Three days after establishing the National Assembly, its inaugural session was held at the pre-war Legislative Building and it elected by majority Benigno S. Aquino as its first Speaker and José P. Laurel as President of the Republic of the Philippines, who was inaugurated on October 14, 1943, at the foundation of the Republic, the Legislative Building. Former President Emilio Aguinaldo and General Artemio Ricarte raised the Philippine flag, the same one used during the Philippine–American War which featured an anthropomorphic sun, during the inauguration. This was the first time since the Japanese occupation that the flag was displayed and the anthem played. On the same day, a Pact of Alliance was signed between the new Republic and the Japanese government that was ratified two days later by the National Assembly. On December 13, 1943, a version of the Philippine flag with no markings on the sun was adopted as the Second Republic's flag through Executive Order 17.   was an international summit held in Tokyo from November 5 to 6, 1943, in which Japan hosted the heads of state of various component members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The event was also referred to as the "Tokyo Conference". The Conference addressed few issues of substance, but was intended from the start as a propaganda show piece, to illustrate the Empire of Japan's commitments to the Pan-Asianism ideal and to emphasize its role as the "liberator" of Asia from Western colonialism. The conference and the formal declaration adhered to on November 6 was little more than a propaganda gesture designed to rally regional support for the next stage of the war, outlining the ideals of which it was fought. However, the Conference marked a turning point in Japanese foreign policy and relations with other Asian nations. The defeat of Japanese forces on Guadalcanal (in present-day Solomon Islands) and an increasing awareness of the limitations to Japanese military strength led the Japanese civilian leadership to realize that a framework based on cooperation, rather than colonial domination would enable a greater mobilization of manpower and resources against the resurgent Allied Forces. It was also the start of efforts to create a framework that would allow for some form of diplomatic compromise should the military solution fail altogether. However these moves came too late to save the Empire, which surrendered to the Allies less than two years after the conference. During his term in office, Laurel was faced with various problems that the country was experiencing, such as the following:  Laurel attempted to show that the independence of the republic was genuine by rectifying these problems.