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CHAPTER 1
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CHAPTER 2
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CHAPTER 3
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CHAPTER 4
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CHAPTER 5
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CHAPTER 6
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CHAPTER 7
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      Notwithstanding their material prosperity under the American flag, the Pagsanjeños yearned for the restoration of their freedom and republic which their nation once enjoyed during the revolutionary era of 1898-1901. They were vigorously led by Speaker Sergio Osmeña who launched the peaceful campaign for Philippine Independence during the closing session of the First Philippine Assembly on the night of June 19, 1908, the 47th birthday anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal. On the historic night, Speaker Osmeña addressed the members of the Philippine Assembly, as follows:

      "Allow me, gentlemen of the House, following the dictates of my conscience as a delegate, as a representative of the country, under responsibility as Speaker of the House, to declare solemnly as I do now before God and before the world, that we believe that our people aspire for their independence, that our people, consider themselves capable of leading an orderly life, efficient for themselves and for others, in the concert of free and civilized nations, and that we believe that if the people of the United States were to decide at this moment the Philippine cause in favor of the Filipinos, the latter could, in assuming the consequent responsibility, comply with their duties to themselves and to others, without detriment to liberty, to justice, and to right."

      This independence declaration of Speaker Osmeña was unanimously ratified by the members of the Philippine Assembly, including Assemblyman Crispin Oben from Pagsanjan.
      In February 1919, shortly after the end of World War I (1914-18), the First Independence Mission, headed by Senate President Manuel L. Quezon, left Manila for the United States to request the U.S. Congress to grant independence to the Filipino people, as was promised in the preamble of the Jones Law of 1916. One Pagsanjeño named Conrado Benitez accompanied this historic independence mission as one of the technical advisers.
      The First Independence Mission, as well as other missions dispatched in subsequent years, failed to get the cherished independence. At long last, the OSROX Independence Mission, headed by Senator Osmeña and House Speaker Manuel A. Roxas, succeeded in securing from the U.S. Congress the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act (January 17, 1933). This law provided for a ten-year transition prior to the granting of the Philippine independence, the framing of a Constitution of the Philippines by the Filipino constitutional delegates, and the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
      Unfortunately, Senate President Quezon, jealous of the success of Senator Osmeña and House Speaker Roxas, persuaded the Philippine Legislature to reject the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act. Boasting that he could get a better independence law, he led the last independence mission to America. What he obtained from the U.S. Congress was the Tydings-McDuffee Act (March 24, 1934) which was, in truth, a slightly revised copy of the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act.

Framing of the 1935 Philippine Constitution

      Pursuant to the Tydings-McDuffee Act, the Philippine Constitutional Convention was convened at the session hall of the House of Representatives, Manila, on July 30, 1934, to begin the task of framing the Constitution. It was composed of 202 delegates who were elected by the people on July 10th. The two delegates who represented the 2nd District of Laguna were Dean Conrado Benitez, a son of Judge Higinio Benitez; and Pedro Guevara, former senator and resident commissioner.
      Under the presidency of Senator Claro M. Recto, famous jurist and statesman, the 1934-35 Convention seriously tackled the difficult work of writing our nation's constitutional charter. Delegate Benitez played an important role in this historic work. He was a member of the Sub-Committee of Seven, whose members were dubbed the "Seven Wise Men" because they wrote the final draft of the Constitution on February 8, and signed by the members of the Convention on February 19, 1935.
      After the signing of the Constitution, it was forwarded to Washington, D.C. for approval by the President of the United States, as stipulated by the Tydings-McDuffee Act. On March 23, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved it. The final step was the ratification by the Filipino people in a nationwide plebiscite held on May 14, 1935.