Benigno Ramos (1893-1946?) was an advocate for the independence of the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
from the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who collaborated with
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Educated in
BulacanBulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway Super...
, he went to work there as a teacher. Later, whilst based in
ManilaThe City of Manila , or simply Manila or Maynila, is the capital of the Philippines and one of the 17 cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila. It is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay, on the western portion of the National Capital Region, in the western side of Luzon...
, he entered the civil service and by 1928 had risen to a high position with the
SenateThe Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...
Staff. He became a member of the
Nacionalista PartyThe Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907...
and a close associate of
Manuel L. QuezonManuel Luis Quezon y Molina was the first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under U.S. colonial rule in the first half of the 20th century. He is considered by most Filipinos to have been the second President of the Philippines, after Emilio Aguinaldo...
but this came to an end in 1930 when he joined a wildcat strike by teachers in the capital, causing Quezon to demand his resignation.
Benigno Ramos (1893-1946?) was an advocate for the independence of the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
from the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who collaborated with
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Educated in
BulacanBulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway Super...
, he went to work there as a teacher. Later, whilst based in
ManilaThe City of Manila , or simply Manila or Maynila, is the capital of the Philippines and one of the 17 cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila. It is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay, on the western portion of the National Capital Region, in the western side of Luzon...
, he entered the civil service and by 1928 had risen to a high position with the
SenateThe Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...
Staff. He became a member of the
Nacionalista PartyThe Nacionalista Party is the oldest political party in the Philippines today and was responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th century since its founding in 1907...
and a close associate of
Manuel L. QuezonManuel Luis Quezon y Molina was the first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under U.S. colonial rule in the first half of the 20th century. He is considered by most Filipinos to have been the second President of the Philippines, after Emilio Aguinaldo...
but this came to an end in 1930 when he joined a wildcat strike by teachers in the capital, causing Quezon to demand his resignation. Ramos did so but became a figure of anti-Quezon agitation, setting up a
Tagalog languageTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 22 million people.It is related to Austronesian languages such as Chamorro , Indonesian, Malay, Javanese and Paiwan , Cham , and Tetum...
newspaper
Sakdal which gained a wide circulation in rural areas.
Ramos reconstituted his followers as the
SakdalistaThe Sakdalista movement was founded in 1930 by a right wing leader, Benigno Ramos, a writer and discontented former government clerk...
movement. Gaining as many as 20,000 members the group launched an attempted uprising in May 1935 but this was quickly crushed and Ramos went into exile in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Ramos returned to Manila on August 28, 1938 onboard the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
ship
GneisenauGneisenau was a World War II Scharnhorst class capital ship, referred to as either a light battleship or battlecruiser of the German Kriegsmarine...
. He became leader of the
Ganap PartyThe Ganap Party was a Filipino political party that grew from the Sakdalista movement. Benigno Ramos, who served as its leader, was also the founder of the Sakdalista movement...
which contested the
1941 electionsPresidential, legislative and local elections were held on November 11, 1941 in the Philippines. Incumbent President Manuel Luis Quezon won an unprecedented second partial term as President of the Philippines via a landslide. His running mate, Vice President Sergio Osmeña also won via landslide...
(although Ramos himself was imprisoned during the vote). During the Japanese occupation this group became part of the
KALIBAPIThe Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas , or KALIBAPI, was a Filipino political party that served as the sole party of state during the Japanese occupation. Formed by the Philippine Executive Commission under the leadership of Jorge Vargas, it was largely an amalgam of nationalist...
governing coalition, whilst Ramos formed the
MakapiliMakapili was a militant group formed in the Philippines during World War II to give military aid to Japan. Organised by Benigno Ramos and Artemio Ricarte, they were born out of José P. Laurel's refusal to conscript Filipinos for Japan...
, a militant youth movement that aimed to limit the power of
José P. LaurelJosé Paciano Laurel y García was the president of the Japanese-Sponsored Republic of the Philippines during World War II, from 1943 to 1945....
and to provide soldiers for Japan. The followers of Ramos and his ally
Artemio RicarteArtemio Ricarte y Garcia was a Filipino general during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War. He is considered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines as the "Father of the Philippine Army"...
were eventually armed by the Japanese in December 1944 by which time the Americans had already landed.
Accounts differ on what happened to Ramos after the fall of the Philippines; some claim that he was killed in an airplane crash in Baguio along with the retreating Japanese.
As well as his political activism, Ramos was also noted as a writer of
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
with a collection
Mga Agam-agam at Iba Pang Tula due for publication.