:bang:
I guess I am not going to change your view, but I deal in facts on this one.
In December 1898, the U.S. purchased the Philippines and other territories from Spain at the Treaty of Paris for the sum of $20 million, after the U.S. defeated Spain in the Spanish-American War. The U.S. government made plans to make the Philippines an American colony. However, the Filipinos, fighting for their independence from Spain had already declared their independence on 12 June 1898.
On 1 January 1899, Aguinaldo was declared the first President of the Philippines. President McKinley subsequently declared Aguinaldo to be an "outlaw bandit". The United States declared the insurgency officially over in 1902.
The people of the Philippines surely thought themselves to be a republic.
The Philippines came under overall U.S. control and were organized as a United States territory. In 1935, their status was upgraded to that of an American commonwealth, and plans were made to grant the islands independence in the next decade. Independence for the Philippines was finally granted on 4 July 1946.