Imelda’s friends are with us in the living room of Suite I commiserating with her for a pulled muscle in her back which she got when she lost her balance beside the bed. She could not sleep until 2:30 AM and I kept her company.
Received the credentials of the Argentinian ambassador, issued the written instructions for the delegation on the Law of the Seas convention on the use of seabeds, signed the reassignment of heads of diplomatic missions, directed Sec. [Carlos] Romulo to finalize the position on the Phil-Japan Treaty of Trade and Navigation which cannot be ratified and may have to be renegotiated, signed the releases from the Davao Penal Colony of about 4,000 hectares for the settlers, met some congressmen (Uging [Constantino] Navarro and Jose Puyat) during which I ordered a national program of rehabilitation for the flooded areas hit by incessant rain (the two Surigaos, Davao del Norte, the two Agusans, the two Leytes, the three Samars, Bicol, Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela).
Greg [Gregorio] Licaros came to see me at 5:00 PM on the following:
Sen. [Sergio] Osmena’s [Jr.] offer to withdraw his protest for a consideration of:
Official Gazette for March 3, 1971: PRESIDENT MARCOS issued three proclamations excluding from Davao del Norte Penal Colony three parcels of land aggregating some 4,023 hectares which would be made available to the public as settlement farms. The public lands segregated for distribution to settlers consist of 1,913 hectares in Barrio Dujali, Panabo; 910 hectares in the Logan area in Sto. Tomas; and 1,200 hectares in the Solis area in Barrios Palangaan and Bobongan, Sto. Tomas.
Distribution of the land would be made through the Land Authority so that technical and financial assistance may be extended to the farmers and speculation and landlordism be prevented.
The President signed the proclamations in the presence of a provincial delegation led by Rep. Lorenzo S. Sarmiento, and which included Gov. Verulo C. Boiser, Vice Gov. Cecilia A. dela Paz, Board Members Ruperto O. Garcia, Dominador F. Selga and Candido M. Perales, Mayor Gregorio Dujali of Panabo, president of the Mayors League of the province; and Mayors Feliciano Ganade of Sto. Tomas and Hermenegildo Baloyo of Tagum.
Later, the Chief Executive received the credentials of Ambassador Eduardo Lauro Novaro, new Argentine envoy to the Philippines.
In presenting his credentials, the new envoy pledged to carry on the mission of his predecessors to further strengthen the cordial ties between his country and the Philippines.
Responding in Pilipino, the President assured Ambassador Novaro of full government cooperation in the achievement of the common goals of their two countries.
Present at the presentation ceremony held at Malacañang shortly before noon were members of the Cabinet headed by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Romulo and ranking officials of the Argentine embassy in Manila headed by First Secretary Alberto Agrelo.
In the afternoon, the President submitted to the Commission on Appointments for confirmation the nominations of 19 individuals to various government posts.
Submitted were nominations of one as first assistant city fiscal, one as second assistant city fiscal, five as clerks of courts, three as municipal judges, one as register of deeds, one as city assessor, one as chairman of the board of assessment appeals, four as members in the board of assessment appear, and one as member of the board of dental examiners.
a. Return of his campaign expenses (this would be from P10 to P30 million).
b. The legalization of his reclamation project (Cebu Dev. Corp.) and the withdrawal of the government opposition to the issuance of titles.
c. Support of his leadership against that of Durano in Cebu.
The requirement that the applicants for petroleum concessions have the foreign exchange and local funds for drilling two wells or a contract with reputable foreign corporations which assume the responsibility of drilling two wells.
The foreign exchange situation: reserves at $255 million but payment on Mar. 31st to Japan of $35 million on the $50 million loan; the opposition of the legal office of the IMF [International Monetary Fund] to our letter of intent and our inability to borrow $45 million.
The cement company’s situation.
I ordered the PACD [Presidential Assistant on Community Development] and Media Center to field the audio-visual units beginning Mar. 15th as the weather turns well; checked on the master broadcasts which would be picked up by our commentators in all provincial stations and used as material for their newscasts and commentaries; directed all the position papers on controversial issues to be properly updated, indexed and printed for distribution to our men in the field including congressmen and governors.
The case of murder against Sen. Gerardo Roxas has been elevated to me. I ordered that the case be decided on its merits. If the evidence warrants it, the case has to be filed. But the Dept. of Justice must be fair.
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