Magsaysay, Ramon | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

(1907–1957), Filipino statesman. Ramon Magsaysay was born 31 August 1907, in Iba, Zambales Province, in the Philippines. He was educated at the University of the Philippines (1927) and later transferred to the Institute of Commerce at Jose Rizal College (1928–1932), where he was awarded a degree in commerce. When World War II erupted, Magsaysay—having taken an interest in auto mechanics—joined the motor pool of the Thirty-First Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. When the Japanese overran the nation, he helped to organize the Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces. In January 1945, Magsaysay was involved in clearing the Zambales coast of the Japanese prior to the landing of American forces.

After the war, he was appointed by the U.S. Army as military governor of Zambales, and in 1946, MajorMagsaysay was discharged from the army and was elected representative of Zambales, serving until 1950. In 1950, Magsaysay condemned his own Liberal Party for being corrupt and insisted on acceding to the demands for social and political reform that had been responsible for sparking the rebellion by the Hukbalahap (Huk), a group of peasant-rebels fighting for democratic rights throughout the nation. Magsaysay was appointed secretary of national defense in 1950, and for the next three years, with American aid, he not only cleaned up military corruption, but also launched an extensive sweep to eliminate the insurgents of the Huk rebellion. Unfortunately, many labor leaders, educators, and diplomats, along with an array of innocent people, were arrested and deprived of their rights under Magsaysay's policy.

In November 1951, Magsaysay was responsible for keeping national elections clean by deploying soldiers to oversee the election process. During the Korean War, he also sent Philippine forces to fight under the U.N. command.

Ramon Magsaysay enjoyed a reputation of being energetic and honest; as a result, he was immensely popular with the people. On 10 November 1953, having quit the Liberal Party to join the Nacionalista Party and having U.S. support, he was elected the third president of the Philippines.

Aside from quelling the Huk rebellion, Magsaysay's presidency is remembered for the signing of the Laurel-Langley Agreement, which maintained the economic submissiveness of the Philippines to U.S. monopolies, as well as for the negotiation of the Agricultural Commodities Agreement with the United States in 1957, an accord that helped keep the nation's economy locked into a colonial pattern. Magsaysay was also responsible for establishing the Anti-Subversion Law, which limited citizens' democratic rights. Finally, he was a primary player in establishing the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). Ramon Magsaysay was killed in a plane crash on 17 March 1957.

Craig Loomis

Huk Rebellion

Gray, Marvin M. (1965) Island Hero: The Story of Ramon Magsaysay. New York: Hawthorn Books.

Romulo, Carlos P., and Marvin M Gray. (1956) The Magsaysay Story: A Political Biography. Manila, Philippines: Solidarida Publishing House.

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