World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseRamón del Fierro Magsaysay was born to blacksmith Exequiel Magsaysay y de los Santos and teacher Perfecta del Fierro y Quimson in Iba, Zambales Province in western Luzon in the Philippine Islands in 1907. He attended Zambales Academy at San Narciso, Zambales, University of the Philippines, and then José Rizal College. He married Luz Banzon in Jun 1933; they would later have three children. When Japan invaded the Philippine Islands, he was working as an automobile mechanic in Florida, Philippine Islands. He joined the motor pool of the Philippine Army 31st Infantry Division, which was trapped on the Bataan Peninsula in early 1942, but he was able to avoid capture. He became one of the founders of the resistance group Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces with the rank of captain. Through the end of the war, he led actions against Japanese occupation forces at Sawang, San Marcelino, Zambales. When the US forces landed at Zambales in Jan 1945, the Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces had grown to 10,000 members, and Magsaysay's men played an instrumental part in pre-invasion attacks. After the war, he was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives, which began his political career. In 1948, President Manuel Roxas dispatched Magsaysay to the United States as the Chairman of the Committee on Guerrilla Affairs. In 1949, he was re-elected. In Sep 1950, after offering guerrilla strategies to President Elpidio Quirino, who was fighting Communist Hukbalahap guerrillas at the time, Quirino made Magsaysay the Secretary of National Defense. In Jun 1952, he toured the United States and Mexico. In Feb 1953, he resigned as the Secretary of National Defense in preparation of a political campaign for the presidency, which he won in Nov 1953, becoming the 7th President of the Philippines. His popularity and stern anti-Communist stance earned him support from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the US government in general. In the realm of foreign policy, his presidency was best known for the founding of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization in 1954; domestically, it was remembered for agrarian reforms and for being one with minimal corruption. In 1955, his foreign ministry successfully negotiated a new reparations agreement with Japan which greatly reduced burdens on the Japanese. In Mar 1957, the C-47 aircraft in which Magsaysay was a passenger crashed on Mount Manunggal in Balamban, Cebu, Philippine Islands while he was traveling from the capital of Manila toward Cebu City, killing all but 1 (newspaperman Néstor Mata) of 25 aboard. About 2,000,000 people attended Magsaysay's burial ceremony at the Manila North Cemetery in Santa Cruz, Manila.

Ramón Magsaysay Interactive Map

Photographs

Ramón Magsaysay Timeline