The history of the US Commonwealth of the Philippines is more or less expurgated from American History. The first time I ever saw official representation of the Philippine Commonwealth’s existence was on a visit to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. In the concrete were stamped the seals of every state, in addition to seals for the US Commonwealth of the Philippines and the US Commonwealth of Hawaii. This cemetery holds the remains of US and Philippine Commonwealth military personnel that died during the Pacific War during WWII, including casualties from the Bataan Death March, Japanese Prisoner of War camps, and those lost when MacArthur “Returned”. When I came across the seal of the United States Commonwealth of the Philippines in the concrete, I reflected on how much Americans have forgotten about that period of History.
One glaring omission from US history is that on July 4th, 1946, under the provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Act, President Truman announced the Philippines independence from the United States via proclamation 2695. The day was celebrated as Independence Day in the Philippines until May 12, 1962, when Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal declared June 12th, the day Emilio Aguinaldo, first President of the ill-fated Philippine Republic, declared independence from Spain, the official Philippine Independence Day holiday. July 4th became Philippine-American Friendship Day, which is more a notation on the Philippine calendar than an actual celebrated holiday.
Today, (or rather yesterday since the Philippines is a day ahead of the US) is the 74th anniversary of Philippine Independence from the United States.
One last point, President Macapagal actually did the United States a favor by moving Philippine Independence Day from July 4th to June 12th. If the date of Philippine Independence from the US is July 4th, 1946, that means the Japanese occupied US territory during WWII, and the Bataan Death March occurred on American soil. Who remembers that?
Happy Independence Day!