Monday
Since Thursday I have been disturbed by the thoughts provoked by Kumanders Pusa [Benjamin Sanguyo] and Melody [Benjamin Bie Jr.]—that a revolution to succeed must be violent if not bloody not only for the therapeutic effect of the shock or trauma but for the removal of the obstacles to the new society.
“Kailangan malinis at matatag ang batayan nang Bagong Lipunan—sa panagutan nang marahas na himagsikan,” is both an accusation and a guide.
I have maintained that while our revolution is constitutional, it is violent in the forcible detention of the corruptors of the Philippine society and all enemies of the New Society.
Have we been too weak? Have we compromised? Have we followed the line of least resistance? Expediency? More convenient? Selfish?
Have we lost the ideals of the true revolutionary? Have we lost the revolution?
He reminded me of the passionate and burning commitment of my guerilla days.
“How many of those who help you are willing to die for the New Society” he asked simply. This was the guerilla’s simple but inexhorable [sic] standard of loyalty and guide for action.
How many indeed?
Are there not too many who are with me for their own self-interest?
I attach an outline of ideas on my conversations with Pusa and Melody.
I launched Masagana 99 this morning at Maharlika Hall. A test of the constitutional revolution and a microcosm of the national effort to eradicate the division between the classes of our people—the farmer and the banker, the bureaucrat and the citizen, the intellectual looking with contempt and futility on all.
12:20 PM May 22, 1973[1]
Tuesday
Imee left at 6:00 PM for London via KLM [Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij – Royal Dutch Airlines] so she can stay with her brother and sister who will be out for a week’s holiday (21st-29th) mid-term vacation.
So Imelda and I are alone in the palace again.
I got hold of the initial rough draft of her letter to Princeton when asked to write one to explain who she is. I attach it.
It marks her frustration and confusion. In fact she entitles it “Dichotomy.” I felt sad when I read it. For she is me all over again. Sensitive, brilliant, inquiring—never content.
But she will make her mark.
Attended to the rice problem with the governors. Authorized the governors to lead the Masagana 99 with sufficient powers. Ordered all traders and millers to set aside 20% of all their rice stocks for the government.
I intend to limit the sale of corn to home consumption.
[1] Official Gazette for May 22, 1973: THE PRESIDENT has directed the integration of the scholarship program for cultural minorities into the overall scholarships system of the Department of Education and Culture. The Chief Executive promulgated Presidential Decree No. 193 transferring the scholarship program of the Commission on National Integration, including its funds and property, to the education department. The decree directed the DEC secretary to create or designate an appropriate office or unit to administer the program, one of several moves by the Government to share the benefits achieved under the New Society with the country’s Muslim population. DEPARTMENT OF Trade has just approved new regulations requiring corporations with whom the public has investments or transactions to make clear and intelligent analysis of their financial status. The new regulations, which were drafted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and approved by the trade department, were aimed at protecting the investing public. In approving the regulations, the Department of Trade stressed that the updated financial statements will be submitted periodically to the SEC. The regulations, which take effect July 1, 1973, prescribed the form and content of financial statements and other periodic information required to be filled by the issuers of securities traded on securities exchanges or over the counter markets. DEPARTMENT of Justice ruled that charitable institutions are exempted only from payment of property taxes and not from all kinds of taxes. Secretary of Justice Vicente Abad Santos issued this clarification in reply to a question from the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority who stated that the inclusion of the words “charitable institutions” in the tax exemption provision of the new Constitution might have enlarged the scope of the tax exemption. The justice head said that the inclusion of the phrase “charitable institutions”, and the addition of the word “mosques” did not have the effect of expanding the scope of the tax exemption to include a blanket exemption from all taxes. PILIPINO is one of the country’s official languages in the new Constitution and may still continue as a subject or a major field of study or a medium of instruction in schools. Justice Secretary Vicente Abad Santos issued this opinion in reply to a request from Director Ponciano Pineda of the Institute of National Language (Surian ng Wikang Pambansa). Director Pineda informed the justice secretary that the setting aside of Tagalog-based Pilipino as the national language has hampered the Board of National Education to implement a proposed policy on bilingual instruction in English and Pilipino. GUAM is a potential market for Philippine seafoods, according to the Philippine commercial attache in Agana. The commercial attache reported to the Department of Trade that the needed seafoods include prawns, shrimps, fish, lobsters and oysters. Guam was also reported in need of construction materials (plywood, veneer, lumber, window louvers, cast-iron pipes), and fresh vegetables like cabbage, lettuce and pechay. The Philippine commercial attache in Guam, however, clarified that only holders of import permits duly issued by the US Department of Agriculture can import the same from the Philippines. BUREAU of Internal Revenue collected P438.64 million in taxes last March which was 323 per cent more than the collection for the same month in 1972. Acting BIR Commissioner Conrado P. Diaz said the collection last March was 128 per cent more than the collections in February, this year. The BIR collected P348.20 million, in February, and P135.75 million in March, 1972. The acting BIR chief said that the significance of the increase lies in the rising trends of collections from March, 1972, to March, 1973, which were way above the former average increases in the past. He also attributed the record collections last March to the declaration of hidden wealth by thousands of taxpayers under Presidential Decree No. 23.