Since my last entry in my diary last July, the month has been marked by dramatic events that dwelt on the change of course of our history. Today I received a letter from Al Caluang, or Benjamin Caluang, whose full name is AL-HUSSEIN CALUANG Y [JUADRAIN?] who carried the title of Field Martial of the Moro National Liberation Front or the overall commander of its security force. He was brought in by Judge Abdul Hamid Lucman, the legal adviser and chairman of the investigating and fact finding committee of the MNLF who met with me seven days ago, and agreed to a cease fire in the Mindanao and Sulu fighting.
This, to me, marked the turning point in the Mindanao conflict which has threatened to divide our people through their conflict interminably and worse, dismember the territory of the Republic because of the now confirmed plan conceived by Tun Mustapha, Chief Minister of Sabah, to create a new state, independent of both Malaysia and the Philippines composed of Sabah, Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. The MNLF leader confirmed our intelligence conclusions that money and funds came from Libya coursed through Sabah, but that some of the funds and arms were not delivered to the rebels but kept in Sabah presumably by both Nur Misuari and Chief Minister Tun Mustapha. Both Judge Abdul Hamid Lucman and Al Caluang as well as the five commanders of the MNLF who accompanied them to Malacañang yesterday and to whom I gave amnesty finally disagreed with Nur Misuari’s attitude in his answer to a request for a cease fire in the January 1975 Jeddah Conference under the auspices of the Islamic Conference to Secretary General [Mohamed Hassan] El Tohamy to the effect that “I cannot agree to a cease fire. I do not care if all the people of Mindanao and Sulu are killed. There will be many others who will take our place.”
In the letter sent to me by Judge Lucman and Al Caluang yesterday expressing their gratitude for the generous attitude adopted towards them inasmuch as I appointed Al Caluang immediately as head of the internal security force, a para-military force based at Southern Looc, Jolo, and Judge Abdul Hamid Lucman as assistant commissioner of the Island of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan. They further revealed that their eyes were opened to the true motivations of Nur Misuari in the conflict between the Governor of Sabah. Stephen in creating an opposition party to the Chief Minister Mustapha and further revealed in conferences as well as also by Tun Mustapha the proposal for a cessation of Sabah from Malaysia and the creation of a new state which includes Sabah, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan and Mindanao, and that they, (Lucman and Al Caluang) could never agree to the dismemberment of the Republic of the Philippines. They confirmed the fact that the reforms they have been fighting for were the same reforms that I instituted in the Mindanao Sulu area.
Nur Misuari, as expected, issued a statement from Tripoli through Libya Revolution News Agency saying that a cease fire would not be possible unless Filipino troops were
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No Official Gazette entry for this day.
withdrawn from Muslim areas and “stopped their genocide operations against the Muslims,” further alleging that Lucman is not a member of the Front Central Committee and has not been authorized to speak in its name. Any agreement, therefore, between Lucman and Manila government is not binding on the front, Nur Misuari said.
Yesterday, Lucman slated that his action and that of Al Caluang is in accordance with the wishes of the rank and file of the Moro National Liberation Front and that Nur Misuari is isolated and no longer represents the rank and file of the Moro National Liberation Front.
It is indeed strange that Nur Misuari continues to slay in Tripoli and seems to be afraid to come to the Philippines to take active command of the Moro National Liberation Front. I gathered from the remarks of the commanders that he would be in danger of his life if he came to the Philippines to impose his will to the rank and file of the Moro National Liberation Front.
Also revealed to us was the fact that 60,000 firearms were shipped from Libya to the Philippines via Sabah but that only 30,000 firearms reached the Philippines and it is possible another 30,000 firearms maybe in the hands of middle-men, Tun Mustapha and some Malaysian officers who were active in the training of Moro National Liberation Front officers and men.
