Left by car 6:15 AM for Canlubang and arrived after 50 minutes. Played golf up to 9:20 AM. Hit two over par 38. Putting well. Sunk almost every green in one.
Inaugurated the Filsyn or Filipinas Synthetics which is in Sta. Rosa and Cabuyao in the very middle of the Canlubang Sugar Estate. This is the first Polyester factory both filaments and staples.
Returned at 1:00 PM and arrived at the palace at 1:40 PM.
Worked on the RCA [Rice and Corn Administration] needs, forestry rules and conservation, the Bangladesh problem, plywood manufacturers’ concentration of exports in Parang and Davao City (Zasa pier), copper smellers etc.
Am preparing for the caucus with the congressional leaders at 10:00 AM and the Foreign Policy Council meeting on Trade with the socialist countries (we must find new markets for our surplus copra and coconut oil).
Official Gazette for February 11, 1972: PRESIDENT MARCOS motored to Sta. Rosa, Laguna early in the morning for the inauguration of the Filipinas Synthetic-Fiber Corporation plant where he was also the guest speaker.
In his speech the President said that “the genius of private enterprise and the assistance and encouragement of government” made possible “the manufacture of polyester fiber in the Philippines.”
He stressed anew what he has always maintained, “that the future of industry is best assured by the system that gives full scope of the genius of private enterprise, and that the government’s place in this effort is not to displace the entrepreneur but to encourage, support, and assist him in this endeavor.”
The new plant, a first in the country, was to produce polyester, described as “the fiber of our time.” Incorporated on July 22, 1958, Filsyn is a 60 per cent Filipino and 40 per cent Japanese joint venture, with a ₱50 million authorized capital stock.
The President said that the “hopes of the government are great that the project will meet with success.”
Prominent among those present at the inauguration were Japanese Ambassador Toshio Urabe; Shinzo Ohya, president of Teijin Limited and Chairman of the Japanese Textile Federation; Mrs. Masako Ohya; Bishop Pedro Bantigue of San Pablo City, who officiated at the blessing; and Filsyn executives and their wives, including Jesus Yujuico, chairman; Seiichiro Watanabe, vice-chairman.
After the inauguration ceremonies, the President partook of lunch with the company executives and thereafter, he motored back to Manila arriving in Malacañang at 3 p.m.
After a brief rest, he worked on official papers. In the process, he issued Executive Order No. 368, which certified as a preferred pioneer industry the production of polyester fibers, and entitled the product to post-operative tariff protection.
The President continued his desk work until evening.