I went to [Joaquin] Chino Roces’ house to wish him a Happy Birthday. Arrived at 7:15 PM, left at 9:00 PM with [Alejandro] Alex Melchor [Jr.].
First much bantering and fencing specially when Sen. [Edgar] Ilarde, Max[imo] Soliven and the other critics arrived. Chino said that I had the massive support of the media, referring to ABS-CBN, Chronicle, Herald, Bulletin etc. And I said the Manila Times was the only newspaper in the Philippines that mattered. He then laughingly declared he was going to sell The Manila Times and I answered in mock-seriousness that I would organize a group to buy it.
Delegate Napoleon Rama arrived to loudly announce “The President is not coming to see you” then recoiled in shamed silence when he saw me laughing at him.
But later I pulled Chino off to a comer to talk to him seriously. I asked him to help me unite the country at least for the last year and a half of my administration.
He asked me to announce that even if I should be nominated I would not run.
He asked me what I was willing to do to convince people that I was not interested in reelection. I answered, anything provided I was not humiliated.
Official Gazette for June 29, 1972: THE PRESIDENT had a crowded morning schedule, topped by a conference with representatives of the sugar industry, headed by Alfredo Montelibano, president of the Chamber of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Discussed during the conference was the question of increasing the minimum wages for the sugar industry workers to enable them to cope with the rise in prices of prime commodities.
Following the conference, the President ordered the Wage Commission to make an upward revision of the minimum wages for sugar industry workers by increasing the minimum wages from P4.75 to P6.50 daily for farm workers and from P8.00 to P10.00 for industrial workers.
The President likewise instructed the Price Control Council to submit complete data and statistics on the supply of domestic sugar and the effect of the proposed increases in wages on domestic sugar prices, in order to arrive at a realistic ceiling price for the commodity.
Present at the conference were Secretary of Commerce and Industry Troadio T. Quiazon, Jr., concurrently chairman of the Price Control Council; Sugar Quota Administrator Jose Unson, Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Arturo R. Tanco, Jr., PCC Director Maximo Belmonte, Nicanor Fuentes of the National Economic Council; and Alfredo Montelibano, Carlos Ledesma, Antonio Roxas-Chua and Eduardo de Luzurriaga, representing the sugar industry.
Toward noon, the President administered the oath of office to Justice Salvador Esguerra as associate justice of the Supreme Court.
Present at the oath-taking ceremony were members of the judiciary headed by Secretary of Justice Vicente Abad Santos and Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion of the Supreme Court, and close friends and relatives of the inductee led by his wife, Mrs. Cosmedin Filler-Esguerra.
In the afternoon, the President closeted himself in his private study and worked on urgent official papers.
He claims that he is convinced that I am not going to run but that we had to convince the people. Specially since the people wanted a change of leadership. And that the next President would not be a Nacionalista. I kept my counsel to myself.
And I thought I could trace suspicion in his voice when he asked me what I would do if the peace and order situation deteriorated. Immediately I told him I would follow the advice of the Supreme Court. Perhaps suspend the writ of habeas corpus and arrest a few people but that at the end of 1973 even if there were a revolution I would step down.
He commented, “But you have to straighten things up before you step down.” And I answered, “That would be the purpose but I would still step down.”
We ended up with the agreement that we would continue the dialogue.
I left before dinner.
I talked to Chief Justice [Roberto] Concepcion extensively on Russia and the means to catch up in the back log of cases in the courts. He was the unofficial guest of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union who was one of the contemporaries of [Vladimir] Lenin. He felt that the Russians sincerely want diplomatic relations with us; their farmers are in the state our farmers were in 1900; a Stalingrad collective of 11,000 hectares produced only in 6,000 hectares 500,000 rubles worth of wheat, each ruble worth one peso—or about $70,000—a harvest that is rather low.
I explained to him that we would not be able to negotiate diplomatic relations with Russia until we can do the same with Red China and we cannot do the latter until the Taiwan problem is settled. But we will trade with both.
On the expedition of cases and trial, he told me of his attendance of trials in New York and London where 97% of civil cases are settled by assessors. He recommend:
- More use of pre-trial settlements
- More use of assessors
- Elimination of records
- Use of computers
Held a conference on sugar prices. Felt a conspiracy of [Alfredo] Piding Montelibano [Sr.] and [Antonio] Tony Roxas Chua to raise prices. So I asked PCC [Price Control Council] (Sec. [Troadio] Quiazon [Jr.] and Bung [Arturo] Tanco [Jr.]) to check the adequacy of supply. Increase this year the allocation for domestic market from 30% to 35%. Ordered the wage commission to increase sugar labor wages. Farm laborers P4.75 to P6.50; Mill laborers–P8.00 to P10.00. Exports incentives study.