Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

FIRST PLENARY SESSION

7

In our struggle for liberty, we invoke the principles proclaimed by the unfortunate President Wilson, eminent statesman,
for the proper determination of the countries or rather the
rights which they have to self-government in accordance with
their habits and customs. Thus, countries like Poland, CzochoSlovakia, Jugo-Slavia, Albania, Finland, Esthonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, and Ukraina, formerly under the control of powerful
nations of Europe, succeeded in enjoying the blessings of
liberty after the World War.
Convened, therefore, as we are, in the name of our country,
we solemnly declare that the only and invariable wish of the
Filipino people is for immediate and absolute independence.
After the Chairman had spoken, the Honorable Antonio de las Alas, Speaker Pro-Tempore of the House
of Representatives, addressed the members as follows:
ADDRESS OF THE HONORABLE ANTONIO DE LAS
ALAS, SPEAKER PRO-TEMPORE OF THE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:
Over a score and a half years ago, our country, through one
of those unforeseen and unexpected incidents of war, came
under the sovereignty and protection of the people of the United
States. Since the very beginning of the American regime,
authorized representatives of the American nation have repeatedly declared the purpose of the United States, not to
remain permanently in the Philippine Islands but to prepare us
for an independent existence and, once that mission is accomplished, to give us our independence. The military government
was promptly supplanted by a civil government. The new
administration was instructed to bear in mind that the government was not designed for the experiment or expression of
American theoretical views, but for the happiness, peace and
prosperity of the people of the Philippine Islands, and that the
measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs,
their habits and even their prejudices to the fullest extent con