Arrived at 11:00 AM at Pier 5 and immediately went to work.
Suspended all releases of public works funds including calamity funds. Directed the balances of the different items to be determined. Met [Faustino] Com. Sychangco on this.
Most of my time was consumed by the meeting with the Cons. [Constitutional] Convention delegates headed by Bibit Duavit on the position taken by Sen. [Arturo] Tolentino and Speaker [Cornelio] Villareal that the Cons. Convention cannot call a plebiscite and appropriate funds for it as they did. Sen. Tolentino has talked to Chairman [Jaime] Ferrer and the latter informed him that the Comelec [Commission on Elections] would adopt a resolution to implement the call to plebiscite of the Cons. Convention which resolution Sen. Tolentino could question in the Supreme Court. Some of the delegates indicated a desire to be parties petitioners.
We broke up at about 3:30 PM after lunch.
I also gave the go signal for a tabloid size 40-page “Daily Express.” Initial capital needs would be about P3 million. If we have 15 pages of ads daily then we could net P22,000 monthly. Otherwise we must be prepared to lose money.
I directed that the financial requirements be restudied and resubmitted.
Target date of opening is Jan. 1st, 1972.
Then I directed the campaign of the senatorial and local candidates to be reassessed specially on TV and radio.
And the problem of prices to be the subject of briefing before the cabinet tomorrow.
As well as the 4 year development program by the NEC [National Economic Council].
Official Gazette for September 29, 1971: President Marcos returned from a week-long inspection trip to the South. Before disembarking from RPS Ang Pangulo, which docked at Pier 15 at about 11 a.m., the President had an interview with TV reporters, during which he said that the trip was “most unusually successful inasmuch as we have been able to attend to the twin problems of security and development.”
Following the interview, the President motored direct to Malacañang where he immediately conferred with Palace aides on urgent state business. The President spent the whole afternoon working on official papers in his private study.