Ramon Magsaysay (1907-1957)

EARLY LIFE
Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay was born in Iba, Zambales on August 31, 1907 to Exequiel Magsaysay (1874-1968), a blacksmith, and Perfecta del Fierro (1887-1980), a schoolteacher.[ He spent his high school life at Zambales Academy at San Narciso, Zambales. After high school, Magsaysay entered the University of the Philippines in 1927, where he enrolled in a pre-engineering course.He worked as a chauffeur to support himself as he studied engineering; and later, he transferred to the Institute of Commerce at José Rizal College (1928–1932), where he received a baccalaureate in commerce. He then worked as an automobile mechanic in a bus company and shop superintendent.

CAREER DURING WORLD WAR II
At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the motor pool of the 31st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. When Bataan surrendered in 1942, Magsaysay escaped to the hills, narrowly evading Japanese arrest on at least four occasions. There he organised the Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces, and was commissioned captain on 5 April 1942. For three years, Magsaysay operated under Col. Merrill's famed guerrilla outfit & saw action at Sawang, San Marcelino, Zambales, first as a supply officer codenamed Chow and later as commander of a 10,000 strong force. Magsaysay was among those instrumental in clearing the Zambales coast of the Japanese prior to the landing of American forces together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops on January 29, 1945.

CONDITION OF THE PHILIPPINES:
The Philippines was undergoing huge reconstruction after the World War II when Ramon Magsaysay was elected as the third president of the republic.

Reconstruction of the state was one of the major projects of the government. Although there was the intention to fix the damage brought by World War II, the fund of the government was not enough and issues of corruption also rose that time.

Another major problem that the country had was the Huk rebellions within the Metro Manila. These huks were supposedly against the Japanese but after World War II they rebelled against the government.
PROMISES DURING THE ELECTIONS AND INAUGURATION
I will have such men. From this day, the members of my administration, beginning with myself, shall cease to belong to our parties, to our families, even to ourselves. We shall belong only to the people.
In the administration of public affairs, all men entrusted with authority must adhere firmly to the ideals and principles of Constitution.
I will render-and demand-uncompromising loyalty to the basic tenet of our Constitution: that you the people, are sovereign.
The rule of the government must be service to you. Accordingly, I pledge my administration to your service.
I pledge that we shall be guardians of freedom and dignity of the individual.”
The Bill of Rights shall be, for me and the members of my administration, a bill of duties. We shall be guardians of the freedom and dignity of the individual.
The land tenure system of our country shall be re-examined, to purge it of injustice and oppression.
“Land for the landless” shall be more than just a catch-phrase. We will translate it into actuality. We will clear and open for settlement our vast and fertile public lands which, under the coaxing of willing hearts and industrious hands, are waiting to yield sustenance to millions of our countrymen.
I therefore call upon the remnants of the Huk uprising still hiding in the hills to lay down their arms — and rejoin the rest of the nation in the ways of peace.
But, to the leaders of the Communist conspiracy who would deliver this country and its people to a foreign power, this I say: I shall use all the forces at my command to the end that the sovereign authority of this government shall be respected and maintained.

LAND REFORM PROGRAMS
President Ramon Magsaysay enacted the following laws as part of his Agrarian Reform Program: * Republic Act No. 1160 of 1954—Abolished the LASEDECO and established the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) to resettle dissidents and landless farmers. It was particularly aimed at rebel returnees providing home lots and farmlands in Palawan and Mindanao. * Republic Act No. 1199 (Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954) – governed the relationship between landowners and tenant farmers by organizing share-tenancy and leasehold system. The law provided the security of tenure of tenants. It also created the Court of Agrarian Relations. * Republic Act No. 1400 (Land Reform Act of 1955) – Created the Land Tenure Administration (LTA) which was responsible for the acquisition and distribution of large tenanted rice and corn lands over 200 hectares for individuals and 600 hectares for corporations. * Republic Act No. 821 (Creation of Agricultural Credit Cooperative Financing Administration) – Provided small farmers and share tenants loans with low interest rates of six to eight percent.

HOLES AND SHORTCOMINGS OF THE LAWS
Although the common people benefitted from the land distribution of the government, and tenants were given more rights, the problems that were solved by the government were just in the surface rather than the main problem. They put a solution to a problem but not in the main one, in Republic Act No. 1199 farmers were given a certain percentage of the distribution of crop, so it put and minor solution to that but with the case of the tenurial system, it wasn’t given notice.
His programs were designed to benefit the common people but eventually had its problems in the end. The relocation of the people from certain places, worked at first but eventually started a cultural dispute between the natives living there and those who were relocated.

ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES
Corruption among cabinet members and the endless attempts to bribe the president were the most common issues of that time where corruptions was very rampant among government officials and President Magsaysay was among the very few who resisted and had zero tolerance against corruption.
The president who had zero tolerance for corruption even simple signs of not having a clean government he would put a stop on to it especially with his relatives. Like when his brother planned to start a law firm, the president refused for it will draw shady dealings for the firm will be run by the president’s brother.

REFERENCES:
Ramon F. Magsaysay. Retrieved from http://grouphistorian.blogspot.com/2009/12/philippine-president-ramon-magsaysay_16.html
Ramon F. Magsaysay: Agrarian Reform. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Magsaysay
Ramon F. Magsaysay: Issues and controversies; Holes and shortcomings of the laws;Promises during the elections and inauguration. Retrieved from http://bloomspresidents.wordpress.com/ramon-f-magsaysay-1953-1957/