11:55 AM Sept. 28th
Still on board the 777
but now at Caramay Point
where we have stopped
to let the pilot off.
The boat where my diary was had to leave for Tacloban from Ulot where we had anchored at 8:00 AM when the waves were rather large in the evening at about 8:00 PM.
Since there was a storm about to hit Eastern Luzon, we decided to postpone our return home to Tuesday morning instead of Monday afternoon.
The waves were high and I could not ski although we all went swimming at 4:30 PM when the water was still warm although the sky was overcast. Then at 5:30 PM Imelda and I walked along the shore and the rocks to the stream where Imelda’s father has his mausoleum. Ambassador [Toshio] Urabe followed. So did Benny and [Glecy?] Tantoco. It was a lovely walk. We were delighted.
In the morning after visiting the Romualdez mausoleum at Tolosa, we went to Tacloban City, then went to the Alang-Alang RP-Japan Rice experimental farm which has a million dollars worth of equipment donated by Japan. (as well as four technicians)
Very impressive and we had a grand time in the bus with Kokoy [Benjamin] Romualdez driving.
The IR-24 seems to have some blight which can be cured with the pesticide they have.
Official Gazette for September 27, 1971: President Marcos and the First Lady, Imelda R. Marcos, disembarked at Tacloban City at 8 a.m. for an overnight stopover in Ulot, Tolosa en route back to Manila.
While in Leyte, the President: 1) Surveyed the agricultural and fisheries development project in the province, including the RP-Japan Rice Experimental Farm in Alang-Alang. 2) Looked into the coconut research project and the medical research on schistosomiasisJaponica at the United Nations Research Center in Palo. 3) Looked into the progress of the work on the Pan-Philippine Highway, particularly the bridge to span the San Juanico Strait.
In the course of his work on official papers at the resthouse in Ulot, the President issued an order- for the immediate stopping of disbursement of public works fund, in consonance with the 45-day ban under the Electoral Code.The President issued the directive through the secretaries of finance and of public works to all treasurers, disbursing officers, engineers and other officials responsible for expenditures of public works fund. To insure strict compliance, the President also ordered the officials concerned to submit balance sheets of spent and unspent public works funds released to them.
But the IR-20 seems to be more resistant to disease and pests than the IR-22 and IR-24.
The IR-20 can yield in that experimental farm 170 cavans of rice per hectare per harvest three times a year. Even at the average of 130 cavans a hectare, this would mean 390 cavans in one year as against the old average harvest of 30 cavans a hectare a year.
Projects like this are stimulating.
The road from Tolosa to Palo is being cemented. In the meantime the road which was asphalt has been scraped and graded and was muddy and slippery when it rained.
We had lunch at 3:00 PM an interview by the local media at 3:40-4:20 PM and were swimming at 4:30 PM.
Jack Noughty of the Hearst Publications came all the way to Cagayan de Oro and Ulot to interview me. We had the interview from 9:30 to 11:30 PM. after dinner. It was more on Asian politics than anything.