We have stayed up to meet the 12:00 o’clock or midnight celebration of Imelda’s birthday.
I had the leading actor and actress of the Walang Sugat zarzuela now showing at the Cultural Center, Constantino Bervaldez of Dumaguete and Ruby Jose Salazar of Manila with musical director Mike Velarde, come over as a surprise to sing my song “Imelda,” and Imelda’s valentine song for me, “Mahal Kita,” as well as extracts from Walang Sugat.
Wrote a short poem for Imelda and gave her some rubies (ring and earrings).
Played golf at San Juanico, inspected the bridge (they are blasting under water for the huge piers at the deep channel), conferred with all engineers (division, district, city, provincial) on the Pan Philippines Highway, the Tacloban-Ormoc Road (on the 1st we still have about 120 kilometers in Samar about 500 kms. in Leyte and on the 2nd only 40 kms. left, 20 to be cemented and 20 to be asphalted; then I inaugurated the Marcos Hall, a P450,000 3 story building of the Leyte Institute of Technology and laid the cornerstone for a one million peso Sports Center of Tacloban. Back to Ulot for a shower, lunch and a nap. Then played golf again at 4:20-6:00 PM after the rain.
The whole province seems to have turned out for Imelda’s birthday. Even the mayors of Baybay, Inopacan ______ of the 4th district managed to come notwithstanding the destruction of 29 bridges and culverts on the Baybay-Ormoc road by the last typhoon, Mameng.
Official Gazette for July 1, 1971: President Marcos checked on the progress of the construction of the San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge in the Philippines, even as he focused on the status of the different developmental projects in Tacloban City and the province of Leyte.
The President, together with the First Lady, Imelda R. Marcos, motored to the construction site on the Leyte side of the bridge in sitio Kabalawan in the morning to inquire from the engineers and officials concerned on the progress of construction and to see for himself the work so far accomplished. The bridge spans the San Juanico Strait and is 2,162.40 meters long. It would serve as water-link of the Pan Philippine Highway that would run from Aparri through Southern Mindanao. Obviously satisfied with the progress of the work, the President said “it looks so good.”
In a conference later with the provincial, district and city engineers and other Public Highways officials, the President reviewed with them the road system in Leyte which would form part of the Pan Philippine Highway, as well as other provincial and city roads which, when completed, would help accelerate the development of the province socially and economically.
Among those present at the conference were Division Engineer Florencio Coloma and District Engineers Vicente Sy-Diongco, Luis Mendoza, Cipriano Perez, Vicente Villegas and Melchor Cañete. Also present were Rep. Artemio Mate and Gov. Benjamin Romualdez of Leyte.
Following the conference, the President and the First Lady, motored to the Leyte Institute of Technology for the inauguration of the new building of the Institute. The President also laid the cornerstone of the Leyte Sports Center. The First Couple then motored back to the family resthouse in Olot, where the President spent the rest of the day going over state papers, including nominations to various posts in the government.
The Palo municipal employees first came with their chorus. Then the Palo RaRa Rousers. Then the singers known as Filipinas. Then the bands from Tacloban and other towns. All the civic organizations came complete with cake and poems in Waray.
Imelda is enjoying his [sic] stay in Leyte. She has also built a mausoleum for her father and mother at his birthplace in Tacloban to be inaugurated on July 3rd. And the entire Romuladez clan is here—including the children of the late Justice Norberto Romualdez like Loring R. Ramos who rode with us in the 777 from Manila and who had some nasty things to say of Imelda’s father in the book “The Untold Story of Imelda R. Marcos” as well as Berting Romualdez who was governor before Kokoy and lost in the last delegates’ (constitutional convention) elections.