Get to know the Man of the Masses up close and personal…..Mambo Mambo Magsaysay….

Get to know the Man of the Masses up close and personal…..Mambo Mambo Magsaysay….

Monching of Zambales

Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay was born in Iba. Zambales on August 31, 1907. His parents were Exequiel delos Santos Magsaysay (April 18, 1874 – January 24, 1968), a blacksmith in San Marcelino, Zambales and Perfecta Quimson del Fierro (April 18, 1887 – May 5, 1980), a schoolteacher from Castillejos.

Ramon Magsaysay was an impressive man, with his big, tall frame (5 feet, 10 inches) and weighed 170 pounds. His seemingly distinctive Malay face and his light tan, like countless Filipinos was of mixed Chinese, Spanish and Filipino ancestry.

His grandfather was Gregorio Magsaysay, born of a Chinese father and a Tagalog mother. Initially, Gregorio’s family lived in San Pedro de Makati, a suburb northeast of Manila and more popularly known at present as the City of Makati. After learning enough English to study bookkeeping, he was employed at the old shipping firm of Smith, Bell and Company. He married a woman named Gregoria Francisco and became the father of a girl and five boys.

Unable to save with his monthly salary, Gregorio quit his job and moved with his family to Zambales. The young Magsaysays-Victoria, Exequiel, Mauricio, Luis, Nonong and Felix grew up in the small town of Castillejos.

Mauricio, the third child, seemed bored with Castillejos and was surely the most eager to travel. When Victoria, the eldest sibling who was then already married and residing in the Bicol region came to Zambales to visit her parents and five brothers, she decided to bring with her Mauricio, then a 12-year old boy, to Bicol. When Mauricio returned to Zambales, he was already a man, just past twenty years old, full of life and mischief. Exequiel, meanwhile, grew up in Zambales and became a skilled blacksmith and furniture-maker in the town of San Marcelino.

Mother

Perfecta Quimson del Fierro, Ramon’s mother, was born in Baring, Zambales, in 1887. She studied in Castillejos and at the Sta. Rosa College in Manila as an internist. When she married Exequiel Magsaysay on November 6, 1904, she was only 17 years old. Exequiel was already thirty years old at that time.

The old stern, aristocratic upbringing from Perfecta’s parents and especially the religious trainings she received at home and at school helped her to reckon easily with the drastic adjustment in her early married life.

The extravagant wedding, however, left the newlyweds with nearly nothing to start with. Given two alternative domiciles, Exequiel chose the old family home of the Del Fierros in San Marcelino.

Immediately thereafter, however, the in-law difficulties arose. Perfecta’s parents owned 50 hectares in San Marcelino but Exequiel was not inclined to farming. Her parents also gave them a store but the business failed. Perfecta became moody after that. She yearned to be with her folks more often than with Exequiel.

Job opportunity

While tinkering in his old workshop, Exequiel was startled to see an American watching him. It was Superintendent Otho Atkins who decided then and there that he could use the young craftsman to teach woodworking to the boys at the newly-opened trade high school in Iba. Not too sure about his own future plans, Exequiel agreed to give Otho Atkin’s offer a try.

The unexpected opportunity at the capital suited Exequiel’s independent nature. Even with a monthly income of P100, he felt it could be the solution to his existence that was torn between his family and his new job seven kilometers apart. From the moment he set foot in Iba, he was fully harnessed. The wife had to make the two-day trip to the capital just to visit him while accompanied by her sister Aurea, and their carabao-cart driver.

After three years of teaching, Exequiel’s hobby had grown into a modest business. He turned out not only furniture but carreton wheels as well.

Schoolteacher

At the homefront, Perfecta del Fierro Magsaysay was holding her own. She had mastered the”domestic science,” as housekeeping came to be called in public schools. She became a “schoolteacher” in San Marcelino and, in addition, engaged in the sale of fish and merienda food in their re-opened store. She also had pigs slaughtered and sold them in her shop. Her mother could not quite believe that she also made a few dressses for others. Indeed, her small venture was doing well enough.

From their savings, Exequiel and Perfecta were able to buy a lot in San Marcelino they can call their own. They built a small but comfortable house in the said lot. This was later sold, along with the two carabaos given to them, in payment of a debt. The money was used for the purchase of another lot, this time in Iba, and in the construction of a larger house made of wood with nipa shingles. The house was located behind the trade school where Exequiel was teaching. A new store was also built in front of the house.

Good, small investments in the provinces were expected to extend credit to customers who were also neighbors or personal acquaintances. Accordingly, Exequiel allowed certain persons to buy goods from their store on credit. The pautang-utang irked Perfecta who had to run after delinquent debtors even in foul weather. Even Exequiel’s half-brother; Juan Rodriguez, did not approve it either, chiding Exequiel for the troubles Perfecta had to go through.

