THE JONES ACT
The Jones Act of 1916 was made under Wilson with the intent of granting Philippine independence as soo as a stable government was established. The Philippine Senate replaced the Philippine Comission as upper house of the legislature. It provided that all but 2 of the Senate’s 24 members and all but 9 of the 90 representatives in the House of Representatives would be popularly elected, and instead be appointed by the governor-general to represent the non-Christian Filipino people. The legislative actions were subject to veto of the governor-general and also couldn’t pass laws affecting the rights of United States citizens. The Jones Act brought the legislative branch under Filipino control, however the executive branch was still in control of appointing the governor-general, and the Supreme Court justices appointed by the United States president were Americans until 1916. The Jones Act remained the basic legislation for administration of the Philippines until the United States congress passed legislation in 1934 that established the Commonwealth of the Philippines. However, the Jones Act didn’t transfer responsibility for the Moro regions from the United States government to Filipino controlled legislation. The Moros saw the idea of Filipino independence as a threat due to the fact that it may lead to Philippine domination by Christians.
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