Commander Dante [Bernabe Buscayno] has offered to surrender. He has met Tony [Antonio] Raquiza in a motel in Manila with two other commanders.
The offer affects the entire NPA [New People’s Army] throughout the Philippines except Jose Maria Sison whom Dante says is a confirmed communist and whom they offered to kill. Tony Raquiza asked them not to.
They offered to bring Tony Raquiza to their headquarters in the mountains. Apparently they are staying in or close to the Voice of America station in Tarlac with the cooperation of the American in charge,.a certain Nic Nelson.
They have offered to surrender a thousand firearms. They ask only for land reform.
What is disturbing is that according to Commander Policarpio, he has been invited to the Base (Clark Air Force Base) and he has gone there. There is also apparently an invitation to go to the United States.
Are the Americans encouraging the NPA—or even arming them?
This is a possibility which we must investigate fully as we cannot put this beyond the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency].
There is an increase of CIA men in Manila. Apparently Sec. [William] Simon of the Treasury brought in many agents but left about 12 CIA agents behind.
Before the Foreign Policy Meeting on April 25, 1975, Ambassador [William] Sullivan asked to see me alone after formally submitting to the Foreign Policy Executive Committee the request to allow the use of the U.S. Bases as transit areas for an expected 50,000 refugees from Saigon going to Guam. He revealed that the South Vietnamese were outnumbered 4 to l and while the U.S. has asked the French to help bring about a political settlement. Chances for it are 50-50.
So there may be confused and massive evacuation of Saigon by the civilians anytime.
Ambassador Sullivan again revealed to me that there are nuclear weapons in the U.S. Bases—but they are the small ones carried by planes.
He read to me a cable from the State Dept. directing him to inform me of the existence of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. Bases; that the U.S. plans to remove them next July; that,
No Official Gazette entry for this day.
however, they would be willing to keep them in the bases if that was my desire.
I told him that the entire question of the bases would have to be discussed by us lengthily as the entire system of military agreements had to be restudied and changed along the lines of my speech before the U.P. [University of the Philippines] Law Alumni on April 16, 1975 [sic].
He leaves for the U.S. on home leave in June so we have agreed to meet early May.
He also cleared with me an answer to our note verbale inquiring about the reported nuclear weapons in Philippine U.S. bases.
We had through the Department of Foreign Affairs informed the U.S. Embassy that no strategic missiles or nuclear weapons should be located in the bases without consultations with our government.
The proposed answer of the U.S. Embassy is silent on nuclear weapons but states that the U.S. bases contain no strategic missiles.
He also informed me that on March 30, 1975 [sic] a Filipina, Mrs. Delia San Juan married to Dr. Epifanio San Juan, was caught passing through the border of Canada at High Springs, Vt. [Vermont] smuggling a total of $77,500 from Canada to the U.S. The law limits the amount of dollars that can be brought through the border at $20,000.
But what is most intriguing is that the woman (as well as the husband) is listed in our records as one of the close associates and advisers of Jose Maria Sison. And the money was part of a total of $200,000 from the Communist Embassy in Canada intended for the anti-Marcos groups specially in the campaign in the [Alan] Cranston committee of the U.S. Senate investigating violations of human rights which could mean the disqualification of the Phil. from both military and economic aid.
So I have directed Ambassador Ralph Gonzales of Hongkong to ask Mr. Lee. The PRC [People’s Republic of China] official in Hongkong to find out what this means—and to stop the PRC support for the anti-Marcos elements in the U.S.