1:35 AM
Talaga Bay
After I came up to the beach house from water skiing, I received the message from Gen. [Manuel] Yan that our minesweeper (frigate) PS 70 which is off Northeast Cay at the Ligao-Pagasa group off Palawan, for Capt. Brown the Marines commander to land one officer, 33 men and a construction team, was approach[h]ed by two Nationalist Chinese destroyers but without aggressive intentions.
I approved the request for an HU-16 plane (Amphibian) to fly over the area but for no hostile act (even in defense) to be made without my clearance.
Right now they are exchanging messages (normal challenges and identification). And I have authorized Capt. Brown to meet the ranking Chinese officer for a conference.
I attach the message.
12:20 p.m.
The troops of Capt. Brown have already landed in Northeast Cay. The HU-16 has been dispatched.
And the two Chinese destroyers are anchored off Northwest Cay while our PS-70 is between the two islands of Northeast Cay and Northwest Cay.
As of now, they are merely watching each other.
Neling [Manuel] Nieto [Jr.] who stopped playing golf at [Bahay] Pangarap on the first hole last Wednesday, and then collapsed and was unconscious for twenty minutes is now at home and recovering. He had expelled a stone from his kidney, the pain causing him to faint. Another stone was drained from his kidney and there was no need for an operation.
10:15PM
As of noontime, the two Chinese destroyers had left Northeast Cay leaving our men unmolested.
Official Gazette for July 31, 1971: President Marcos had a quiet but busy day working on official papers and poring over reports from a number of government agencies.
One of the reports was that of the Police Commission on the peace and order conditions in Cotabato and on the police departments in the province, an assessment undertaken by the POLCOM on orders of the President.
In the report, POLCOM Chairman Crispino M. de Castro said, among others, that “no religious war exists” between Muslim and Christian settlers in the areas covered by the survey.
As of 5:45 PM Bongbong was able to stand up and water-ski. The wind had died down and Miguelito Vazquez had shown his style. He has been water skiing since September.
While he was waterskiing I went with the girls and rest of the party by jeep up to the mountain to the north, past the jungle growth to the next two bays and up the top till we could see Mariveles Bay.
The forest is lush and green. We should plant some wild game and fowl.
Upon our return from the mountains to the water (actually the base of Mariveles Mountain) at about 6:30 PM I received a call (phone patch on the SSB) from Sen. [Jose] Roy and Speaker [Cornelio] Villareal to the effect that Sens. [Alejandro] Almendras and [Dominador] Aytona would not accept the nomination if Sen. [Wenceslao] Lagumbay was not also nominated. I asked Speaker Villareal and Sen. Roy to convince them to do so and abide by the wishes of the committee.
At about 8:00 PM I received a call from Sens. Roy and Almendras as well as Speaker Villareal asking me to authorize them to offer to Sen. Lagumbay the Secretaryship of Labor. I authorized them to do so.
At about 9:00 PM they again called to convey the request of Sen. Almendras to postpone the voting on Lagumbay for twenty four hours. The two senators, Almendras and Aytona would not accept my proposal that the voting continue but that the announcement be postponed to tomorrow.
So I told them through Gov. [Benjamin] Romualdez, who by this time had taken over the telephone from Speaker Villareal, that the best compromise would be for the committee to vote on the seven senators and hold action on one—although as I told Gov. Romualdez pointedly I am sure that the news will leak out that Lagumbay has lost out to Manda [Manuel] Elizalde [Jr.] inasmuch as the motion to postpone lost on a seven to two vote.
So there will be two announcements of the Nacionalista senatorial slate.
Tomorrow two helicopters have been placed at the disposal of the three senators and Gov. Romualdez to bring them to the Free Trade Zone at Mariveles which I will inspect at 10:30 AM.
As Sen. Almendras said all he wants is that Sen. Lagumbay sees me tomorrow and whether he (Sen. Lagumbay) is satisfied or not, the announcement of all the eight candidates can be made that same day.
Talaga Bay has become a paradise. It is so near Manila and Mariveles (ten minutes by car) and yet it is a separate world of rest, a heaven of quiet beauty.
I hear I can really think, read and write.
Cong. Pablo Roman was here and I told him that we would be using the beach house which he built but now has offered for our use whenever we need more and more.
Imelda and I have agreed to come here on weekends.
12:25 AM
It is so quiet and soul-filling as I sit with Imelda alone in the porch listening to the soft voices of the night. A night bird has just whistled melodiously in the stillness. And the waves lap gently against the shore.
There is a light wind that keeps the night cool and pleasant.
And a half moon and the stars are bright in the sky.
When I said, “This hide-out has become a paradise,” she laughingly observed, “And you have a son who now knows how to water-ski!