Contingency Plans—
National Level
City of Manila Level
USAFIP, NL [United States Army Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon]—the first greeters in this year’s birthday.
They came to see me at 1:00 PM after all the visitors and gave me five books, three of [Herbert] Marcuse, one of The Kennedy Legacy by [Theodore] Sorensen.
In the morning I met with Mayor [Ramon] Bagatsing with his Chief of Police, Gen. [Gerardo] Tamayo, Deputy Chief, Col. [James] Barbers, Col. [Alfredo] Montoya, CO [Commanding Officer] of the Metrocom [Metropolitan Command], Dir. [Alejandro] Deleña, and Com. [Baltazar] Aquino as well as Deputy Com. [Juan] Agcaoili of the Budget Commission.
Official Gazette for September 7, 1972: PRESIDENT MARCOS conferred with Mayor Ramon D. Bagatsing of Manila on problems affecting the city, particularly the rehabilitation of roads and dredging of esteros, and the threat to peace and order.
During the meeting, the President appealed to Mayor Bagatsing to cooperate actively with the national government in the repair of city roads and streets, and the dredging of esteros by taking the initiative in clearing the esteros of squatters.
The President also asked Mayor Bagatsing to get rid of garbage collectors who collect cum shaw from city residents.
On the peace and order situation, the President counseled the people not to panic because the national and local governments are cooperating and adopting contingency plans to meet any eventuality and to protect the lives and property of the people.
Noting the increasing intensity of provocations against the citizenry, the President said “we cannot tolerate such a situation, but it is not necessary for us or the citizenry to panic.”
Explaining the contingency plan, the President said this is the plan the local government will adopt in the event that they felt they could no longer meet the threat on their own and had to call on the METRO-COM, the national government and the national defense secretary for aid.
Present at the conference were Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, Director Jolly Bugarin of the National Bureau of Investigation, Col. Alfredo Montoya, chief of the Metropolitan Police Command; Brig. Gen. Gerardo Tamayo and Col. James Barbers, chief and deputy chief, respectively, of the Manila Metropolitan Police, Public Works Director Alejandro Delena, Highways Commissioner Baltazar Aquino and Deputy Budget Commissioner Juan Agcaoili.
Earlier in the day, the President was serenaded by his wartime buddies in the United States Armed Forces in the Pacific—Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL), who presented him with five books as gift on his 55th birthday on September 11.
Headed by Rep. Joaquin Ortega and Governor Juvenal K. Guerrero of La Union, the President’s fellow guerrillas, who were the first to serenade him on his birthday, presented him with books entitled Marcuse Negations, Marcuse Five Lectures, Marcuse, an Essay on Liberation; The Nation Is Burdened, and The Kennedy Legacy.
The President thanked his friends for their thoughtfulness:
Among those who called on the President were Brig. Gen. Segundo Velasco, Justice Undersecretary Ramon Fernandez, Commodore Santiago Nuval, Election Commissioner Lino Patajo, President Esteban Cabanos of the Philippine Veterans Bank, former Governor Godofredo Reyes of Ilocos Sur and Atty. Ramon Encarnacion.
In the evening, the President had an interview with newsmen covering Malacañang.
The police will in the event of a contingency attend to what may be merely a local peace and order problem, but the moment there is street fighting the police leave the streets and allow thc Metrocom and Gen. [Fabian] Ver’s forces to engage the enemy.
This will prevent mistake encounters between our own men and forces as happened in Malaysia and even now in Ireland.
Sec. [Juan] Ponce Enrile has just called me up to tell me that Sen. [Benigno] Aquino [Jr.] has asked to see him tonight on a matter of the highest urgency and of national importance.
I asked him to take security measures and to meet him only at a place of his choosing as Aquino is treacherous.
The afternoon I spent in finishing all papers needed for a possible proclamation of martial law; just in case it is necessary to do so.