12021-12-22T20:57:26-08:00Geronimo Cristobal53ac52f82ce935e115d42f2738c99cd380c9c323398452plain2021-12-22T20:57:51-08:00Geronimo Cristobal53ac52f82ce935e115d42f2738c99cd380c9c323On January 20, 1899, President McKinley appointed the First Philippine Commission (the Schurman Commission), a five-person group headed by Dr. Jacob Schurman, president of Cornell University, and including Admiral Dewey and General Otis, to investigate conditions in the islands and make recommendations. In the report that they issued to the president the following year, the commissioners acknowledged Filipino aspirations for independence; they declared, however, that the Philippines was not ready for it. Specific recommendations included the establishment of civilian government as rapidly as possible (the American chief executive in the islands at that time was the military governor), including establishment of a bicameral legislature, autonomous governments on the provincial and municipal levels, and a system of free public elementary schools.
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12021-12-22T20:12:08-08:00Geronimo Cristobal53ac52f82ce935e115d42f2738c99cd380c9c323Composition of the Schurman Commission3The First Philippine Commission. From left to right: Mr Dean C. Worcester, Colonel Charles Denby, President Jacob Gould Schurman, Mr. John R. MacArthur, Secretary to the Commission, Admiral George Dewey and General E.S. Otisplain2021-12-23T00:59:25-08:001899Geronimo Cristobal53ac52f82ce935e115d42f2738c99cd380c9c323
