<P> On April 9, 2002, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo proclaimed that the Philippine--American War had ended on April 16, 1902 with the surrender of General Miguel Malvar, and declared the centennial anniversary of that date as a national working holiday and as a special non-working holiday in the Province of Batangas and in the Cities of Batangas, Lipa and Tanaun . </P> <P> Some sources have suggested that the war unofficially continued for nearly a decade, since bands of guerrillas, quasi-religious armed groups and other resistance groups continued to roam the countryside, still clashing with American Army or Philippine Constabulary patrols . American troops and the Philippine Constabulary continued hostilities against such resistance groups until 1913 . Some historians consider these unofficial extensions to be part of the war . </P> <P> The 1902 Philippine Organic Act was a constitution for the Insular Government, as the U.S. civil administration was known . This was a form of territorial government that reported to the Bureau of Insular Affairs . The act provided for a Governor - General appointed by the U.S. president and an elected lower house, the Philippine Assembly . It also disestablished the Catholic Church as the state religion . The United States government, in an effort to resolve the status of the friars, negotiated with the Vatican . The church agreed to sell the friars' estates and promised gradual substitution of Filipino and other non-Spanish priests for the friars . It refused, however, to withdraw the religious orders from the islands immediately, partly to avoid offending Spain . In 1904 the administration bought for $7.2 million the major part of the friars' holdings, amounting to some 166,000 hectares (410,000 acres), of which one - half was in the vicinity of Manila . The land was eventually resold to Filipinos, some of them tenants but the majority of them estate owners . </P> <P> In socio - economic terms, the Philippines made solid progress in this period . Foreign trade had amounted to 62 million pesos in 1895, 13% of which was with the United States . By 1920, it had increased to 601 million pesos, 66% of which was with the United States . A health care system was established which, by 1930, reduced the mortality rate from all causes, including various tropical diseases, to a level similar to that of the United States itself . The practices of slavery, piracy and headhunting were suppressed but not entirely extinguished . </P>

How did the us get involved with the philippines