Actually, I write this on April 5 at 9:00 AM off the coast of Surigao, Surigao on board the President 777 while we are waiting for the people to assemble at the wharf for the reception. I slept without writing my daily notes as I was fatigued. I had not slept (practically) the night before and had been running from the 7:30 AM breakfast with the Military Advisers of Seato [Southeast Asia Treaty Organization] including our old friends Admiral [John] McCain [Jr.] who commanded one of the submarines that supplied us in the guerilla movement during the war while the Japanese occupied the Philippines and
Official Gazette for April 4, 1970: President Marcos caught up with his paper work aboard RPS 777, enroute to Iligan City after a day of unabated activity. Before flying from Manila at mid-morning for Zamboanga del Norte, the President along with the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos, honored at breakfast the delegate to the 32nd Southeast Asia Treaty Organization military advisers conference, held in Baguio City, and their wives. Among the honorees were Air Chief Marshal Dawee Chullasapya of Thailand, dean of the military advisers group; Admiral John S. McCain, Jr. of the United States, Admiral Peter Hill-Norton of the United Kingdom, Lt. Gen. Leonard Thorton of New Zealand, Lt. Gen. Thomas Daly of Australia, Maj. Gen. Autrey Maroun, chief of the SEATO military planning office; General Manuel T. Yan, General Jesus Vargas (ret.), SEATO secretary-general; Mrs. McCain, Lady Hill-Norton,’ and Mrs. Chullasapya. Also present were Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Romulo, Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile, Ambassador and Mrs. Henry Byroade, and Ambassador and Mrs. Amayatakul.
Then he received officials of Pepsi Cola, namely: Donald M. Kendall, president of Pepsi Inc., and Peter Warren, president of Pepsi Cola International, who called to pay their respects. They were accompanied by Theodore Michel, William L. Moran, Jr. and former Senator Pedro Sabido.
Arriving in a light plane at Ozamis City shortly after high noon, the President immediately addressed the crowd which had gathered for the inauguration of the Salug Irrigation System in Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur. From that point, the President helicoptered to Molave where he ad dressed another big crowd. In both speeches, the President touched on the present agitation for reform, and admitting that the point has been made by activists, he called for national unity in order to do better the tasks of development and of transformation of the country. He pledged full commitment to the effort to rid the body politic of graft and corruption, and to move the nation forward.
After these engagements, the President boarded this ship, to fulfill other engagements, including conferences with local officials and church leaders and to make a personal assessment of development projects in this region. In a speech delivered for him by Secretary of Finance Cesar E. A. Virata, at the closing ceremonies of the First National Credit Congress, held at the Hotel Intercontinental, the President again sounded a call for unity, saying that all the creative forces of the nation must work together in these difficult times, and that dissension and conflict at this stage of development will “only make us vulnerable to our real enemies.” The President asked the nation to “return to reason” and stop the internicine strife and violence which “ultimately create physical and psychological havoc” among the people. “These are times that call for cool-headed thinking, reasoned discourse, and humane consideration of the manifold problems of our land, a good number of which as you know date back to our colonial past,” the President emphasized, adding that the country “cannot achieve much if our efforts at nation-building and our vision of the future are hampered by those who would resort to violence and anarchy.”
The nation is committed to the elimination of “all vestiges of imperialism, and oppression in our land, but let us do so in an orderly way, in a democratic manner that respects the rights of all our citizens and all those who have chosen to make the Philippines their home.” he declared. (Full text omitted in this note)
Air Marshall and Mr. Dawee of Thailand. Met with Mr. [Donald] Kendall of Pepsi Cola brought by Cong. [Roberto] Bert Sabido and father. He is close to Pres. [Richard] Nixon so I conveyed through him the message that they should not commit the same mistake they committed in Korea—that is the failure to arm and train indigenous troops while there was time. The U.S. would come to protect their bases if the communists took over so why not just make the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] stronger now.
The Fokker Friendship is out of commission because of lack of some spare parts which have to be flown from Amsterdam. So I used the PNB [Philippine National Bank] King Air and Imelda used a PAL [Philippine Airlines] chartered AVRO.
Helicoptered against a 40 knot wind (in 25 minutes) to Mahayag for the inauguration of the Salug Valley Irrigation Dam for 11,000 hectares. Then back to heli to Molave (both at Zamboanga de Sur) and participated in the fiesta. Returned to Ozamis City to close the PRISSA [sic] (Private Schools Athletic Association national competition—College and High Schools) then by boat to Iligan to exhort the [Ulamalis?] religion.
King Air is a turboprop aircraft manufactured by Beechcraft, AVRO is a British aircraft manufacturer.