[p.27] Awarded the Rizal Pro Patria to Don Vicente Madrigal.
Saw [Eugenio] Iñing Lopez [Sr.] in the Meralco Hospital. Had lunch with him. Had sas[h]imi and temp[u]ra as well as mizuno [Missono grilled beef] and Japanese melon. He is disgustingly healthy.
Worked the whole afternoon on counter-insurgency, the emergency plan and the Barrio Home Defense Force.
A new confirmed report of a plot to assassinate both me and the Vice President has just been reported by Boni [Ysip] and confirmed by [Jose] Joe Maristela. The military group is headed by [Eleuterio] Terry Adevoso—the political group is still being checked.
Apparently the plans of the Liberals parallel those of the communists. They will await the results of my efforts to improve the economic situation then if I fail, they will take advantage of this by assassination.
35 Official Gazette for January 13, 1970: President Marcos devoted most of the day to his desk work, breaking off only to confer the Rizal Pro Patria Award on Don Vicente Madrigal at simple ceremonies held in the morning at Malacañang. The President paid moving tribute to the venerable economic leader and industrial pioneer in brief remarks during the award rite stressing that Don Vicente’s example should be followed by other Filipinos. Present at the ceremony were the sons and daughters, children-in-law, and other kin of the honoree, close family friends, colleagues in the Senate where he served a term, and other dignitaries. Also present was the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda R. Marcos. The President presented the award to Antonio Madrigal, son of the honoree, who proxied for his father, who has long been incapacitated by illness and old age.
During the day’s stint at his desk, the President, among others:
1. Directed the Budget Commission to release in three segments the P6.5 million earmarked for the expansion and modernization of the Manila International Airport, beginning with the initial release of P2.5 million for the immediate improvement of the MIA terminal building. The project is considered urgent in the face of the coming of the jumbo jets, scheduled next November
2. Required the Land Authority to course its plans for resettling squatters in public lands through Malacañang, which will assess and approve the plans before implementation. This procedure was set following complaints received from various sources about the conduct of the resettlement of displaced families in the San Pedro Tunasan Estate in Laguna.
3. Ordered Executive Secretary Ernesto Maceda to integrate all peace and order bodies created by previous presidential decrees under one central agency, in order to pinpoint responsibility for the overall anti-crime drive. Slated for integration are such groups as the Peace and Order Council, the Peace and Order Coordinating Council, the Peace and Order Commission, and possibly the Anti-Crime Coordinating Office. The President did not receive visitors the whole day, but instead remained working at his desk through the afternoon and evening.