"The Unforgettable Ramon Magsaysay"

Ramon Magsaysay y del Fierro was born on August 31,1907 in Castillejos , Zambales. He was a guerrilla leader and an intelligence officer during the Japanese war. After the war, he was appointed military governor of Zambales on February 4,1945. He was elected the congressman of Zambales in 1946. He was appointed by President Elpidio Quirino as the Secretary of National Defense on August 31, 1950. In 1953 , he won with a landslide vote in the presidential election at the age of 46; the youngest president ever.

As a Congressman, he worked to secure benefits for war veterans.Through his efforts, the U.S. Congress passed the Rogers Bill that provided for "G.I. Bill of Rights" for Filipino veterans. The Rogers Act also provided hospitalisation benefits for war veterans and their widows , and for the construction , equipping and maintenance of what is now called the Veterans Memorial Hospital in Quezon City. He also initiated reforms in the armed forces that made the Philippine military an efficient fighting force for the protection of the national security that time.

As a Defence Department chief, he annihilated the Huk rebellion with the surrender of over 9,000 Huk rebels. He resettled the surrendered Huks in Koronadal Valley in Mindanao and provided them farms.

As President, he had a high concept of "delicadesa", for he never appointed members of his family and close relatives to government offices and prohibited the naming of plazas, roads, bridges and towns after him. He insisted to be called simply "Mr. President". he popularised the use of barong Tagalog and named the buri wine , the basi, as the national drink. Corruption was never an issue against him and his administration. There were no cronies either. In terms of integrity, he was totally beyond reproach.  He possessed the straightforwardness and hatred for lawlessness of Quezon,  the valour of Washington, the brevity and humility of Eisenhower and the firmness and kindness of Lincoln.

Ramon Magsaysay was the first President to improve the conditions of the barrios through the construction of barrio roads, bridges, schools, artesian wells and irrigation systems. He prohibited the indiscriminate slaughter of carabaos. He created the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration ( NARRA) which resettled almost 22,000 in 1957. He made sure that the Huks who surrendered and retired military personnel were accommodated in the resettlement areas of economic development  corps ( Edcor).

During Magsaysay's term , the SEATO was established in Manila on September 8,1954. This was an anti-communist organisation composed of Australia, France , Great Britain, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines,Thailand and the United States. On December 15,1954, he signed the Laurel-Langley agreement which provided for the abolition of free trade between the U.S. and the Philippines from Jan.1,1956 to July 3,1974. On May 9, 1956, he signed the Reparations Agreement with Japan in Manila. It provided that Japan would pay reparations for destruction made by the Japanese forces in the Philippines during WWII, totalling $300,000,000 for 25 years.

When Magsaysay died in an air plane crash in Mt. Manunggal , Cebu on March 17,1957, the Filipino people from all walks of life grieved as if they have lost a beloved member of their own families. From then on, he was known as the Huk fighter, Idol of the Common Man, The Beloved, The Guy, "The Savior of Democracy of the Philippines", The Champion of the Masses, The Man of the People and The Father of Land Reform. He was featured in the Readers Digest as "The Unforgettable Ramon Magsaysay", with his portrait as the cover.

References:Remembering 'The Guy', by Nestor Mata ,  the Privilege Speech of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. ,and My Guy, Magsaysay, by Jess Sison

Note: The compensation for his services as a soldier who served both the Philippines and the United States was placed by his family in a foundation , The Ramon Magsaysay Award, counterpart of the Nobel Prize Award. When his family stepped down from Malacanang, they returned to their dilapidated home in Zambales. When the laborers and stevedores in Manila learned about this , each of them contributed a piece of tile for the former First family's  house. No one solicited from them.They did it out of love. I read this from the School News Review when I was a high school student.

An ignoramus politicianin our town once asked, "what has Magsaysay done in this town to deserve a monument?"kindly read my answer through my post entitled, "Ginasagap Ko".