As I have predicted, the media specially the newspapers, blame me and the military for the shooting incident in Congress.
The Manila Times and the Manila Chronicle as usual as the most vicious. Openly they falsify the news. They do not even refer to the provocation by the demonstrators who threw pill-boxes and molotov cocktails at the security men and the Metrocom [Metropolitan Command] injuring two Metrocom men. At the same time there is evidence that there was gunfire from the demonstrators.
The Manila Chronicle in a front page editorial blames me personally and unashamedly states the untruth that the Metrocom unprovoked, fired at the crowd of demonstrators to disperse them.
The Manila Times, as usual, goes through the pretext of quoting from both identified and unidentified sources.
I have created a commission to be chairmanned by a retired Supreme Court Justice, members to be an outstanding law practitioner, one representative of media, one representative of the demonstrators, one representative of civic organizations, the City Fiscal of Manila and one representative of veterans.
Official Gazette for May 3, 1971: President Marcos said that the one thing that would motivate a revolution of the people in this country is injustice, committed against “not only the poor but against all elements of society.”
The President cited this in his remarks which followed the induction of officers of the Court of First Instance, Circuit Criminal Court and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judges Association of the Philippines.
He stressed that if there is anything that would outraged the Filipino people, “who are steeped in the democratic traditions of freedom and liberty,” it would be injustice. The President pointed out that while injustice may be committed in individual or specific cases, or isolated cases out of the bulk of governmental action, “the history of revolutions has been always a history of injustices against individual persons.” Defining this as a great burden of government, the President called on the judges to be the contact point with the people in administering “justice of the highest quality.”
The President directed BIR Commissioner Misael Vera to exempt from the coverage of Memorandum Circular No. 441 a number of important positions in the BIR which need to be filled, so as not to disrupt its vital functions. One other group inducted by the President were the newly-elected officers of the BIR Employees Association, headed by its president Bernardo Carpio, who presented a resolution to the President, which urged him to lift the ban on the filling of some vital positions in the bureau which are essential to the tax collection campaign. The President further directed Vera to confer with Budget Commissioner Faustino Sy-Changco and work out the means of funding these positions, which should be filled in the interest of effective public service.
Earlier in the morning, the President issued an administrative order creating a commission to look into the circumstances surrounding the death and wounding of some demonstrators during the rally before Congress last May 1.The Commission would be composed of a retired justice of the Supreme Court, as chairman; and a representative each of the media, the student organizations, civic and veterans organizations; one outstanding law practitioner and the city fiscal of Manila, as members.
This should prove our sincerity in meting out justice.
I postponed the National Executive Committee meeting to the 24th in the morning in deference to the death of the demonstrators.
This morning I met [Rafael] Ygoa on the PAL [Philippine Air Lines] problems, inducted the BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] and CFI [Court of First Instance], Circuit Criminal Courts and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts Judges associations, then met the Provincial Governors and City Mayors on their problems specially public works.
Attended the dinner of Mrs. Villareal on her birthday where Imelda lost her emerald brooch.
The majority of the citizenry seem to feel that the security men of Congress and the Metrocom did right in repelling the aggression in Congress.
That raises the following questions of fact:
Was there actual aggression on the part of the demonstrators? Is the throwing of pillboxes and molotov cocktails resulting in the wounding of two soldiers (Metrocom) sufficient aggression? Was there rifle fire from the demonstrators? If so, when did the demonstrators fire? Who fired? At whose, orders? Was there rifle fire from the helicopter?
Then the question of law arises?
If the security men or Metrocom are attacked, with molotov cocktails or pillboxes, do they have the ordinary citizens right “to stand ground when on the right” not “retreat to the wall” which was the old rule of defense.
Assuming the security men and Metrocom had the right “to stand ground” as they were “on the right,” did they exceed the reasonable means required to repel the aggression?
The media has convicted the Metrocom men and the Congressional Security. Even without a hearing they demand their punishment. But this does not seem to be the feeling of the ordinary citizen.
This strengthens my growing conviction that there is no way of eradicating the communist menace except by the proclamation of martial law. This would be less bloody.
While the media is openly against duly constituted authority and the radicals and communists use it as a tool of attack, as the Liberals have used it for their own private purpose of return to power, the Republic cannot recover from the ailments it suffers except by the radical surgery of martial law.