Gen. [Charles] Lindbergh is here on the conservation of marine life. His son Jon Lindbergh is head of the U.S. Agency on Oceanography. With him is Theodore Pryor, head of the Foundation on Oceanography. Met them at 9:30 AM then attended the lunch for them where they tried durian and angolas which looked like worms but are eels.
They have come from the Taboli and Obo areas in Cotabato where Lindbergh spent eight days. Pryor is going there too. Both under the guidance of [Manuel] Manda Elizalde [Jr.].
I am going to declare the Malampaya and Pangil bay estuaries as marine life sanctuaries if we can overcome the obstacles.
Oceanography should be studied more by our people.
And I have directed the Air and Water Pollution Commission to do something about the Pasig River which is now almost pure oil and waste.
Official Gazette for April 24, 1970: One of the first callers on President Marcos was Gen. Charles Lindbergh, who has become in recent months a regular visitor to the Philippines. The famed Lone Eagle, a devoted advocate of conservation of natural life, is once again here to promote ways and means of preserving native flora and fauna. Calling at Malacañang at 9 a.m. to pay his respects, the first man to fly the Atlantic solo and nonstop, was accompanied by his son John, and Dr. Taylor Pryor and his son Ted, the elder Pryor being the president of the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. With the visitors were Sixto Roxas and Jose Alvarez, chief of the Parks and Wildlife Office.
President Marcos approved the plan for setting up marine parks in various parts of the country, to serve both as sanctuaries for Philippine marine life, and as a tourist attraction. The President endorsed to the bureau of fisheries and the Parks and Wildlife Office a list of probable marine park sites asking these offices to determine the sites’ boundaries as a prerequisite to the proclamation of these sites as reservations. The President presented General Lindbergh with a plaque of appreciation for his deep concern for the preservation of the country’s flora and fauna, particularly the monkey-eating eagle and the tamaraw.
The President also received two delegations, one representing the major taxi operators in Greater Manila, headed by Felipe Monserrat; the other representing the War Widows Association. The first delegation sought presidential assistance on the cabmen’s petition with the Public Service Commission asking for authority to raise fares. The President suggested that the operators submit a fact sheet on the state of the taxicab business, showing why cab fares deserve to be upped. In the meeting with the war widows, the President endorsed the group’s request to import allowable commodities, through the Reparations Commission, to the commissioners for the Repacom’s study and recommendations.
Later in the day, the President received other callers, among them SSS Commissioner Adrian Cristobal and Mayor Germanico Carreon of Dapitan City. The President also created a national committee to take charge of the preparations for the celebration of Philippine Independence Day on June 12. Secretary of Education Onofre D. Corpuz and Secretary of Labor Blas F. Ople were named chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the committee. The committee may create such sub-committees as may be necessary for the purpose of discharging its functions.
For most of the day, however, the President focused on his desk work.
J.V. Cruz, the Manila Times columnist and one of my most ardent supporters has suddenly turned against me and suggests that “something has snapped somewhere” and I have become “hysterical” and “govern by intimidation.”
This is probably because I have not appointed him Ambassador to Bonn, Germany.