The Philippine Organic Act (c. 1369, ) was a basic law for the Insular Government that was enacted by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

on July 1, 1902. It is also known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and the Cooper Act, after its author Henry A. Cooper. The approval of the act coincided with the official end of the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

Overview

The Philippine Organic Act provided for the creation of an elected Philippine Assembly after the following conditions were met: # the cessation of the existing insurrection in the Philippine Islands; # completion and publication of a census; and # two years of continued peace and recognition of the authority of the

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after the publication of the census. After the convening of the Assembly,

legislative power A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

shall then be vested in a bicameral legislature composed of the Philippine Commission as the upper house and the Philippine Assembly as the lower house. Supervision of the islands was assigned to the War Department's Bureau of Insular Affairs. Other key provisions included: * a bill of rights for the Filipinos, * the appointment of two Filipino nonvoting Resident Commissioners to represent the Philippines in the United States Congress, and * the disestablishment of the

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. * conservation of natural resources for the Filipinos * exercise of executive power by the civil governor who would have several executive departments * establishment of the Philippine Assembly to be elected by the Filipinos two years after the publication of a census and only after peace had been restored completely in the country This act was superseded by the Philippine Autonomy Act, or the ''Jones Law'', enacted on August 29, 1916.

Background

The act was preceded by the Spooner Amendment to the Army Appropriations Act of 1901 (, 910, enacted 2 March 1901) which had provided that:

... all military, civil, and judicial powers necessary to govern the Philippine Islands ... shall until otherwise provided by Congress be vested in such person and persons, and shall be exercised in such manner, as the President of the United States shall direct, for the establishment of civil government, and for maintaining and protecting the inhabitants of said Islands in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion.

This was complemented by a cable from the Secretary of War Elihu Root to the Philippine Commission on 5 March 1901:

Until further orders government will continue under existing instructions and orders.

The comprehensive Spooner Amendment, and these instructions and orders, virtually constituted for many months the charter of government for the Philippine Islands.Cincinnati Soap Co. v. U.S., 301 U.S. 308 (1937) Between September 1900 and August 1902, the Second Philippine Commission (the Taft Commission) issued 499 laws.

Implementation

The act was enacted into law on July 1, 1902, and the Philippine Commission executed its provisions. A census was conducted in 1903, and published on March 25, 1905. The Philippine Assembly elections of 1907 were held on July 30, 1907, for 80 seats, and on October 16, 1907, the 1st Philippine Legislature was inaugurated at the Manila Grand Opera House. As a result of the act, the Catholic Church agreed to gradually substitute Spanish

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

s with Filipinos and to sell its land. It refused however to send the

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

s immediately back to Spain. In 1904, the American administration bought 166,000 hectares, a major part of the friars' holding, over half of which was in the Manila area, and the land was resold to Filipinos—some of them tenants but the majority of them estate owners.

References

External links

Philippine Organic Act of 1902
* — A 1926 interview with Congressman Henry A. Cooper. {{Philippine legislatures 1902 in American law 1902 in the Philippines Constitutions of the Philippines Filipino-American history Government of the Philippines United States federal territory and statehood legislation

Overview

Background

Implementation

See also

References

External links