In recognition of the heroic sacrifice of the Filipino people the Roosevelt administration has Congress pass a new act concerning the Philippines. In 1946, the Philippines becomes the 49th US state.
This and the act that lead to Independence were passed in the early 30s before the heroic sacrifices in WW2.
Though to be fair, that deal had so many holes in practice it's not even funny. But no, since the 1910s no one wanted Philippine statehood.Neither the Filipinos nor the Americans wanted this. In fact a deal had already been cut, banning Filipino migration to the mainland United States in exchange for granting the Philippines independence in 1946.
If we handwave the obstacles to admission as a state, perhaps a Puerto Rico-style sterilization program happens? Which is, of course, deeply problematic and in some cases immoral by our modern standards (then again, the most opportune time for statehood was a time where forced sterilization was deemed a Good Thing.), but it would keep the population down.You do realize that the Republic of the Philippines has a population of over a 100 million, almost a third of that of the United States?
By contrast, the largest current state, California, has a population of 40 million, about an eighth of that of the United States?
There is no constitutional maximum population for a state, and in theory one state could have 324 million people and the other 49 one million between them, but a state with the population the size of the Philippines would be horrendously impractical.
In 1940, the population of the Philippines was a more reasonable 17 million, as opposed to 140 million for the United States. But that would still be a higher percentage than modern day California, which holds the record for the percentage of the American population within its borders. Maybe the Philippines being part of the United States proper avoids the population explosion following the Green revolution.
... banning Filipino migration to the mainland United States ...
If we handwave the obstacles to admission as a state, perhaps a Puerto Rico-style sterilization program happens? Which is, of course, deeply problematic and in some cases immoral by our modern standards (then again, the most opportune time for statehood was a time where forced sterilization was deemed a Good Thing.), but it would keep the population down.
The problem is, of course, assuming that the Philippines would even want to be admitted as one state, of course - keep in mind that the concept of an All-Filipino identity was rather new when it was annexed by the United States. Before that regional identities were more salient - which is how the Spanish managed to stay on for so long.