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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-22/ramon-bagatsing.avif" alt="Ramon Bagatsing" />
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(Ramon Bagatsing)
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Early Life and Military Career
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Bagatsing was born on August 19, 1916 in Fabrica, Sagay, Negros Occidental, to Dionisia Delaraga, an ethnic Filipino, and Amado Bagatsing, a Punjabi immigrant from British Raj India. His father originally named Mataram Singh Banga, changed his name to Amado Bhagat Singh, inspired by the famous Indian revolutionary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagat_Singh" class="news-link-ext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Bhagat Singh</a>. Later Amado his changed his surname to Bagatsing the local (Hiligaynon) phonetic equivalent of Bhagat Singh. Bagatsing became the family name for his future generations.
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The young Ramon took on jobs as a bus conductor, night watchman and security guard to help cover his basic needs and school expenses. To escape the hardships of poverty, he left his home province for Manila.
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Bagatsing began his public service as a patrolman with the Manila Police Department from 1939 to 1941.
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When the Second World War erupted in 1941, he joined the USAFFE or the United States Army Forces in the Far East. He started as a First Sergeant from 1941 to 1943, advanced to First Lieutenant in 1944, then to Captain in 1945, and finally to Major in 1946. Bagatsing survived the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Death_March" class="news-link-ext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Bataan Death March</a>, managing to escape from the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army.
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He was a military hero during the Liberation of Manila.
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After the war, he worked as company driver at Elizalde and Company, rising up to become its Public Relations manager. He pursued a degree in law and was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 1949. He later took his graduate degrees in Law (Master of Laws, 1971; Doctor of Civil Law, 1977) from the <a href="https://kahimyang.com/articles/3223/a-historical-account-of-the-university-of-santo-tomas-a-chronicle-of-resilience-scholarship-and-national-identity" class="news_link">University of Santo Tomas</a>.
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Ramon Bagatsing, the incorruptible mayor of Manila was born on August 19, 1916 in Sagay, Negros Occidental