Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-11
Far East Leadership
Accent Is On Youth
In the Philippines
By EorI H. Voss

n. VosS
some issues President Magsaysay
has touched on and executed, espe-
cially those that deal with our ma
tional security and sovereignty. 7
must admit our nation is now
ushered into the right path of ma
tional building It is the duty
of every citizen to support Magsay-
say that he may not deviate from
the path he has taken"
Taruc did not accept the Mag
saySay ultimatum, of course, and
the Filipino army has now launched
It's campaign to wipe out the Hulk
organization forcibly.
II the MagsaySay regime succeeds,
and makes progress in land reform
among the predominantly rural peo.
pies of the Philippines, he will even-
tually be in an excellent position
to cooperate with other free world
powers in fighting communism in
the Far East .,
Could Roise Big Army
Some of his closest advisers told
this correspondent during the presi-
dental campaign last November
that Mr.. Magsaysay could be
counted on to raise an army of at
least 2 million if war against
communism were to break out in
the Orient. That's 10 per cent of
the whole population and probably
20 per cent of the males, able
bodied, aged and young.
Because Of this strong anti-Red
bias and an equally strong pro-
American bent. other nations in the
Far East are viewing the Magsaysay
administration with some skepti-
cism. Mr.. Magsaysay sounds too
much like an American puppet, they
say.
AS for his successors, these will
probably be developed in the next
four years. The new Presidents
own youth is very likely to attract
an entirely new set of leaders.
At the moment, however, Mr..
MagSaySay is drawing heavily on
the experience of Senator Jose Lau-
rel, once puppet President under
the Japanese. Mr.. Laurel spent the
years after the japanese occupation
under a cloud because most Ameri-
cans and other foreigners looked
upon him as a collaboration. This
view persisted despite statements by
men like Gen. Douglas Macarthur
that Mr.. Laurel had actually re-
manned faithful to the Philippines
independence throughout the occu-
patton, making the best of a bad
situation, and Tending off the Jap
anese military wherever possible.
Moesoysoy-Loure Team
Mr.. Laurel's reputation is now
being re-estimated. Mr.. Magsaysay
teamed up with him in the presi-
dental election campaign, mainly
because he had need of Laurel's
political support. but also because
he had confidence in him. That
confidence may have been shaken
recently, however, when Mr.. Laurel
and others in his new administra-
ton tried to put out new Filipino
foreign policy stressing Asia for
ASianS,"
President MagSaysay saw this as
direct slap at the United States,
and rewrote the policy in an as
sertion of leadership that was taken
to be highly significant at the time.
O
and more like a future rival Of
Magsaysay, and slightly less like
a loyal supporter.
Another leading contender for
Mr.. Magsaysay's job will be Carlos
P. Romulo, former president of the
United Nations General Assembly.
and once Ambassador here. He is also
a military man. and developed into
a diplomat in the postwar years. Mr..
Romulo, too, is rated strongly pro-
American and a theoretician in de.
mocracy. President Magsaysay re-
Gently appointed Mr.. Romulo his
special representative in the United
States.
Besides these men there is a new
crop of youngsters on the way up.
students for Magsaysay" were un-
commonly well organized in the last
election. They probably were at
tracted by the youth of Magsaysay
and the men around him.
Unlike other Oriental countries.
the Philippines have no traditions
against active participation in poll
tics by young people. AS result.
the political future there is likely
to be more vigorous.
(Next Sunday: Alternatives to
Present Leadership in Indo-
China.)