Article Free Pass Written by Gregorio C. Borlaza  The period of
U.S. influence  The juxtaposition of U.S. democracy and imperial
rule over a subject people was sufficiently jarring to most
Americans that, from the beginning, the training of Filipinos
for self-government and ultimate independence—the Malolos
Republic was conveniently ignored—was an essential
rationalization for U.S. hegemony in the islands. Policy
differences between the two main political parties in the United
States focused on the speed with which self-government should be
extended and the date on which independence should be granted.
In 1899 Pres. William McKinley sent to the Philippines a five-
person fact-finding commission headed by Cornell University
president Jacob G. Schurman. Schurman reported back that
Filipinos wanted ultimate independence, but this had no
immediate impact on policy. McKinley sent out the Second
Philippine Commission in 1900, under William Howard Taft; by
July 1901 it had established civil government.  In 1907 the