected in 1941, 70 were present, 11 had lost their lives during the war and the remainder were detained under the suspicion of collaboration. Of the 24 senators, 2 had died and 7 were under detention." (BBY 1946)
General elections were held in 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951 and 1953. from 1944 to 1946, Sergio Osmena (Nationalist Party) served as president, succeeded by Manuel Roxas y Acuna 1946-1948 (Liberal Party), Elpidio Quirino y Rivera 1948-1953 (Liberal Party) and Ramon Magsaysay (1953-1957, Nationalist Party).

The Hukbalahap Insurrection 1946-1954 . The term 'Hukbalahap' originally stands for resistance fighters against Japanese occupation. Many of them were hostile to landowners which they regarded as collaborators during the occupation. In 1946 Huks began an insurrection against the new regime. In 1948 the CPP (Communist Party) decided to support the Huks. The assassination of Aurora Quezon, widow of former president Manuel Quezon, by Huks in 1949 resulted in condemnation, domestic and abroad. In 1950 the Huks reorganized themselves as People's Liberation Army; in 1950 the Philippine Army took on the Huk problem, hitherto dealt with by the police. The climax of Huk activity was between 1949 and 1951. In 1954, Huk leader Luis Taruc surrendered.

The Economy . In 1946, the Philippines produced 2.1 million metric tons of rice, in 1954 3.2 million metric tons (IHS pp194, .202).

Social History . Jan Lahmeyer gives the population estimates for the Philippines in 1945 as 18.4 million, in 1954 as 22.8 million.

Cultural History . Philippine Athletes participated in the Summer Olympics of London 1948 and Helsinki 1952. Manila hosted the 2nd Asian Games in 1954.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Article Foreign Relations of the Philippines, from Wikipedia
Timeline, from BBC News
Article History of the Philippines 1946-1965, Commonwealth of the Philippines Philippine Elections, Ramon Magsaysay, Elpidio Quirino, Manuel Roxas, Sergio Osmena, Nacionalista Party, Liberal Party, Hukbalahap, Luis Taruc, Philippines at the 1948 Summer Olympics, Philippines at the 1952 Summer Olympics, Asian Games, from Wikipedia
CASCON Case PHH : Philippines (Huks) 1946-1954, by L.F. Bloomfield, L. Moulton
Huk Rebellion, from Global Security
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Philippines, by Ben Cahoon
Historical Population Statistics : The Philippines, from Population Statistics (Jan Lahmeyer)
REFERENCE IHS : International Historical Statistics : Africa, Asia & Oceania 1750-2000, edited by B.R. Mitchell, Basingstoke : Palgrave MacMillan 4th ed. 2003
Article : Philippines, Commonwealth of the, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1946 pp.572-574 (on events of 1945) [G]
Article : Philippines, Republic of the, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1947 pp.594-596, 1948 pp.581-582, 1949 pp.514-515, 1950 p.540, 1951 pp.549-550, 1952 pp.553-555, 1953 p.557, 1954 pp.557-558 [G]
Article : Philippines, Republic of the, in : Americana Annual 1947 pp.555-558 [G]
Article : Philippine Islands, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1946 pp,332-334, Philippines 1952 p.331 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on April 15th 2007, last revised on June 5th 2007

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