Ramon Magsaysay & his stance on Communism

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About Ramon Magsaysay-

• Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Senior was the seventh president of the Philippines, from 1953 until his death in an air crash in 1957.
• He was born on August 31, 1907 to a father who worked as a blacksmith and a mother who was a teacher. 
• Magsaysay started out as an automobile mechanic before being drafted into the Pacific War (1941-1945), during World War II.
• The Pacific War would see the Japanese occupation of the Philippines — then a colony of the US for nearly four years.
• The US formally recognised the Philippines as an independent nation in 1946.
• As a guerrilla leader resisting the Japanese occupation, Magsaysay’s bravery and leadership saw his appointment as a military governor. 

Communism and Magsaysay-

• Founded in 1902, the Unión Obrera Democrática is considered the first modern trade federation in the Philippines.
• The Communist Party of the Philippines or the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP) was formed in 1930. 
• The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon or the People’s Army Against the Japanese, popularly known as the Hukbalahap (Huk), was a prominent guerrilla outfit that fought the Japanese.
• As the country plunged into post-war chaos after 1946, the fortunes of the Hukbalahaps, too, changed dramatically. 
• With the expansion of capitalism, the gap between the rich and poor widened and the farmers continued to languish. 
• Huk leaders were viewed with suspicion over their declaration of commitment to communism and the demand for peasant rights. 
• With the US as its close ally, the Philippine government cracked down on the Huks, who formed an alliance with the PKP to take their struggle to a parliamentary platform.
• The severe crackdown against the Huks continued until Magsaysay became the National Defence Secretary under President Elpidio Quirino. 
• Magsaysay drew upon his own experience of guerrilla warfare to initiate a two-pronged system of reforms and military campaigns. 
• It was under his administrative and military policies that the Huk threat was considered to be neutralised.
• As President, he was a close friend and supporter of the United States and a vocal spokesman against communism during the Cold War. 
• He led the foundation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, also known as the Manila Pact of 1954, that aimed to defeat communist-Marxist movements in Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Southwestern Pacific.

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