I write this before I go to attend the testimonial dinner for the 25th year of government service of my Vice President who has been called quite varied names like “nincompoop,” “dullard,” “blockhead,” “ fence-sitter,” “segurista,” weakling and worse.
He is indeed the plugging, slow moving and phlegmatic individual. But they have become rich during my administration. They expand Meralco [Manila Electric Company] so it had a net income of P60 million annually, P10 million set aside for the gastos de representacion of his brother, Eugenio Lopez, who is President of the Meralco.
Official Gazette for September 30, 1970: President Marcos received official advice from Pope Paul VI himself of the latter’s arrival in Manila; accepted the donation of an entire village for indigents rendered homeless by the recent flood; and was apprised of the start of oil explorations by an all-Filipino oil firm.
These are some of the highlights of a checkered day for the President, which included attendance at the testimonial dinner for Vice President Fernando Lopez, and an interview with foreign newsmen.
Early in the morning the President received a delegation of Zamboanga del Sur mayors, with Rep. Vicente Cerilles and Gov. Bienvenido Ebarle of that province accompanying the group. Local problems were taken up. Following the group was Msgr. Carmine Rocco, Papal Nuncio, who delivered a letter from the Pope to the President. The letter formally apprised the President of the arrival, on Nov. 27, of the Pope in Manila. The Nuncio also discussed aspects of the preparations for Pope Paul’s visit.
After his meeting, the President shortly received prominent members of the local Chinese community, who made a formal turn-over of the initial check covering the construction of the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Village, which is being donated for the purpose of providing homes for squatters and other indigents whose homes were destroyed by the recent floods.
The group was headed by Antonio Roxas Chua, chairman of the board in charge of the project.
Next to call was the group representing the Philippine Oil Co., who informed the President that the firm is now completely Filipinized and is ready to start probing for oil deposits in waters just off Palawan. In the group were Jose Ma. Soriano, Earl Taylor, Joven Ibasetas, Mario Nieto and Sebastian Ugarte.
Other callers included Land Authority Gov. Conrado Estrella; and Reps. Rodolfo Albano of Isabela, Emerito Calderon of Cebu, Expedito Leviste of Batangas, Gaudencio Beduya of Cebu, Jose Puyat, Jr. of Surigao del Sur, Constantino Navarro of Surigao del Norte, and Sen. Rene Espina. The solons took up problems in their constituencies.
In the afternoon, the President sat down with foreign correspondents for an interview, after which he received Rep. William Chiongbian of Misamis Occidental. The President also named Ambassador Yusup Abubakar and Reps. Mohammad Ali Dimaporo and Jose D. Aspiras as official representatives of the Philippines at the funeral of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of the United Arab Republic. President Nasser succumbed Monday to a heart attack.
Among other actions, the President submitted to the Commission on Appointments for confirmation the names of nine nominees to various government posts (See pp. 9187 and 9188 for list of nominees) as well as ordered a speed-up of the dispersal program for prisoners so as to minimize problems from overcrowding at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa, Rizal.
In a series of directives to Secretary of Justice Vicente Abad Santos and Director of Prisons Alejo Santos, the President also, ordered the updating and revision of the classification of prisoners, the segregation of maximum risk prisoners from the minimum and medium risk inmates.
In the evening, he went to the Manila Hilton for the dinner honoring Vice President Fernando Lopez on his silver jubilee as a public servant, where he participated in the presentation of awards to the honoree.
They were supposed to spend at least 1/3 of the election expenses in 1965, 1967 and 1969. All that Mr. Eugenio Lopez contributed in 1965 was P200,000. Of course their collectors like [Alfredo] Piding Montelibano [Sr.] collected millions from businessmen like those in sugar, amounts that were never accounted for.
Capiz, Antique, Aklan and Iloilo in the island of Panay which is supposed to be the stronghold of the Lopezes were all financed by me.
And they do not miss a day to discredit, curse and malign me and Imelda through their ABS-CBN and The Manila Chronicle. Iñing [Eugenio] Lopez [Sr.] allegedly financed the printing of the controversial book “The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos” by [Carmen] Chit Navarro Pedrosa (according to Alberto Lopez, son of my Vice President, in a fit of anger against Kokoy [Benjamin] Romualdez in the presence of Congressman [Roque] Ablan [Jr.]).
They were reported as financing some of the groups that had plans to assassinate me during the rioting of January 1970.
I am sure they are even now bargaining with our political and personal enemies.
The PALEA (PAL [Philippine Air Lines] labor union) struck tonight and as I was preparing to deliver the speech for the VP I was going in and out ostensibly to go to the comfort room but actually meeting with the labor leader [Fortuno] Biangco to get them to lift the strike.
I hope Imelda is not stuck in Honolulu by the strike.
Constitutional amendments and the power of the president to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and/or declare martial law.
Pros and cons.
Some would remove the power. Thus even Justice Enrique Fernando has recommended it.
But if the power did not exist the Republic would have been smothered by indecision and riots—indecision on the part of the government and riots on the part of the radicals.
When the Maoists attempted to create a revolutionary situation, any hesitation would have been fatal. Even then (January to March 1970) assassination plots were rife. The groups under Eleuterio Adevoso funded and master-minded by my erstwhile opponent, Sergio Osmeña Jr., were planning to take over the government by force. And some Americans went along with them.
However, when I announced that if the civil authority collapses, I would allow the military to take over, all the plots and conspiracies immediately stopped.
The truth is that if the power did not exist a President who wishes to maintain peace and order would have no alternative but to establish a dictatorship. So the power actually offers a less odious alternative.