Malacañang Palace
1:00 PM
[p.49] I have just directed the retirement of Gen. [Vicente] Raval and all the extended generals effective Feb. 1st and April 1st. I will retain Gen. [Manuel] Yan as Chief of Staff only because there is no one who is qualified to take his place. I will put Gen. Eddie [Eduardo] Garcia presently CG of the Tabak Division as PC [Philippine Constabulary] chief.
I do sympathize with Gen. Raval who claims he had nothing to do with the abuses of the Special Forces but there is discontent in the rank and file of the Armed Forces and Gen. Raval is one of the reasons. Another is the feeling of the lower ranking officers that they have no hope of advancement. And with the efforts of the Liberals to intrigue the military into the coup d’etat, it becomes necessary to remove all causes of grievance.
The truth of the matter is the retiring officers are better than those who will succeed them. I hope to place some of them in civilian positions.
I cannot choose a replacement of Sec. [Ernesto] Mata. I am trying to get a civilian and non-military man. But I guess I will ultimately push Gen. Yan up to Secretary of National Defense while I ultimately push Ileto up to Chief of Staff.
53 Official Gazette for January 24, 1970: President Marcos continued to concentrate on his desk work with the polishing of his State-of-the-Nation speech getting his primary attention. However, he also disposed of a big pile of state papers, inducted two justices and received a group of AFP generals who paid a courtesy call after taking their oaths. The President at simple ceremonies administered the oath of office to Justice Julio Villamor as associate justice of the Supreme Court and Justice Salvador V. Esguerra as presiding justice of the Court of Appeals. The President inducted the two justices at Malacañang in the presence of members of the judiciary led by Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion of the Supreme Court and associate justices of the high tribunal and the appellate court, as well as immediate members of their families, relatives and friends. Until his appointment to the Supreme Court to fill the post vacated recently due to the retirement of Justice Francisco Capistrano, Justice Villamor was presiding justice of the appellate court. He was succeeded by Justice Esguerra, who is the most senior associate justice of the Court of Appeals.
In his brief meeting with the top brass of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the President enjoined them to be more vigilant than ever and to exert their utmost in preserving the security of the country. The President told the group of newly-appointed generals who called on him that there are elements, including foreign, bent on disturbing the stability of the government but that he had complete faith in the military’s ability to recognize and thwart the hostile designs of these elements. Those who called on the President were Brig. Gen. Roso Sabalones, deputy commander of the I PC zone; Commodore Hilario Ruiz, deputy commander of the Philippine Navy; Brig. Gen. Domingo Tucay, commander of the second military area; Brig. Gen. Jose Rancudo, commander of the Fifth Fighter Wing, PAF; Brig. Gen. Antonio Tamayo, chief of the AFP Supply Center at Camp Aguinaldo; and Brig. Gen. Juan D. Cruz, commander of the Fourth Infantry Division. They were accompanied by Secretary of National Defense Ernesto Mata and Gen. Manuel Yan, AFP chief of staff. The President received no other visitors, and after these welcome interruptions, he returned to his desk work. He remained in his study through the afternoon and evening.