“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed,” said Martin Luther King while incarcerated in the Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963. A quote easily linked to Filipinos who fought for their independence from the United States- United during the Cold War. Influenced by patronizing relations with the United States throughout history, the Philippines' economic and political evolution has been controlled by dependence between the two allied countries. In 1898, the United States took particular interest in the economic opportunities of the Philippines; it was on its way to China, contained a plentiful supply of sugar and rice, and most importantly, because of the fear of losing the Philippines to rival countries Germany and Japan. In the interests of the United States, the Spanish agreed to cede the Philippines to the United States after a payment of $20 million. The United States therefore renounced its promise to liberate the Philippines from the status of a colonized country. Angered by this betrayal, the Republic of the Philippines declared war on the United States, starting the Philippine-American War, which lasted from 1899 to 1902. In 1942, as the United States began establishing military bases in the Philippines , a communist guerrilla group named Hukbalahap (also known as Huks) - began to expand from solely anti-Japanese activities to fighting the American military. While fighting the Japanese, the United States found a way to also dismember the Huks by imprisoning high-ranking members, mentally and physically torturing Filipino members, and passing laws in 1957 banning both the Communist Party and the Huks in the Philippines. This sequence of events followed shortly after the surrender of Huk leader Luis T...... middle of document ......ug., 1999), pp. 355-375. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3097105 (accessed February 11, 2014) Shalom, Stephen R. Securing the US-Philippine Military Bases Agreement of 1947. Wayne: William Paterson University, http://www.wpunj. edu/dotAsset/209673.pdf (accessed January 30, 2014). The Filipino Server. “Ang Pilipinas Sailim ng Martial Law.” Filipinos for Change. http://thefilipinoservant.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/ang-pilipinas-sa-ilalim-ng-martial-law/ (accessed February 12, 2014) US Department of State. “The Philippine-American War, 1899-1903.” Milestones: 1899-1913. http://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war. (Accessed January 30, 2014). William Howard Taft and the Question of Philippine Independence, 1900-1913 (South Bridge, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008), p. 6.