Imee and Irene left at 7:10 PM by PAL [Philippine Air Lines] for London. Now the palace is going to be blue and lonely again.
I have become very irritable because of confinement to bed. Slept up to 5:00 PM this afternoon. Then brought the girls to the airport although the doctors had misgivings about my walking around specially in the windy cold atmosphere of MIA [Manila International Airport].
Sec. [Arturo] Tanco [Jr.] has closed the 300 tons of Bangkok rice at $80 a ton, 40% in cash and 60% at credit terms of 10 years to pay, 3 years grace and 7½% interest. The 40% may be financed by Arula Sakul, a Filipino of Thai nationality (15 years at 9% interest). Then we may be able to get from 60,000 to 100,000 tons of Red Chinese rice through Hongkong at $5 less per ton bartered with coconut oil.
There seems to be a rice shortage and for that matter a sugar shortage throughout the world. And the weather seems to have radically changed. The typhoons in December are a novelty.
We have just been informed that the Ford Co. has finally decided to put up a multi-million dollar plant to manufacture car bodies for cars in the Free Trade Zone at Mariveles.
The decision of Mr. Henry Ford II and the Company’s Board of Directors on Friday Jan. 14th was conveyed by letter by the local Ford Co. Mr. C.A. Foran, president and general
Official Gazette for January 17, 1972: HAVING no scheduled callers in the morning, President Marcos worked on state papers. He signed the appointments of 10 municipal judges and one clerk of court.
On recommendation of Secretary of Justice Vicente Abad Santos, those appointed with their corresponding station of assignment were Gideon G. de Pedro for Malay, Aklan; Alfredo A. Rosero for Cambusao, Camarines Sur; Ligaya E. Lazaro for Noveleta, Cavite; Solomon A. Macoy for Aloguinsan, Cebu; Lucio G. Tan for San Isidro, Northern Samar; Benedicto N. Morton for Unisan, Quezon; Melecio L. Yap for San Ricardo, Southern Leyte; Perfecto D. Gatarman for Tomas Oppus, Southern Leyte; Simon D. Encinas for Barcelona, Sorsogon; and Fidel G. Candari for Navas, Aklan.
Appointed clerk of court of the Court of First Instance in Negros Oriental, Bayawan branch, was Felipe T. Torres.
Towards noon, the President disengaged from his desk work to receive New York Secretary of State John P. Lomenzo, who called to pay his respects.
The President was informed by the New York official that he was highly impressed by the economic potentialities of the Foreign Trade Zone in Mariveles, Bataan which he had visited.
Secretary Lomenzo was here on a combined official and business tour of Southeast Asian countries. He was guest at luncheon later in Malacañang.
Also during the day, the President called upon the men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to “be prepared to meet any insurgency which threatens to rob us of our freedom and to undermine lawful authority, and ultimately to bring about the downfall of the duly constituted government.”
The President issued the call in a speech read for him by Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile, at the graduation exercises of the Philippine Constabulary-METROCOM Counter-Urban Guerilla Course at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.
manager.
I attach his letter.
I just signed an increase in tariff rates as recommended by the NEC [National Economic Council].
I have pushed the lethargic efforts at oil exploration.
And assigned Ex. Sec. Alex [Alejandro] Melchor [Jr.] to follow up all projects so I will be free to work on basic plans and reorganization.