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Submitted by: Fairlean Bajarias & Camille Eunice Relliquete

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RAMON MAGSAYSAY

Ramon Magsaysay (1907-1957) was the third Philippine president. Credited with restoring

peace, law, and order during the Philippine crisis of the 1950s and the Hukbalahap rebellion,he was the first Philippine president from the landless lower middle class, the petitbourgeois stratum of society.

Ramon Magsaysay was born in Iba, Zambales, on Aug. 31, 1907, to Exequiel Magsaysay, ablacksmith, and Perfecta del Fierro, a schoolteacher. He entered the University of thePhilippines in 1927. He worked as a chauffeur to support himself as he studied engineering;later, he transferred to the Institute of Commerce at Jos Rizal College (1928-1932), wherehe received a baccalaureate in commerce. He then worked as automobile mechanic andshop superintendent. When World War II broke out, he joined the motor pool of the 31stInfantry Division of the Philippine army.

When Bataan surrendered in 1942, Magsaysay escaped to the hills, organized the WesternLuzon Guerrilla Forces, and was commissioned captain on April 5, 1942. For three yearsCapt. Magsaysay operated under Col. Merrill's famed guerrilla outfit and saw action atSawang, San Marcelino, Zambales. Magsaysay was among those instrumental in clearingthe Zambales coast of the Japanese prior to the landing of American liberation forces onJan. 29, 1945.

After the war Magsaysay was appointed by the U. S. Army as military governor of Zambaleson Feb. 4, 1945. On Feb. 8, 1946, Maj. Magsaysay was discharged from the army. He waselected representative of Zambales on April 23, 1946, and reelected in November 1949under the banner of the Liberal party.

CHALLENGES and HOW HE FACED IT

In Congress, Magsaysay served as chairman of the House Committee on National Defenseand belonged to numerous other committees. In April 1948 President Manuel Roxasappointed Magsaysay to head a veterans' mission to Washington which lobbied for thepassage of the Rogers bill. In 1950 Magsaysay attacked the Liberal party-dominatedadministration for corruption and called for reforms of the deplorable social conditions whichhad produced the Hukbalahap rebellion (the rebels were peasants fighting for democraticrights, equality, and justice). Time (Nov. 26, 1951) reported that "when politicians kept himfrom buying Quonset huts he needed as schoolhouses for Zambales, he gathered some ofhis wartime guerillas, raided a surplus dump, and made off with 140 huts. Later he paid forthem--50 centavos (25 cents) apiece, the price he figured the profiteer who owned themhad paid in the first place." Prompted by his American advisers, President Elpidio Quirino

appointed Magsaysay secretary of national defense on Sept. 1, 1950.

From 1950 to 1953 Magsaysay revitalized the army with vast American aid; the army hadbeen demoralized, politics-ridden, and virtually defeated by the mass revolution under way.Within 83 days Magsaysay retired three generals, discharged and demoted many erring andinefficient officers, and gave the 18,000 enlisted men better food, quarters, and pay. Healso reorganized the vicious Philippine Constabulary and created the Scout RangerBattalions, whom he commanded to "kill Huks." Magsaysay sent civilian officers to thebarrios to propagandize in support of the government. He gathered $500,000 from the

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oligarchic ruling class--the big landlords, compradors, and bureaucrat-capitalists--to pay asreward for any information leading to the capture of the Huk leaders. This policy led to thearrest and conviction of 29 top leaders of the People's Liberation Army and 6 members ofthe Politburo of the Communist party of the Philippines. Labor leaders, professors,diplomats, and many other innocent citizens were arrested and deprived of their right todue process of law under a repressive martial law.

As head of the Defense Department, Magsaysay encouraged Huk surrenders by offeringmedical treatment, parole, and homesteads in the Mindanao jungle. The EconomicDevelopment Corps, an agency of the government, then built farmhouses, schools,hospitals, and other facilities in Mindanao under Magsaysay's initiative. He also tried torehabilitate the Huks by offering vocational training and loans to aid in establishing smallbusinesses. From a later perspective, these measures (including anti-Communistindoctrination) had practically no result; the reestablished Communist party (Marxist-Leninist) reoccupied and liberated large areas of central Luzon and rapidly gained ground inother parts of the country.

