Bell Trade Act

Last updated

The Bell Trade Act of 1946, also known as the Philippine Trade Act, was an act passed by the United States Congress specifying policy governing trade between the Philippines and the United States following independence of the Philippines from the United States. [1] [2] The United States Congress offered $800 million for post World War II rebuilding funds if the Bell Trade Act was ratified by the Philippine Congress. The specifics of the act required the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines be amended. The Philippine Congress approved the measure on July 2, two days before independence from the United States of America, and on September 18, 1946 approved a plebiscite to amend the Constitution of the Philippines.

Contents

Authored by Missouri Congressman C. Jasper Bell, the Bell Trade Act required:

The Bell Act, particularly the parity clause, was seen by critics as an inexcusable surrender of national sovereignty. [4] The pressure of the sugar barons, particularly those of President Roxas's home region of Western Visayas, and other landowner interests, however, was irresistible. [4]

In 1955, the Laurel–Langley Agreement revised the Bell Trade Act. [3] This treaty abolished the United States authority to control the exchange rate of the peso, made parity privileges reciprocal, extended the sugar quota, and extended the time period for the reduction of other quotas and for the progressive application of tariffs on Philippine goods exported to the United States.

1947 Philippine Parity Rights plebiscite

As required by the Bell Trade Act, a plebiscite was held in the Philippines to amend the Philippine Constitution to provide for "parity rights" between American and Philippine citizens.

Prior to the plebiscite, the Constitutional amendment had to be approved by the Philippine Congress, which required a 3/4 vote by the Philippine House and Philippine Senate. [4] The 3/4 vote was obtained only by the denial of seats in the House to six members of the leftist Democratic Alliance and three from the Nacionalista Party on grounds of fraud and violent campaign tactics during the April 1946 election. [4] The administration view that the amendment had passed was challenged before the Philippine Supreme Court on the grounds that approval by 3/4 of the full membership was required, not 3/4 of the sitting members, and was decided in favor of the administration position. [4] [5]

The plebiscite was held on March 11, 1947 and voters approved the amendment 79% to 21%. Forty percent of voters participated in the plebiscite. [4]

Are you in favor of approving the parity amendment to the constitution, allowing U.S. citizens the right to utilize Philippine natural resources?
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes432,83378.89
No115,85321.11
Required majority50.00
Total votes548,786100.00

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tydings–McDuffie Act</span> 1934 U.S. federal law providing the Philippines with a process for independence

The Tydings–McDuffie Act, officially the Philippine Independence Act, is an Act of Congress that established the process for the Philippines, then an American territory, to become an independent country after a ten-year transition period. Under the act, the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines was written and the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established, with the first directly elected President of the Philippines. It also established limitations on Filipino immigration to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commonwealth of the Philippines</span> Former territory of the United States

The Commonwealth of the Philippines was an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the Tydings–McDuffie Act to replace the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands and was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for full Philippine independence. Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel L. Quezon</span> President of the Philippines from 1935 to 1944

Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina, also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his death in 1944. He was the first Filipino to head a government of the entire Philippines and is considered the second president of the Philippines after Emilio Aguinaldo (1899–1901), whom Quezon defeated in the 1935 presidential election. He is often regarded as the greatest President of The Philippines, and the quintessential Filipino statesman. Known as "The Father of The National Language", and "The Father of the modern Republic of The Philippines". He was also known as "One of the Finest Statesmen in the world" during his time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congress of the Philippines</span> National legislature of the Philippines

The Congress of the Philippines is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of an upper body, the Senate, and a lower body, the House of Representatives, although colloquially, the term "Congress" commonly refers to just the latter. The Senate meets at the GSIS Building in Pasay, while the House of Representatives meets at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, which also hosts joint sessions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insular area</span> U.S. territory that is neither a U.S. state nor the District of Columbia

In the law of the United States, an insular area is a U.S.-associated jurisdiction that is not part of a U.S. state or the District of Columbia. This includes fourteen U.S. territories administered under U.S. sovereignty, as well as three sovereign states each with a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The term also may be used to refer to the previous status of the Swan Islands, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, as well as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands when it existed.

Commonwealth is a term used by two unincorporated territories of the United States in their full official names, which are the Northern Mariana Islands, whose full name is Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico, which is named Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in English and Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico in Spanish, translating to "Free Associated State of Puerto Rico." The term was also used by the Philippines during most of its period under U.S. sovereignty, when it was officially called the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel Roxas</span> President of the Philippines from 1946 to 1948

Manuel Acuña Roxas was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines from 1946 until his death in 1948. He served briefly as the third and last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from May 28, 1946, to July 4, 1946, and became the first President of the Independent Third Philippine Republic after the United States ceded its sovereignty over the Philippines.

