Hit a 71 at Camp John Hay golf course. And I seem to have more stamina. This is the second day I have played golf, slept only five hours last night and improved on my 75 yesterday. But the most surprising thing is I have been running up the hills and I do not feel tired.
We have decided to stay here up to election day when I will go to Ilocos Norte to vote.
Met the DND [Department of National Defense] and AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] top brass (Sec. [Juan] Ponce Enrile, Gens. [Manuel] Yan, [Romeo] Espino, [Rafael] Ileto, [Eduardo] Garcia, [Felizardo] Tanabe, [Zosimo] Paredes, the new J-2, Col. [Ignacio] Paz and Col. [Fidel] Ramos who arrived later from a conference). Increased the Intelligence funds for AFP from P15 million to P24 million, additional P9 million to be drawn from the unprogrammed funds of the AFP. The 1st PC Zone will be allocated more and more funds for intelligence. And no mission documents to be declassified without clearance from the Secretary of National Defense and me.
High-powered guns lent to the local police to be withdrawn for the duration of election campaign; those belonging to the security agencies to be kept temporarily; unauthorized persons to be disarmed. Comelec [Commission on Elections] orders to be complied with. Illegal orders of Comelec like the order to confiscate privately owned firearms to be clarified with Comelec.
Official Gazette for November 3, 1970: President Marcos conferred with local officials, in between working as usual according to a schedule resembling very much the same norm he follows in Malacañang.
Later in the day, he met with Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and top brass of the armed forces and constabulary, to discuss the overall effort aimed at ensuring a peaceful election of delegates to the Constitutional Convention to be held next year.
Present at the meeting aside from Secretary Enrile were General Manuel T. Yan, AFP chief of staff; Major Gen. Romeo Espino, AFP vice chief of staff- Brig. Gen. Rafael, Ileto, Philippine Army chief; Brig. Gen. Eduardo Garcia, PC chief; Brig, Gen. Felizardo Tanabe, IPC zone commander; and Brig. Gen, Zosimo Paredes, UPC zone commander.
The President continued to work on official papers in his study at the Mansion House through, the evening. In a new effort to conserve dollars in the country, the President further restricted travel abroad, by government personnel by curtailing even those trips involving no government expense.
In Memorandum Circular No. 404, issued by Acting Executive Secretary Roberto V. Reyes on the President’s authority, a ban was imposed on all travel abroad except when:
1. The trip is in compliance with an international commitment of the government. 2. The trip would redound to the financial benefit of the country. 3. The trip is in connection with a fellowship, scholarship or training grant.
But the successful efforts to disarm the alleged “private armies” to be published. Thus no one knows that we have already confiscated 444 firearms in the current campaign against firearms and in the sensitive areas.
Met Amb. [Henry] Byroade on Sangley Point which the U.S. may return to the Philippines soon. We agreed that the Sec. of Foreign affairs would send a note to him inquiring about our request made three and a half years ago for the return to the Philippines of Sangley Point. This would lay the basis for any announcement later on of its return.
I have ordered a special operation for the capture of Jose Maria Sison the head of the New Communist Party (Maosit) who may be in Baguio because he has a common-law wife here.
And another operation to infiltrate the subversive groups specially the CCP [sic] [Communist Party of the Philippines] and the KM [Kabataang Makabayan] up to the highest level of leadership, no matter how long it takes. And perhaps the teach-ins and seminars now going on in Baguio may be taken advantage of.
Called up Sen. [Alejandro] Almendras on his gratuitous remarks about corruption in the Marcos administration and his fishing expeditions. In the past several days he has been issuing statements that he would file the cases if I did not do anything about them—rather presumptuous because he has not shown me any alleged evidence or asked charges to be filed. I have invited him to come up to Baguio on Thursday.