The Supreme Court has issued the order to produce the body of Roger Arienda and to answer the petition. We will produce the body of Arienda but make a return that he is under detention under the Proclamation suspending the privilege of the writ. This will be done by the Solicitor General. Then seek a termination of the proceedings because of this on the Sup. Ct. rulings of Barcelon v. Baker, the Montenegro and Geronimo cases.
Today, I have ordered that Sen. [Benigno] Aquino [Jr.] should not be arrested but should be told that he can appear with the aid of counsel to confront and cross-examine the witnesses
Official Gazette for August 25, 1971: In a confrence with Justice and Defense department officials, President Marcos ordered the Department of National Defense and the Department of Justice to conduct a public hearing of charges concerning Sen. Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.’s alleged link with communist elements in the country.
This was one of the important conferences the President held with government officials, in the course of a working day which for the most part followed his regular schedule. The President, however, gave specific instructions to Secretary of Justice Vicente Abad Santos and the military not to arrest Sen. Aquino at this stage. The President directed that the hearing be initiated as soon as possible allowing Sen. Aquino to confront and cross-examine witnesses and contest any evidence that may be presented.
Present at the meeting were Secretary Abad Santos, Undersecretary of National Defense Efren I. Plana, Solicitor-General Felix Antonio, Undersecretary of Justice Catalino Macaraig, Gen. Manuel T. Yan, AFP chief of staff; and Chief State Prosecutor Emilio Gancayco.
The President also received as many callers as his busy schedule could accommodate, including:
1.Ambassador Chitamye Amatayakul of Thailand, who called to say goodbye after completing his tour of duty here. He has been reassigned as Thai ambassador to Rome, and will leave on the first week of September for his new post. 2. Mayor Amelia Gordon of Olongapo City, who came to consult the President on city problems. 3. Rep. Romulo Lumauig of Ifugao, who accompanied the faculty of the School of Deaf-mutes led by Mrs. Florencio Castro, principal.
Also with the group were a number of students and their parents, including Jose de la Cruz, president of the senior class. The group saw the President to request the release of the P100,000 earmarked for the school. The President immediately approved the request. De la Cruz thanked the President in sign language, adding that the students pray “the communists will not succeed” in imposing their will on the Filipinos.
In the afternoon, the President administered the oath of office to seven officials, including three judges of courts of first instance, a provincial treasurer, a city fiscal, a register of deeds and a municipal judge. Inducted by the President in the presence of a number of senators and representatives, friends and close relatives of the inductees were: 1.Judge Florentine Villanueva, as judge of the court of first instance of Laguna, with station at Siniloan. 2.Judge Ramon D. Jabson, as judge of the court of first instance of Rizal, with station at Pasig. 3.Judge Alberto Gampoña, as judge of the court of first instance of Cagayan and Batanes, with station at Tuao. 4. Dioscoro Soberano as provincial treasurer of Nueva Vizcaya. 5. Atty. Bienvenido Salamanca as assistant city fiscal of Manila. 6. Josue Beimudez as register of deeds of the sub-province of Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya. 7.Judge Eugenio Labitoria, as municipal judge of Bamjbang, Nueva Vizcaya.
The President worked at his desk the rest of the day, through evening.
against him in a public hearing preparatory to the filing of the case with the Sec. of Justice.
As usual he has been nervous and lachrymose. This morning he delivered a supposed valedictory in the senate.
I must be relaxed now. I shot a three under par in [Bahay] Pangarap this afternoon. My birdies were in Nos. 1, 5 and 6.
Spent the day up to 3:00 PM attending to the politicians.
There is a proposal from the Comelec [Commission on Elections] that I do not campaign. The senatorial candidates of the NP [Nacionalista Party] object. They would ask the LP not to make my administration an issue—then only would they agree to this.
Three days ago, Ex-Rep. Raschid Lucman went to Vice-Pres. [Fernando] Lopez and promised to kill me within three days with the request that V.P. Lopez contribute to the funds.