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 This act was superseded by the 1916 Philippine Autonomy Act, which contained the first formal and official declaration of the United States government's commitment to eventually grant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.
Philippine Revolution
By June 1898, the island of Luzon, except for Manila and the port of Cavite, was under Filipino control, after General Monet's retreat to Manila with his remaining force of 600 men and 80 wounded. The revolutionaries were laying siege to Manila and cutting off its food and water supply. With most of the archipelago under his control, Aguinaldo decided it was time to establish a Philippine government. When Aguinaldo arrived from Hong Kong, he had brought with him a copy of a plan drawn by Mariano Ponce, calling for the establishment of a revolutionary government. Upon the advice of Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, however, an autocratic regime was established on May 24, with Aguinaldo as dictator. It was under this dictatorship that independence was finally proclaimed on June 12, 1898, in Aguinaldo's house in Kawit, Cavite. The first Filipino flag was again unfurled and the national anthem was played for the first time. Apolinario Mabini, Aguinaldo's closest adviser, opposed Aguinaldo's decision to establish an autocracy. He instead urged Aguinaldo to create a revolutionary government. Aguinaldo refused to do so; however, Mabini was eventually able to convince him. Aguinaldo established a revolutionary government on July 23, 1898.