Tydings-McDuffie Act

The Tydings-McDuffie Act or the Philippine Independence Act (Public Law 73-127) approved on March 24, 1934 is a piece of U.S. legislation which provided for the independence of the Philippines (from the United States) on July 4, 1946.

In 1934, Philippine politician Manuel L. Quezon headed a "Philippine Independence mission" to Washington DC that successfully secured the act's passage in Congress.

The Tydings-McDuffie Act provided for the drafting and guidelines of a Constitution for a 10-year "transitional period" which became the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines before the granting of Philippine independence in 1946, during which the US would maintain military forces in the Philippines. Furthermore, during this period the American President was granted the power to call into military service all military forces of the Philippine government. The act permitted the maintenance of US naval bases, within this region, until 1947.

The act reclassified all Filipinos as aliens for the purposes of immigration to America. It created a quota of 50 immigrants per year.

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• History of the Philippines