In our past efforts at establishing an almost completely autonomous Muslim government in the Muslim areas, the fatal deficiency was the absence of any credible leader of the Moro National Liberation Front which, after all, is the biggest segment of the rebel secessionists. All those who had previously joined the government from the ranks of the rebels, like the original founders of the Mindanao Independence Movement. Former governor Udtog Matalam and his son Jun Matalam, the outstanding leaders of Sulu who formerly belong to the MNLF, like Maas Bawang, Tupaylong, Maldisa, Datu Umar, Jairula, Bagis and the late Abubakar, while they command substantial members of the troops, were not in the planning and decision making group of the leadership of the Moro National Liberation Front. Judge Abdul Hamid Lucman participated in the negotiations in Jeddah and in fact in the last meeting of the negotiations in Jeddah, when Nur Misuari was ill and could not attend, it was Judge Abdul Hamid Lucman who replaced him and was the spokesman of the MNLF. He therefore carries weight.
At the same time before he decided to cease fire, he consulted the various commanders in the field and the rank and file of the MNLF who voiced the same sentiment that were expressed by Judge Lucman and Al Caluang in their letter to me of today.
The other problem that is currently confronting us and affects our security is the problem of the military bases. Before my trip to China I had met with Ambassador [William] Sullivan, then with CINPAC [Commander in Chief, Pacific Command] Commander of the U.S. Navy, Noel Gayler, as well as with Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. [Philip] Habib, to whom I clarified the position that the idea of nationalism and the possibility of the Philippines being converted into a puppet state like South Vietnam, thus completely stultifying the will of our people to fight for our cause inasmuch as it might be identified as an American base if the American bases in the Philippines continue to be known as the American bases and not as Philippine bases maintained for our protection and, of course, for the protection of our ally, the United States, but I repeat, for the protection of the Filipino people and our Republic. It became necessary that these bases become Philippine bases under Philippine administration and utilized not only for military purposes but for economic development. With the agreement that we would negotiate certain facilities in the bases to be utilized, if necessary, exclusively by the United States or jointly with our military, so that the U.S. air force and navy could maintain their position in the Western Pacific and thus maintain the equilibrium of power in Asia, which is the basis for peace and stability in the region as well as the world.
Secretary of State [Henry] Kissinger, since then, has come out with a statement that the United States is ready to comply with all its treaty commitments for the protection of its allies, but that if its allies desire a re-assessment of security arrangement these allies would find the United States flexible. Recently, a spokesman of the State Department announced that they were ready to concede the points sought by the Philippines, I presume to a degree compatible with our security requirements.
While this assurance seems vague, the statement reflects the flexibility that Secretary of State Kissinger has announced as the policy of the United States in the reassessment of security arrangements.
After my trip to China (from July 7 to July 11, 1975), I met with Ambassador Sullivan, who had appeared before the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States who had asked pointed questions about the proposal of the Philippines, including whether we are capable of sustaining the military bases, whether we are willing to undertake the security perimeter of the bases, whether we had plans for the accommodation of the 47,000 Filipino employees in the bases, and whether we are capable of meeting the funding requirements for the maintenance of the bases.
Accordingly, during the visit of Senator Mansfield, I ordered the preparation of a plan for the proposed re-structuring of the military bases in the Philippines. On July 19 we submitted an outline for the re-structuring of the military bases in a briefing to Senator [Michael] Mansfield and his staff wherein Ambassador Sullivan was present prior to a luncheon I tendered in honor of Senator Mansfield.
Early in the morning before the luncheon and briefing, I called up Ambassador Sullivan and anticipated to him the briefing on the proposed re-structuring of the military bases in the Philippines, and sent him a copy of the printed text. Attached herewith is the printed text.
After the luncheon, before we broke up, I spoke to Senator Mansfield alone for at least 30 minutes. He graciously accepted the points of my studies, and I impressed upon him the fact that we are sincere and resolved about our decision to re-structure the U.S. military bases in the Philippines inasmuch as the times call for the elimination of extraterritoriality, the hint of foreign troops being garrisoned in our soil, the erosion of our sovereignty, the external influence in our domestic and foreign policies and dependence which weaken the moral and spiritual fiber of our nation.
