Prime Minister of the Philippines
On December 10, 1898, on the other hand, the war between United States and Spain was concluded with Spain giving up all rights to Cuba and surrendering the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. Two days later, Aguinaldo ordered his lawyer Felipe Agoncillo to contest the Philippine status as an independent nation and no longer a Spanish colony since the declaration of independence on June 12, 1898. However, the United States did not recognize Philippine sovereignty and announced their interest to annex the country by January 1899. This brought into serious foreign conflict when the Republic was formally established in January 23 at Malolos. By January 30, Aguinaldo resent Agoncillo, this time to the United States Senate, so as to reconsider their plans to annex the country and instead formally recognize Filipino independence.
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.