Following the Spanish American War in 1898 the Philippines sought to declare its own independence when the Spanish were defeated. However, this was not successful and the Philippines fought a war with U.S. forces over self determination. The Philippines lost the war and it was not until the end of WWII in 1946 that through the Treaty of Manila the United States granted the Philippines independence. Therefore, the U.S. helped end Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines but also then effectively ruled the Philippines for close to 5 decades until the Philippines achieved independence, making this claim arguably false