Sen. Dominador Aytona, chairman of the Finance Committee of the Senate, is apparently trying to blackmail me into further financing the IISMI [Iligan Integrated Steel Mills, Inc.] of which he is Ex-Vice President and legal counsel, to the prejudice of the government which has put up about P500 million while the private stockholders put up barely P40 million. The iron produced is sold to the Jacinto galvanized iron mills at a loss to IISMI but to the profit of Jacinto. Since the raw material constitutes 75% of the cost, Jacinto is underselling the steel companies some of which have close [sic] shop. So Sen. Aytona has been attacking me about the funds for the constitutional convention going to the extent of saying that the funds may have been misdisbursed and I have a lot of explaining to do.
But we cannot let them blackmail us into anything. So I am holding pat.
Official Gazette for August 18, 1970: President Marcos motored out of Malacañang to address the participants in the conference of customs collectors, at the Foreign Trade Zone Authority building in Manila’s port area.
Earlier, the President concentrated on his paper work, during which he did not receive any visitor At about 11 a.m., he left his office for the port area. In his speech he exhorted anew the officials and employees of the customs and internal revenue services to upgrade efficiency and morality.
Returning to Malacañang, he picked up from where he left off. He worked steadily at his desk, cancelling in the process a scheduled appearance at the launching of the Philippine Tuberculosis Society’s fund drive. As proxy, Secretary of Social Welfare Gregorio Feliciano delivered the President’s prepared speech.
The President, however, received in the afternoon the group representing labor unions of the Baguio City mining firms and representatives of the PAL Supervisors Association. The President listened to the problems of the two unions with an eye to resolving them. The groups were led by Fortunate Biangco and Cesar Legayada, presidents of the PALSA and PALEA, respectively; and Eliseo Flora, president of the Benguet Workers’ Union.
Among other actions, the President: 1. Directed all government offices and agencies to assign personnel with the special duty of taking charge of official correspondence in Filipino.
The new presidential order was embodied in Memorandum Circular No. 384, issued by Malacañang, with Executive Order No. 187 signed by the President last August 6 as a follow-through in connection with this year’s observance of National Language Week.
The order required, as much as possible, the use of Pilipino in all official communications and transactions in the government. 2. Asked the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources to consider the request of the Presidential Assistant on Housing and Resettlement Agency for more public lands on which to resettle squatters from the Greater Manila Area. PHHC General Manager Sebastian Santiago, PAHRA officer-in-charge, has made representations to obtain some 1,500 hectares of alienable public land, preferably in Montalban, Rizal, where it could resettle squatters from the city esteros and along river banks in the metropolitan area. 3. Named Undersecretary Arturo R. Tanco, Jr. as acting Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the absence of Vice President Fernando Lopez, who heads the Philippine delegation to the Asian Productivity Congress in Tokyo.
Secretary Tanco took his oath of office before Executive Secretary Alejandro Melchor, Jr. in Malacañang.
The same is true of Cong. [Ro]Bert[o] Sabido who wants his men appointed Immigration Commissioner. He says he and others are going to cut the agenda of the third special session I have called for September 7th—to five or six bills.
This nauseates me.
Monet Nolan, Tirso Rivilla were brought by Charlie Ledesma on the sugar mission to the U.S. for the extension of the U.S. Sugar Act which expires in 1971. There seems to be a great chance of extending the act for another five years but we have to work hard to change the image of the sugar industry and the Philippines in general because of the mischievous articles of [Amando] Doronila and [Philip] Shabecoff. We must give the U.S. members of Congress the story of social welfare program like the Dacong Cogon project, the social amelioration program, etc.
But if the sugar act is not extended, then our economy may suffer.