BY NESTOR MATA

FIFTY-ONE years ago today, Ramon Magsaysay was killed when his presidential plane "Mt. Pinatubo" crashed into Mt. Manunggal in Cebu.

I was the lone survivor. But there was a "second survivor" - the Magsaysay legacy.

I can't explain this in a few sentences or even a few paragraphs. For it is to be found in our attitude towards politics and politicians, and even in our way of life. And also it is to be found in our nostalgia about the era during which Magsaysay lived, and in our unspoken wish that those days would come back again.

Let me illustrate my point. At a social gathering, for instance, if somebody were to bring up the name of Magsaysay, even after all these years, there is always someone who says, "Ah, Magsaysay, he really was my guy! Those were the days!"

Indeed, Magsaysay's memory still lives on, imperishably enshrined in the hearts, ineradicably instilled in the consciousness of millions of Filipinos.

As a young journalist who covered him for many years, starting from his stint as a congressman of Zambales, through the months that he served as defense secretary in the Quirino administration, and finally through the hectic months of campaigning until he was safely ensconced in Malacañang, I got to know Magsaysay very well.

Thus, if I were to write today what he would do were he alive at this moment in time, it would be based on my intimate knowledge of the man. But I hesitate to do this for I am convinced that all such speculation, no matter deeply rooted in fact, would still remain speculation.

Besides, the situation in his time was completely different from what is today. And any such speculation would inevitably elicit comparisons, and comparisons can be unfair, if not odious and dangerous.

Instead, let me then draw from my personal knowledge of the man to explain how he had inspired so much trust and so much love in the Filipino people that no other president, before or since, ever did. It can be found in the nature, the character of Magsaysay.

Magsaysay was a leader that the common tao could associate with. He didn't pretend to be an intellectual; he could relate and identify with the masses, the teeming millions that never had formal schooling. He spoke in a natural manner, speaking words that the people could understand. He had none of the demagoguery, the flourish of the more polished and probably less sincere politicians then and now. So the people believed and supported him. When he told farmers "my heart beats with you, my sympathies are with you," they knew he was telling the truth.

I remember well that one searing summer day when we were on our way to Nueva Ecija in a motorcade. He spotted some farmers eating lunch under a camachile tree. He ordered his driver to stop and then went to them. "I'm Magsaysay," he told them, "and I'm thirsty. May I have a drink of water?" Wordlessly, the farmers gave him some water in a tin can. He drank with gusto and thanked the dumbstruck farmers and walked back to his car.

Magsaysay did that because he was really thirsty, and not because he was concerned about image. He was not finicky about drinking water from a can. He had sprung from the people; his roots were embedded in the common masses. He never forgot his origins.

After he assumed the presidency, Magsaysay enjoyed a very good press. The newsmen were with him almost to a man. The press, after all, wanted good government. He strove to give them that throughout his sadly brief term. They wanted honesty in public office. Magsaysay was nothing if not honest, and his honesty shone through all his actions. They wanted someone whose heart was for the masses and not for the rich. He was incontestably that kind of man.

There was absolutely no question that Magsaysay had captured the interest and love and loyalty of the Filipino people as nobody else, before or since to this day, has succeeded in doing. So complete was the nationwide support for him that had he lived he could have run for reelection unopposed. Even his political opponents respected him.

This was something unprecedented in the stormy milieu of Philippine politics. Usually, there are dozens of politicians with ambitions of unseating the incumbent. Not in the case of Magsaysay. The ambitious were realistic. They knew they stood no chance against him.

What did Magsaysay have that he should be able to take the country by storm, that he should succeed in rallying everyone to his banner?

On hindsight, I can say that Magsaysay possessed a lot of desirable qualities in abundant measure, qualities that endeared him to his people, very much unlike present-day politicians and would-be presidents.

Magsaysay possessed integrity. In all his years in the presidency, though brief, no one ever doubted his wholeness, his wholehearted dedication to the people. He was known for fairness. He never played favorites, to take sides. If he ever did, it was for the poor and not the rich. Who can forget his deathless words, "they who have less in life should have more in law." He was honest. Stories about this trait of Magsaysay are legion, and need not be repeated here.

He was accessible. When he went to Malacañang he immediately declared that it was to be the palace of the people, and that its doors would never, never be locked to them. How different he was from others that came after him whose security had to be maintained by battalions of armed men.

When he assumed office, Magsaysay knew he had a responsibility to discharge, to keep faith with the people who elected him and to give them good government.

He stood for decency. Even his closest friends and his most implacable enemies would admit that he was an extremely decent man. Not for him the backstabbing, the odious machinations of power-hungry politicians.

It is hard for all of them to duplicate these sterling qualities and feats of Magsaysay, to reach the heights that he attained in his time.

The Magsaysay legacy is indeed to be found in our continuing remembrance of things past about him, of our nostalgia for the good old days when we had a leader whom we truly loved and respected, not because of his army, but because we were sure of the love he had for his people.