I repeated to him my plea that while America should remain in the Western Pacific as a military power to guarantee the security of the area, America should now help the Philippines attain a self-reliance not only in military capability but also in economic development. I pointed out to him that there were many matters on which America cannot act without being open to criticism as a superpower acting as a bully. Thus, I told him that from our point of view the furnishing by Libya and Sabah of arms for the Mindanao secessionists and the plan to dismember our Republic is external aggression which we consider as coming within the purview of the Mutual Defense Agreement. But knowing the sentiment in the U.S. Congress against committing the American military to further conflicts after the Vietnam debacle, I decided that we should fight the aggression alone but we expected the help in the form of arms and equipment from the United States, which did not come. We had to buy our own ammunitions from Taiwan, Singapore and European sources. There might be instances in the future wherein massive infiltrations from outside the Philippines may not be considered as external aggression and which call upon the United States to defend the Philippines.
From our point of view, the best solution would be for the Philippines to be helped under the [Richard] Nixon doctrine of developing its capability to repel its aggressors. He seemed to agree with me and said the sentiment in the American Congress was that outside the United States the Philippines was its most important base and support, and must be defended in case of attack.
The problem still is, what will the U.S. Congress consider as external aggression? Will it limit itself to an attack against its base? If so, our position is, we must have the capability to meet any aggression of any nature inasmuch as such capability would also protect the facilities at the disposal of the American military.
The third problem is the economic crisis, Mr. [Tungle?] of the Monetary Fund, in charge of the Asian desk, came to see me last week and informed me of the good news that they changed the rule of the International Monetary Fund on extending loans from the oil facility fund, from which we were disqualified in 1974 because we had a surplus and a favorable balance of payment over the last several years. However, since we have an unfavorable balance of trade this year it would be possible to borrow $110 million from this facility under very concessionary terms.
At the same time he expressed in concrete terms what we have always maintained and that is, that the Philippines is certainly much better off than most countries of the world. Our inflation rate has come down to seven percent last month, all the way from 36 percent last year. Our foreign exchange has not been eroded too much: it is still Pl,200,000,000.00 from one billion and a half.
Our international currency is, therefore, still high and loans coming from various sources are available. Investments continue to pour into the country although most cautiously. The prices of our exports went down severely (copper went down from $1.40 to 50.55 a pound; sugar from $0.65 in December 1974 to $0.13 last month; logs from $65 to $25 per cubic meter; coconut oil from $0.60 to $0.15 per pound). Recently, there has been an increase. Copper has stabilized at $0.58, sugar at about $0.22, log at $45, and coconut oil at $0.21. This means that our estimates of deficits in our balance of payments at 500 to 800 million might be reduced, if not completely wiped out.
There is a building boom in the Philippines, and now our fear is there may be too many hotel rooms (an estimated 12,000 rooms for 1976). We are meeting with some natural calamities in agriculture like the foot and mouth disease, the leaf worm infestation, the tungro disease that seems to have been brought about by the leaf boil, and the late rains that came only this month instead of last June or July. However, I am assured by the National Grains Authority and the Department of Agriculture that we have sufficient food to meet the requirements of the lean months of August and September.
Our gross of the Gross National Product was ten percent in 1973. It has come down to 0.6 percent in 1974 and to 0.5 percent this year. Many countries around us have a negative growth rate.
The [Muhammad] Ali-[Joe] Frazier fight has caused some controversy. Some of our TV and imaginative economic advisers like NEDA [National Economic Development Authority] Director General Gerardo Sicat had commented that this seems like a flamboyant, frivolous expenditure of the government funds which is not compatible with our avowed policy of the New Society on frugality and restrained consumption.
The principal opposition that requires clarification seems to be that we will spend government funds for a non-essential purpose inasmuch as the Government guarantees the purses of the fighters, which may total a minimum of four million dollars. They do not realize that on the contrary the Philippine Government may be making money out of this fight. We obtain an inexhaustible amount of publicity and world news coverage which will promote not only tourism but investments in the country inasmuch as the stability of the country (the stability that insures investments) and the vitality of the islands are made known. I attach the report of Luis Tabuena of the viability of the project.