Ramon Magsaysay
| Ramon Magsaysay link (Politician) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Died | 17 March 1957 |
Cause of death | plane crash |
| Alma mater | University of the Philippines, José Rizal University |
Died in a plane crash as president of the Philippines | |
Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. was president of the Philippines from December 1953 until his death in an plane crash in March 1957.
Career
William Blum in his book Killing Hope described how the CIA created Magsaysay:
The most insidious part of the CIA operation in the Philippines was the fundamental manipulation of the nation's political life, featuring stage-managed elections and disinformation campaigns. The high-point of this effort was the election to the presidency, in 1953, of Ramon Magsaysay, the cooperative former defense department head. Lansdale, it was said, "invented" Magsaysay.25 His CIA front organizations — such as the National Movement for Free Elections — ran the Filipino's campaign with all the license, impunity, and money that one would expect from the Democratic or Republican National Committees operating in the US, or perhaps more to the point, Mayor Daley operating in Chicago. Yet the New York Times, in an editorial, was moved to refer to the Philippines as "democracy's showcase in Asia."
The CIA, on one occasion, drugged the drinks of Magsaysay's opponent, incumbent president Elpido Quirino, before he gave a speech so that he would appear incoherent. On another occasion, when Magsaysay insisted on delivering a speech which had been written by a Filipino instead of one written by Lansdale's team, Lansdale reacted in a rage, finally hitting the presidential candidate so hard that he knocked him out.
Magsaysay won the election, but not before the CIA had smuggled in guns for use in a coup in case their man lost.
Once Magsaysay was in office, the CIA wrote his speeches, carefully guided his foreign policy, and used its press "assets" (paid editors and journalists) to provide him with a constant claque of support for his domestic programs and his involvement in the US-directed anti-communist crusade in southeast Asia, as well as to attack anti-US newspaper columnists. So beholden was Magsaysay to the United States, disclosed presidential assistant Sherman Adams, that he "sent word to Eisenhower that he would do anything the United States wanted him to do—even though his own foreign minister took the opposite view"[1]
Death
On March 17, 1957, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft crashed on the slopes of Mount Manunggal on the island of Cebu, Philippines, killing 25 of the aircraft's 26 occupants, including president Magsaysay. Several high-ranking Philippine government officials, military officials, and journalists were also among the dead. At the time of his death, President Magsaysay was expected to easily win re-election in the presidential elections to be held in November 1957.[2]
Since he was the CIA's favored president, it is most likely he was not assassinated, unlike many other prominent politicians who have suffered this fate.
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