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 This act was superseded by the 1916 Philippine Autonomy Act, which contained the first formal and official declaration of the United States government's commitment to eventually grant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.
Filipino nationalism
From 1946 to 1961, the Philippines observed Independence Day on . However, on May 12, 1962, President Diosdado Macapagal issued Presidential Proclamation No. 28 proclaiming June 12, 1962 as a special public holiday throughout the Philippines. In 1964, Republic Act No. 4166 changed the date of Independence Day from to and renamed the holiday as Philippine Republic Day.