Restaurant business

To improve their living condition, Exequiel converted the new store into a carinderia where he would cook when he had time. It was an art and a skill he acquired as a young man by watching his mother and his uncle in the kitchen.Perfecta conceded to Exequiel’s cooking superiority, although she claimed that constant practice enabled her to surpass him in due time.

Guests were delighted to eat at the Magsaysay’s restaurant. Exequiel’s estofado and cocido became their best-sellers Even government officials and other visitors regularly eat at Exequiel’ carinderia. They even played tres-siyete and other card games at the Magsaysay house on Sundays.”

Impressed with Exequiel’s success in the carinderia business, American school superintendent Otho Atkins even asked his shop teacher to cook and sell other food products like bread, sweetened rimas, guyabano, leche flan, bunuelos and pastillas in his carinderia.

The active and modestly profitable life of the Magsaysay couple in Iba from 1904 to 1914 was blessed most of all with the birth of five children: Mercedes (1905), Ramon (August 31, 1907), Conchita (1909), Jesus (1911) and Genaro (1913), in that order. The sixth child, Felicidad, died of dysentery before she was two. Perfecta also had a miscarriage from which she suffered her most serious illness.

Out of job

Exequiel’s stint as trade high school teacher, however, ended immediately after Otho Atkins was reassigned in Baguio City. His replacement, Lewis P. Willis, was an exact opposite of his predecessor. Towards the end of 1913, Willis asked Exequiel to resign from his job. It turned out that Exequiel had refused to pass the son of Superintendent Willis in his carpentry class. He lost his job at the public trade school thereafter. His valuable experience of ten years at the high school was suddenly deemed inadequate.

Despite the success of their restaurant business, Exequiel decided it was time for the Magsaysays to leave Iba. They returned to Castillejos and lived temporarily with Perfecta’s father and his new wife. Ramon was only six years old at the time. He and the other Magsaysay children knew what it was like to be affluent in Castillejos for the first time.

A few days later, however, Exequiel brought his family to his parental house in San Marcelino where he quickly landed a job as a capatas (foreman) of a public works team. Perfecta, meanwhile, continued her teaching job. But still, they looked back to the year 1914 as the hardest year for all of them financially.

In San Marcelino, Exequiel built a small blacksmith shop for additional income to support his family. Later on, he also put up a general merchandize shop in San Marcelino. The shop flourished gradually in two years. There were increasing orders for furniture and for carretons, or heavy animal-drawn carts, and spare parts like wheels and axles. Exequiel subsequently also operated a hauling service, consisting of fifteen (15) carretons complete with drivers and animals, to move cargo to and from ships in Subic.

Education

The schooling of the Magsaysay children, however, was delayed because they were sickly. Also, the distance of the school in the poblacion area of San Marcelino from their house kept the children from attending their classes regularly. It was only after a primary schoolhouse was built just across their lot that Ramon and his sister Concepcion resumed their first grade studies. Mercedes was one year ahead of them. At age ten, Ramon already learned to plow the fields with a mud-coated carabao. He also loved swimming and enjoyed hunting and fishing during weekends in the company of other boys his age.

Boy prankster

As a young man, Ramon loved to play with other boys. He was a bit of a prankster too, but he never forgot how to respect and shower his parents with love. One day, Exequiel bought several blocks of ice because he was expecting to receive several guests in his house the next day. He was planning to make homemade ice cream. Unfortunately, he was surprised the following morning after discovering that the buried ice blocks were already missing. It turned out that Ramon and his friends took the ice blocks the night before, drove out of town, and enjoyed all the ice cream they made.

In her biography, Perfecta (Ramon’s mother) described how furious her husband was when he found out that the buried ice blocks were missing. He immediately rushed towards the rice field where he found his son together with the other boys.

Exequiel was so mad that he was ready to spank his son. However, his heart melted when Ramon showed him a gallon of ice cream and said: “Father, I brought the ice to the field and made the ice cream myself so that you won’t get tired making it.” In the end, he gave more ice cream to the boys, and what’s left behind were given to the guests.

Economic status

In time, Exequiel’s high social and economic status in the community gave them a sense of respect and security. From the business earnings, they were able to buy the land of one Don Juan Crisostomo del Fierro and a few properties of their relatives in Castillejos and San Marcelino. There came a time when they were already capable of harvesting about 2,000 cavans of palay yearly. They were able to purchase a small rice mill and made money out of it. They were also able to buy a phonograph and a piano. Ramon already owned a typewriter when he was only in Grade IV. He also completed his elementary education in San Marcelino as the class salutatorian.

