"History of the Philippines: From the American Colonization to the Present"
  • 1896: The Philippine Revolution begins, signaling the end of the 400 years of Spanish rule.
  • 1898: Following the Declaration of the Spanish-American War, Commodore George Dewey sailed into Manila Bay in May 1898. Filipinos declare national independence on June 12 and drew up a constitution.
  • 1901: U.S. Government, with William Howard Taft as governor, is established in the Philippines.
  • 1903: The US government sponsors young Filipinos for studies in the United States (the pensionado program). By 1912, more than 200 Filipinos have been educated under the program.
  • 1906: Recruitment of Filipino farm workers by Hawaii's sugar companies begins; by the '20s, Filipinos will be the largest group among Asian plantation workers.
  • 1914: Free trade is established between the United States and the Philippines.
  • 1920: The California Alien Land Act of 1913 is amended to ban the leasing of land to aliens. In Hawaii, Filipino and Japanese plantation workers strike for six months.
  • 1924: President Coolidge signs act excluding immigration of all Asian workers except Filipinos. Calls for the execution of Filipinos intensify.
  • 1933: The California Court of Appeals rules that Filipinos are "Mongolians,: invalidating interracial marriages and upholding the ban on miscengenation.
  • 1935: The Philippine Commonwealth is formalized. The Filipino Repatriation Act allows Filipinos to return to their homeland at US government expense. Only 2,190 repatriate.
  • 1941: Japan invades the Philippines. Washington allows the enlistment of Asian immigrants into the armed forces, leading to the formation of the all-volunteer First Filipino Infantry Battalion to help fight the Japanese. Filipino population in the US stands at 98,535.
  • 1942: Filipino and American soldiers of the US Armed Forces in the Far East suffer heavy casualties in the "Bataan Death March" after the Japanese Victory in the Philippines.
  • 1946: The US having defeated the Japanese grants independence to the Philippines on July 4. President Truman signs law allowing Filipinos to become US citizens in recognition of their support for the war effort.
  • 1950: "Filipino" is added as a category in the Us census. By 1960, the Filipino American population will stand at 176,310.
  • 1965: US immigration reforms allow the entry of skilled Filipino workers and professionals. Because of the Filipinos' facility in the English language, they found it easier to adapt with the American culture. This forms the basis of the chain immigration via family reunification that continues to the present.
  • 1972: Ferdinand Marcos imposes a dictatorship that would compromise US foreign policy for the next 14 years.
  • 1986: The People Power Revolution overthrows Marcos, installs President Corazon Aquino and heralds the return of democratic processes and institutions.
  • 1990: Filipino Americans number 1,406,770, according to the census.
  • 1992: The Us ends almost a century of military presence by closing all of of its military bases in the Philippines.
  • 1995: Hawaii elects Benjamin Cayetnao as governor, making him the highest ranking Filipino American elected official in the US.
  • 1996: Centennial of the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, when he was executed in Bagumbayan, now Jose Rizal Park, in Manila on December 30, 1896.
  • 1997: ASEAN conference was held in Manila where President Bill Clinton was one of the presidential guests.
  • 1998: Centennial of Philippine Independence on June 12 from the Spanish colonization.
     
     

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