Written on Mar. 24th
at 11:40 PM
There has been sudden enemy activity in Cotabato. In Maganoy and Carmen, Gen. [Fortunato] Abat has had to call for air strikes with napalm as in Maganoy 1,500 of the enemy massed against our troops, 1,000 from the east, 500 from the south. In Carmen about 1,000 caused the government troops to withdraw.
And there is a concentration of 1,000 of the enemy in Ulao, Lanao del Sur apparently passed to attack the town to the north.
I have ordered Gen. [Romeo] Espino that the 542nd Engineer Battalion now in General Santos originally intended for Lanao del Sur be shipped immediately to Cotabato City and another Kamagong Battalion to be sent to Cotabato.
In the morning I met with the Lanao del Norte leaders—the Dimaporo brothers, Ali, [Macacina?] and Naga, the last the mayor of Karomatan. We agreed they would assume responsibility for peace and order In the Muslim towns of Lanao del Norte with the organization of a Self-Defense Force of volunteers.
Gov. [Arsenio] Quibranza would be responsible for the Christian towns.
The same concept in the other provinces of Mindanao and Sulu.
Luncheon for President Edward Cole and Mrs. Dolly Cole of General Motors, one of the big industrial empires with a gross sales of $31 billion—bigger than our Gross National Product.
Light banter—We should not keep Mrs. Cole too long here as the longer we keep her the greater the prejudice to our balance of payments—referring to her shopping.
Serious tones—Mr. Cole seeks to harness the engines and machines to social causes—air transport to be as deep as land and sea transport as well as the development of an engine which uses water and air as fuel (what will happen to all the oil we hope to discover—or that of the Middle East).
And the faith of GM in the Philippines fore we could put down anarchy rebellion, separation, criminality, corruption, instability, frustration, lethargy etc.
As they participated in the Progressive Car Manufacturing Program long before martial law.
No Official Gazette entry for this day.