“Magsaysay Is My Guy!”: A Reflection On Our Late Former Philippine President

by Elpidio R. Estioko

Fellow Filipinos in Hawaii, did you know that our late former Philippine Ramon Magsaysay had no bank account? And when he died, he left his family only Php 2,000 in his vault.

Magsaysay was born on August 31, 1907, and died on March 17, 1957 as a result of a plane crash near Cebu. As president, he was best known for successfully defeating the communist-led Hukbalahap movement.

My friend, who is my Beta Rho Omega Fraternity (BRO) brother from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, Atty. Isagani “Gani” Ramos reminded me of the late President Magsaysay’s simple and frugal lifestyle, even when he was already the head of state.

This information struck my attention because if we look at the present government, it’s full of lavish spending with the Office of the President expanding government expenses, unlike in Magsaysay’s term in the 1950s.

Of course, Magsaysay’s modest spending at the time was in the past but it is still worth mentioning because even in the exercise of his duties, Magsaysay had to charge it to his salary, not through Malacañang’s expense budget. That’s something different, I guess!

In our group chat conversations, BROd Gani was wondering how far-removed government officials are nowadays, especially the country’s President, from their version of yesteryears in terms of integrity, honesty, and decency particularly in spending public money may be reflected in this story.

A Philippine Free Press Online article stated that: “When President Magsaysay died on March 17, 1957, all that he left to his family was P2,000 in his vault, He had no bank account. When the family left Malacañang, there was no house where they could transfer to because the modest house built by Magsaysay in the 1930s on Arellano St., Singalong, Manila was being rented out to a Chinese while they were in Malacañang.”

This is definitely something to ponder with! When he was in office, his daughter was a working student. And his son never had a car until Magsaysay died.

In another instance, whenever his children’s friends would come over to visit, the food served to them was charged to Magsaysay’s salary and not from the Malacañang’s budget. But nowadays in Malacañang, they would rather have food catered and cooked by expensive hotels and restaurants.

In a similar story, the Douglas C-47 military cargo transport plane Magsaysay used in his Cebu trip in 1957 didn’t have air-conditioning. When other high government officials complained of heat, the then-President told them he had the aircon removed so there would be no public criticism.

Another fraternity brother, BROd Pioneer Edilbeto “Bert” Cabardo said that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was the one who set the austere norm.

In a 2018 Philippine News Agency article, then-Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that “President Rodrigo Duarte’s decision to take commercial flights would be the new norm to presidential travels. It is intended to save taxpayer’s money.”

However, BROd Gani and I asked: “Will we still have a President like that?”

As I see it aside from the fact that the political landscape is no longer the same, the mindsets of previous and present presidents are far different from that of Magsaysay.

They don’t have a lifestyle that is frugal and modest, but expensive and lavish. Even their personal activities are classified as official duties, so expenses are under Malacañang’s budget.

Vice President Sara Duterte used a private jet to attend a birthday party on Balesin Island. President Bongbong Marcos used a 300-plus-person-capacity Boeing 777 to fly a 70-person delegation to Davos, Switzerland.

BROd Gani replied, which I concur:

“If Filipinos who found out about this are not yet convinced or enlightened about the kind of leaders that they have now, then they deserve the difficult life and hardships that they’re going through now and, in the days, ahead. As they say, you deserve the leaders that you elected. Unfortunately, and tragically, they’re bringing with them the rest of the Filipinos with their ignorance and pathetic judgment.”

Fellow Americans and Filipinos, let the Magsaysay lifestyle define our lives. We should not live beyond our means!

ELPIDIO R. ESTIOKO was a veteran journalist in the Philippines and an award-winning journalist here in the US. He just published his book Unlocking the chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream which is now available with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris Publishing. For feedbacks, comments… please email author at estiokoelpidio@gmail.com).