The United States established the Insular Government to rule the Philippines.[12] In 1907, the elected Philippine Assembly was convened as the lower house of a bicameral legislature and in 1916 the U.S. Federal Government formally promised independence in the Jones Act.[12] The Philippine Commonwealth was established in 1935, as a 10-year interim step prior to full independence.[13] Before independence, World War II began and Japan occupied the Philippines.[14] After the end of the war, the Treaty of Manila established an independent Philippine Republic.[15]