Bongbong arrived by a giant Boeing 747 KLM [Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (Royal Dutch Airlines)] aircraft capable of carrying 350 passengers and faster than the DC-8 at 3:50 PM. I stopped playing golf with Adm. [George] Muse, Amb. [Henry] Byroade and Maj. Gen. [Romeo] Espino at the 5th hole of Fort Aguinaldo at 3:00 PM so I could go to meet him.
Spent the whole morning from 9:00 AM with the Mutual Defense Board where Adm. John McCain CINCPAC [Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet] presided (he is the joint or co-chairman with Gen. [Manuel] Yan). Adm. McCain first gave a briefing on the Asian situation. He emphasized the importance of the Philippines in the chain of defense from the Aleutians to Japan to Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines which is the junction of the chain northward to Thailand and southward to Singapore and Indonesia.
On my questioning I asked if the military bases in the Philippines were needed by the United States and would be needed for the next ten or more years. The answer was affirmative.
Are there any plans to dismantle the US military bases in the Philippines? Negative.
What is meant by the [Richard] Nixon doctrine principle that each Asian nation should assume the primarily responsibility of its own defense?
Will Taiwan be defended?
Official Gazette for December 13, 1971: PRESIDENT MARCOS conferred with Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., commander in chief of the U. S. armed forces in the Pacific, during the monthly meeting of the RP-US Mutual Defense Board at Camp Aguinaldo at noon. The American admiral and Gen. Manuel Yan, AFP chief of staff, are the co-chairmen of the board.
Admiral McCain, who used to be represented in the meetings of the board by Rear Admiral George A. Muse, was asked by the President to be personally present at the meeting so that the admiral could brief him on conditions in the Pacific area.
At the meeting, the President assured the Americans of the determination of the Philippines “to dismantle the Communist apparatus in our country.”
He said that the principal threat against the Philippines continues to be internal subversion.
Aside from members of the board, present at the meeting were Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Romulo, U.S. Ambassador Henry Byroade and Acting Secretary of National Defense Efren I. Plana.
Back in Malacañang at about 4 p.m., the President spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening going over state papers. Among others, he signed a proclamation authorizing the Center for Educational Television, Inc. to conduct an educational and fund campaign for a period of six months, from January 1 to June 30, 5 972.
In his proclamation, the President pointed out that the center, in its program stage, has demonstrated that television is a valid medium of instruction and has educational and pedagogical advantages, including the presentation of high quality instruction to widespread student audiences, the modernization of the curriculum, advanced in-service training and substantial in-class aid for teachers; the introduction of audio-visual aids into classrooms; and stimulating innovations in school curricula.
In the private conference afterwards (after the TV interview and the courtesy call of Lord Stokes, car maker of England) I informed Adm. McCain and Amb. Byroade of the fact that Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia were talking of cutting ties from the big powers not later than 10 years from now. This seemed to surprise Adm. McCain and Amb. Byroade.
The position of Adm. McCain was founded on three basic policies of Mobility, Viable military assistance and continuation of present bilateral and regional defense arrangements.
Gen. [Fidel] Ramos gave an intelligence briefing on the expansion of the CPP [Communist Party of the Philippines]/NPA [New People’s Army].
Then Gen. Yan gave a briefing on the Attainment of the Philippines of a SelfReliant Defense Posture. This posture has been under study by the defense establishment since several years ago.
But Under Sec. Jose Crisol has come out with a book ostensively Ferdinand E. Marcos on the Armed Forces of the Philippines but claiming the concept of a self-reliant defense posture as his.
The briefing of Gen. Yan conveyed the same implication. Perhaps he merely wanted to assume responsibility for it since I had not directed his accreditation to me of authorship.
I attach the briefing papers including the Judge [Vicente] Ericta resolution on the subversives as Envelope XII-D.