THE University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Miguel de Benavides Library, in collaboration with the late journalist Nestor Mata’s family, launched the new edition of the book One Came Back: The Magsaysay Tragedy, which was co-authored by Mata and Vicente Villafranca.
The event on March 18 at the UST Library Conference Hall commemorated the 67th anniversary of the historical plane crash that tragically claimed the life of former Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay.
The incident happened 67 years ago when the C-47 army plane Mt. Pinatubo, personally christened by Magsaysay as a tribute to the once-inactive volcano in his home province of Zambales, crashed into Mt. Manunggal in the province of Cebu. The devastation left an indelible mark on the country’s history.
Designated as the official presidential plane, Mt. Pinatubo was a refurbished twin-engine C-47, under the command of Major Florencio Pobre who led a crew of five officers from the Philippine Air Force. The plane, with less than 100 hours of flights logged in, carried the nation’s former leader and his entourage.
Magsaysay visited Cebu City on March 16, 1957 for speaking engagements. Despite ending his itinerary late in the day, he declined invitations to stay overnight, citing an early meeting in Malacañang the next day. The airport check-in witnessed a moment of tension as Magsaysay, who was listed as Number 13 on the manifest, refused the offer by the Palace’s technical assistant Luis Esmero to take his place.
Inside the aircraft, the absence of air conditioning that was removed by Magsaysay to avoid criticism, was noticed by Mata who was a Philippines Herald reporter and co-author of the book. The plane took off at 1:15 a.m. on March 17, and the initially smooth flight turned horrifying with a sudden, jolting fall described by the author as “a thousand lights blinking…at the same time.”
Initially published in the same year of the ill-fated flight, the book provides a first-hand account of the last moments of then-president Magsaysay and Mata’s harrowing experiences as the sole survivor. As an esteemed UST alumnus, the latter’s contributions as an educator in Political Science and Journalism in the university added 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 L. Pavia—a fellow journalist who worked alongside Mata at the “Herald,” where he served as the executive news editor until Martial Law led to the paper’s closure.
The introductory price for the new edition is marked at P399.00. Copies can be preordered via: https://bit.ly/onecameback_preorder.