Elections in the Philippines are of several types. The president, vice-president, and the senators are elected for a six-year term, while the members of the House of Representatives, governors, vice-governors, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, mayors, vice-mayors, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod/members of the Sangguniang Bayan, barangay officials, and the members of the Sangguniang Kabataan are elected to serve for a three-year term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act</span> Act

The Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act passed to authors Congress Butler B. Hare, Senator Harry B. Hawes and Senator Bronson M. Cutting. The Hare–Hawes–Cutting Act was the first US law passed setting a process and a date for the Philippines to gain independence from the United States. It was the result of the OsRox Mission led by Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas. The law promised Philippine independence after 10 years but reserved several military and naval bases for the United States, as well as imposed tariffs and quotas on Philippine imports.

The Democratic Alliance was a leftist party in the Philippines created on July 15, 1945, primarily composed of members of the National Peasants Union of the Hukbalahap, the Committee of Labor Organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the Filipino Blue Eagle Guerrillas, and other organizations. The party supported and endorsed the bid of incumbent president Sergio Osmeña and the Nacionalista Party during the 1946 presidential elections against Manuel Roxas and the Nacionalista's liberal wing due to the latter's sympathetic attitude toward Filipino collaborators of the Japanese during World War II and close affiliation with "vested-interest landlord groups".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Philippines (1898–1946)</span>

The history of the Philippines from 1898 to 1946 is known as the American colonial period, and began with the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898, when the Philippines was still a colony of the Spanish East Indies, and concluded when the United States formally recognized the independence of the Republic of the Philippines on July 4, 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Philippines (1946–1965)</span>

This article covers the history of the Philippines from the recognition of independence in 1946 to the end of the presidency of Diosdado Macapagal that covered much of the Third Republic of the Philippines, which ended on January 17, 1973, with the ratification of the 1973 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cipriano Primicias Sr.</span> Filipino politician

Cipriano Purugganan Primicias Sr. was a Filipino politician, who was best known for his service as a Senator of the Philippines. He was born in 1901 at Alcala, in the northern Philippine province of Pangasinan to Javier Crescini Primicias and Cristeta Purugganan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Manila (1946)</span> Treaty establishing Philippines as an independent sovereign state

The Treaty of Manila of 1946, formally the Treaty of General Relations and Protocol, is a treaty of general relations signed on July 4, 1946, in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It relinquished U.S. sovereignty over the Philippines and recognized the independence of the Republic of the Philippines. The treaty was signed by High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt as representative of the United States and President Manuel Roxas as representative of the Philippines.

The Constitution of the Philippines is the supreme law of the Philippines. Its final draft was completed by the Constitutional Commission on October 12, 1986, and ratified by a nationwide plebiscite on February 2, 1987. The Constitution remains unamended to this day.

Elections for the House of Representatives of the Philippines were held on April 23, 1946. Held on the same day as the presidential election, it was held after the Nacionalista Party had split permanently into two factions: the "conservative" faction headed by president Sergio Osmeña and the "liberal" faction headed by Senate president Manuel Roxas, which later became the Liberal Party. Roxas and the Liberals won the elections, leaving the Nacionalistas with the minority in both houses of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insular Government of the Philippine Islands</span> 1902–1935 US territory of the Philippines

The Insular Government of the Philippine Islands was an unincorporated territory of the United States that was established in 1902 and was reorganized in 1935 in preparation for later independence. The Insular Government was preceded by the Military Government of the Philippine Islands and was followed by the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomás Confesor</span> Filipino politician

Tomás Valenzuela Confesor was a Filipino politician and former Senator of the Philippines from 1946 to 1951. He was served as a governor of Iloilo and later, all of Panay Island during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. Right after the war, he served as Mayor of Manila and secretary of the Philippine Department of the Interior under President Sergio Osmeña.

Referendums in the Philippines are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Referendums can either by national or local in scope. In the Philippines, "referendums" and "plebiscites" mean different things.

A plebiscite was held in the Philippines on March 11, 1947, which determined the approval of an amendment to the Constitution of the Philippines, as required by the Bell Trade Act, to provide parity rights between American and Philippine citizens.

References

  1. ↑ Schirmer, Daniel B; Shalom, Stephen Rosskamm (1987), The Philippines reader: a history of colonialism, neocolonialism, dictatorship, and resistance, South End Press, p.  88, ISBN   978-0-89608-275-5
  2. ↑ Kerkvliet, Benedict J (2002), The Huk rebellion: a study of peasant revolt in the Philippines (second ed.), Rowman & Littlefield, p.  150, ISBN   978-0-7425-1868-1
  3. 1 2 Andersen, Regine (2008), Governing agrobiodiversity: plant genetics and developing countries, Ashgate, p.  218, ISBN   978-0-7546-4741-6 .
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dolan, Ronald E, ed. (1991), Philippines: A Country Study, Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress
  5. ↑ Shalom, Stephen R. (1980). "Philippine Acceptance of the Bell Trade Act of 1946: A Study of Manipulatory Democracy". Pacific Historical Review. 49 (3). University of California Press: 499–517. doi:10.2307/3638567. JSTOR   3638567 – via Jstor. (p. 515)

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.