View source for High Commissioner to the Philippines

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{{Infobox official post
|post            = High Commissioner
|body            = the Philippines
|native_name     = <small>''Alto Comisionado de Filipinas''<br />''Kataas-taasang Komisyonado sa Pilipinas''</small>
|insignia        = Coat of arms of the United States High Commissioner (1935-1946).svg
|insigniasize    = 
|insigniacaption = 
|image           = 
|imagesize       = 
|imagecaption    = 
|style           = 
|residence       = [[Embassy of the United States, Manila|High Commissioner's Residence]]
|appointer       = [[List of presidents of the United States|President of the United States between 1935 and 1946]]
|appointer_qualified = 
|precursor      = [[Governor-General of the Philippines]]
|formation      = November 15, 1935
|first          = [[Frank Murphy]]
|last           = [[Paul V. McNutt]]
|abolished      = July 4, 1946
|succession     = [[United States Ambassador to the Philippines|U.S Ambassador to the Philippines]]
|salary         = 
}}

[[Image:McNutt Woodring 24102r.jpg|thumb|right|300px|High Commissioner to the Philippines Paul V. McNutt ''(left)'' makes a point to Secretary of War [[Harry Hines Woodring|Harry H. Woodring]] during an official visit to Washington in 1938.]]

The '''high commissioner to the Philippines''' was the personal representative of the [[president of the United States]] to the [[Commonwealth of the Philippines]] during the period 1935&ndash;1946. The office was created by the [[Tydings–McDuffie Act]] of 1934, which provided for a period of transition from direct American rule to the complete independence of the islands on July 4, 1946. It replaced the office of [[Governor-General of the Philippines|governor-general of the Philippines]], who had direct executive authority. Under the commonwealth, executive power was held by an elected Filipino president. The executive power of the high commissioner was largely ceremonial, and its office is similar to that of an ambassador.

The office of high commissioner was held by:

*[[Frank Murphy]], November 15, 1935 – December 31, 1936
*[[J. Weldon Jones|Weldon Jones]], December 31, 1936 – April 26, 1937 {{small|(Acting)}}<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTotAAAAIAAJ |title=Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department 1922 |last=United States Bureau of Insular Affairs |date=1922 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Paul V. McNutt]], April 26, 1937 – July 12, 1939
*[[J. Weldon Jones|Weldon Jones]], July 12, 1939 – October 28, 1939 {{small|(Acting)}}
*[[Francis Bowes Sayre Sr.]], October 28, 1939 – October 12, 1942<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 28, 1939 |title=Sayre Arrives, October 28, 1939 |url=https://philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/1939/10/28/sayre-arrives-october-28-1939/ |website=The Philippines Free Press Online |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Harold L. Ickes]], October 12, 1942 – September 14, 1945 {{small|([[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]], assuming functions during [[Japanese occupation of the Philippines|Japanese occupation]])}}
*[[Paul V. McNutt]], September 14, 1945 – July 4, 1946

Murphy had previously served as governor-general. Sayre's tenure was interrupted by the [[Japanese occupation of the Philippines]] during World War II. McNutt became the first [[United States Ambassador to the Philippines|United States ambassador to the Philippines]] after [[Republic Day (Philippines)|Philippine independence]] in 1946.

==High Commissioner's Residence==
{{Main|Embassy of the United States in Manila}}
[[File:Philippine Island - Manila - NARA - 68156414.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of the American High Commissioner's Residence, under construction, 1939]]

With the inauguration of the Philippine Commonwealth, [[Malacañang Palace]] was turned over to the [[president of the Philippines]], necessitating a new home for the highest American government official in the Philippines. A new location was found along now-[[Roxas Boulevard]] and a High Commissioner's Residence was built. According to the book titled ''Manila Americans'' by Lewis Gleeck. "On April 1, 1937, McNutt arrived (in Manila) with Mrs. McNutt and a sixteen-year-old daughter. Since the relinquishment of Malacañang, there had been no official residence for the High Commissioner, so (Paul) McNutt moved into El Nido, the sumptuous Dewey Boulevard residence of Attorney E.A. Perkins...".<ref>The residence is shown in 1938 in a short film by Andre de la Varre titled ''Manila, Queen City of the Pacific''. A [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvpbsyNcI3I video] of the film was uploaded to [[YouTube]] on May 6, 2008, by [http://travelfilmarchive.com/ travelfilmarchive].</ref>

On January 2, 1942, as Japanese forces entered the city of [[Manila]], four members of the high commissioner's staff, Elise Flahaven, George Gray, Virginia Hewlett and Margaret Pierce, lowered the [[Flag of the United States|American flag]] that flew at the high commissioner's headquarters, burned it and buried its ashes to prevent its capture by the Japanese. On February 22, 1945, General [[Douglas MacArthur]], supreme commander of the Allied Forces in the [[Southwest Pacific Area]], again raised the flag at the high commissioner's headquarters after recapturing Manila.

The high commissioner's headquarters today houses the American [[embassy]] in the Philippines.

==The American Residence==
[[File:AmericanResidence.jpg|thumbnail|The American Residence in Baguio]]

The [[American Residence]] in Baguio was built to be the summer home of the high commissioner, to replace [[The Mansion, Baguio|The Mansion]] that was the governor-general's summer residence and that had been turned over to the president of the Philippines upon the inauguration of the commonwealth.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cimatu |first1= Frank|title=US Ambassador Residence in Baguio opens doors to history buffs on Victory Day|url= https://www.rappler.com/philippines/luzon/united-states-ambassador-residence-baguio-opens-doors-history-buffs-victory-day/|accessdate=June 20, 2024 |publisher=[[Rappler]] |date=September 2, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gasingan |first1= Debbie |title=US Ambassador’s Residence in Baguio City to open doors to visitors|url= https://mirror.pia.gov.ph/news/2023/09/01/us-ambassadors-residence-in-baguio-city-to-open-doors-to-visitors|accessdate=June 20, 2024 |publisher= [[Presidential Communications Group]]|date=September 1, 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Governor-General of the Philippines]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ph-hc.html Flag of the High Commissioner of the Philippines]

{{Lists of US Governors}}

[[Category:High commissioners to the Philippines| ]]
[[Category:1935 establishments in the Philippines]]
[[Category:1946 disestablishments in the Philippines]]