President Magsaysay, the youngest and the most beloved president

On the 64th anniversary of the death of President Ramon Magsaysay, the nation is being threatened by a political conspiracy, concocted by traditional politicians to hoodwink Filipinos into perpetuating the service President Duterte. These trapos are egging Duterte to run for vice president under Bong Go. Do you think that Go, a loyal and faithful follower of Duterte will be the true president with his master as his second-in-command?

Magsaysay, the seventh president of the Philippines, a former congressman of Zambales, WWII guerilla leader, who died in a plane crash here in Cebu on March 17, 1957, was the youngest Philippine president in office at 49. He was our president only for only three years and 77 days but was also the most beloved because he stayed too briefly and died very young. Those who stayed too long, like Marcos, became hated. GMA stayed for 10 years after Erap. She was hated, charged, then placed under hospital arrest. The secret formula to be loved is to stop while on top. Magsaysay was a genius in timing. Start young, run young, win young, and die young. Rizal was 35 when executed. Gregorio del Pilar was 24, Jesus Christ was 33 when crucified. Does the PDP-Laban want to crucify Duterte at 77 and 83 when he completes his second term?

Do the PDP-Laban signatories, in urging Duterte to run for vice president, truly believe they’re doing the Dutertes a favor by undertaking this too-obvious scheme to circumvent the constitutional prohibition against presidential reelection? PDP-Laban was the party of Ninoy Aquino, which is now being abused by trapos. This kind of maneuvering contradicts the party’s core principles. This style of using trapos to support a predetermined plan is too obvious a scheme, too hackneyed and overused, that it becomes insulting to the people’s intelligence. Did the politicians who signed that manifesto consult their constituency? Are they really sincere in this or are they being pressured to sign a declaration by adhesion? Are they jumping into this reckless move due to the enticements and pressures from a political Piper of Hamelin without having considered it?

They are unlike Magsaysay. The secret of being loved is to stay briefly and leave a legacy of integrity. So why do some politicians in Cebu have the guts to ask Duterte to come back to the grueling task of the presidency under the guise of vice president? If they love Duterte too much, they should allow him to rest. Why make Go as the symbolic head of state and then make the tired old man work with all his physical ailments? These trapos are making a lot of mileage and enjoying the Duterte presidency with many privileges and so they want to perpetuate him in Malacañang. They’re obviously not doing all these for Duterte. They are pushing Duterte for selfish and partisan motives. They should be ashamed of themselves. And they should realize that Filipinos may be silly or crazy at times, but they aren’t stupid.

You don’t have to be brilliant to realize this is a grand conspiracy to fool the people again. The conscientious electorate knows that voters are being taken for a ride. Whose ride? Of course, those who shall benefit the most if the current dispensation remains in office. 2022 should be a time for change. They should learn from Magsaysay. It’s better to die young and be remembered for good deeds than to live long and be condemned for many evil things. The oldest man elected Philippine president used to be our own Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. at 65 until Duterte ascended to Malacanang at 71. By 2022, he will be 77. And these trapos still want to use him for their own political aggrandizement?

This country had been oppressed, exploited, and maligned by the Spaniards for 377 years, colonized by America for 45 years, devastated by the Japanese for four years, subjugated by Marcos for 20 years. We have had enough of being cajoled, hoodwinked, and taken for a ride. The Philippines is like a battered wife, maltreated and abused by a succession of maniacal and sadistic husbands. Trapos can fool some of the people all the time, or all the people some of the time. But we shouldn’t allow them to fool all the people all the time. It's time to wake up and assert the reason and sense of justice within us. Now. In doing that we honor Magsaysay’s memory.