I have just signed the ratification of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and the Agreement for the Establishment of an ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] Secretariat.
We are the first member to ratify the two documents.
I also issued instructions to Sec. [Carlos] Romulo on his trip to the U.S. on the negotiations on the military agreements: “Explain to Pres. [Gerald] Ford and Sec. [Henry] Kissinger that we intend to take an active part in the Third World conferences in its drive for a new world economic order; that we can be a bridge between the US and the developing countries because we represent the moderates with a concrete plan to bring about a rapprochement; but we cannot act as such bridge if we are not credible as a free agent. So we have to wipe out the vestiges of the pre-Vietnam commitments. The Foreign Secretary or Minister of North Vietnam successfully kept us out of the Conference of Neutral States last year.
Official Gazette for April 8, 1976: A TWELVE-man Filipino panel left for Hongkong en route to the People’s Republic of China as official guests of the Chinese government. The mission headed by Finance Secretary Cesar Virata, will meet with China’s Minister of Finance and the governor of the Bank of China.