National Assembly of the Philippines

The Commonwealth Congress will be in the Philippines called the Parliament of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, which was first institutionalized as a unicameral in 1935 and in 1940 restructured again in a bicameral system, with the Senate and House of Representatives. The basis for this was the enactment of the Philippine Independence Act ( Tydings - McDuffie Law ) which was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 28, 1934, and entered into force on May 1.

The Philippine Independence Act provided for a ten -year preparation phase before the Philippines were to be released by the United States in the final independence. The Philippines got a full autonomy granted, but subject to restrictions in their relationship with the United States. There were allowed to move only 50 Filipinos in the United States per year, while U.S. citizens unregulated free access to the Philippines was guaranteed. In the exchange of goods duty-free import of goods from the United States was prescribed, while exports of the Philippines have been regulated in the United States.

National Assembly

The new Parliament was designed according to the Philippine Independence Act as unicameral and was referred to in 1940 as Philippine National Assembly. It had 98 members of parliament, the first elections were held on September 17, 1935 and the first meeting was opened on November 15.

The first laws adopted, mainly related to the implementation of the Philippine Independence Act into domestic law, other important laws were the Philippine Defense Act of 1935, which provided for the establishment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other laws were passed that, the creation of the Philippine National Bank National Economic Council, Census Commission, Commission of Mindandao and Sulu and the Institute of the National Language supported. Under the Constitution of 1935 a plebiscite was on 30 April 1937 led to the universal suffrage for women prevailed and allowed women to be elected as deputies to the municipal, provincial and in the National Assembly. Then already attracted 1937 24 women in municipal councils and provincial parliaments.

Commonwealth Congress

In 1940, the unicameral was replaced by a bicameral again, which consisted of a comprehensive 24 members of the Senate and a House of Representatives 80 seats comprehensive as in the Parliament of the Philippine legislature. The first elections for Congress were held in November 1941, together with the elections for president and vice president, in which Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña were re-elected. In these elections, the Nacionalista Party every 24 Senator seats and 70 of the 80 seats won in the House of Representatives. It was by the outbreak of war on 7/8 December 1941, however, no longer meeting place. After the end of the Second World War, the first elections were held in June 1945 and subsequently Quirino was elected chairman of the Senate Manuel Roxas and Elpidio deputy chairman elected. On April 23, the Commonwealth Congress cleared the way for instituting the Congress of the Third Philippine Republic, as the country on 4 July 1946 received its full independence.