Ambassador [Henry] Byroade, in a state of concern, informed me at noon that Sen. [Benigno] Aquino [Jr.] is threatening to deliver a speech to the effect that there are nuclear weapons in Clark Air Force base. He told the two American soldiers who belong to the subversive group in Clark Air Force Base that he had a letter from a Filipino colonel who informed him of the presence of nuclear weapons in Clark.
He reminded me of the fact that Amb. Blair had told me of the existence of the nuclear weapons and that he had repeated this to me sometime ago.
I told him that the Department of Foreign Affairs would state that the President had already stated that there were no nuclear weapons in Clark and that was the position of the government.
But we will have to restudy our position on nuclear weapons in the American bases. For the Red Chinese can reach Clark with an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile.
Delegate [Eduardo] Quintero this afternoon stated on the floor of the Constitutional Convention that there was no payola of P10,000 by Malacañan in the Jan. 6, 1972 meeting; that President Marcos had told him he, the President, was for the Presidential form of government; that he (Delegate Quintero) received eighteen envelopes of various amounts each month since
Official Gazette for May 19, 1972: PRESIDENT MARCOS started working at his desk after breakfast.
At midmorning, he inducted five new generals of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, whose nominations were confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.
The new generals sworn in by the President in the presence of their comrades in the military, high government officials, friends and relatives were Luis Amor, zone commander, III PC zone; Ataulfo Alvarez, vice commander, Philippine Air Force, and presidential pilot; Juan Raso, deputy commander, Philippine Army, and commander of Task Force Pagkakaisa; and Ignacio Paz, chief of the Intelligence Service, AFP.
After the induction ceremonies, the President received the Philippine delegation to the First World Congress on Air Transport and Tourism.
He told the delegation that he would consider the suggestion to include chartered flights in the agenda of the negotiations on air transportation scheduled in Washington, D.C., on May 30 since these boost the tourist trade.
The delegation informed the President that the lack of chartered flights was one of the main drawbacks to tourism in the country.
The delegation was accompanied to Malacañang by Salvador Peña, executive director of the Philippine Travel and Tourist Association.
In the afternoon, the President ordered a study on the possibility of coordinating the functions of the National Social Action Council (NASAC) with the government cooperative, anti-crime and anti-narcotics programs.
He ordered the study not only because NASAC’s functions are closely related to said government programs but also in order that it would not be hampered in its work by lack of funds since it depends solely on public and private donations.
The President also ordered that studies be made on the possibility of including the NASAC by legislation among civic and charitable institutions entitled to donations from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
March 1971 although he did not reveal who gave him the money; he did say that he was not told what the consideration was for nor did he ask.
This discredits the whole convention and since one of the envelopes is to have had a Malacañan letter head and some the names of [Gabriel] Yñiguez, the money is definitely planted.
The whole scheme smacks of a plan to stop the convention from adopting a constitution. But it has to be handled with finesse because the delegate (Quintero) is apparently well-meaning.
Although when he came to see me to ask what form of government I preferred and he told me of the money he received I informed him that I did not send him any money and did not know anything about it.