UST Library launches plane crash survivor’s book on Magsaysay tragedy

THE University of Santo Tomas (UST) Miguel de Benavides Library and the family of the late journalist Nestor Mata launched the new edition of the book “One Came Back: The Magsaysay Tragedy,” co-authored by Mata and Vicente Villafranca at the UST Library Conference Hall on Monday, March 18.

The event commemorated the 67th anniversary of the historical plane crash that claimed the life of President Ramon Magsaysay when the C-47 army plane named Mt. Pinatubo crashed into Mount Manunggal in Barangay Sunog, Balamban, Cebu.

The plane was christened by Magsaysay, the seventh president of the Philippines (1953-1957) and third president of the Third Republic, as a tribute to the then inactive volcano in his home province of Zambales. Mount Pinatubo erupted on June 15, 1991.

Designated as the official presidential plane, Mount Pinatubo was a recently refurbished twinengine C-47 under the command of Maj. Florencio Pobre, leading a crew of five officers from the Philippine Air Force. With less than 100 hours of flight logged, the plane carried the weight of the nation’s leader and his entourage.

President Magsaysay’s visit to Cebu City on March 16, 1957 for a series of speaking engagements set the stage for the tragedy. Despite late finishes, he turned down offers to stay overnight in Cebu, citing an early meeting at Malacañang the next day. The airport check-in witnessed a moment of tension as the president, listed as number 13 on the manifest, refused an offer by Luis Esmero, a Malacañang technical assistant, to take his place.

Inside the aircraft, the absence of air conditioning, removed by the president to avoid criticism, was noticed by Mata, a reporter for “The Philippines Herald” and co-author of the book. The plane took off at 1:15 a.m. on March 17, and the initially smooth flight turned into a horrifying incident with a sudden, jolting fall described as “a thousand lights blinking out at the same time.”

The devastation left an indelible mark on Philippine history. Magsaysay is known as the “Man of the Masses,” the “Champion of the Common Man” and “The People’s President” for his staunchly pro-poor and pro-mass development program, including land reform.

Initially published in 1957, “One Came Back” provides a firsthand account of the final moments of President Magsaysay and Mata’s harrowing experiences as the sole survivor.

As an esteemed alumnus of the UST, Mata’s contributions as an educator in political science and journalism at UST add another layer to the significance of this event.

The new edition is published by Art Angel Commercial Quests Inc., owned and run by the family of the late Jose Pavia, a journalist who worked alongside Mata at the “The Philippines Herald,” where he served as the executive news editor until Martial Law led to the paper’s closure.

Copies can be pre-ordered through https://bit.ly/onecameback_preorder.