President of the masses

Before mingling with the masses became vote-getting staples for politicians, Ramon Magsaysay was there, in wooden clogs and poor man's garb, dancing with the elderly in the barrios, eating with peasants with his bare hands. Magsaysay did not confine himself to what cynics in the 21st century may dismiss as publicity stunts. He set in motion programs to improve living conditions in the countryside. Credit facilities for peasants were opened. The land-tenure system was improved. Roads were constructed in rural areas. Farmers were given technical advice to boost production. Self-reliant community development was promoted. And a Court of Agrarian Relations was set up to settle tenancy disputes.

When Maysaysay said that those who had less in life should have more in law, the people believed him. Magsaysay was one of the most well loved of Philippine leaders, and he used his mass appeal to break the backbone of a strong peasant movement in Central Luzon. In the years after the war, rampant graft and corruption eroded public confidence in the government, which used force to quell the Hukbalahap peasant movement. When Magsaysay was named defense chief, he put a human touch to this iron-fist policy, going directly to the peasants and promising the Huks a better life.

As government troops arrested the Huk politburo, other Hukbalahaps were surrendering in droves to the man they knew they could trust, a "Guy" who had genuine concern for the masses. The result was the demise of the Hukbalahaps and the election of Magsaysay to the nation's highest office by a landslide. Former University of the Philippines president Jose Abueva recalls Magsaysay as a leader who was more "staggered by the responsibilities than dazzled by the powers" of the presidency. "To keep his campaign promises, he would make 'action' a hallmark of his administration," Abueva wrote, adding that Magsay-say's Cabinet members were chosen for their "missionary zeal" and integrity.

"There are a lot of problems to be met and they must be solved with dispatch," Magsaysay once said. "We cannot afford to have men who dissipate their energies by playing poker the whole night. Neither can we afford to have men who concern themselves primarily with discussing a problem and not solving them."

It was the first time that the nation's masses felt they mattered to the government. Magsaysay was a man in control, and there are lessons to be learned from his three years at the nation's helm. With the nation now facing similar problems, those lessons are worth remembering on his 43rd death anniversary today.