Saturday
Actually, I write this on April 5 at 9:00 AM off the coast of Surigao, Surigao on board the President 777 while we are waiting for the people to assemble at the wharf for the reception. I slept without writing my daily notes as I was fatigued. I had not slept (practically) the night before and had been running from the 7:30 AM breakfast with the Military Advisers of Seato [Southeast Asia Treaty Organization] including our old friends Admiral [John] McCain [Jr.] who commanded one of the submarines that supplied us in the guerilla movement during the war while the Japanese occupied the Philippines and Air Marshall and Mr. Dawee of Thailand. Met with Mr. [Donald] Kendall of Pepsi Cola brought by Cong. [Roberto] Bert Sabido and father. He is close to Pres. [Richard] Nixon so I conveyed through him the message that they should not commit the same mistake they committed in Korea—that is the failure to arm and train indigenous troops while there was time. The U.S. would come to protect their bases if the communists took over so why not just make the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] stronger now.
The Fokker Friendship is out of commission because of lack of some spare parts which have to be flown from Amsterdam. So I used the PNB [Philippine National Bank] King Air and Imelda used a PAL [Philippine Airlines] chartered AVRO[1].
Helicoptered against a 40 knot wind (in 25 minutes) to Mahayag for the inauguration of the Salug Valley Irrigation Dam for 11,000 hectares. Then back to heli to Molave (both at Zamboanga de Sur) and participated in the fiesta. Returned to Ozamis City to close the PRISSA [sic] (Private Schools Athletic Association national competition—College and High Schools) then by boat to Iligan to exhort the [Ulamalis?] religion.
Office of the President
of the Philippines
Malacañang
[1] King Air is a turboprop aircraft manufactured by Beechcraft, AVRO is a British aircraft manufacturer.