Have just finished the afternoon musicale and reception given by the First Lady for me on my birthday. Charming presentation by talented young men and women.
Father Donelan tells me that the Ateneo administration has lost control of the Ateneo campus and studentry. One canteen is all Lenin and the other is all Mao.
Of course this is true of the U.P. [University of the Philippines].
And a group of Filipino students in the U.S. are encouraging armed revolution in the Philippines and spreading calumnious libel against the First Lady and me as well as the government. Worse they are feeding the White House with it. They threaten to picket the First Lady if she goes to the U.S. So her visit has not been finalized. Our intelligence is working jointly with the U.S. on this.
Laid the ceremonial wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Libingan ng Bayani this morning on the occasion of National Heroes Day.
Have not been able to exercise because my tummy is still bothering me. Bloated and acidic. And loose bowel movement.
Official Gazette for August 30, 1970: President Marcos led the nation in paying homage to its heroes and martyrs in a quiet but solemn observance of National Heroes Day. Act No. 3827 of the Philippine Legislature sets the last Sunday of August as National Heroes Day to afford the people an opportunity to remember and pay homage to the country’s heroes and martyrs. The President motored to Fort Bonifacio in the morning and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Also present at the wreath-laying ceremony were Secretaries Carlos P Romulo of Foreign Affairs, Onofre D. Corpuz of Education and Amadeo H. Cruz of Health; Undersecretaries Efren Plana of Defense and Manuel Collantes of Foreign Affairs; National Historical Commission Chairman
Carmen Guerrero Nakpil; Philippine Army commander Brig. Gen. Rafael Ileto, Col. Simeon Medalla, and other armed forces brass, veterans and government officials.
In a speech read for him by Acting Secretary of Public Works and Communications Manuel B. Syquio, at the induction of the officers of the Quezon City Board of Realtors, held at Camp Aguinaldo the President again underscored the need for partnership between the government and the people in solving national problems, saying that the success of government programs depends “to a great extent on the citizens themselves.” The President declared that the “citizens will have to ask themselves whether it is the duty alone of the government to provide all the solutions to persistent problems.”
He deplored the “tendency on the part of the populace to rely solely on the government for initiative and leadership.” The government, he pointed out, wherever possible provides the impetus, to “blaze the trail as it were, but in the long haul it will have to be the citizens themselves who must carry the burden” of nation-building. “This is the way a democracy works” the President stated, “both the public and the private sectors collaborating and cooperating toward national goals.” (See pp. 8317-A to 8317-D for full text of the President’s speech).
Had dinner at the State Dining Room with the Blue Ladies and Blue Boys. Chewed the fat with them up to 12:00 PM. Some are running for delegate to the Constitutional Convention.