CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — “Bilang Zambaleño, tungkulin nating pangalagaan at ipagpatuloy ang pamana na iniwan ni Pangulong Magsaysay—sa pagpapahalaga ng katapatan, malasakit, at tapat na paglilingkod sa ating kapwa.”
Thus, Zambales board member Jun Rundstedt Ebdane, representing Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr., paid tribute to the late President Ramon Magsaysay Sr. as the nation commemorated the 69th anniversary of his death on March 17.
Ebdane was joined by Vice Gov. Jacqueline Khonghun, Castillejos Mayor Jeffrey Khonghun, war veterans, and representatives from the National Historical Commission in ceremonies held at the Magsaysay ancestral house, which has been converted into a museum in Castillejos, Zambales.
The seventh President of the Philippines, Magsaysay died at the age of 49 on March 17, 1957 when his presidential plane “Mt. Pinatubo” crashed on the slopes of Mt. Manunggal, killing all but one of aircraft’s 26 occupants.
Famous for his axiom “Those who have less in life should have more in law,” Magsaysay earned the moniker “Idol of the Masses,” further buttressed by his unprecedented act of opening Malacañang to the common people during his presidency.
An automotive mechanic by profession, Magsaysay was appointed military governor of Zambales following his outstanding service as guerilla leader during World War II, thereafter serving as Zambales congressman for two terms.
As Secretary of National Defense under President Elpidio Quirino from 1950 to 1953, Magsaysay was widely credited with breaking the back of the peasant-based communist Huk rebellion in Central Luzon that was then “threatening the very gates of Manila,” with a mix of aggressive military reform and social programs designed to win the trust of the peasantry.
His subsequent fallout with Quirino led to his successful run against the sitting president in 1953.
March 17 was declared as “Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Day” under Proclamation No. 15 signed in March 1966 by then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Gov. Ebdane had since declared March 17 as a special non-working holiday in Zambales to honor the legacy of President Magsaysay. Photos: Zambales for the People
