Birthday celebration donated to mass and a meeting with the governors and mayors which has turned out to be tedious. I have barely finished with 38 and will have to meet the rest after the Security Council tomorrow.
But it has been an eventful day. The Meralco [Manila Electric Company] was bombed in two places last night.
Today the Manila Police battled a jeepload of NPAs [New People’s Army], capturing six killing one armed with a carbine five hours after he escaped although another of the escapees armed with Thompson submachine gun is still being hunted and a Sgt. de Guzman of the Manila Police was killed.
Then kidnappers of Tom Aguirre (Banco Filipino) and his son Antonio released them after they paid P1.2 million. The kidnappers were well disciplined, had a basement full of
Official Gazette for September 11, 1972: THE PRESIDENT observed his 55th birth anniversary in conferences with provincial, city, municipal and barrio officials who converged at Malacañang from all over the country to greet him.
The President held separate conferences with the delegations on how local governments could participate more effectively in the rehabilitation of the nation’s economy following the recent droughts and destructive floods.
In allocating funds for such province, city or municipality, the President gave priority to ravaged areas and on the rehabilitation of roads, bridges, schoolbuildings, irrigation, flood control and projects designed to increase the nation’s agricultural productivity.
Earlier in the morning, the President and the First Lady heard Mass said by Msgr. Amado Paulino, auxiliary bishop of Manila and parish priest of Tondo. Also at the Mass wore their son Bongbong, ranking officials of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of the government, close relatives, and friends.
Among the first to greet the President following the Mass were Vice President and Mrs. Fernando Lopez, followed by members of Congress headed by Speaker Cornelio T. Villareal, the judiciary led by Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion, the Cabinet headed by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Romulo and the diplomatic corps led by Msgr. Carmine Rocco, papal nuncio.
In the traditional exchange of toasts with members of the diplomatic corps, Msgr. Rocco, dear, of the group, said that in rallying to the assistance of the Philippines during the floods, the nations of the world had shown increasing brotherhood and understanding among themselves.
In his response, the President offered a prayer for peace, “not only in this country or in our part of the world but universal peace.”
He added: “May there always be amity, friendship among peoples that it can be said: Mar has organized a single human family.”
The President also inaugurated a library containing a collection of speeches, pronouncements, photo albums, newspaper clippings, magazines, films and tapes on the Marcos year. The Library, which was put up in one of the ground floor rooms of the old executive building, was the First Lady’s birthday gift to the President.
After the inauguration, the President went up to the second floor of the building where the provincial, city, municipal and barrio officials were briefed, on the extent of damage wrought by the recent droughts and floods, and the progress made on rehabilitation work.
The President’s conferences with provincial governors, city mayors and barrio officials lasted from 11 a.m. to late in the evening.
communications and had apparently been successfully kidnapping Chinese for ransom—[Antonio] Tony Roxas Chua’s wife for P1 million, La Suerte owner’s son for the same amount, Chen Banyek and others.
The NPA’s may have raised their funds in this manner.
So there is hysteria in Manila from a bomb and kidnapping scare.
Many false alarms of bombs planted. Telephone warnings like that of The Express—the bomb supposedly set to explode at 10:00 PM. Nothing happened and our bomb disposal units found no sign of explosives.
Open suggestions of martial law.
My best birthday gift was the Library of speeches, pronouncements, orders, tapes, videos, movies, writings of my presidency, organized by Imelda at the 1st floor of Maharlika.
As well as a Rizaliana.
And the Big Antique.
This and succeeding paragraphs in the Transcript are from a missing last page of this entry p.2307.