Awarded to service members having previously received both the Philippine Defense Medal and the Philippine Liberation Medal. The service member must also have served on active military duty in the Philippines after July 4, 1946. The award criteria effectively awarded the medal to anyone participating in both the initial resistance against Japanese invasion and also in the campaigns to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation in 1945. The Philippine Independence Medal was originally awarded as a ribbon, and it was not until 1968 that a full sized medal was authorized by President Ferdinand Marcos.