We are in the President No. 777, to sleep in it and return to Manila to reach it at 8:00 AM Monday morning (this morning).
Sunday morning I woke up at 8:00 AM and was water-skiing at about 9:00 to finish at 9:45 AM.
Was at Balanga after a pleasant helicopter ride at 11:00 AM. Distributed the checks, credit advice and Christmas gifts including P1,000 per municipality. We were back at Talaga Bay at 1:30 PM.
The fresh pompano was superb. We went to visit all the coves to the west up to sundown (from 4:30-5:30).
I exercised, showered, napped a while, then worked on my speech tomorrow. Conversed till 11:00 then we returned to the boat. Heard mass at about 7:15 AM. Father [Jose] Cruz has the peculiarity of adding “m—m—m” to the last word of what he was reading. And the children were in stitches throughout the mass.
Official Gazette for December 20, 1970: President Marcos, accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos, visited Balanga, the provincial capital of Bataan, where they distributed cement credit cards, credit notices representing shares of local governments in the special highway fund, medical assistance kits and Maligayang Pasko ’70 gift bags.
The First Couple, accompanied by members of the Cabinet and other government officials, arrived in Balanga at 10 a.m. aboard a helicopter which flew them from the National Shipyards and Steel Corporation in Mariveles, where the RPS 777 was docked. Upon their arrival, the presidential party was welcomed by a big crowd headed by Rep, Pablo Roman, Gov. Guillermo Arcenas, other provincial, municipal and barrio officials.
The President and his party proceeded to the Balanga School of Arts and Trades where the distribution was made after the President had explained why cement credit cards instead of cash were being given as aid to the local governments which suffered heavy losses during the typhoons. The President turned over to the provincial treasurer and the municipal mayors credit advices authorizing them to withdraw their shares of the special highway fund from the Philippine National Bank.Then the President turned over the cement credit cards and medical assistance kits to the 172 barrio captains and their representatives.
After the distribution, the First Lady, assisted by members of the party, unloaded two truckloads of Maligayang Pasko ’70 gift bags, some of which were distributed direct to the indigents while the rest were turned over to the governor, the mayors and the barrio captains for distribution.
At a little past noon, the President and the First Lady boarded the helicopter for their trip back to Mariveles to board the RPS 777 for their return trip to Manila. Later in the afternoon, following a brief rest, the President worked on official papers in his study. He signed, among others, the ad interim appointments of Jose L. Magpali as clerk of court of the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan, Tayug branch, and of Adelaida C. Salom as municipal judge of Cabugao, Ilocos Sur.