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 This act was superseded by the 1916 Philippine Autonomy Act, which contained the first formal and official declaration of the United States government's commitment to eventually grant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.
Emilio S. Liwanag
After the war, he was promoted to the rank of an USAFFE captain on March 11, 1946. The USAFFE was disbanded as the Philippines won its independence from the United States on June 30, 1946. In July 1946, Liwanag returned to his old unit, which changed into the newly formed Philippine Naval Patrol and was reactivated to the promoted naval rank as a lieutenant commander. The President of the Philippines Manuel Roxas strengthened the Offshore Patrol after issuing Executive Order No. 94 on October 5, 1947. This order officially elevated the patrol to a major command that was equal to the other branches of the armed forces, which is now the Philippine Navy. The OSP was renamed the Philippine Naval Patrol (PNP), later on it changed into the Philippine Navy on January 5, 1951. Liwanag and fellow surviving OSP officers became the early pioneers that helped shaped the structure of the Philippine Navy.