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| Reference Material |
| How Magsaysay solved the problems of the nation By Rodel J. Ramos Jan. 18, 2006 Magsaysay was known as the �Man of the Masses�. He was not as brilliant as Claro M. Recto or Carlos P. Romulo, who were his contemporaries and adversaries. But he had the charisma, the touch of the common tao. And he had a genuine compassion for the poor and the oppressed. But he was not as dumb as portrayed. He was a born leader. He was my father�s (Francisco Ramos) classmate in High School at Zambales Academy in San Narciso. They attended school later at Iba, Zambales. Then when my father went to take Agriculture in Munoz, Nieva Ecija, Tata Monching went to study Commerce in Manila. Dad and Ramon were together again at the Try-V-Tran Bus Company (later, Victory Liner). He was the Manager while my Dad became the Head Mechanic. When war broke out, they were the first to lead the Zambales Guerrilla Movement. Monching whose code name was �Chow� was the Commander and my father whose code name was �Ram� was the Intelligence Chief. When the Japanese discovered their identities, they went to Manila to avoid arrest and gathered supplies and intelligence. The two survived working as mechanics to my Dad�s cousin Luis Abiva, who had a printing press. When the Americans landed in Zambales, Magsaysay and his followers had already cleared up the Japanese forces there and so the Americans never encountered resistance. The Magsaysay forces tricked the Japanese at the airport in San Marcelino. They sent in ladies to entertain and wine them. During the night, the guerrillas came and burned their airplanes and killed them. Capt. Alfredo Piga and Bansiong Rodriguez led that raid. Magsaysay fired the flair that triggered the sabotage of all Japanese facilities including telephone lines and attacks of army camps. It was also the Magsaysay boys who prevented the shelling of San Narciso, San Antonio and San Felipe by American warships. They intercepted the ships and told them that there were no more Japanese in Zambales. The Japanese however made a stand at the Zig Zag between Bataan and Zambales. And there is where a lot of fighting took place with the guerrillas in the front line. The earlier work of the guerrillas caused the rapid deployment of American forces and they reached Manila much earlier than expected. After the war, Magsaysay became congressman of Zambales. His rally during the campaign stopped at our house. We had the Nepa Soft Drink Factory then and thousands of people quenched their thirst and hunger at our place. Communism The Huks threatened the nation with a communist rebellion. (Hukbo Ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon) the first Communist group headed by Congressman Luis Taruc and Jesus Lava was gaining ground. It had control over parts of Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, and Tarlac. The Huks was formed by peasants mostly from Pampanga who fought to have land of their own. There was also the Muslim rebellion in the south with Kamlon as Chief. The government looked for a man to lead the fight against the communists and President Elpidio Quirino saw in Magsaysay the leadership, discipline, principles, honesty and the action man he needed. The Americans had a good experience with him as head of the Zambales Guerrilla Movement, so, he was highly recommended. Pres. Elpidio Quirino appointed Ramon Magsaysay Sr. as Secretary of Defense to stop the communist take-over and to reduce corruption and lawlessness. To fight the rising tide of rebellion, Magsaysay used the �carrot and stick� tactic and the �divide and rule� principle. He knew that the roots of their discontent were the abuses of the landlords and the lack of opportunity for the peasants who worked as the lifetime serfs of their masters. He knew the feelings of being poor, having come from a middle class family in a province (Zambales) where there were so many poor. He had compassion for the poor and one of his well known saying is, �Those who have less in life must have more in law.� Corruption Corruption was also a problem although it is not as massive as today and at the time of the Marcoses and Joseph Estrada. President Elpidio Quirino was only accused then of having a gold bed pan and an expensive bed, and nepotism. Magsaysay exposed corruption without mercy and the media cooperated with him. To install fear in the hearts and minds of government people, he said, �If my father commits a crime, I will send him to jail.� He recruited young students into the army and as one of their duties, they penetrated the ranks of government employees to spy on workers and report those who took bribes or were inefficient at their work. He also recruited his honest and loyal friends and planted them in those offices to report on corruption and abuses. My father was appointed Inspector General at the Board of Liquidators, an agency that took care of disposing of equipment and machineries left by the Americans and Japanese army. He cleaned that department of corruption. Private armies Some provincial politicians also had private armies and Cavite was notorious for its lawlessness under Gov. Montano. Ramon Magsaysay as defense secretary ordered Montano to disband his private army and surrender their weapons, but he refused. Magsaysay led an army battalion to Cavite with tanks and forced Montano to disarm. When Moises Padilla was murdered in Negros, he personally flew there and took charge of the case. He vowed to bring the killer to justice. Gov. Lacson was suspected of that murder and Magsaysay brought him to justice. To discipline the armed forces whom he heard to be abusive of private citizens, he visited