For their high school education, Ramon and his siblings studied at the Zambales Academy in San Narciso, some 22 kilometers northeast of Castillejos. Ramon would commute to Castillejos during weekdays on his bicycle. When it struck his fancy, he would hike the distance with a group of friends-townmates, taking a shortcut through ricefields, hills, streams and sandy trails.

His sisters, Mercedes and Conchita, later on, transferred to a school in Manila before finishing their studies at the Academy. Their father, Exequiel, personally had them enrolled in the city and arranged for their stay in the house of Doña Calixta Cachuela, a rheumatic old widow whose dry goods store folded up because she would not sell unless she was addressed by her costumers as “senora.” Unfortunately, the townsfolk would rather walk five blocks to the next store than call her senora. A maid kept house for the Magsaysay sisters who were later joined by their cousin, Cesar Garcia from San Antonio.

Self-reliance

On his third year at the Zambales Academy, Ramon started to drive to school in his second-hand Model-T Ford. He enjoyed the special status of being the only student driving a car in going to school every day.

The car had a history. After selling a large quantity of bamboo from one of their farms, Ramon’s mother yielded to her son’s persistent pleadings to buy the old car of Doña Fausta de Nepomuceno, a neighbor. It was junk already and had to be pulled out by a carabao into the Magsaysay yard. After the car was fixed, Ramon started using it in going to school. But the said car broke down constantly and its repair took up a great deal of Ramon’s time and energy.

The other Magsaysay siblings called the car the “sipa-sipa” automobile because Ramon had to kick the pedal often to make it start. Still, the car gave Ramon a sense of independence and a stronger desire to work with his hands, which were rather unusual for a boy whose family already had the means and the social standing. The triumph which came with the conquest of the old car climaxed his development into an eager and self-reliant teenager.

In school, teachers regarded him as above average, although he was one of those with the most absences and was about the most mischievous student. When Ramon graduated in high school, he was fourth in Physics class of forty; third in Arithmetic and fourth in Economics.

College years

Ramon wanted to finish a college education. He initially enrolled at the University of the Philippines in Manila and took up a pre-engineering course. The school was located in the Ermita district and already had the reputation for being the finest Filipino university in the country even in those days. Mercedes and Conchita were studying at the nearby Philippine Women’s Univeristy.

To augment the meager allowance from his parents, Ramon worked for his board and lodging as driver of his landlord, a certain Mr. Carera. He really wanted to be independent.

Still, the high academic standards of U.P. created a serious problem for the easy-going Ramon. This was not the Zambales Academy anymore. He could not get by with the usual effort. He had to buckle down to his studies if he were to survive the fierce competition among students, especially in two Mathematics subjects and in Chemistry.

To make things worse, his health began to fail as he drove regularly for his landlord, a busy small businessman who would sometimes stay out late at the Sta. Ana Cabaret. Ramon felt the need for seriousness, but still could not make the necessary adjustment. He dropped a few subjects and was already on probation by mid-term. Although he had shifted from the pre-engineering to the general junior college curriculum, the university registrar still had to suspend him, then granted him an honorable dismissal effective July 5, 1928.

Second chance

Physically weak and in no mood to study, he chose to stay out of college the following year, 1928-1929. He stayed in Manila with his sister Conchita who was newly-married to Alejo Labrador.

To make up for the lost year, Ramon enrolled simultaneously at the U.P. College of Liberal Arts (pre-Law subjects) and Commerce subjects at the Jose Rizal College (JRC) on R. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo. He attended the night classes. Somehow, Ramon persisted at JRC until 1932, managing to pass most of his courses which could lead him finishing a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce.

Inevitably, his schooling from 1931 until 1932 played second fiddle to an engrossing preoccupations: a full-time job as a mechanic at the TRY-TRAN bus company, the company that plied the Manila-Zambales route and a couple of other destinations in Central Luzon. With his knack for fixing engines, it was logical to go to the TRY-TRANS for the needed job.

TRY-TRAN was an abbreviation of Teodoro R. Yangco Transportation Company. It operated a bus line of some 60 vehicles that would link places as far north as the Ilocos region with Manila, the nation’s capital,

Ramon’s indirect social links with the prominent Corpuz brothers, Teodoro Yangco’s nephews, were his uncle Ambrosio Magsaysay who was married to Corpus’ sister Amalia, and Ramon del Fierro Ferriols whose wife was the first cousin of Ambrosio and Exequiel Magsaysay. Ramon privately addressed the Corpuz brothers as “tio” or uncle.

As a college student in Manila, Ramon not only rode on the Yangco buses and boats, but also knew some of the rank-and-file employees who transported what he bought in Manila for their family business in Castillejos. He was no stranger to the TRY-TRAN.