ABSTRACT
Over four decades after his tragic death in a plane crash just outside Cebu City in 1957, Ramon Magsaysay remains the single most mythologised public figure in the history of the independent Philippine Republic. After first rising to political prominence in his home province of Zambales as the American-appointed military governor in the aftermath of the Japanese Occupation, Magsaysay quickly captured a seat in the Philippine Congress (1946) and, subsequent to chairing the National Defense Committee (1948) and serving as National Defense Secretary (1950), won election to the highest political office in the young republic (1953).
