The Mambo President: A Tribute
It was November 1953, in one small town in Zambales.
As crowds gathered amidst the sweltering heat under the noonday sun, above the platform stood a tall moreno figure–5’11” tall to be exact. As soon as he spoke, the crowd went wild, raising their placards, “Magsaysay for President”, “Magsaysay is our Guy”, and “We want Monching!”
*President Ramon Magsaysay, speaking at the crowd at night, at Iriga, Camarines. Photo from the National Library of the Philippines.
*President Ramon Magsaysay in his travel to the farthest reaches of the Philippines. Photo from the Presidential Museum and Library.
It was hard to imagine that this sturdy brown-skinned man in summer polo and khaki pants was a former mechanic-turned-war hero who had just recently resigned as Defense secretary. The euphoria of the crowd was infectious as Mambo Magsaysay jingle was heard in the air that left the entire country under its last song syndrome spell. Nothing could have prepared his opponent in the presidential race, President Elpidio Quirino. No matter what Quirino did, it did not deter the people’s admiration for the guy in that fateful election season. Not since 1946 had the Philippines had a populist president, one whose words captured the imaginations and longings of the lowly and the forgotten. And for the very first time, as the election results came in, Magsaysay won a landslide win for the Philippine presidency, a whooping 68.9% of all registered voters, a figure that is unmatched to this day.
*The viral campaign jingle, “Mambo Magsaysay” composed by Raul Manglapus in 1953. It was so influential that it was also played in the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.
Perhaps the images of what the nation imagined him to be would make us understand his great following among Filipinos. Even when he was thrusted into politics, Magsaysay proved promising. As Congressman in 1949, he was touted by the Philippines Free Press as the “Ten Most Useful Congressmen” chosen for his and the other nine’s “industry and competence.”
That time, when the Philippines had just survived World War II, who could forget how in 1951, Magsaysay, as Defense Secretary of Quirino, carried the body of the slain Moises Padilla himself, that great war hero who challenged a political dynasty in Negros Occidental, who was beaten, humiliated, and shot multiple times at the town plaza of Magallon? Magsaysay carrying the body of a budding politician, killed by the private army of a threatened corrupt governor—that powerful photo encapsulated the feudalism of the countryside, and the man who the people saw would challenge and change the status quo.
And in a sudden twist, amidst the rebellion in Central Luzon, instead of fighting and annihilating the rebels, Magsaysay lended his ear to the Hukbalahap, many of whom laid down their arms and rejoined the people, apparently assured that Magsaysay was deserving of their trust.
When he ascended the Presidency and administered government in three short years, the expectation was really high. Magsaysay streamlined government services by merging some agencies and creating new ones, to alleviate poverty and address prevalent problems. He signed several laws addressing the issues of agrarian reform, cementing on the people’s consciousness his commitment to the common people.
Historians paint a different, and more balanced picture though. Magsaysay apparently was, “pragmatic, not ideological… He had little patience with written reports” but “ quick in grasping problems and ideas orally presented to him.” His close associations with CIA Edward Lansdale was also in question, as Magsaysay implemented a mix of psy-war, and carrot-and-stick style of wooing the rebels. Magsaysay’s reliance in the U.S. irked even the pro-American Carlos P. Romulo himself. Romulo was apparently instructed by Magsaysay to ask for instructions from an adviser of the U.S. Embassy. Romulo retorted, “Mr. President, you can’t do that!.. That man.. I’m not even sure if he isn’t in the CIA.” Magsaysay’s economic policies, described by historian Lewis Gleeck, was “vacillating and uncertain,” and his government “proved ineffective.” Economic historian A.V.H. Hartendorp was also not impressed.
Perhaps if Magsaysay did not die in a plane crash, our collective memory of him would have proven to be more balanced. We after all, are a people with a tendency for fanaticism, putting all our hopes on one leader, who understandingly would fail our high expectations.
*President Ramon Magsaysay talking to a farmer, unknown location. Photo from the National Library of the Philippines.
So for the sake of argument, let us deliberately forget how the plane crashed today, 61 years ago. Or how the nation grieved greatly for the fallen leader, and how eulogies were uttered as if Magsaysay was the greatest president the country ever had. While these raise Magsaysay to heights unknown in our reckoning, it does not do him great service, but only blurs the imperfect but great man that he was. “His heart was in the right place,” as many people of the time would surmise. While history has judged that that is never enough to fix the country, perhaps that is good starting point for progress.
*Photo of the remains of the presidential plane “Mt. Pinatubo” Douglas C-47 Skytrain on the crash site at Mt. Manunggal, Cebu, circa 1957. Photo from the Presidential Museum and Library.
*The funeral procession of Ramon Magsaysay as it passes through Escolta in 1957. Photo from the National Library of the Philippines.
Let us remember him then, how Magsaysay travelled the far reaches of the islands of the Philippines, had his shoes dirtied by muck of the rice fields, his sweat on his summer floral polo that he wore, or the flashy un-elitist smile. Or how Magsaysay made headlines when he opened the Malacañan Palace to the public for the very first time and called it “the Palace of the People,” where anyone, from the humblest tinderas to the affluent matronas, could enter the palace and talk to the President, through his Presidential Complaints and Action Committee, and air their concerns and misgivings. Perhaps in his short presidency we have misunderstood Magsaysay all along–that it is not in one person that we should all put our hope on. No president is perfect. To see them as messiahs is to smear our dignity as a democratic nation, whose power and drive comes from all of us, big and small.
*Ramon Magsaysay in the mountains with farmers, circa early 50s. Photo from the Presidential Museum and Library.
By giving us, the People, the respect and attention we deserved, Magsaysay’s legacy point us to the truth that our democracy is only as dignified, collected and people-centered as we want it to be, if we, together, will work on it and be vigilant with this responsibility. We are a government OF the People, BY the People, and FOR the People, and the People elected an outsider of the political establishment for change. But Magsaysay never abused this temporal power over. Reaching across political lines, Magsaysay was a unifier, and always emphasized the value of his people. His emphasis on human rights, that “he who has less in life should have more in law” was evidently seen in his presidency.
I am reminded of a line in the Magsaysay Credo, inscribed in white marble at the Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation building:
“I believe that this nation is endowed with a vibrant and stout heart, and possesses untapped capabilities and incredible resiliency.”
True leadership does not make one’s self the strongman, but envisions and empowers his People to be strong.
Pray that we will have another Mambo President.
In the occasion of the 61st death anniversary of the late President Ramon Magsaysay (1907-1957).
Watch the documentary made by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines on Magsaysay’s life, here, from the Museo ni Ramon Magsaysay at Castillejos, Zambales.
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