God bless our Indonesian cousins and President Joko Widodo

President Joko Widodo formally took office as president of the Republic of Indonesia on Monday.

His humble background reminds us of our late President Ramon Magsaysay, whose image as a man of the masses the CIA created. The late lamented “RM” was really of the well-established Magsaysay clan that belongs to the upper class, educated and political and economic elite of Zambales. He was a well-regarded congressman of Zambales when appointed Defense Secretary of our Republic during the presidency of President Elpidio Quirino. But “RM” did prove to be a president who had the welfare of the “common tao,” the ordinary rural and urban Filipino.