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On August 26, 1903, the Pensionado Act of 1903 or Act 854 was approved by Governor General William Howard Taft through the Philippine Commission, which allowed qualified Filipino students to study in the United States for a four-year course.

These students were called pensionados, since they were studying at the expense of the colonial government to earn degrees in government administration in the U.S.

Upon their return to the Philippines, the pensionados were entitled to occupy important roles and positions in the government and its sectors -- agriculture, business, education, etc.

By 1912, there were already 209 Filipino students who graduated from American colleges and academic institutions.

Jorge Bocobo, one of the noted pensionados who studied in the U.S., helped President Manuel Quezon in drafting speeches and statements and in fighting for Philippine Independence as a member of four independence missions to the United States.

Bocobo, who passed the bar examinations with almost perfect score in Civil Law, translated the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo of Dr. Jose Rizal into English.

He also translated the Code of Kalantiao, the Philippine National Hymn, and the Bonifacio Decalogue. He wrote legal publications, including outlines of the laws on property, obligations and court decisions between 1924 and 1944. (PNA)

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