The National Assembly in the Philippines announced the plebiscite in 1937, which would decide whether or not women should gain the right to vote. Multiple women's movements started in 1910, which led to the plebiscite in 1937 where women voted for or against for women's suffrage rights. Filipino women worked hard to mobilize and fight for women's suffrage in the early 1900s and gained victory after 447,725 out of 500,000 votes affirmed to having women's right to vote.Arguments against women gaining the right to vote in the Philippines were stated due to the fact that it would ruin family unity, giving less power to the husband or man of the house in the family.Prior to the plebiscite, electors voted on the approval of the new Philippine constitution. Approximately 1,213,934 of the electors voted in favor of the new constitution while 42,690 electors voted against. The new constitution, which contains a provision for the mechanism of extending the right to vote to women, was also the shortest constitution that was ratified during modern times. This new constitution contained only a small number of 17 articles.Before women gained the right to vote, they had no legal rights during that time period. Even with the proper consent from their husbands, women still could not obtain any legal rights. Governor General Dwight F. Davis made it legal for women to have some legal rights when it came to disposition of property. This allowed for women to own personal items within their marriage. The issue concerning women's suffrage in the Philippines was settled in a special plebiscite held on 30 April 1937. Ninety percent of voters were in favor of the measure.

The Commonwealth of the Philippines (Spanish: Commonwealth de Filipinas or Mancomunidad de Filipinas; Tagalog: Kómonwélt ng Pilipinas or Malasariling Pámahalaán ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied the country. It was established following the Tydings–McDuffie Act to replace the Insular Government, a United States territorial government. The Commonwealth was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for the country's full achievement of independence. Its foreign affairs remained managed by the United States.During its more than a decade of existence, the Commonwealth had a strong executive and a Supreme Court. Its legislature, dominated by the Nacionalista Party, was at first unicameral, but later bicameral. In 1937, the government selected Tagalog – the language of Manila and its surrounding provinces – as the basis of the national language, although it would be many years before its usage became general. Women's suffrage was adopted and the economy recovered to its pre-Depression level before the Japanese occupation in 1942.

In 1946, the Commonwealth ended and the Philippines claimed full sovereignty as provided for in Article XVIII of the 1935 Constitution.