Philippine–American War
In 1902, the United States Congress passed the Philippine Organic Act, which provided for the creation of the Philippine Assembly, with members to be elected by Filipino males. (Women did not have suffrage in the US or the Philippines.) This act was superseded by the 1916 Philippine Autonomy Act, which contained the first formal and official declaration of the United States government's commitment to eventually grant independence to the Philippines. The 1934 Philippine Independence Act created the Commonwealth of the Philippines the following year, a limited form of independence, and established a process ending in Philippine independence (originally scheduled for 1944, but interrupted and delayed by World War II). The United States granted independence in 1946, following World War II and the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, through the Treaty of Manila.
Imus
On May 28, 2008, National Flag Day, the city celebrated the "First Wagayway Festival" (Flag-Waving Festival) signifying the very first unfurling of the Flag of the Philippines during the Battle of Alapan on May 28, 1898 against the Spanish colonizers. The battle was a major victory for General Emilio Aguinaldo (later the first president of the Philippine Republic) during the Philippine Revolution, which eventually lead to the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 in nearby Kawit, Cavite. The five-day event was highlighted by the historical reenactment of events from the sewing of the flag by Filipino exiles in Hong Kong, the Battle of Alapan, to the defeat of the Filipinos by the American troops silencing the dreams of an independent Philippines. The reenactment included students, city employees and barangay officials.