In November 1951 Magsaysay sought to keep the elections clean by employing his 40,000-

man army and 5,500 reserves to police the land. The opposition Nacionalista party won adecisive victory against the ruling Liberals. In the summer of 1952 Magsaysay was alsoresponsible for the military solution to the protesting Moslems, who had been victims ofChristian chauvinism, land-grabbers, and government malfeasance. Magsaysay also sentforces to fight under the United Nations command in Korea.

For his reputation of energy and honesty, Magsaysay was idolized by the electorate, whichvoted him to succeed Quirino. Magsaysay had earlier resigned from the Liberal party andwas subsequently chosen candidate for president by the Nacionalista party. On Nov. 10,1953, Magsaysay won by a landslide victory.

During Magsaysay's term the Huk leader Taruc surrendered. In 1954 Magsaysay'sgovernment renegotiated the iniquitous Bell Trade Act of 1946 into the Laurel-LangleyAgreement, which maintained the economic subservience of the nation to United Statesmonopolies. The peso currency, controlled by the United States dollar, declined in value.Magsaysay also signed the first Agricultural Commodities Agreement with the United Statesin 1957, thus perpetuating the colonial pattern of the nation's economy, and was alsoresponsible for the passage of the Antisubversion Law, which curtailed the citizens'democratic rights of assembly, free speech, and belief.

In line with his position as America's "staunch friend in Asia," Magsaysay was the chiefsponsor in forming the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). He was killed in aplane crash on March 17, 1957.

TRAITS WE LIKED ABOUT HIM

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by

results not attributes. Ramon Magsaysay did a lot of things for our country. We admire his

leadership skills and the way he get along with people. I suppose leadership at one time

meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.

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1.)

In Carlos P. Romulos Iam A Filipino, the Filipinos are a liberty-loving and brave people.They are loving and loyal to their country. Filipinos are passionately romantic. Filipinos arenoted for their durability and resiliency. They can assimilate any civilization and thrive inany climate.

In Leon Ma. Guerreras What Are Filipinos Like, the Filipinos are famous of their warm

hospitality. Filipinos are very close in relations with each other most especially within thefamily. Gratitude is another sterling trait of the Filipinos. They are grateful to those whohave granted them favors or who are good to them. Filipino people are friendly, religiousand partisan politics.

2.)

Carlos P. Romulo He was an author and the foremost diplomat. the first Asian to serveas president of the united nations general assembly. He also gained prominence asAmerica's most trusted Asian spokesman. During WW II, Romulo joined the staff of GeneralDouglas MacArthur as press relations officer. He served as secretary of information andpublic relations in Quezon's wartime Cabinet.

Blas Ople - Ople's most enduring role was his nineteen years as Secretary (later Minister)ofLabor and Employment during the administration ofPresident Ferdinand Marcos, whenPhilippine labor laws were overhauled through the enactment of the Labor Code of thePhilippines that he had helped author.

Benigno Ninoy Aquino He contributed democracy to the Philippines. Aquino becamefamous for his gifts as a public speaker and for his brilliant mind, as well as his greatambition. He became the leading candidate for the presidency in 1973, when PresidentMarcos was scheduled to leave office after completing the maximum two terms aspresident. Aquino's ambition to be president was never realized, however, becausePresident Marcos declared martial law (a state of emergency in which military authoritiesare given temporary rule). At the same time Marcos dissolved the constitution, claimingsupreme power and jailing his political opponents, including Aquino. Aquino was chargedwith murder, subversion (intention to undermine legal authority), and illegal possession offirearms. Although he denied the charges, Aquino was found guilty and was convicted by amilitary tribunal, or military court, and spent over seven years in prison. In 1980 he was

allowed to go to the United States for a heart bypass operation. He remained in the UnitedStates as a refugee until returning to the Philippines in 1983. Upon arriving at the Manilaairport he was shot and killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Labor_and_Employment_(Philippines)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Code_of_the_Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Code_of_the_Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Code_of_the_Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Code_of_the_Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Philippineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Labor_and_Employment_(Philippines)