There is still sporadic firing in Marawi but the two additional companies including our PSC [Presidential Security Command? Philippine Service Command?] Special Forces company formerly assigned to Salvador and Malabang, Lanao del Norte are there. Even the two APC’s [armored personnel carrier] in these last two towns have been ordered moved to Lanao del Sur but the two half-tracks armored cars taken from Cebu ([Ludo’s] farm) are being sent to replace them.
Frankie Teodoro reported tonight that a son of one of his executives was asked to participate in another assassination plot against me by a group of six students from PCC [Philippine College of Commerce], UP [University of the Philippines] and MLQ [Manuel L. Quezon University] who were showing on their firearms in a safehouse in Project 4.
I have assigned Gen. [Fabian] Ver to look into it.
This confirms the report of students preparing to show off during the period from the 25th to the 30th.
I have alerted Sec. [Juan] Ponce Enrile, Gen. [Fidel] Ramos and [Alfredo] Montoya.
I believe, however, that our security of the city is ready and the radicals have lost heart. They have suffered too many casualties.
Official Gazette for October 24, 1972: CHAIRMAN and members of the two Adjudication Boards and the first six Boards of Investigators have formally organized in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 12 issued by President Marcos. The decree provided that adjudication boards be created by the Police Commission to review and dispose of all administrative cases in city and municipal police forces. The decree also provides the creation of a board of investigators in each province and city to hear police cases in their respective jurisdictions. The initial boards were for Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay and Rizal province.
Three district officers of the Thailand Ministry of the Interior hailed what they called the Philippines’ current reinvigorated program for national development. Mr. Yongyoot Kontrong, Mr. Bunton Suksapit and Mr. Chairog Siribon who recently toured the country for two weeks, observed that the Philippines appeared advanced in more ways than one than most developing countries in Asia. Philippine commercial attaches stationed in different parts of the world have, meanwhile, taken steps to inform prospective tourists and visitors to the Philippines about improved conditions here since the imposition of Martial Law.
The D. Kr. 30 million (Danish Kroner) loan, about P28 million, from the Danish government to finance capital goods for the economic development of the Philippines finally materialized recently. The loan agreement which was entered into by the Philippines and Denmark on March 19, 1972 will be used to finance the purchase of some 5,000 diesel engines for irrigation pumps. The Danish diesel engines will start arriving in the country by January of next year and will continue to arrive at the rate of from 75 units to 240 units monthly until January 1975. The significance of this agreement is that within the next two years, the country shall be able to put under irrigation some 60,000 hectares of riceland on a year-round basis. Assuming that the average yield per hectare is 100 cavans (two crops), an additional harvest of six million cavans can easily be realized.
Warned Cong. Indanan Anni of Sulu that he is incriminated by the Chinese who have been caught manufacturing and selling heroin. He denied the charge, of course.
Worked on the Phil. Sugar Institute with Cong. Eduardo Cojuangco, Luzuriaga and Sugar Quota Adm. Jose Unson.
The last informed me that the one peso that Ex. Sec. Alfredo Montelibano is collecting from the sugar planters per picul every year for the last two years is unknown to him. What he helped to collect was the one peso per picul for the Incentive Pay to those who milled their sugarcane early in September and October. So I will have to talk to Montelibano.
Received information on Customs anomalies from Antonio Marcos, my second cousin who is a supervisor in the Bonded Warehouse Division of the Bureau.
We must arrest some of the leaders of the syndicate in the Bureau and the big-time smugglers in Cebu.
Amb. [Modesto] Farolan wired that Pres. Suharto and Minister Adam Malik are happy about martial law as it assures them northern boundary (of Indonesia) of a strong bastion.
Directed the trial by military tribunal of dollar blackmarketeers today.
Cong. Ali Dimaporo arrived from the Middle East and reports the initial adverse reaction to martial law changed to a favorable one. We need him to help stabilize the two Lanaos.
Ex. Gov. Udtog Matalam sent word he does not want to surrender through Cong. [Salipada] Pendatun. So I am sending Gen. [Fabian] Ver alone with Gov. [Carlos] Cajelo.