an army camp at night disguised as a private citizen. He found the guard on duty sleeping. He fired the soldier right away. When Magsaysay became President, he knew the dangers of being surrounded by a �cordon sanitaire� who would feed a leader only what he wants to hear or what pleases him. Magsaysay left Malacanang Palace at night disguised as a common tao, escaping his guards to find out what the ordinary people think of what his administration was doing. He asked them of their problems and attended to them. He also called his friends to know what they thought of his plans and accomplishments. Ramon made famous the �common man�s day� in Malacanang where people lined up to tell the President or his representatives what their problems were and they were attended to with compassion. One of his famous quote was �He who has less in life must have more in law.� He was loved by the newspaper men/women. He knew when their birthdays were and he sent them gifts during these special occasions and during Christmas. He surrounded himself with brilliant young men who planned and executed his programs. He had Gen. Jesus Vargas, Raul Manglapus, Manuel Manahan, Terry Adevoso, Pacita Madrigal Warns, and many others. Mayor Antonio Villegas, Vicente Naval and hundredsof others believed in his dreams and leadership. Rafael Salas started during his time as a student leader and rose to become Marcos� Executive Secretary and then head of the Population Control Commission of the United Nations. He warned his relatives not to enter politics while he was there. When he died however, his younger brother Genaro (Gene) Magsaysay became a Congressman and later a Senator. His son Ramon Magsaysay Jr. also became a Congressman and a Senator. Governor Vic Magsaysay and Congressman Antonio Diaz and Congresswoman Mila Magsaysay, wife of a nephew took advantage of the name to be in power. He initiated the �Land for the landless program.� He offered those who would surrender and those who did not own a piece of land to have 15 hectares homestead in Mindanao, and many Ilocanos, Cebuanos, Tagalogs and Ilonggos took advantage of this. That is why there are lots of them in Mindanao. To change the image of the Army and gain the trust and loyalty of the peasants, he used them to build schools and feeder roads to the remote barrios and farms. He built artesian wells in barrios and irrigation canals to increase rice production. He gave farmers carabaos (water buffalos) and in fact, prohibited the slaughter of these farm animals to increase their numbers. When there was rat infestation in Mindanao, he offered to pay for every rat the people killed.. But to break the back of the resistance movement, he unleashed the dreaded Special Forces Nenita Unit headed by Napoleon Valeriano. They were trained to survive in the jungle and fight the Huks in their territory. They were sent alone or in twos and penetrated their camps. They did not capture captives but killed them. This alarmed Luis Taruc and he offered to surrender with the intervention of Benigno Aquino who was just starting as a newspaperman during these times. Jesus Lava and his brother were also captured. They saw the sincerity of President Magsaysay in trying to solve the problems of the poor and his sense of justice. He ate with them with his hands in their coconut bowls and kissed their children. He hugged older people like his own parents. He took ex-Huks like Johnny Planas into his trust and used them for the psycho war against the communist insurgents. He heard that the Victory Liner in the Province of Zambales did not stop for older people. One time he disguised himself as an old man in a huge hat and tried to stop the bus. It did not stop and he asked that that driver be fired. He used to be the manager of that bus company before the Japanese war . With the southern rebellion in Mindanao, he assigned battalions upon battalions of soldiers and attacked Chief Kamlon without rest until he surrendered. But he also listened to the needs of the Muslims and provided them their needs. After which, there was peace in Mindanao and the Muslims and Christians lived in peace and prosperity. On the night of March 16, 1957, my father could not sleep. At 3am he took a walk to my sister�s house which was a mile away. My sister asked Dad if he knew what time it was. Dad said he could not sleep and was restless. The next day was the fiesta at Joseph Parish in Quezon City. We were busy preparing for the visitors when we heard over the radio the news that the plane of Magsaysay, Mount. Pinatubo, was missing in the mountains of Cebu where he went to attend a graduation ceremony. Dad cried immediately because he had a feeling then that Ramon Magsaysay, his best friend, was dead. When they confirmed that the plane went down in Mt. Manungal with only Mr. Mata as survivor, the whole nation was shocked and mourned. His funeral was the longest ever in the history of the nation. It was longer than the funeral of Benigno Aquino. He was the most loved of all the Presidents. His life was compared then to a comet that came in the darkness of night to brighten the Philippine horizon but faded fast after only three years in office. After 50 years, we have not produced a leader more loved and greater than he. And we still long for a deliverer like him. We know his examples he set and we can duplicate them, but we have a poor memory and we do not learn from our history. Heroes are made in time of crises. But one has to make the necessary sacrifice and commitment and put the country and our people above self. We can all be the Magsaysays, but we have to acquire the guts, the principles and the charisma to inspire our people to greatness like the �Guy�.***** |