1st Congress of The Commonwealth of The Philippines - Accomplishments and Controversies

Accomplishments and Controversies

The First Commonwealth Congress passed a total of 48 laws in five special sessions: Commonwealth Act Nos. 672 to 720.

Heeding Osmeña's urgent call during the opening session of Congress, the first legislative measure it enacted was Commonwealth Act No. 672 which restored the Philippine National Bank and organized its financial capital. The viability of the Philippine National Bank was critical to the resuscitation of the Philippine Commonwealth after the war.

One major financial legislation passed by Congress stirred controversy in the U.S. and was eventually vetoed by President Harry Truman despite its approval by Presiden Osmeña. Commonwealth House Bill No. 647 (Senate Bill No. 51), titled "An Act Governing the Payment of Monetary Obligations Incurred or Contracted Prior to and During the Japanese Invasion of the Philippines and for Other Purposes", was passed by both houses of Congress on the last day of its last session, December 20, 1945. It was signed into law by President Osmeña on January 18, 1946. The law provided for the validation of payments made in Japanese "mickey mouse" money during the period of enemy occupation. However, U.S. High Commissioner McNutt objected to it and asked Truman to exercise his final veto on this currency measure. President Truman's accompanying veto letter explained his disapproval, to wit:

"The Commonwealth Act which I am now disapproving would give legal approval to transactions and payments made under the brutal Japanese regime, without regard for the actual value of the Japanese-backed currency in which such payments were made. It would give official sanction to acts by Japanese officials in forcing the liquidation of businesses and accounts of loyal Filipinos, Americans, and allies who were imprisoned by the Japanese. It would have a most harmful effect on the Philippine financial structure which it is our hope and desire to see strengthened in preparation for independence. It would work to the benefit of persons who did business with and under the Japanese to the prejudice of those who were loyal both to the Philippine Commonwealth and to the United States Government."

The First Commonwealth Congress also tackled the contentious and divisive issue of Filipino collaboration with the Japanese. Osmeña had proposed a bill to set up a special court for this purpose. Roxas initially objected to it, fearing the loss of critical support from his political allies who were accused of, or imprisoned for, collaboration. After extensive congressional debates, legislation was passed in August 1945 creating the People's Court and the Office of Special Prosecutors to investigate and decide on collaboration charges on an individual basis. In September 1945, the CIC presented the Filipinos who were accused of having collaborated with, or given aid to, the Japanese so that they may be tried before the People's Court. Included were prominent senators and congressmen who had been active in the puppet government under Laurel. These legislators were unable to attend the five special sessions of the First Commownealth Congress.

The collaboration issue continued to haunt Congress. Another currency-related legislation passed by the First Commonwealth Congress was held up for a few weeks at the White House before President Truman signed it into law in November 1945. As Truman noted in his letter to President Osmeña, his approval of the original House Bill No. 176, which provides for a reduction of the required gold coverage of Philippine currency, has been delayed "due to the fact that there have been persistent charges that a sizable fraction of the Members of the Philippine Congress had been guilty of collaboration with the enemy, and I have not wanted my approval of the act to be distorted into approval of collaboration."

The so-called Backpay Law of 1945 turned out to be the most controversial measure passed by the postwar Congress. The law authorized the Philippine Treasury, which was already financially crippled, to pay back salaries and wages to members of Congress and their staff to cover the three years of Japanese occupuation. In effect, the Backpay Law compensated the legislators for service that they never rendered during the war years. The passage of this measure was met with public indignation. It led to a political backlash and many members of Congress lost their seats during the national elections held in April 1946.

The rivalry between Osmeña and Roxas intensified in the Commission on Appointments—a congressional body, consisting of 12 senators and 12 congressmen, which was responsible for confirming presidential nominations. The Commission was chaired by Roxas himself as senate president. In that powerful position, Roxas managed to sit on (bypass) the nominations of some of Osmeña's most important political advisers and supporters. The Commission also confirmed Osmeña's nominations for chief justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court, except for one, Justice Jose A. Espiritu, whose credentials were questioned before the Commission. Espiritu became ths shortest-serving member of the Supreme Court. He returned as dean of the U.P. College of Law in September 1945, after serving in an ad interim capacity as associate justice for only two months.

The heat of presidential politics had also divided loyalties in the postwar Congress, where its members failed to decide on the date of elections for president, vice-president, 16 senators and 98 congressmen. President Osmeña thus requested the U.S. Congress to intervene and set the date of the first post-war elections. The U.S. Congress, in a joint resolution issued in November 1945, called for national elections to take place no later than April 30, 1946 and for the Second Congress to convene not later than May 28, 1946. On January 4, 1946, the First Commonwealth Congress met for the last time to discuss the April 1946 presidential elections—the first since 1941.

The 1946 elections catapulted the newly formed Liberal Party to power for the first time. Senate President Roxas and Senate President Pro Tempore Quirino were respectively elected as first President and Vice-President of the Republic of the Philippines, which gained independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946. Erswhile Senate Floor Leader Melecio Arranz became President Pro Tempore of the Senate, while House of Representatives Majority Leader Eugenio Perez became its Speaker when the new Congress convened in May 1946. Speaker Zulueta, on the other hand, joined the Roxas Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior and later ran and won as senator. Many other members of the First Commonwealth Congress held top positions in the newly born republic.