Philippine Commission

The Philippine Commission was a body appointed by the President of the United States to exercise legislative and limited executive powers in the Philippines. It was first appointed by President William McKinley in 1901. Beginning in 1907, it acted as the upper house of a bicameral Philippine Legislature, with the elected Philippine Assembly acting as lower house. The Jones Act of 1916 created an elected Philippine Senate to replace the Philippine Commission.

First Philippine Commission
On January 20, 1899, President McKinley appointed the First Philippine Commission (the Schurman Commission), a five-person group headed by Dr. Jacob Schurman, president of Cornell University, to investigate conditions in the islands and make recommendations. In the report that they issued to the president the following year, the commissioners acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independence; they declared, however, that the Philippines was not ready for it. Specific recommendations included the establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible (the American chief executive in the islands at that time was the military governor), including establishment of a bicameral legislature, autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels, and a system of free public elementary schools.

Second Philippine Commission
From Philippines: A Country Study by Ronald E. Dolan:

"The Second Philippine Commission (the Taft Commission), appointed by McKinley on March 16, 1900, and headed by William Howard Taft, was granted legislative as well as limited executive powers. Between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws. A judicial system was established, including a Supreme Court, and a legal code was drawn up to replace antiquated Spanish ordinances. A civil service was organized. The 1901 municipal code provided for popularly elected presidents, vice presidents, and councilors to serve on municipal boards. The municipal board members were responsible for collecting taxes, maintaining municipal properties, and undertaking necessary construction projects; they also elected provincial governors." On 4 July 1901, Taft became governor of a civil administration for the Philippines. This regime, called the Insular Government, administered the country until 1935.

"The Philippine Organic Act of July 1902 stipulated that a Philippine Legislature would be established composed of a lower house, the Philippine Assembly, which would be popularly elected, and an upper house consisting of the Philippine Commission. The two houses would share legislative powers, although the upper house alone would pass laws relating to the Moros and other non-Christian peoples. The act also provided for extending the United States Bill of Rights to Filipinos and sending two Filipino resident commissioners to Washington to attend sessions of the United States Congress. In July 1907, the first elections for the assembly were held, and the legislature opened its first session on October 16, 1907."

Sessions

 * Regular Sessions (Executive and Legislative): September 1, 1901 – October 16, 1907
 * Regular Sessions (Upper Legislative Chamber): starting October 16, 1907

Leadership

 * Governor-General:
 * William Howard Taft (1901-1903)
 * Luke Edward Wright (1903-1906)
 * Henry Clay Ide (1906)
 * James Francis Smith (1906-1907)

Members

 * Secretary of Finance and Justice:


 * Secretary of the Interior:


 * Secretary of Commerce and Police:


 * Secretary of Public Instruction:


 * Philippine Members (1901–1909):


 * Philippine Members (1909–1913):