Marcos Diaries

June 10, 1971

Thursday Visited Tarlac on birthday of Cong. [Eduardo] Danding Cojuangco [Jr.]. Tumultuous reception. Speech in Ilocano at Paniqui at the compound of the Cojuangcos. Late for Rotary lunch and speech. Returned at 1:00 PM. Smooth flight at 8,000 feet and arrived at...

May 25, 1971

______ the matter to their government.[1] The chancellor for mini-basketball from Malaysia came to pay a courtesy call. In the afternoon I meet President Hammer Roburt of Nauru, the smallest republic in the world of 8.4 hectares with 6,000 inhabitants. The whole...

May 4, 1971

Tuesday The political season has started Sen. [Sergio] Osmeña [Jr.] my erstwhile opponent for President has attacked me, my mother, and brother-in-law, Maj. Marcelino Barba, in a privilege speech in the Senate. What a waste of time for the Senate and me. For I have...

April 17, 1971

Saturday “Our mission is to dismantle the communist apparatus in our country. If the communists are allowed to continue their activities, there will be a bloody civil war eventually. We must prevent this and save life.” “We must save our Republic.” This was agreed...

April 18, 1971

Sunday I suddenly felt very lonely when I stood at the verandah of the VIP room and watched the PAL [Philippine Air Lines] plane bearing Bongbong to Hongkong where he takes a BEA [British European Airways] plane to London. All at once, the burdens of state that keep...

April 16, 1971

Friday What really happened in the [Jose B.] Laurel and [Fernando] Lopez cases? This was asked by Sen. [Alejandro] Almendras and Sen. [Dominador] Aytona last night and this morning by Sens. [Ambrosio] Padilla, [Magnolia] Antonino and [Wenceslao] Lagumbay. “Why did you...

April 6, 1971

Tuesday Docked at Gaang [Currimao, Ilocos Norte] at about 5:10 AM although we were at the entrance to the port earlier we could not go in as it was dark and it has two channels of entrance which have to be negotiated skillfully. Then I sent Bongbong with Mayor Irineo...

April 7, 1971

Wednesday I met with the agencies on the Tondo housing as the newspaper report the alleged opposition of the Tondo fire victims to the housing program although they also predict violence in the choice of fire victims for settlement on the temporary housing project we...

April 6, 1971

I could not write my diary on April 5, 1971 as we were on board the 777 on the way to Gaang Wharf, Currimao, Ilocos Norte and the ship was pitching and gaining deeply preventing any kind of writing. We cast off from the pier at San Fernando, La Union at about 10:30 PM...

April 1, 1971

Thursday Father Mafalen, [Rev. Michael McPhelin, S.J] the Jesuit economist who is with us, when I asked him where he thought we were deficient in our economy, referred to two areas: The absence of an export bank to facilitate credit for buyers of our exports. The lack...