Word: magsaysays
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Sparks & Singes. The democratic working was thanks primarily to one man, a tough-minded, energetic political pinwheel named Ramon Magsaysay (rhymes with bog-sigh-sigh). Magsaysay, who is only 44, first flashed into national view in September 1950, when President Quirino appointed him Secretary of Defense, and gave him broad authority. The sparks he has been shooting off since then have singed the once mighty Huks, ignited the tempers of bigwigs in his own Liberal Party, and fired the ardor of the common Filipino all over the islands...
...Philippines, David Jones was impressed by the earnest efforts of Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay (TIME, March 19, et seq.) to rout out the last of the Communist-led Hukbalahaps-but he wasn't much impressed by Philippine army intelligence. At the Y.M.C.A. in Manila, Jones bet a fellow boarder $100 that he, David Jones, could do better than Magsaysay's G2. He went to the flamboyant Defense Secretary and offered to try his hand at espionage. Magsaysay accepted : "You will either make good your boast or a fool of yourself...
...central Luzon town of Angeles, giving out that he was "wanted" by the army. "At first it wasn't easy," he said. "Those Huk fellows don't trust anything that's got mouth and ears. But what really clinched my story was when, by arrangement with Magsaysay, I had my hotel room raided by the army while I was right across the street talking to a Huk contact...
Back to Radio. After two weeks of it, Jones persuaded the commander to send him down to Manila for some radio gear. Once in the capital, Jones got his information to Secretary Magsaysay, who immediately sent 6,000 soldiers converging on Mt. Dortz from four sides. They routed the outnumbered Reds, destroyed 57 buildings, killed more than too, including Peregrino and Rebecca Taruc, cousin and sister of Huk Army Commander Luis Taruc. Exulted Magsaysay last week: "We have just disrupted the biggest and most active Huk regional command in central Luzon and seized what was probably the Huk army...
...addition to his $100 bet, David Jones collected a $5,000 reward from Secretary Magsaysay. But despite his. triumphs, Jones had no intention of making espionage his career. "I'm no cloak & dagger man," he said. "I'm going back home and stick to radio...