Herbert Adams Gibbons
In the early 1930s, Gibbons argued that an American withdrawal from the Philippines would be futile, because Japan would immediately colonize the country if the United States were to pull out. In 1931, in a speech in Manila, Gibbons referred to the Philippine calls for independence as "claptrap." He said that if the United States were to withdraw, then it might as well negotiate with the League of Nations to hand the Philippines over to Japan as a mandate. The American business community roundly praised Gibbons' speech. However, Philippine nationalist leaders attacked Gibbons, saying that he was raising the "Japanese bogy" as a hurdle to Philippine independence. (Ultimately, the United States did not grant Philippine independence until 1946, after Japan was no longer a military threat to the former colony.)
Leonidas C. Dyer
In December 1922, Rep. Dyer had traveled to the Philippines, then a U.S. territory, according to the 1898 Treaty of Paris. On December 22, Rep. Dyer spoke before the Philippine Senate in Manila, stating that he believed the Philippines would be independent by the next Congress. Rep. Dyer stated he favored Philippine independence. He said that the US would always "be proud of the Philippines and what we have accomplished here for the Filipinos and for the American people." The Philippines were granted commonwealth status in 1935 and finally given independence in 1946.