Today I must plan my life anew. All the old concepts must give way to the new, objective and cruel tyrannies of the present.
Painful but unavoidable. And I am deeply sad.
But all the more am I resolved to be strong and resilient.
I am getting irritable and sensitive. And while outwardly calm, I am boiling inside me.
And my problem is I take it out of Imelda my poor wife. I do not know how she can tolerate my boorishness these days.
Had dinner with Justice Fred Ruiz Castro and Sen. [Jose] Roy and he affirmed that:
- The justices believe there is rebellion but not all over the Philippines.
- That in the event of an arrest by the military under the suspension, the court will issue the writ of habeas corpus but upon return by the detaining officer, the court would inquire if there was reasonable ground to believe that the detained person was guilty of rebellion or insurrection.
This looks dangerous because then the courts would be reviewing the evidence but then it might not be as under my own instructions “reasonable ground to believe that the crime of rebellion has been committed” is explicitly required. - That if I lift the suspension in the Visayas, Mindanao and some provinces of Luzon, the decision to uphold my proclamation would be unanimous.
I intend to lift the suspension in the Visayas next Saturday so that it will hit the Sunday papers. I will be in Cebu by then.
Then I go to Mindanao (Iligan) and lift the suspension for Mindanao.
I may lift the suspension in Masbate, Romblon, Mindoro Or. [Orriental] and Mindoro Occ. [Occidental], Marinduque, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Batangas, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union and Pangasinan jointly with other area of Visayas or Mindanao.
Then the critics could not say that the suspension is politically motivated or intended to
No Official Gazette entry for this day.
prepare for martial law.