TIMELINE: Efforts to make the Philippines a US state

[¿m☺ÿ]

TIMELINE: Efforts to make the Philippines a US state

None of the attempts to make the Philippines a US state have been successful, or taken seriously, so far

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Did you know that there have been attempts to make the Philippines a state of the United States of America?

Since the Philippines came under US rule in 1898, some ilustrados (upper class Filipinos) advocated the annexation of the Philippines to the US, but didn’t succeed.

Pro-US statehood movements persisted even after the US granted independence to the Philippines in 1946.

Several organizations have lobbied for US annexation, and even made it a campaign platform. None of these efforts succeeded or were ever taken seriously.

Let’s trace some of the movements that pushed for the Philippines’ US statehood. These accounts are based on news clippings from local and foreign publications.


September 19, 1971 - Former congressman Rufino Antonio launches via a newspaper advertisement the Philippine Statehood USA movement, which claims 1.25 million supporters. Its target is to reach 10 million members by 1973 to enable a plebiscite that will vote on the country’s statehood. The annexation to the US is believed to save the Philippines from "disasters" such as graft and corruption.

May 8, 1972 - Congressman Joaquin Roces moves for a congressional investigation on the movement, which most legislators dismiss as a joke.

May 14, 1972 - The Statehood Philippines Movement registers as an official political party. This move is said to be a step toward fulfiling a claim that the group will field candidates in the next elections if the planned 1973 plebiscite does not materialize. (No plebiscite or elections are held because of the imposition of Martial law in September 1972.)

1981 - Banking on a campaign platform of US annexation of the Philippines, the Federalist Party’s Bartolome Cabangbang runs for president against then reelectionist Ferdinand Marcos. He obtains 4% of total votes; Marcos gets 88%.

August 30, 1986 - The first International Statehood Conference is held in Arizona, USA, where Philippine and Puerto Rican delegates push for 51st and 52nd statehood. The conference aims to develop a process that will expedite both country's statehood dreams.

January 30, 1988 - The New Philippine Movement for US Statehood (or Statehood Movement), composed of Filipino-American members, formally petitions the US Congress to declare the Philippines as the 51st Federal State. The group informs the US Congress of its plan to submit a petition with 15 million signatures.

July 4, 1988 - Statehood Movement supporters meet in an international convention in New York City to formalize the link up of all groups supporting the annexation of the Philippines as a US state.

October 18, 2003 - Members of United Supporters of America (USA), a group that seeks to make all Filipinos US citizens, march to the US Embassy in Manila in support of US President George W Bush who is in the country for a state visit. The group is blocked by the police.

December 5, 2003 - USA leader Elly Pamatong declares his intention to run for president in the 2004 elections, and promises to make the Philippines a part of the US if he wins. He is declared a nuisance candidate.

March 2004 - The Third Option Proponents (TOP) Party, another organization that advocates the Philippines' US statehood, is founded.

January 17, 2007 - TOP chairman Brigido Asuncion Buenafe files his candidacy for the 2007 senatorial elections using the nickname "Mr RP-statehood-USA." Like Pamatong in 2003, he is declared a nuisance candidate.

November 27, 2009 - Pamatong again files his candidacy for the 2010 presidential elections using the same platform. He is again declared a nuisance candidate.

November 25, 2013 - Philippine Statehood USA publishes an online petition calling for supporters of the country's US statehood. The petition runs until December 1, 2016.

------------------------------------------------------------

Ano sa tingin ninyo mga ka-PT?

[IORI™]

Mas gugustuhin ko pa yan sir imoy .. wala eh di kaya ng gobyerno nating pagalingin ang sakit nilang kurapsyon eh .. at least baka mapaganda pa buhay ng mamamayang pilipino under US

mga tol!! mga ka PT!! tara na makigulo sa:

http://www.pinoycyberkada.com/index.php?topic=40265.0

[¿m☺ÿ]

Kung ako rin ang tatanungin sasang-ayon ako dito.... dito sa work, kapag may tinuturuan kaming trainee... di hamak na mas malaki ang sweldo sa amin basta Amerikano o British o Europian..... sabi nila be proud to be a Filipino pero yung mga mismong nasa gobyerno na nagsasabi ang numero unang sumisira sa imahe ng isang Filipino... grabe.....

[dhanzboy]

malabong makasapi ng US ang pinas......

para saan pa at naging democratic country tayo tapos gustong mag pa-under sa ibang bansa.

[Prime™]

It's an interesting thought pareng Imoy, I didn't know there were clamors for this as late as in the seventies. Though I think malabo that the Americans would seriously consider annexing us completely.

I guess it could be a logistical nightmare and extremely expensive given our lackluster infrastructure and our geography. Not to mention the various dialects we have and numerous insurgents in different parts of the country, it just wouldn't make too much sense in an economic and strategic standpoint. The cons outweighes the benefts tenfold.

It's always been cheaper for them to have us under their sphere of influence and pseudo-protectorate rather than outright absorbing the whole Philippine archipelago. They have various bases in the pacific, (Guam, Hawaii, SoKor, Japan etc) they even had bases here (Clark and Subic), there really is no good compelling reason to take it a step further than just a few bases here and there.

Kung Cuba pa yan, they will love the idea and they did, it just didn't pan out. They are so interested in Cuba pati tayo nadamay makuha after the Spanish-American war. We were not the original target of acquisition.

Americans coming here was probably a perfect storm, years in the making?

The Americans were too late in the colonization business, after all they too were a colony of the British, the Americans started spreading their wings at the time when european juggernauts where dwindling. The British empire is in the decline, so is the French empire, the Dutch and the dead Spanish empire. The Russian empire is too busy with her internal conflicts and conflicts with the British, even sold Alaska to the US for the amount of 7 million USD, the powerful Mexican empire was defeated and the state of Texas joined the US union. The doctrine of Manifest Destiny was a success.

The final nail in the coffin for these powers is when world war 1 happened, all great powers where decimated, and the US being far from the action became the last man standing. The ottomans where dead, so is the Austro-Hungarian empires. Not a lot of people hear about them these days, but these two now defunct powers where extremely relevant for a longer time than the Americans now.

I think it's fair to say the Americans where extremely lucky in the sense that world events had conspired in her favor, that includes the brief moment they had us as a protectorate, pero anything more than malabo IMHO.

Thanks for the mate.

[¿m☺ÿ]

Yea, i agree with you 'tol prime... considering also the facts that our current government system... i'm sure the guys who are seating on the top doesn't want to give away there privileges...

There are lots of power hungry individual in our country running the show so it is really impossible unless US starts colonizing again. I also have a doubt that this movement will succeed for a hundred years and more. It is like punching a hole into a solid diamond using wood.

thanks for dropping by..

[razorsharp]

lets take a look at this objectively. dati pareparehong US territory ang hawaii, guam at philippines. magkakapantay lang sila dati. tapos kalaunan ginawang US state ang hawaii, ni-retain na territory ang guam at nilaglag ng tuluyan ang pinas. baket?? hmmm yan ang magandang palaisipan.