DID YOU KNOW

Today, March 17, is the 63rd death anniversary of President Ramon Magsaysay. Born on Aug. 31, 1907, he was a guerrilla leader against the Japanese during World War II. After the war, Magsaysay was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and 1949 where he sponsored bills that provided pensions for war veterans and secured the construction of Veterans Memorial Hospital in Quezon City. He was appointed defense secretary in 1950 and elected president in 1953. Magsaysay died in a plane crash in 1957. A boulevard in Sta. Mesa, Manila, was named in his honor. —Marielle Medina, Inquirer Research