Republishing the Republic
Mainichi Newspaper Office
As we look back at the pages of the past, we can mirror the freedom that did not last.
The Second Philippine Republic, initiated on October 14 in 1943, with Jose P. Laurel, as President, is on its 78th anniversary. The republic government received a republication in the book of Philippine history in which the people and the elected representatives held power after the colonization of the Japanese in the Philippines.
In these times, the country is regarded as a public matter rather than the ruler's private concern or property. Citizens are considered the government’s leaders and influential individuals, for they uphold the authority to elect the spearhead of their nation. From the first republic under the government of Emilio Aguinaldo that declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898, Filipinos were again imprisoned by the grip of colonizers from Japan.
During the Japanese era, the Second Philippine Constitution was ratified. The Japanese government led a military government over the Philippines at the start of the occupation, and the Philippine Executive Commission was made among many before Filipino political leaders. Aligned with the goal of becoming the Philippines' sole and exclusive political entity, KALIBAPI (Kapisanan ng Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas) was also formed.
However, on June 16, 1943, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo promised the Philippines independence. The KALIBAPI then formed the Preparatory Committee on Philippine Independence (PCPI), the drafting body of the 1943 Philippine Constitution. On September 4, 1943, the PCPI approved the new Constitution, ratified by the KALIBAPI on September 7, 1943.
However, on September 21, 1944, President Laurel declared martial law in the Philippines, which took effect on September 22. The next day, Laurel announced the Philippines was at war with the Allies (later known as the United Nations), but the National Assembly never ratified this declaration.
Field Marshal Douglas MacArthur, a military commander, issued a proclamation nullifying all acts of the Philippine Executive Commission and the Second Republic when the Commonwealth government was restored on Philippine land on October 23, 1944. In contrast to the Commonwealth government's legitimate status (de jure), the Supreme Court classified the Philippine Executive Commission and the Second Republic as actual, whether by right or not, governments. While no Second Republic laws or regulations are legally recognized, President Laurel has been on the list of Philippine presidents since the 1960s.
In the end, many officials from the Philippine Executive Commission, the Second Republic, and its various agencies were charged with treason, but President Manuel Roxas granted them amnesty on January 28, 1948. And this freedom turned into a confinement chapter of our history that will never be forgotten-, republished in the public and our republic.
Thus, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and The National Guilder (TNG), as vanguards of freedom of expression and democratic rights, are navigating every Filipino citizen to be critical in exercising their authority and responsibility. As a republic government, the public wields the supreme power more than any other entity.
