I have established a rapprochement with the Lopezes. I went to the house of [Eugenio] Iñing Lopez [Sr.] for breakfast. Then he brought me to the Chronicle building to see Vice-Pres. [Fernando] Nanding Lopez.
Kokoy [Benjamin] Romualdez laid the groundwork and prepared Iñing for the visit through Ernesto del Rosario, former editor of the Chronicle and now public relations man.
Iñing was first proper and civil but warmed up when I showed concern for his health and his family. “The devil does not die,” he wryly commented. “That makes two of us—of a kind,” I answered.
Manila is agog over the development.
Official Gazette for May 10, 1972: The President received a number of callers in the morning, notable among whom were Ambassadors Leon Ma. Guerrero (to India) and Luis Moreno Salcedo (to France, Yugoslavia and Romania).
Ambassador Guerrero reported on developments in India and Pakistan.
In his talk with Ambassador Salcedo, the President asked the veteran diplomat to explore all possibilities toward an early establishment of trade ties with East European countries beginning with Yugoslavia and Romania.
Other important callers were:
1) Lionel Pelham Kent, chairman of the Canadian Committee of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, who paid a courtesy call and discussed economic prospects here for Canadian investors.
2) Senators Helena Z. Benitez and Lorenzo Teves, who discussed local problems.
3) A number of congressmen who consulted the President on various legislative matters relative to administration projects.
Among those who called on the President were Reps. Rafael Legaspi of Aklan; Leonides C. de Leon of Laguna, Romulo Lumauig of Ifugao, Pablo Malasarte of Bohol, Teodulo Natividad of Bulacan, Joaquin Ortega of La Union, Benjamin Perez of Nueva Viscaya, Pablo Roman of Bataan, Guillermo Sanchez of Agusan del Norte, Fernando Veloso of Western Samar, Antonio Villar of Pangasinan, Manuel Zosa of Cebu, Indanan Anni of Sulu, James Chiongbian of South Cotabato, Amando Cope of Albay and Andres Cosalan of Benguet.
The President spent the whole afternoon working on state papers, in the course of which he issued an administrative order creating a new committee to act as a liaison agency between the government and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
Designated chairman of the liaison body was Assistant Executive Secretary Ronaldo B. Zamora, with Justice Undersecretary Catalino Macaraig, Education Undersecretary Narciso Albarracin, and PES Deputy Director-General Antonio Locsin as members.
Among the official papers he issued from his desk was an executive Appointments for confirmation the nominations of six persons, mostly to positions in the judiciary.
“By early 1972, Meralco was in a deep hole because of a combination of its high costs, interest rates rising out of control and outdated power rates. In March 1972, it filed an application with the Public Service Commission (psc) for a rate increase of 36.5%. The next presidential elections were not until November 1973. Under the most optimistic scenario, even a change to a sympathetic administration meant that Meralco would not get rate relief until nearly two years later – an eternity given the scale of the financial shortfall. So a ceasefire – if not necessarily a lasting peace – was vital to Meralco” Rodrigo, The Power and the Glory, 248 cited in Scalice, 729
The blockade by [Richard] Nixon of North Vietnam has been rejected by a resounding majority by the U.S. Senate. Nixon may end up as another [Woodrow] Wilson.
America may have lost the war and its prestige.