Because of the spotting of Imelda we have all stayed on board giving her time to rest in bed. We arrived from Corregidor and docked at Pier 5 at 2:00 PM but on the advi[c]e of Dr. Gloria Aragon we stayed. Had to cancel all my appointments including golf. Spent the afternoon sleeping after some librium (10 ml) as the spotting and the prospect of Imelda losing her baby has been a shock.
Although Gloria assures us that if Imelda will rest since the bleeding has not increased, she should be able to keep her baby. Right now she does not feel any pain nor any sensation of cramping or tightening of the uterus. And she is sleeping. We are all praying she does not have a miscarriage.
Entry is misdated as May 7.
Official Gazette for May 6, 1972: THE President, accompanied by the First Lady, Imelda R. Marcos, led a pilgrimage to Corregidor in connection with the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Fall of Corregidor.
The President, in his speech, said: “Let us all in our individual ways, work together for peace, so that we shall never again know war.”
“There are present here today at this commemoration, not only men who fought together during that time of conflict, but also those who fought on the other side,” the President said. “No better tribute can be given to the memory of Corregidor than that today, 30 years after, nations that were then locked in battle now stand together and look on each other as friends.”
Special guests at the rites were U.S. Ambassador Henry Byroade and Japanese Ambassador Toshio Urabe who was, for the first time, invited to participate in the yearly commemoration.
Also at the rites were other members of the diplomatic corps, ranking officials of the government headed by members of the Cabinet, representatives of veterans organizations, and members of their families.
The Chief Executive arrived in Corregidor at 10:30 a.m. aboard the RPS Ang Pangulo. He was accorded full military honors by a composite contingent representing all the four major commands of the armed forces.
After the arrival honors, the President, the U.S. ambassador and the Japanese ambassador laid wreaths on a marker-tablet erected bottom-side of “The Rock” on which was inscribed the history of that island bastion which dates back to the Spanish regime.
“Let us show the world that if Americans, Japanese and Filipinos could forge from the rubble of war, a life of cooperation and mutual progress, surely its also possible for the rest of the world to pursue the same life.
“There is no people or nation in the world today that has not in its history experienced the senseless violence of war, and it may be that a people and nation must first know the pains of war to appreciate fully the beneficence of peace,” the President said.
Following the rites, the President and members of his party boarded the RPS Ang Pangulo for the trip back to Manila.
While enroute to the city, the President administered the oaths to four new one-star generals of the armed forces.
Swore in were Gregorio Fider, deputy chief of the Philippine Constabulary; Efigenio C. Navarro, Commander of the 2nd PC zone; and Guillermo A. Picache, acting deputy AFP chief of staff; and Capt. Gil S. Fernandez, as commodore of the Philippine Navy.
The President went over urgent official papers in the afternoon. He submitted to the Commission on Appointments for confirmation the nominations of Gen. Jesus Singson (ret) as director of Civil Aivation and of Joaquin Lizardo as foreign officer, class III and vice consul.
We opened a new page in history today when we invited the Japanese ambassador to participate in the ceremonies on the Fall of Corregidor. He also laid a wreath at the monument and marker at the surrender site.
I have been working on the briefing paper on Vietnam for the Security Council on Monday. I attach the latest report.
During the trip Dr. Harris, the Chief of the Medical Division of the U.S. Veteran’s Adm. was introduced by Mr. Pierce the local U.S. Vet Adm. and we agreed after consultations with S.P. [Salvador] Lopez, U.P. [University of the Philippines] president, to make the Veterans Memorial Hospital a research center and a university hospital for the U.P.
We also worked on the problems of archives.
And I assigned Maj. Gen. [Rafael] Ileto to work on the Gen. Staff studies on the problems of security.
Finalized the plans on highways with Com. [Baltazar] Aquino and the $65 million dollar loan listing (Project loan and Commodity loan) with Ambassador [Toshio] Urabe.