THE PHILIPPINES: It Feels Good

Over Paul V. McNutt’s white head an Army officer held a woman’s umbrella. “A nation is born,” said McNutt. “Long live the Republic of the Philippines.” Rain dripped from the red, white, blue and gold flags and from the cheesy plaster statues; tears ran down the cheeks of President Manuel Roxas.

General Douglas MacArthur politely shook hands with old General Emilio Aguinaldo (76), who, for independence, fought MacArthur’s father in 1899. Now Filipinos had their independence. Said a Filipino jeep driver: “It feels good.” The Manila Bulletin greeted sovereignty with a reservation that older, larger nations might find appropriate: “It is for the Philippines, no less than every other country which wishes to preserve peace, to sacrifice a portion of sovereignty, that is to say, the privilege of doing as it pleases, in the common good of all.”