Henry Ford II and his wife Cristina with six others including a Mrs. Rothschild arrived and paid a courtesy call on me and Imelda this afternoon at about 6:00 PM.
We give them dinner tomorrow night after Amb. [Henry] Byroade’s then go for a cruise on the 777 for Corregidor. They can rest in the boat.
I give him a decoration (The Award of the Golden Heart) after or before the dinner for the help he has given us through the Ford Foundation.
I have asked the Budget Commission to submit to me an official report on the alleged transfers from the Rural Improvement Fund, the Health Dept. and the National Defense to the House of Representatives totaling P26 million in 1969. These are charges of Ninoy [Benigno] Aquino [Jr.] in a privilege speech.
He should never be taken seriously, as I told the magazine editors in an interview yesterday.
I have directed Gen. [Eduardo] Garcia (Chief, PC [Philippine Constabulary]) to prove the existence and identity of the black-shirted Moslems who attacked the Christian settlers and PC soldiers in Midsayap and Pikit. The newspapers claim that no one can identify the blackshirts when the PC, the local officials and the settlers themselves say that the blackshirts are Moslems and the armed elements of the Moslem Independence Movement.
And there have been two incidents—one in Libungan where a patrol of the 27th BCT [Battalion Combat Team] answering a call for help and a PC man came upon eight armed men and in the firefight that followed, the 8 armed men left one dead body; another incident in Alameda when the PC again met an undetermined number of Moslems and in the fire fight that followed, 40 Moslems were killed.
Congressman Salipada Pendatun and Gov. [Simeon] Datumanong have been insincere all along, claiming that there is no MIM or training grounds for its armed elements.
Official Gazette for February 28, 1971: PRESIDENT MARCOS limited his schedule of callers to only one group, even as he concentrated more on official papers and other matters of state.
He started his paper work after having breakfast, then broke off at about 11:30 a.m. to receive the governors of Central Banks of several Asian countries who had met in Baguio City on regional cooperation.
The bank officials, who were accompanied to Malacañang by CB Gov. Gregorio Licaros, included Ismael Bin Mohamed Ali of Malaysia, Radius Prawiro of Indonesia, Long Boret of Cambodia, Y. P. Pant of Nepal, and Nguyen Van Dong of South Vietnam.
Following the call of the CB governors, the President had lunch, then took a brief rest. He resumed his desk work later in the afternoon.
I hurried back to Malacañang after 18 holes of golf in Manila Golf to meet the Southeast Asian Bankers at 12:30 PM. I was supposed to meet them at 11:30 AM but nobody bothered to remind me. I laughingly told them that on the rare occasions when I play outside Malacañang Park, there are standing orders that I be not disturbed except in case of war—and only if the war is with the United States.
I attach the names of those I met.
I also attach some notes and cables through the Dept. of Foreign Affairs.
I met [Guillermo] Torres of the University of Mindanao and he told me graphically of the riots in Davao City and the destruction of property, his University included.
He offered his Mindanao Radio Networks for government. What the threat of demonstrations and riots can push men into righteous action!!