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Philippines The Magsaysay, Garcia, and Macapagal Administrations, 1953- 65
Ramon Magsaysay, a member of Congress from Zambales Province
and veteran of a non-Huk guerrilla unit during the war, became
secretary of defense in 1950. He initiated a campaign to defeat
the insurgents militarily and at the same time win popular
support for the government. With United States aid and advisers
he was able to improve the quality of the armed forces, whose
campaign against the Huks had been largely ineffective and
heavy-handed. In 1950 the constabulary was made part of the armed
forces (it had previously been under the secretary of the
interior) with its own separate command. All armed forces units
were placed under strict discipline, and their behavior in the
villages was visibly more restrained. Peasants felt grateful to
Magsaysay for ending the forced evacuations and harsh
pacification tactics that some claimed had been worse than those
of the Japanese occupation.
Nominated as Nacionalista Party presidential candidate in
April 1953, Magsaysay won almost two-thirds of the vote over his
opponent, Quirino, in November. Often compared to United States
president Andrew Jackson, Magsaysay styled himself as a man of
the people. He invited thousands of peasants and laborers to tour
the Malacañang Palace--the presidential residence in Manila--and
encouraged farmers to send him telegrams, free of charge, with
their complaints. In the countryside a number of small-scale but
highly visible projects had been started, including the building
of bridges, roads, irrigation canals, and artesian "liberty
wells"; the establishment of special courts for landlord-tenant
disputes; agricultural extension services; and credit for
farmers. The Economic Development Corps project settled some 950
families on land that the government had purchased on Mindanao.
In the ensuing years, this program, in various forms, promoted
the settlement of poor people from the Christian north in
traditionally Muslim areas. Although it relieved population
pressures in the north, it also exacerbated centuries-old MuslimChristian hostilities. The capture and killing of Huk leaders,
the dissolution of Huk regional committees, and finally the
surrender of Taruc in May 1954 marked the waning of the Huk
threat.
Magsaysay's vice president, Carlos P. Garcia, succeeded to
the presidency after Magsaysay's death in an airplane crash in
March 1957 and was shortly thereafter elected to the office.
Garcia emphasized the nationalist themes of "Filipino First" and
attainment of "respectable independence." Further discussions
with the United States on the question of the military bases took
place in 1959. Early agreement was reached on United States
relinquishment of large land areas initially reserved for bases
but no longer required for their operation. As a result, the
United States turned over to Philippine administration the town
of Olongapo on Subic Bay, north of Manila, which previously had
been under the jurisdiction of the United States Navy.
The 1957 election had resulted, for the first time, in a vice
president of a party different from that of the president. The
new vice president, Diosdado Macapagal, ran as the candidate of
the Liberal Party, which followers of Magsaysay had joined after
unsuccessful efforts to form an effective third party. By the
time of the 1961 presidential election, the revived Liberal Party
had built enough of a following to win the presidency for
Macapagal. In this election, the returns from each polling place
were reported by observers (who had been placed there by
newspapers) as soon as the votes were counted. This system, known
as Operation Quick Count, was designed to prevent fraud.
The issue of jurisdiction over United States service
personnel in the Philippines, which had not been fully settled
after the 1959 discussions, continued to be a problem in
relations between the two countries. A series of incidents in the
1960-65 period, chiefly associated with Clark Air Base, aroused
considerable anti-American feelings and demonstrations.
Negotiations took place and resulted in an August 1965 agreement
to adopt provisions similar to the status of forces agreement of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization regarding criminal
jurisdiction. In the next four years, agreements were reached on
several other matters relating to the bases, including a 1966
amendment to the 1947 agreement, which moved the expiration date
of the fixed term for United States use of the military
facilities up to 1991.
Philippine foreign policy under Macapagal sought closer
relations with neighboring Asian peoples. In July 1963, he
convened a summit meeting in Manila consisting of the Philippines , Indonesia, and Malaysia. An organization called MAPHILINDO
was proposed; much heralded in the local press as a realization
of Rizal's dream of bringing together the Malay peoples,
MAPHILINDO was described as a regional association that would
approach issues of common concern in the spirit of consensus.
MAPHILINDO was quickly shelved, however, in the face of the
continuing confrontation between Indonesia and newly established
Malaysia and the Philippines' own claim to Sabah, the territory
in northeastern Borneo that had become a Malaysian state in 1963.
Data as of June 1991
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