Am suffering from severe hives (rashes all over the body) that are exquisitely itchy, fever 37.4 degrees this morning, general body malaise and a feeling of heaviness.
While Imelda and Bobby [Roberto Benedicto] have no reaction whatsoever to the injections, I am going through what Dra. Kua Lim calls “serum sickness”—very irritating (literally) but otherwise not fatal.
They gave me some histamines so that I run drowsy all the time. So I had to cancel my appointments and slept.
Except for the merienda for the historians of Asia who are in the Philippines on their annual conference. I spoke to them in a light view: “When a leader of government is subject to the accusations and criticisms that are often false, the leader finds consolation in a peaceful conscience but also in the hope that history will put things aright.
“Winston Churchill cut the Gordian knot that ties down the hopes of the leader by himself writing of the history he had helped to make.
“But now history also seeks to judge the writings of Churchill.
“History does help in the arduous task of nation building.
“For when history creates an image of strength and discipline of a people, the people seeks to line to this image. Thus they find confidence in themselves and in their country—a confidence that breeds success.
“And so while this empirical and practical concept of history may offend the time historian, it does present one of the reasons for our efforts—the First Lady and I—to revive interest in our history and the achievements of our past.”
Then I told them of the true Yamashita surrender as against the story of the Americans—the American sergeant whom we turned into a colonel in a few minutes by the simple expedient of pinning a colonels eagle on his lapel—all because the Tiger of Malaya refused to surrender to anyone except to a ranking American officer.
I am disturbed by the insistence of [Antonio] Tony Raquiza that Gen. [Manuel] Yan, the Chief of Staff, cannot be depended upon. He recalls that at the start of the demonstrations, Gen. Yan was involved, according to his information, in the support for the UP radicals like
No Official Gazette entry for this day.
[Fernando] Barrican.
And he claims that Totoy Arroyo who handles media for the Elizaldes was asked to join an organization for good government in which Gen. Yan is included.
Tony warns against trusting him so much as he may be preparing for a coup d’etat.
Now I recall Gen. [Rafael] Rocky Ileto telling me that in the Jan. 30th 1970 attack on the palace, the delay of his troops was due to the delay occasioned by Gen. Yan being absent from Camp Aguinaldo and his running back and forth between Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Bonifacio.